Grapes and Pomegranate

Having raided the fruit bowl for this set up; my aim was to lay down the paint and leave it alone, for better or for worse. This simple act seems to take super human effort but the advice of that great painter Richard Schmid rings in my ears...'in my experience, an area is seldom improved by going back into it.'

Lime Marmalade

Lime marmalade is a favourite in our family; children love it as do the 'big kids' in our house. Trouble is, nothing is sacred any longer and if it can't be found in the kitchen it will probably be in the studio being painted or waiting patiently next in line!

Oil sketch of Julia

I finished this oil sketch of Julia today during our last session at the scout hut which is going to be used for storage prior to being refurbished. We hope to return when it has all been completed as in the many years we have been meeting to paint together it is by far our favourite venue. We are off to pastures new next week which happens to be yet another scout hut; thank goodness for the scouts eh?!

Orange marmalade

Citrus fruit is plentiful in the shops at the moment and just begs to be included in a painting. I decided I would include the home-made marmalade again; glass is an old favourite of mine to paint. I'm afraid it is not a true seville orange I have painted as they are not in season yet....... but we can pretend can't we?

Dorothea

This is my effort at the Scout hut today. We often have a model over two sessions and the time taken on this was approx 4 hours. These are oil sketches from life which I get a great deal more enjoyment from than I do a commissioned portrait. There is no client to please, I can just enjoy myself and paint away for all I'm worth.... how lucky am I!

Bramley and blackberries

Autumn is here..... the season of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness.' The hedgerows are laden with berries and hips. There is a chill in the air and I can smell the hint of an aroma ..... apple and blackbery crumble, me thinks!

Mimi's fruit cake

Mimi was the name my daughter gave to her Grandmother when she first learnt to speak and we all adopted it. She was a great cook and loved to bake. Her fruit cake was a firm favourite with the family and she would soak it well with brandy to help keep it moist over several weeks. I still make this cake for my Dad, who saves it as a Sunday teatime treat. This pastel is a bit of a tribute to Mimi.

Cracked

Yippee......... I am back in business. Not withstanding two weddings, and a painting holiday in Mallorca, I somehow got blocked from my blog. Thanks to the advice of my brilliant new son-in-law I managed to 'crack' the code and I am back on line. This painting 'cracked' (great title under the circumstances) was the last painting I posted on the DPW site as an entry in the 'raw egg' challenge. The last three weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind so I need to calm down and get back to some serious painting. My apologies to all my hard earned followers, I'll make it up to you, just watch this space :)