I'm working hard to complete pieces of work for the exibitions I intend to take part in (see previous blogs). Here's my latest watercolour that I've called Three Roses. I tried some new techniques - no masking fluid again. The outline was drawn in pencil then a wash of cobalt blue and aureolin was used, leaving the roses white, but blending into the perimeters of these with colour. A spritzer was used to shift and move the colours around a bit and my old favoutie salt was used in places. Once this was dry I started to paint in the dark areas using french ultramarine, phtlalo turquoise (one of my favourites), sap green and touches of  alazarin crimson to create a dark bluey green tone. At times I mixed the paint  in the pallet and sometimes on the paper. The leaves and the rose petals were painted in far more paintstakingly and carefully, using wet into wet techniques mainly, using a pre-selected small  mixture of colours. I enjoyed creating this painting but it did take a while, partly due to having a busy few weeks doing other things and not having the spare  time to give to painting. Got to pull my finger out now, exhibitions are looming large and my lovely Roy and I are having a week visiting our property in Portugal very soon (see links), oh and I will also be exhibiting some of my work at The Lemon Tree Bistro in Framlingham from this weekend, all being well! Better stop stalling and go get painting!

I am very pleased to say that I intend to be exhibitiing some of my work at the following art exhibitions:

Needham Market Art Exhibition - Suffolk - Easter Weekend
New Buckenham Art Exhibition - Norfolk - Easter Weekend
Stowmarket Art Exhibition - Suffolk - details to follow, but usually Whitsun week

I am also delighted that my application to join Waveney Springs Art Collective has been accepted and I will be participating in various events - details to follow - including two open studio weekends in September.

My nieces Siobhan and Abbie visited me today. Now they would make a great portrait, wonder if they would let me....

Inspiration - thats often the hardest thing to find when painting, but not for me at the moment. I have loads of ideas for paintings, they keep me awake at night, lets hope that they don't dry up! This painting was completed last night and the next is already started.

For this painting the idea was to capture silver birch leaves with the sun shining on them. The photo on the left was the inspiration.  Masking fluid was used to keep the leaves and branches free from paint, then I liberally wetted the paper all over with a hake brush and freely added watercolours onto the paper letting them blend as they liked. I also added salt to the wet paint  in places which has caused the lovely mottled colour of the leaves.  This layer of paint was treated as the  mid tone and the negative painting technique was used to paint in leaf and grass shapes into the background, I quite literally made it up as I went along! I felt that the foreground on the bottom  left needed something more defined so painted in some dill flowers, using a photo as my guide. Once I was sure the background was as I wanted it,  the masking fluid was removed and the silver birch leaves were  painted in using an intial wash of aureolin.  When this was dry, lemon yellow and a touch of prussion blue were mixed on the pallet and used for the zingy lime greens, following up with phthalo turquoise for the darker shades.

I had no intention of creating a realistic painting, or even using the correct colours, silver birch trees don't have turquoise branches, but in my painting they do! I wanted to create something bright and colourful based on silver birches in the sunshine, rather than an  exact replica - another attempt to be creative!

I am very pleased that I have sold two paintings by having this website.  Meadow Flowers  and Snowdrops after Nancy Meadows Taylor have both been sold. I knew it was a good idea to create a website!