Yellow Tulips and Pears

The Trevena influence continues. I am hoping that I will develop my own style and not be hooked in being a poor imitation of a wonderful artist. I did not learn the lesson from the last painting of planning my picture before hand and once again I was forced to crop this picture to make it work. I have to admit to being unreasonably pleased with the pears - very happy with them. They are such a joy to paint.

Pink Tulips - Silver Linings

There is no mistaking the influence Shirley Trevena is having on the paintings I am doing at the moment. I had an argument with myself about this today - is it alright to copy a style and I came to the conclusion that it is. Learning from someone else's process gives you tools that will help define your own style. Even the old masters had and were students themselves, learning at the "Master's knee".

One of the things that I have learnt from Shirley is that you should allow yourself to experiment - it is after all, just a piece of paper. I spent two days this week painting what at appeared to be a reasonably good piece - at least, it was until after a sleepless night, I leapt in with both feet. The problem came because I had not spent enough time preparing my sketches and had thought that the little blank corner made nice composition. Only I had no idea what colour I was going to fill the empty space with. And the result was a horrible mess. I threw the now offending piece on a pile under my work table. Placing a pre-cut mat over the side with which I was happy, I found that it made an acceptable smaller piece. Lesson for the day is, do not despair, a disaster rarely covers an entire painting and smaller sections might be redeemable.

The Blue Vase

After a week of throwing acrylic paint rather unsuccessfully at a large canvas, I came back to watercolour for relief. Very aware of a Shirley Trevena influence here, though the image started from an idea from a totally different artist. I often look at other artists work because I am fascinated by the process they use but the danger is then that you get stuck in their style and not producing your own work. Which is another reason why you should paint form your heart.

Arum Lilies

These are one of my favourite flowers of all. I love their sculptural quality and the grace of the curves of the petals.

Experimenting with backgrounds this week with lots of different techniques, using cling film, blowing and dribbling paints and masking fluid and splattering. I'm having to learn patience and waiting for layers of paint to dry in order to get clean lines with no spreading of colour. I find it very hard to have more than one piece on the go at any one time though I think that is the way to go to maximise productivity.

Late for Christmas .......

A little late for Christmas but one of my favourite birds, nevertheless. Their little red breasts brighten even the darkest winter day, adding a splash of colour. While still working predominately in watercolour, I am beginning to think more about mixed media. I've been studying various artists including John Lovett, Shirley Trevena and Ann Bockley and their wonderful use of all the water media and different implements to mark make are inspiring.