Everything got more and more amazing today... my red sail painting really wanted to go out with a bang!
It's now received three prizes in as many days... I know! You're thinking 'how'?! Well today Ken Howard RA came to Patchings to help choose ten exhibitors in The Artist exhibition for the 'exhibitors award' which means they will have a group exhibition at Patchings at some point next year... and I'm one of them!
Then Ken has to choose his favourite piece in the exhibition for The Artist purchase award and... yes!! Indeed I was as surprised as you are believe me! This means that The Artist magazine will purchase my painting and it will hang in their gallery with all the previous winners of this award. For ever. :-)
So yes, I have been a bit giddy and excited today!
It's that time of year again for my end of year review, so I'll be taking a few days to look back over all of my artistic events of this year before starting to focus on what's coming next. If you only joined me part way through the year I hope you'll find something of interest here and if you've been with me all the way through I hope you won't mind taking a recap with me. It's been another busy year of fun and travels and opportunity, and being able to spend time with lots of great people who share this passion of mine.
The year began with generous amounts of snowfall in January which meant I was able to get outside a lot to paint one of my favourite subjects - snow! The painting above is definitely one of my top favourites of the year, and was painted in challenging conditions with quite a blizzard at times! The chickens and ducks disappeared and hid whenever the snowfall was heavy.
Painting at Galley Hill allotments
Belton House formal gardens
North Heath lane in snow
SOLD
I even tackled something I never had before, painting moving figures sledging and playing in the snow, and I loved it! I wanted the snow to stay for longer but I didn't get a chance to paint those sledgers again this year. There is a little video on YouTube of me painting there that you might enjoy.
In February I was a guest artist giving workshops at the SAA 'Its All About Art' event in Manchester and took part in a group exhibition in London on the subject of Venice. I ran a workshop on painting cats in acrylics, and gave demos to local art societies.
In this period I had a couple of articles published in The Artist magazine including one about 'finding your own style' which also became the theme for a couple of workshops.
I was proud of these two self portraits that I painted in early spring, and both were pre-selected for the Royal Society of Portrait painters exhibition in February. I need to paint more portraits, it's something I love to do.
Self portrait with warm backlighting
Self portrait with iPhone
In March came the trip of a lifetime - painting in Essaouira, Morocco, with Ken Howard RA. In my opinion Ken is the top of the tops here in the UK, and it was such a privilege to be able to get to know him. I didn't spend very much painting time with him because I was so excited by the new surroundings and wanted to choose my own subjects, particularly in the harbour area. We had wonderful group get-togethers in the evening though, and Ken was happy to look over our work while we had the pleasure of viewing all of his work. I only hope I have his energy and stamina when I am in my eighties.
The fort at Essaouira
Cinnabar green light
Tides at Essaouira
Le médina, Essaouira
Walls of the médina, Essaouira
There was another exciting trip to a new place just around the corner in the next quarter of the year...
I've a few bits and bobs for you today. I've had a really good day getting on with some of the work I've fallen behind with due to my snow obsession! I've also been taking photos of my snow paintings so I'll be able to show you better images of those.
Yesterday I went out with the intention of painting but only managed this drawing of a horse beside it's ramshackle stable and I just love the snowman. He looks as though he is surrendering! I've always wanted to paint snowmen.
Anyway, I've started a large-ish studio painting on the basis of this sketch which I'm quite excited about at the moment. The tricky thing will be keeping up the momentum, as you know I really need to get outside to paint from life, it's my passion.
I'd like to try more studio work based on my plein air studies, it's an avenue I want to explore. I really like this quote from Kevin Macpherson - "Indoor and outdoor painting are complementary experiences. As memories of nature breathe life into your studio work, the disciplined approaches and principles you practice indoors will enable you to attack the canvas outdoors in new ways"
This is the lovely photo of Ken Howard that I took at his exhibition last week. As I was sitting talking to him a lady came along and pulled out a painting from her bag wrapped in a little bubble wrap. It was a self portrait that he'd painted when he was 22 years old! It had obviously been in the lady's family for a very long time and was wonderful to see. Ken is hoping to exhibit it at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition alongside a current self portrait, aged 80.
I had a very nice surprise in the post yesterday! My youngest blog subscriber is Lily, a little girl who lives in Normandy in France and she has made me this wonderful keyring! Isn't that just so adorable and kind?
Merci beaucoup Lily! Ça me plaît énormément! Gros bisous à toi :-)
Today I discovered that my painting (Ice cream shed) is on the front cover of the next issue of The Artist magazine, and my article on how to find your own style is now featured online on the website www.painters-online.co.uk so you can have a sneak peek before the magazine hits the shops!
Finally, I spotted this snow family in my village! Please email me a picture if you've spotted any fun snowman or snowlady- I never tire of seeing them!
