News and snaps from my studio. Sometimes I write about new pieces that I’m working on that are not released yet. If I think of a tip or piece of advice that will help you look after your painting I’ll often share it here. If there’s something specific you want to find, there is a search box down below.
I love Kingfishers and they are a favourite painting subject of mine. This one is big at about 30” square, and very brightly coloured with shocking pink and teal blues. Im exploring acrylic painting right now, using brushes, fingertips and paint pens to add details and textures and pushing the colour to create work with a high visual impact. Shocking pink and orange work really well against the bright teal and orange of the bird, I find these colours truly heartwarming!
Barn Owl in Flight
This new oil painting is a work in progress on my easel this week, Once this layer of paint is dry, I will be able to add the finishing touches. check back later in the week if you want to see the completed painting.
Here is my ‘Springtim Chickadees’, featuring Blackcaps. Ive enjoyed painting these uplifting little birds so much!
Here are some bird paintings in various stages of progress over the past month. This is a lovely project for a publishing company and its making me feel like Spring is finally here too!Once finished all of the original small oil paintings will be for sal
This week I have been gathering my available paintings together and having a look at them with fresh eyes as I prepare for two exhibitions coming up in the Spring. With oil painting there is always the opportunity to return to an unvarnished piece and make some ‘tweaks’ at a later date. This week I decided to take 4 of my pieces to one side and give them a little facelift, adding a touch more vibrancy and contrast. This is possible by gently cleaning the surface and ‘oiling out’ the painting to provide a uniformly glossy surface to work smoothly onto. I then apply glazes of fresh colour, which can be removed , or partially removed to give the desired effect if necessary. I find this process super enjoyable and quite exciting.
Two of my bird paintings acquired a second set of wings along with the makeover!
Working on a pait of blackbirds
Adding in a little friend for my lone Starling…
