The Elements :)

Wow, this was hard to take photos of! Both panels are coated with resin and it is like glass. This piece is two 45cm x 100cm panels. They were painted for a show with the theme 'The Elements'. The theme is open to whatever interpretation you like, but I haven't strayed far from the basic four elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire...with the added idea of Night and Day. The first panel has Fire represented by the Sun in Gold leaf, and Earth with thick crackled surface and some tiny stones. I really enjoyed doing the textured parts of this one. The left eye on the Water Buffalo is actually a little Earth globe that can spin :) The other panel has the reef and ocean on the bottom with the owl and the moth representing the air and the night. I have also included vintage poetry, one panel has 'Day Break' and the other has 'Twilight' (Longfellow). The owl has a little monocle and the moth is real, there is also a little working hinge in the reef part that reminded me of a treasure chest. I used much brighter colours than I have been lately which was fun too :) Cheers!

It's Here It's Here It's Here! Yay :)

Yay, I have waited all year for this! Incite 3 - The Art of Storytelling is out and my little painting is on page 135! Please excuse my excitement, it's not every day I get into a book :) The book is beautifully printed and seeing the other artists that are in it I feel so amazed to see my artwork included with theirs. Can't wait to make myself a cuppa and sit down for a good old dose of inspiration...cheers!

It's been a while...:)

Yes it has been a little while since I posted...been busy, so busy! As you can see, time has not dulled my interest in painting horns and antlers :) This top piece was so enjoyable to create from start to finish, that's so rare for me. Normally I enjoy the first couple of hours then there is a struggle in the middle when I start to question everything I am doing (this can last 2 hours or 2 weeks!) then the final three to four hours are normally the icing on the cake for me. Someone asked me how much time I spend on a large painting and I honestly couldn't answer. Every piece is so different, generally a large pastel will take about 4-5 hours of actual painting but the puzzling and analyzing adds countless hours and a large mixed media piece...well, they keep me up at night! Maybe if I guessed I would say they have maybe 10 - 15 hours or so of hands on work, but sometimes weeks of planning, sketching, second guessing, research and puzzling go into them too! I haven't pinned down titles for these two yet, but the first piece was inspired by an afternoon in the garden with my daughter...it was so alive with insects, birds and reptiles...as the painting progressed it started to feel like a Shakespearean play, with all the drama and weirdness, so I tried to give it a feeling of a set stage with lace curtains and vintage wallpaper...not sure where I was heading with the second piece...kind of magical I suppose! I ws really enjoying laying the texture on thick with this piece, anyway cheers:)