The weather was lovely and my spring plants were looking so nice. I thought if I don’t go out and paint them I will have lost the opportunity. So I put fresh acrylic paint in my stay wet palette, arranging my colours around the palette like a colour wheel. With my small easel, paints and paintbrushes out I went to the garden. The tray at the front is for mixing and when the acrylic dries it can be peeled off. This is a new acquisition which I am finding really practical.
I have been reading lately about Henri Matisse. I love his use of colour and design. I decided to get out my acrylics and do these two paintings after Matisse. I really enjoyed the process of making these studies. Matisse was very fond of having a theme in his work and I just love the ones he did looking through a window. His compositions were amazing. I am sure these paintings will inspire a future painting.
“Expression, for me, does not reside in passions glowing in a human face or manifested by violent movement. The entire arrangement of my picture is expressive: the place occupied by the figures, the empty spaces around them, the proportions, everything has its share.” Henri Matisse
“The window” after Matisse
“Flowers in front of a window” after Matisse
I have just finished and delivered this commission. It is fun to paint on the Slate. Each slate is intrinsically different which gives a lot of originality to the finished work. I am in need of restocking my supply of slate for future paintings!
One day to go until the opening night at Pittenweem Arts Festival. I look forward to seeing everyone! On the lead up to the Festival I have been doing a number of paintings on slate. The one above is one of them. I love the variations in texture which is a natural quality of the slate.
I thought I would try something a little different. I have been collecting odd pieces of slate from beaches around Scotland with the intention of using them to paint on. However we were getting work done on the roof and the roofers left a couple of odd slate tiles in the garden. The tile was a nice shape with two holes either side perfect for a display at Pittenweem Arts Festival. You can see where the holes are one looks like a skylight on the top right the other looks like a round window at the end of the house.
I enjoyed using bright colours to portray this Fife scene.
This is another painting inspired by my trip last summer to Southampton in Canada. I did the study for this on a windy day with the sand whipping up around me.
I have been preparing for a workshop I am doing this week for the Perthshire Art Association. I though a seascape would suit using acrylics as an underpainting and finishing with soft pastels.
Doing this study took me right back to the Outer Hebrides and its quirky landscape.
Just loved this beach on Barra. However it was one of many beautiful beaches we saw on our trip to the island. We were only away for a few days yet I have had so much inspiration from the visit. I look forward to doing more paintings soon.