Yew tree and sun

Yew tree and sun
8" x 10"

March 14th

Mainly sun

4.30 - 5.30

On this late afternoon the sun was lighting up the stone wall of the cottage opposite and the distant trees with beautiful gold hues. Can you just make out the bird box on the right hand side, on the shadow side of the tree?

Can I remember...?

Red boots
12" x 9"

Just wondered if I can even remember how to post to my blog, it's been so long. But of course you may not be on Instagram every day like I am so... hello again!

Since I spoke to you last in November I've been elected a full member of the Royal Institute of Oil painters - that's a VERY special achievement for me, and you can read more about the Royal Institute of Oil painters here :-)

That means that over here in the UK I shall now be known as Haidee-Jo Summers ROI, proudly sporting those letters at the end of my name. Now I'll just leave you wondering why the letters for membership of the Royal Institute of Oil painters are ROI and not RIO... meanwhile I need to order some new business cards...

Fishermens shelter and London workshop

Fishermens shelter
Oils 14" x 18"

I had the immense pleasure of spending a couple of days in the fishermens shelter in Portscatho last year, when I put on a little pop-up exhibition with The Harbour Gallery. I was really inspired by the large window overlooking the sea and the way the sunlight came into the room. I did paint this view while I was there but I always felt that I had another one in me. 

Now I've painted this larger version in the studio and I'm really happy with it. It's one of six paintings that I'm framing up at the moment to send for selection to the Mall Galleries for the annual Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition. 

This August I'm going to be running a day workshop at the Mall Galleries in London about 'Capturing the essence', talking about the ways I use simplification in my work. What is important to include and what can be left out?

Find out more and book yourself a place here :-)

East view interior

Red sail at East view

Well of course... it's the first thing I noticed when I walked in to this beautiful fishermens cottage in Staithes... a big red sail in the window. What a beautiful cottage and a beautiful subject. I painted this in situ with my small antique pochade box but I'm keen to also paint a version in the studio at a later date. I love love love coastal cottages :-)

Dottys tearoom

Dottys tearooms
10" x 8"

If I lived in the area, Dottys tearoom vintage shop and boutique in Staithes would definitely be my regular haunt. I do recommend a visit if you're exploring the North Yorkshire coast.

I painted this especially for a magazine article I was writing for The Artist magazine, called 'How finished is finished?'

In it I discuss ways that might help to avoid overworking a painting - firstly you need to know what you want to say in the painting and then it is easier to know when you have said it. 

And yes, that is all easier said than done!

The article will be published in the September issue of the magazine I think, which will be in UK stores in August.

‘A fine suggestion, a sketch with great feeling, can be as expressive as the most finished project’ Eugene Delacroix

International subscriptions to the Artist magazine are available here - www.painters-online.co.uk

Horse and carriage

Horse and carriage
Oils 8" x 10"

My first painting from the Seville trip was this study of a horse and carriage. I was really taken by these horses lining the streets ready for tourists to take a scenic ride. When this one arrived in front of me I noticed the light along the horse's back and around the ears. Captivating. Of course I didn't know how long I would have but decided it was worth the risk. It could have been that that five minutes later I was wiping the board down because the subject had gone, but actually I had probably forty-five minutes or more before the horse moved. I think the horse in my painting is perhaps not anatomically correct but this kind of quick study is much more about capturing an impression of the light for me. I'm pleased with the atmosphere and the palette of colours captured so am tempted to make a studio painting based on this - in which case I would be able to take more care with the drawing. The light in Seville was nothing short of marvellous, such a contrast from the winter light in the UK.

Evening sailing

Evening sailing, St Mawes
14" x 18"

This is one of my favourite painting spots so you may well recognise this view. I was particularly keen to abstract and soften the buildings to focus attention on that dazzling light on the water. The action in the harbour is represented by a few strokes of light and dark and a couple of more intense spots of colour. 

I'm really busy getting ready for my new solo show in Nottingham, which opens in just a couple of weeks! There is so much 'last minute' preparation underway but it's all very exciting. I really hope you can make it!

Solo exhibition in Nottingham 'A lighter touch' opens on Friday 13th November until Sunday 22nd November, at 71 Friar Lane Nottingham NG1 6DH. I will be in the gallery each day and showing around 70 new paintings. We will have late night openings until 7.30pm on Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Friday 20th. All other days opening hours are 10.00am to 5.00pm. Ten days only, don't miss it!

Little girl in an armchair

Little girl in an armchair
8" x 10"

The little girl in the armchair is actually Irene, the daughter of talented artist Michele del Campo. Maybe she will grow up to be an artist too. 

It's so hard to stop a painting when you've said enough, but it's what I'm always striving to do. Recognise when I've said enough. I find it especially hard where faces are involved. The face factor, as C.W Mundy would call it. He is quite right in saying that as viewers we are naturally drawn to any part of a painting that represents a human face. I might play around with that idea in future a lot. 

I'm really happy with the freshness of this, the vigorous nature of the brush marks. The thin paint, the underpaint still showing and the thick opaque paint. I find a lot to be excited about here.

In other news...

I've rebuilt my whole website! Yes it took a great many hours that I'd rather have spent at the easel but I am really happy now that it's done. I've learnt so much and I feel like my website reflects my personality better now. (One day I will tackle this blog but that's another story!)

There are still improvements that I need to make but keeping up a website does require regular maintenance anyway so I'll just continue to do bits here and there when I can.

Please do take a look around!

www.haideejo.com

Mary Cassatt study and a poem

Study after Mary Cassatt

I am juggling rather a lot of balls and I'm afraid I've let the one marked 'blog' slip a bit. I'm going full pelt on Instagram though if that's any consolation. No?
Here's a study after Mary Cassatt and a poem about September, by way of apology x

September

The golden-rod is yellow

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.

 

The gentian's bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;

In dusty pods the milkweed

Its hidden silk has spun.

 

The sedges flaunt their harvest,

In every meadow nook;

And asters by the brook-side

Make asters in the brook.

 

From dewy lanes at morning

The grapes' sweet odors rise;

At noon the roads all flutter

With yellow butterflies.

 

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer's best of weather,

And autumn's best of cheer.

 

But none of all this beauty

Which floods the earth and air

Is unto me the secret

Which makes September fair.

 

'T is a thing which I remember;

To name it thrills me yet:

One day of one September

I never can forget.

Helen Hunt Jackson

Fisherman's shelter

Fisherman's shelter, Portscatho
8" x 10"

Just so that you can find me when you come by for a celebratory drink tomorrow evening (Tuesday 25th August) 6.30 - 8.00 pm, this is where I'll be - at the fisherman's shelter in Portscatho, Cornwall. Right by the harbour and the red telephone box, you can't miss it. 

I'll also be painting at this fab venue on Wednesday and Thursday from 11.00 am - 4.00 pm.

I have a poor mobile phone signal around here and no internet access in the daytime so if you need more information please contact Mark at the Harbour Gallery. We can't wait to see you in this idyllic place :-)

The blue carrot shed

The blue carrot shed

The third day of filming in Cornwall was a beauty, and we found ourselves in this south facing cutting garden. It was very hot but I was so happy to be there surrounded by such fantastic subject material. In part my choice of viewpoint was influenced as to where we could find space for three people to stand with three camera tripods. But had that not been the case, it would have been very hard to resist this little blue shed with the pink roses in front!

Again I was working with a little pochade box and an 8" x 10" board. I used to really struggle to paint small sizes outdoors and found that I had a tendency to tighten up and get a bit fiddly. I decided long ago that 8" x 10" was as small as I was happy to go.

I think I've overcome that now as I was very comfortable with the 8" x 10" format. The trick is to keep using a good sized brush and not feel you have to go tiny. Plus I had to make extra choices regarding selection and simplification. There are areas I would have worked more information into had I been using a larger canvas.

Detail

Huge thanks to Susanne of The Blue Carrot for allowing me to visit and paint in her beautiful space. If you are on Instagram look up @the_blue_carrot for beautiful images of flowers and weddings!

And while you're on Instagram, did you know I'm there too? I put more on Instagram than I do on Facebook or twitter, I find it's the perfect place for sharing a quick snap of something exciting or beautiful - without the need to add text! I'm there as @haideejosummers 

I'm here!

Rose garden at Belton House
12" x 16"

Ok so it seems as though two months has passed since I spoke to you last - it isn't that long but I've been packing a LOT in to the last four weeks! I'll try to get you back up to date with a lot of mini blog 'postcards' and action shots!
This is my favourite of the three paintings I did for the 'Where in the world is plein air' video event. This was day three for me and again I was blessed with fantastic weather. It was a really hot day but I had a tree fairly close to me so I was able to step back in the shade and cool off now and then. What an idyllic spot and subject, I didn't know which way to look! The roses in England have been absolutely amazing this year.

It was a nice surprise to find one of my Facebook friends/blog subscribers sketching in the garden too :-)

Actually this is one of my favourite paintings of the whole year so far, and it's now in America at the Illume gallery in Salt Lake City along with my other two from the event. If anyone could show me a photo of them in situ I'd be enormously grateful, it's a little far for me to get to at the moment.
You can watch the video of it's creation here.
You could even be the rightful owner of this gorgeous painting :-)

A new (P)interest

Study after Richard Emil Miller
1875 - 1943

I was telling you yesterday about my excitement in discovering Pinterest and being able to gather paintings that I find enormously inspiring together in one place. I am also discovering new artists at the same time, like Richard E Miller, an American impressionist. I had never heard of him until I came across this painting of his on Pinterest. He worked for some time at Giverny, and painted lots of 'ladies at leisure', a genre of paintings that I love.

The main thing I notice about my many 'pins' (small images clipped together on a 'board') is the great impact each one has on even a tiny thumbnail size, and the immediate statement that the colour palette makes.

I have long adored pinks and greens together and decided I had to have a play with this high key colour palette. I wasn't trying to achieve a careful copy or drawing but aiming to get the same sorts of colours working together.

 

Richard E Miller
Reading in the garden