Meanwhile on a French island

Freshly laundered
Oils 8" x 10"

Meanwhile my lovely summer continues on the French island of Bréhat with the family. I painted this small oil study yesterday and am hoping to get a few more small oil paintings to take back with me as well as sketch lots and get on with writing my book! Not forgetting eating yummy food, testing the sun loungers, shopping for fresh local produce, BBQ's on the beach, strolling in the sun, playing games with the family and reading all the books I haven't had time to read...  I do so love August!

In the cooling shade

In the cooling shade
Oils approx 12" x 16"

I'm telling you the terrace was the only place to be in the afternoons... unless you were in the pool, or having a siesta in a darkened room ;-)

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 

California sunset

California sunset
14" x 18"

A recent painting inspired by my April trip to California, with memories of a very special evening amongst artist friends and new friends. The waves were incredible crashing against the rocks and I could have sat and watched for hours. The rocks and sea surrounded the beautiful house - what a dream house! If you lived here would you ever need to go anywhere else?

Blowsy clouds and Patchings

Blowsy clouds and dappled light
Oils 16" x 20"

I only have time to show you quickly this new painting from the allotments, it's becoming an impressive display of greens there now :-)

I've been at Patchings Art Centre all day setting up my stand for the festival, and I'll be there each day from now until Sunday. Hope you can make it over to see me, and all the other exhibitors of course!

California flowers

California flowers
Oils 14" x 10"

I've come back from the convention full of inspiration, refreshed and raring to go - which is exactly what I was hoping for! It was terrific to spend time with my friends and meet lots of new friends and put a face to existing Facebook friends! Especially Cory who's been following my blog since just about the time when I started it in 2011 :-)

 The coastline in this part of California is incredible and I know I will have to come back here to paint. The light seems crystal clear and of course for me the sunshine makes a subject of just about anything. Take the backlighting on these flowers for example.

It was a wrench every day - be out painting or be in the conference centre watching all the wonderful demos and talks. Did I tell you they laid on free coffee all day too? Yes that pleases me ;-)

Look - freebies!

Look at all the gifts! I love gifts - and stickers! There are stickers for my easels ;-)

How finished is finished?

Morning sunlight on the campo

Ah, the eternal question! When do you know a painting is finished... if indeed, a painting ever is finished? And does 'finished' mean 'finished off' as in, well... I think you know what I mean!

Here's an interesting case in point. I was working on this studio painting a couple of weeks back and then I had to put it on standby and get on with other work. In my head this painting was labelled 'needs further attention, needs a lot more work, must go back to it, it's quite a way off being finished (the dreaded word)'.

Now today it's caught my eye again and what's happened? Have the studio elves been working while I've been in France? It caught my eye and my mind said this 'that's an interesting piece, it evokes a mood, what more is there to say? By golly I think it's .... (insert dreaded word here)'

What do you think? How much information is enough? For me this is the eternal question. Firstly you should know what you are trying to say in your painting. Then, it's easier for you to recognise when you've said it. That's about all the help I can give today but I know it's a topic I'll come back to ;-)

And now I'm a teensy little bit excited because the suitcase is zipped shut, my passport is in my hand and I'm heading to Heathrow ready to fly tomorrow. See you in California!

Rocks and waves

Rocks and waves at Mousehole
Framed size about 21" x 25"

Back in the southwest of Cornwall again with this one - and you can see the pretty village of Mousehole nestling in the background. Maisie loves to run around on these rocks and bark at the waves! For now I'm enjoying having it up on the wall in the studio, but if you'd like to purchase this painting you can contact me and we can discuss framing/delivery etc.

Shadows at Bedruthan

Shadows at Bedruthan
Oils, framed size 16" x 19"

Here's another new studio painting of a different view at the Bedruthan steps. Oh my, I'd love to live with this painting. It takes me right back to the hypnotic motion of the waves swirling around over the rocks below, the feel of the sun on your face and the salty breeze. That turquoise water, those scudding soft clouds, and that brightly lit grass on the cliff top... just lush.

Alas, I won't be keeping the painting because it will have a nice home waiting for it somewhere. I am having it made into greetings cards though, so far this is one of four brand new card designs that I will be showing at the Patchings festival in June. There will be many more new ones, original paintings and 2016 calendars too!

But if this gorgeous painting belongs with you, feel free to contact Mark here. I don't think it will be on the gallery wall for long.

Beach at Bedruthan

Beach at Bedruthan
Oils, framed size 19" x 23"

The stunning rugged National Trust coastline on the north Cornwall coast at the famous Bedruthan steps. Really wished I lived closer and could get here at different hours of the day, and to be able to make the most of good weather days such as this one!

This painting is also heading to the Scarlet Hotel which is within two miles of the steps. The price, framed, is £850 and again if you'd like a closer look you can contact Mark at the Harbour Gallery because he's a lovely and helpful chap!

Breaking wave

Breaking wave catches the light
Oils, unframed size 16" x 20"
Framed size 23" x 27"

Here's a change from all those lovely wintry paintings I've been doing lately - I've also been busy painting lovely seascapes so I'll show you a few of those this week. I really love this one, that marvellous green glow as the sun illuminates the breaking wave. This is a studio painting but I have stood on these rocks at Mousehole and painted the waves coming over the rocks from life, so I hope I have captured some of that feeling of urgency and movement here. As always, distilling the information received down to it's essential components, is what counts.

This one is being framed up for the Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall, and will be for sale there at £1100. If you'd like to rush in and grab it before it even makes it to the gallery wall or the Harbour Gallery's website please contact Mark here :-)

Exciting times - new book!

Washing day, Venice

I must fill you in on my very exciting news! My Facebook friends may have already seen me mention this earlier in the year when I asked which topics you would like to see covered, but of course not all of my lovely blog readers are also on Facebook.

I have begun to write a book on oil painting. Its going to be full of information and inspiration and of course my paintings. A lot of the information will be useful for working in other mediums too, as it will be about the properties of a successful painting and how to put them into practice. I have had a planning meeting with the publishers so all I need to do now is work on the content - all 144 pages!

I'm hugely excited, but I also wanted to warn you that I have a very busy year ahead of me! I will continue to blog as often as I can but please be patient with me if you don't hear from me for a few weeks sometimes. I will be having not one but three solo exhibitions in 2015 so I need to be ultra productive and organised.

I've got lots of fab travel plans for this year - California, France, Umbria, Channel islands, Venice... which means there will be lots of good stuff to blog about when I get the opportunity ;-)

Snow glow

Snow glow

This is a study for a future studio painting, another in my favourite series of the snowy allotments. Is there anything better, I ask you, than when the sun glows through a greenhouse and lights it up like a jewel? I'm very excited about the abstract possibilities of this subject. 

By the way, blogger can't cope with the blues again! The shadow areas of snow are so much softer and more subtle in hue than they appear on the screen. Sigh.

View with a room

View with a room
Oils 8" x 16"

We were blessed with a covering of snow again last week! It arrived overnight and by three o clock the next day it was all but gone. Luckily I had the chance to make the most of it and was able to get out early with all my paints and equipment in the car. After dropping the children off at school I was ready to go and I managed to find an allotments which I knew existed but I'd never been able to find before.
Everything there was covered in a blanket of snow, and my excitement level was at about fever pitch!

At first the sky was quite brooding and overcast while I had a good look around taking lots of photos, but by the time I was back where I started the sun was shining and things really started to warm up.
This is the second painting I did there, which took less than an hour and a half. You can see how rapidly the snow was melting by looking at this photo taken after I'd finished. It went from everything blanketed in snow at 9am to mostly mud and greenery by 2.00pm. The plus side to this rapid thaw was that I was lovely and warm standing in the sun, and of course I love the chance to paint strong clear shadows on snow which I wouldn't have had if the sun had stayed hidden.

The thing that really grabbed me here was the table and stack of chairs which looked kind of inviting in the sun there, although covered in a fine coat of snow. I also loved the light valued canes against the dark trees behind.
I must confess I was really pleased with the economy of my mark making on this one, was able to describe effectively what was happening with just a minimum of shapes and colour.

A detail

On my screen the shadow area of this picture looks a ghastly blue, which it isn't in real life. It really is a lovely subtle violet. Hope it looks ok on yours!

My 2014 review January to March

Exhibition portraits January 2014

It's that special time again, time to look back over what I've been up to in 2014, take note of my achievements, remember fun times and travel, see what direction my paintings have grown and yes, pat myself on the back for a job well done before putting it all behind me and forging ahead with the exciting and new!

January 2014 got off to a cracking start with my solo exhibition in Nottingham and a whopping 30 paintings sold and off to new homes. I painted a different portrait in oils each day for ten days of the exhibition, while also handling sales and enquiries and putting the kettle on frequently! I was very grateful to my patient models!

Andrew

Jenny

Painting Ant who also painted me!

The large gallery with about 80 of my paintings hanging

February included a ten day holiday in France with the family, some plein air painting in Norfolk and some coastal studio paintings, plus an article I wrote about gouache painting was published in The Artist magazine.

Crab hut at Brancaster Staithe
Private Collection

Whelk sheds at Brancaster Staithe
Oils 11" x 14"
£650

By the boat sheds, Brancaster Staithe
Oils 16" x 20"
£1095

I was really starting to get somewhere with studio paintings and actually enjoy doing it. I found ways to keep much of the freshness of plein air paintings and yet on a larger scale. I realised I needed as much background information as possible, e.g. paintings and sketches made on site, to help me keep the excitement and inspiration alive. The more I do of studio work, the more possibilities present themselves to me. It could never replace plein air of course, but I feel they both feed off each other. 

Kevin Macpherson describes it so well in his book 'Landscape painting Inside and Out':

"Many outdoor attempts fall short of successful, yet possess qualities that can be improved on into a grander statement in the studio. Each truthful colour note on a plein air study is a priceless seed of information that can transform your studio work to higher levels. Also, in the studio you can practise picture-making principles and experiment in a controlled environment.

Indoor and outdoor painting are complementary experiences. As memories of nature breathe life into your studio work, the disciplined approaches and principles you practise indoors will enable you to attack the canvas outdoors in new ways."

End of a perfect day, Sennen beach
Private Collection

In March I had two trips - first to Cornwall and then to Essaouira in Morocco with a group of painter friends. In Cornwall the weather was a bit disappointing but I managed to get some plein air work done and also enjoyed a fishy still life when it was pouring with rain outside.

Fairmaids of Mousehole
Private Collection

Towards St Michael's mount from Mousehole
Private Collection

Silver light, Mousehole
Private Collection

In contrast the weather in Morocco was dry, warm and idyllic for plein air painting, and I had a fabulous time. The locals were on the whole very interested and kind, and several remembered me from the year before. We even got invited to the private view of an art exhibition with an artist friend who I'd met while painting the year before and kept in contact with via Facebook, and I made some lovely new friends too. Plus of course the enormous benefit of having artist friends painting at the same time there from the UK, USA and Spain. What a great trip! 

One of my Essaouira friends, Monsieur Bouabid

Butchers shop Essaouira - poultry
Oils 10" x 12" £550

Butchers shop Essaouira - mutton and veal
Oils 11" x 14" £595

Boys diving into harbour
Private Collection

I'll finish this first quarter of the year with this bobby dazzler, companion painting to the one you know well that you'll be seeing again in the next instalment, when I take a walk back through April, May and June. I warn you now it might be a long blog post with a lot of excitement and exclamation marks!

Heading out of harbour
Private collection

Sketching the sketcher

Adebanji Alade

Last night was the Royal Institute of Oil painters (ROI) annual painting evening event, when anyone can paint from portrait models alongside many members of the ROI. There is always a great atmosphere of camaraderie amongst the artists taking part. Not to mention the wine and enormous mince pies which provided sustenance throughout the three hour event. 

Thank you to the lovely lady watching who kept getting orange juice for me :-)

And look who my model was this time! My friend and fellow artist Adebanji Alade AROI whose blog will be familiar to many of you. He was very good at sitting still actually, which helps!

I'm really pleased with the looseness of this because I think that a painted face or person should look as though it could move at any second. I also love sketchiness because I like to see evidence of the 'workings out' or the process that the artist has undertaken. And I like illusion of depth balanced with 'look, this is just a painting' brush marks. I suppose that last statement is a strong guiding theme for me. 

Adebanji modelling in the gallery

Just to remind you that if you are in London you have until lunchtime on Sunday to see the ROI exhibition at the Mall Galleries, and there are many brilliant paintings still available for sale. One of my very favourites is only £500. See if you can spot it.

And here's mine in the exhibition -

Last hour on the beach SOLD

Last hour

Last hour on the beach
Oils 16" x 20" SOLD

I painted this en plein air on the French island of Bréhat this summer. It was fairly late afternoon when I got started, a very hot day, and the tide was going out. It was the usual race against the clock, and it was important to get a statement down quickly about the sea and where it reached to on the sand and pinky rocks. 

I was very grateful for the can of cold drink on my easel that Tim brought me. Some local and Parisian friends stopped to say hello. I didn't want to take my eyes from the subject!

So funny, the things you remember. Every plein air painting has a story like no other. This one takes me right back to lazy hot August days on the island.

I'm very happy to say that this painting will be exhibited in the forthcoming Royal Institute of Oil painters exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. The exhibition is open from the 10th to the 21st December, closing at 1pm on the final day.

Oasis in Chelsea

Oasis in Chelsea
26" x 28"

This is a recent studio painting, the inspiration for which came from my visit to Chelsea in July for Pintar Rapido. This is the market place that I painted but the day before the event there were no market stalls and instead children played in these water jets. I was absolutely captivated by the subject with the bright sparkling water seen against the dark buildings in shadow. 

I really enjoyed building up glazes of colour for the darks, something that is only really possible in studio paintings with the benefit of drying time. The wet and dry, sunlit and shaded pavement area was a challenge! I tried to give the children's figures a loose treatment, to add an element of confusion, movement and splashing water.

I'm not altogether decided if it's finished, but it is hanging on my studio wall so I can glance at it occasionally and maybe I'll dip back in.

I'm taking a little holiday from Facebook so I am sorry if you are used to seeing me on there. My blog posts will still automatically update to it because frankly I can't be doing with figuring out how to stop that right now! I will be popping back on from time to time. And if you miss me you can still find me on twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Why? Well I find those easy to dip in and out of, they just don't take up my time in the same way. 

Today (Wednesday 12th November) I will be painting a portrait demo at Patchings art centre. Still a few days left if you haven't seen my big exhibition there yet - it finishes on the 23rd.

Thank you Paul for coming all the way from Canada - you should really get a prize! :-)

Portrait of the artist's mother

Meet my sweet little Mum! On Saturday I painted her portrait in the middle of my exhibition in the Barn gallery at Patchings art centre. We had such a lovely day and so many friends came to watch the painting take shape. It was a lovely atmosphere, thanks to everyone who came and to the brilliant team at Patchings as always. We had a really great day.

Although I've sketched her over the years I think the last painting I did of my mum was the one below, painted when I was still a student 22 years ago!

I am really enjoying the quick portraits that I've been able to do this year, I hope to get some more done this winter so let me know if you'd be interested in sitting for me.

Explaining my absence...

Tall ships at Falmouth docks
Oils 12" x 16" unframed 16" x 20" framed
£950

I should have sent you a postcard, I know... but I've been a busy girl dashing about all over the place again. I've had the pleasure of five days of painting in Cornwall, mostly at Falmouth where tall ships from around the world were moored for the first time since 2008, for the Falmouth to Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta. 

What a fantastic carnival atmosphere there was! There were thousands and thousands of people there and it was pretty hard to find a spot to paint at times. It can be pretty overwhelming in such a crowded place, but once you've staked your spot by setting up your easel and start working you can pretty well block the rest out and you become sort of a part of the scenery.

For the last month or so I've been taking advantage of the fine weather and taking canvasses out with me to paint, rather than panels or boards. I've absolutely loved painting on the soft yielding surface of canvas. It's always been my preferred choice for the studio but takes a little bit more effort to carry outside and isn't ideal on a windy day.

My favourite size to use outside has been 12" x 16" and sometimes 14" x 18" and I will be exhibiting my latest paintings from France and Cornwall at Patchings art centre near Nottingham, where my very 

next solo exhibition will open on October 4th.

Yes it's very soon and yes I'm very busy finishing and framing, signing and varnishing right now!

Click here for details :-)

Detail 

If you can't wait til then to get your hands on one of my tall ships paintings and claim it for yourself then you might like to take a look at the Harbour Gallery as Mark already has three hanging up on the walls, all framed up and looking beautiful, including this one.

Squeezing in wherever I could get a view!