I love swimming. I love the feel of my body sliding through the water. I love the world below the water and the distortions in line, shape, and colour it creates. When I first saw pastel paintings by Michele Poirier Mozzone, I was fascinated by her perspective of looking up through the water at the
I was delighted to be invited by Ed and Gary to demo at the Schmincke booth at the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Conference again this year. What to paint? I had a few possible reference photos collected but just before I left home, my mum, excited about some Iceland Poppies that a neighbour
As you probably know, I’m a big believer in the power of thumbnails. I create three-value thumbnails in black, grey, and white, namely, I use the extreme ends and mid-point of the value scale. In this way, I produce a very clear, high-contrast map of what I’m going to paint. Students, however, are often confused
Sometimes you come across a painting that keeps you looking beyond a cursory – oh-that’s-wonderful thought. I especially love when the deeper looking involves a painting (and artist) previously unknown to me. This is true of today’s close look blog post. Check out Les Confidences by Edmond-Francois Aman-Jean (b. 13 January 1858, Chevry-Cossigny, France – d.
Recently I received an email from someone going to Tuscany. Knowing I was also soon to travel to that part of Italy, she asked if I would mind making suggestions about what colours she should take, i.e. help her in choosing a colour palette for travelling. I answered her directly but thought that since it
Hedgerows and flower heads, skies and leaves, paths and vistas – welcome to the world of Judy Tate! I’m comforted and delighted by Tate’s abstractions of the Dorset landscape. For some reason, they recall images from my English childhood books. And so I looked forward to the day Judy Tate would (hopefully!) be a guest
A plein air painting in 20 minutes? Why not! Ever had a burning urge to paint, to sit down and paint something, anything? I know the feeling really well! Yet so often we succumb to the excuses we’ve made like not having enough time. It’s amazing how we create obstacles to prevent ourselves from painting.
I’m back from a wee holiday in our favourite village of La Manzanilla. This getaway was all about taking it easy, swimming, reading, catching up with the locals. Aaaaaaand, I also hoped to do a couple of pastels. As you probably know, laundry is a favourite subject of mine so our beach towels on the
UPDATE! 15Nov24 – Since Michele Ashby contributed this guest post, she’s created more paintings inspired by her children. I’m excited to share these with you at the end of the post. ~~~~~ Over the last couple of years, I’ve featured three pastel paintings by Michele Ashby in my round-ups. Each time was of a different
Ambiguity in art: art work having several possible interpretations or meanings; of an uncertain nature. And why am I bringing this up? Think of the Mona Lisa’s smile. It’s ambiguous- we don’t know why she’s smiling and there are so many possible stories we could create. She’s kept us intrigued all through the centuries and
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