Demo at Hethersett

I am being kept busy with portrait commissions, not to mention the house re-build so I am not very active with my blog at the moment. This pastel was a demoI did recently for the Hethersett Art group here in Norfolk. It features the usual criminals : glass , citrus (for its saturated colour note) and the essential light and shade :-) The demo was part of a celebration so it had to be completed within a two hour session which included a coffee break. A great group and a lovely lunch afterwards! Thank you Grace for the painting of me hard at work!

Lemons with dutch bowl

​I have been looking forward to paint this bowl for some time but my earlier efforts were thwarted. It was a Christmas present with some crocus bulbs, which I duly planted. They were just coming into their own when we had the house fire, and were left sitting swimming in water (for a long time) before being rescued; the bulbs were past hope but the bowl was intact . Today is the day the bowl finally got painted :-)

Arthur

This is my latest painting of my friend Arthur. Some of you will remember him in my painting' Veteran'. I got to know him well during that time which resulted in us making a lunch date once a week in his sheltered accommodation. I bring the sandwiches and he has the teapot warming ready for my arrival. At nearly 95 Arthur still manages to live independently and I was keen to paint him in his own surroundings un-posed. This oil measures 16 x 30 inches.

Sunflowers

I've had a short break with my new born grandson and returned home to find that these​ sunflowers were just asking to be included in a still-life, I've never actually painted a sunflower before, (a terrible admission to make) and I now know why they are such a popular subject; they have characters of their own! It feels good to be back in the studio :-)

New born

​My new born grandson, three days old ..... paint what you love and love what you paint :-) one of the many reasons I have been a bit absent from this space!

Iris

I have not posted for a while as I am still busy working on commissioned portraits so it was good to take a day out to paint these Irises.​Since our fire nearly four months ago, I make sure I always have some flowers in our small annex, which has become our temporary home. They brighten the space and help lift spirits. I don't find flowers particularly easy to paint so as soon as the portraits are finished I intend to get a lot more practice :-)

Rice Pattern

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have not been idle. Since the fire I have been inundated with requests for portraits. It is as though people are suddenly aware that I am the artist who had the fire. As a friend put it, 'most people just advertise....' I am trying to keep the still-life going and have ventured into some plein-air as I need to escape the scaffolding, so watch this space! ​This is my latest pastel, consider me a masochist with all those elipses but I really loved the way that these rice pattern Chinese bowls are translucent when the light transmits through them.... inspiring!