Still working on the commission, its slow work balancing work commitments, a social life and being an artist! I am not at all happy now with the first version - the colours are harsh, the need to get going again has made me rush along and now I am not at all convinced by it at all. Strange though how peoples tastes vary. I have had some very positive feedback on my venture into collage with my seahorse, featured on an earlier blog, but it doesn't 'd it' for me at all! Hey ho.

I've been catching up on one of my favourite artist's blog tonight - Ann Blockley. I was also lucky enough to see her work last March at the Royal Institute of Painters n Watercolour exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. My oh my Ann makes it seem effortless. If I had even a smidgeon of her talent I would be delighted. Her techniques are so loose and flowing and her paintings really appeal to me and inspire me.

I was given some pastels and pastel paper for Christmas whch I intend to experiment with very soon and I have a plan for a new acrylic painting which will be my second ever acrylic painting (see gallery).

The ideas are still flowing, but the time to paint isn't!

The commission is coming along well now and I have decided to do another version. The one I've been working on is very similar to the previous painting and it is so hard to imagine what is in another person's 'minds eye' when asked to paint a similar but different painting. I think I will probably complete both versions before I publish them on this site. Because the first painting that was bought and consequently inspired the commission was painted over a year ago, its a very interesting exercise to go 'back in time' and to paint in a similar style. Reflecting on this has made me realise how mch my style has changed and how much I have learnt over the past year. The old style in some ways is much more simplistic and impressionistic (not of the Impressionists genre, this isn't what I mean at all!). All in all its been quite a pleasant experience really. As always once I am back to it the ideas just keep on flowing...I really ought to keep a log of all my ideas...but back to 'in the minds eye'; a written log does no justice to those paintings that I see in my minds eye (and often neither do the paintings that I produce!!!).