PPF12 - THE EXHIBITION!

YEA!! It's up. I think it looks great and ...I have my first sale! I decided to do a silent auction. Start price for all canvases $200. ($50 each for the three small ones.) My friend who helped me hang has put on the first bid for, of course, the one I like least! The last, and biggest, one I painted.

I love the sea but still don't think I got the clouds quite right.
Today - cook that I am - I am making afternoon tea for the Saturday opening. Home made Danish Pastries, scones, Toll House biscuits and a very New Zealand version of ginger crunch. Who cares, you are probably thinking. What does it look like. Well, like this:

 Yes, there is the dreaded tree. I quite like it now! I added a silvery sheen to the tree which gave it a bit of life. The three small ones, I realise, I didn't do a close up of but if you want to see them they are here and here

The gallery part becomes part of the shop here, and then back to the gallery part

Here. This below, is the by the door as you come in and looks great from the courtyard.

 

This is as you come in on the left. On the left is my artists statement. It's not the usual thing. I have added it in full to the bottom of this post. I cut it and cut it and cut it! The dream is a much bigger story.  but hey, there is only so much anyone can be bothered to read!

To make the silent auction look OK ( I hope) I put a copy of each picture on the little sheet so they aren't just forms, but also have some colour. Final picture here is the new skyline and extra work I did to the grasses on the boat one. Makes a big difference to the picture. Left old right new.

And Finally - I am not going to be posting for about a month. I am going to Sydney, Australia next Thursday to see my brother and his family. My far too young and beautiful niece has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Then after 10 days there I am home for 4 before going to a 15 day silent meditation retreat. And I wouldn't call myself a meditator!! I just feel really called to do it. I have done retreats before and it usually takes me 6 - 7 days to settle down so a 7 day retreat is just frustrating, so hoping that I will settle and get something out of it.  Nonetheless, I have given myself permission to leave after 7 days if I haven't settled down. I will try and follow PPF for the next two weeks and if you are still in Go Mode when I get back mid July I will start posting again. Phew this is a long entry.

Now, really finally - my artists statement!

Two and a half years ago I dreamed my best friend – not an artist – was proudly showing me a large exhibition of her paintings.  As we left the space I stopped in my tracks and said “Kath, there is a problem, I feel rage, THIS IS MY ART WORK” That day my vision was full of the paintings I had seen in my significant dream.

I’ve played with art since leaving an unfortunate art school experience in the early 70's. Two years ago, a combination of the dream, the possibility of having an art studio and some good fortune gave me permission to devote myself to art. The first year was experimental. It wasn't until late last year that I confidently held a paint brush and discovered how I like to paint. Into The Sunset is the result.

Why do I paint? Because it's fun. I love the warm, bright, strong colours. I delight in the finishing touches I put onto the canvas with the iridescent and interference paints. I love the way light plays on the canvas making the painting change at different angles. Each one feels like a bit of alchemy. They make me feel good. I hope they have the same effect on you.

Why a silent auction? I want to share these paintings, so I have set the price to a fair minimum. You can pay more either through bidding, or just because you want to! And, honestly, if I don't sell anything I am going to end up with a storage problem!

I hope you enjoy these paintings as much as I’ve enjoyed painting them.

Great love to you all. Rosie

PPF 11

This time next week the exhibition will be hung and that is what you will see for my pictures for Paint Party Friday week 12. I've been beavering away and  I thought I had time up my sleeve  but the last two things are taking a really long time. I've put a tree silhouette on the moon scape. I did it on paper first and looked and looked and looked at it and decided yes, go ahead. Now it's painted on - I DON"T LIKE IT. But I am stuck with it. Some one even said they'd buy it before I ****** it up! The big problems are the trunk, its too big and, it's just such a totally different picture now. It still needs its interference on the tree but that is not going to change the dead tree look! Ah well, I am pretty happy with all the other paintings. I should have stuck to my colour pallet!

 The big one I started last week is also  ummm... odd. The bottom part is great - I love the sea and the skyline - which you can see quite well on the top picture but the top clouds are just not working.YET

The grass on the bottom picture is just the paper version. I think it works, actually, I know it works, so that is a big long job tomorrow. 

And finally my studio is an absoloute tip! You can't see the floor or the general mess EVERYWHERE in this picture but I just push stuff aside and soldier on. I will do the big clean at the end of next week.

PPF10

I don't seem to have done much painting this week. I did paint some over the weekend and that's mostly what I have to show you this week. So why has this week been so 'slack'. Well, Monday's creative effort was with SoulCollage and by the time Carla left I didn't really have much painting energy left. Tuesday - hmm what is Tuesday's excuse - I went had had lunch with my partner Terry but I was home by 1.30 then I sent the invites to the exhibition. Wednesday I wrote the press release for the exhibition - and looked at how to write an artists statement - gosh that's posh! Today, Thursday, who knows? I'm fiddling around writing this blog and having a general procrastinate! Doing lots of little unnecessary just yet bits like painting the edges of the 'finished' paintings. This is where I HAVE to trust the process and trust that I will do what I need to do when I need to do it.
This is what I have to show this week.

 And da da da the waves one with out the waves

I am sure you can all see, I certainly can, that the approach is changing a bit. I have one more big, the biggest I have ever used, 24" x 30", canvas to do and have found an excellent Waiheke Sunset. I started it a bit at the end of  yesterday, Thursday,  and got into a proper start today, Friday. I have put it up here even though it looks dreadful so that I can surprise us all with developments next week! I am mixing far more colours than I usually do. I mostly just paint straight from the tube.

 

Click here to see some pictures of Waiheke Island which is where I live. See if you can guess my photo inspiration! Have fun with Paint Party Friday

PP9

Thanks for all your kind words about my ear. It's heaps better, I'm not deaf in it any more. YEAH! I have had a much happier week and therefore have been more productive - I think.

GRRR I wrote this whole post up on Thursday cos I was out all day on Friday and for some reason it didn't save even though I SAVED IT. So, in a word or two this is what I did. Just went to post and discovered it wasn't just me. Big heart felt empathy for everyone else effected.

The one below is new - it has yet to have rushes painted at the front.

This one was the pink and blue one. I gave that another go and then gave up and made this one up, all the others use photographs as their starting inspiration.

Next - waves are gone but next week it will look even more different as am changing it a lot and putting a fisherman in it.

Just for  a change,  this one is a moon rise. It's way to dark and need to do something about the hard white line top right. It also has tree silhouettes at the bottom.

Thursday was a wonderful day. I painted and painted and painted and really enjoyed it. I was also listening to interviews from Inspiring Women Summit. Some great stuff there. Thanks for all your lovely comments and I look forward to seeing your work.

PPF week 8

This week I really have nothing much to show for myself. I have been dealing with ear problems which has knocked my painting on the head some what. They are, it seems, on the mend. Hope for a better week next week. The good news is a friend made the poster for my exhibition.  This is it. The picture in the latest version is a bit better.

I did finish a 'finished' painting. The image was falling off the left side of the picture and with the darker top right it all stays in place!

Gesso'd out the bottom of the larger sunset and gesso'd out the wretched waves of the long thin one. The top part which, of course, doesn't really show is quite nice. (Iridescent angled version on the left)

 Trust me, the waves looked much better in the photograph. So, not sure what I am going to do next with that canvas, try again? Do something very different or, in the end gesso it all out and start from scratch. So a lot of starting again this week. Oh and this embarrassment! It is the second try at a first coat and I do hope it's going to come good.

 

Hope to have more yummier stuff to show you next week. Thanks again for all your comments, it's very nice to know someone is looking and appreciating! Oh - and you might like to check out my other blog called SoulCollagenz Have a great Paint Party Friday

PPF Week 7

Thanks so much Kristin and Eva I am loving Paint Party Friday.

Progress once again feels slow. I do, as of last night, have a name for the exhibition, which is still a month away, it's called Into The Sunset. I am working on a poster for it but might get someone else to do it for me. 
Meanwhile, I have almost finished this one.

You can see the iridescence on the right.  I just adore the way the picture looks different from every angle and in every light. I think this is the best one I have done so far. Once I had it up on the wall I could see that the lump of 'land' on the right is way too big and the 'stream' needs more shape. I will gesso that part  when I have done this post.

This next one is proving maybe just a little beyond my skills. I saw last night what to do to make the waves look more like waves, but not sure if I have the technical ability to pull it off. You can decide for yourselves next week. I also think the sky below the blue is a mess and it is, at the moment, without its sun. It wasn't centred!

Short post today. Thank you all so much for your comments. I didn't get round a whole lot of blogs last  weekend, will try and do better this weekend. We are staying in Auckland tonight - in a proper hotel no less -  for a Burning Man - Temple of Transition fundraiser. Long story about why I support something that just ends up in flames, basically I really support the passion of the man in charge!

Week 6

Progress really only sped up yesterday.  I didn't do anything on Monday after being told on Sunday night by the Dictator - oops, sorry, Chair - of the Red Shed Arts Collective that she had 'forgotten' that I was having an exhibition and has arranged something else closer to her heart. But all has ended up well and I am now going to be in a much lighter (but smaller) space, run by much nicer people which will get far more exposure.YEA!

I have done lots of ground work, prepping canvases with texture, gessoing and working out what to do next. I have also spent some time on the one I posted last week. It got much too dark and is now all bright and red again, not really like the original I am using as inspiration. I have to remember, it's inspiration not what I am painting.  Here are the stages. Last one feels finished.

 I used retarder for the first time when I painted everything orange. It needed a good sunbake the next day to dry.
Below are stage 1 & 3 of another one. I used water soluble oil pastels to see if the design works. I thought it would so gesso it and am trying one without any texture at all. RADICAL! Now I'm on stage three I am still not sure. I like painting without texture but not sure about the look. It still have a long way to go.

 

And finally, stage 1 & 3 or yet another! I do seem to love a deadline!

Happy Easter you all. Looking forward to your kind comments. I realised last night when I read them again that I have been thinking you are all just being nice. But, I am willing to get that you do really like them. Thank you XXXX

Paint Party Friday week 5

I am loving Paint Party Friday. It has kept me on track all week. And, I have finished one picture and all but finished the other. This is the finished one. I had to take the picture at a bit of an angle so you can see all the iridescence and gold etc. I had this one up last week face-on. It just looked very red!

And this is the other one. I just need to make some changes to the little islands. They are in silver at the moment need to be the same as the big blacks in the background.I have put an angled one up so you can see the iridescence again. I love iridescence. It is so much fun putting the finishing touches on.

Just so you remember, this was last week!

 

Below was the blank canvas last week with a photo stuck to it. It still has a long way to go. It has had a number of coats trying to get the clouds looking like clouds, not quite got it yet.

The one on the right is the original picture taken by my friend Vicki I can't quite get the sizes right cos can only fit two small ones together. (I find Blog.spot quite frustrating. I need some lessons! Anyone got any suggestions? Some of your blogs are wonderfully full of goodies. I can't even get the Paint Party Friday button up!)

Yes, I know, sunsets and sunrises. I am obsessed. At least I have moved on from RED and only red! I am painting towards an exhibition I will have in The Red Shed our little co-op gallery in June. At almost 62 I count as an emerging artist!! Looking forward to your work.

Paint Party Friday week 4

Been painting this week - phew first time for what feels like weeks but is actually only days. So this is where I was on Tuesday. No tonal range here!  So  I thought I would spend some of Thursday lightening it up. This is the one that is on the right in the previous Paint Party Friday blog entry.

 Painting it was an interesting process. At one point I said I hate this and reached for my trusty red and put a red wash over the whole thing. Terry came by and said "It's very stark". He is no longer allowed to comment! It's very off putting, especially as I know he doesn't like all of my work. Unlike my dear Mike who is always positive no matter what I do - except da da he didn't like this one! Thursday morning came and I  really hated it so I gesso'd it away. And that's when it all came together.
What I have been wanting to paint is sunsets and sunrises cos I LOVE the colours. So, I have given my self permission to do just that. James was a good teacher but I want to paint what I want to paint not in the style of. As soon as I started on a sunset I felt SOOOO much happier and content and on track.  This is what it looks like now first the gesso's stage, then I put very light paint down to 'map' it out,  a new thing I just did.

And the one you all liked the colours of? That got gesso'd too. It wasn't coming together and I wasn't having fun! This is it now. Its still got great texture!

I want to paint this sunrise on it. The picture was taken by a friend of mine Vicki. She is doing a motor home trip round NZ and you can find her blog with wonderful photos and writing here. Scroll down a bit for the really good ones!
And finally drum roll please...This is the one I have been working on. It's had two and half coats and still has a long way to go. Photographing reds are always problematic so you'll just have to trust me when I say it's got great potential. The white is green masking tape. It will be black, but a good, interesting black.

Now it really is watch this space. I am not going to freak out and gesso it. This is the canvas that had the silly textured sea and even that is working on this one!