Cook's Bouquet

Flowers in a jam jar

Some cheery daisies (not sure exactly what breed they are!), just the antidote needed to the wind and rain storm ranting around outside. As usual the glass intrigued me more that the the flowers but an empty jam jar would look odd!

Baby Blue Shoes

I spotted this sweet pair of shoes in the antique place and couldn't resist! The are so old (1940s) and crinkly and the leather is worn through on the soles. I imagine that once outgrown, they were passed on over and over as toddlers just don't do that many miles!! Not like today when toddlers have as many shoes as Imelda Marcos!! Pastel on board and a looser style this time.

Large cooking apple

A quick study.

Stargazer Lilies

Time to get back to work! After messing about with acrylics for a while, I need to concentrate on building up enough work so that I have some to choose from for upcoming exhibitions. This one and the Sunflowers (painted some time ago) are going to be submitted for the Royal Devon and Exeter Friends and Family Exhibition. Even if they don't sell, I hope they will cheer up someone's day!

Experiment III

I reeeeally struggled with this one - bits of it I am very pleased with and bits of it not! I thought it would be a good companion to the last one but I'm not sure they go together.

Experiment II

I was searching for inspiration to carry on with my 'teach myself acrylics' programme and I looked at too many Cornish coves and rolling Devon hills paintings. There are plenty of painters out there doing these subjects and doing them very well, but I wanted something a bit different. I didn't hop on a plane to New York - this was the Wetcanvas August landscape challenge so the photo was used with permission. I did enjoy it although the taxis were a bit tricky. I think I will try and continue in this vein for a while and try some more cityscapes.

Experiment

I have decided to teach myself how to paint with Acrylics and although I wanted to try abstracts, they all kept turning into landscapes! So I have gone with the flow. I don't know how well this works but I did enjoy it and that's the main thing. We went to Weymouth last Sunday - the drive there is beautiful up above Chesil Beach, and the seafront is colourful and bustling. The town is not as pretty as I had hoped - maybe they will sort that out before the Olympics. Anyway, I took loads of photos of people enjoying the beach and the top corner of one caught my interest. It was a real leap of faith as I had no idea how to go about making a load of blobs into a cohesive picture. But that's what the brain and eyes do together - a bit like reading a sentence with some of the words missing - it's surprisingly easy to fit the missing words yourself.

Cherries

Cherries

Cherries

Cherries

Cherries

Cherries

start

Not such a bright idea!!

I had this great idea to paint a tin full of light bulbs - I didn't think this through. Getting the shapes to work was a nightmare and I know that if you look too long you will probably see things that aren't quite right. However, I was determined to see it through to the end. I would like to say that I learnt a lot - what I learnt was not to try and paint a tin full of lightbulbs again!!