Poppy Fusion

Poppy Developing from an Initial Wash

Sunlight shining through the upper petals  and ripples in the beautiful petals  create interest in this  first stage.

Looking back this week has been full of wonderful moments. Holding workshops in Hampshire  to demonstrating for a wonderful art society. Meeting incredible people. Recieving brilliant news of an exciting new project and most thrilling of all recieving a brown  package from my publishers. In it  is the advance copy of my book. It is here, the real thing. And you would imagine I tore it open eagerly  to look inside to see the result of all  the paintings and text I have so caringly put together.

The strange thing is this package is still sat on my desk. Seriously!

I have been looking forward to this moment for so long but I feel the same sensation of when my cover was to be on view for the first time. At that time all of a sudden a peculiar feeling of not wanting anyone else to see the cover set in which was completely unexpected. 

But this is different.

I have dreamt of writing a book to share my passion for watercolour for such a long time. I knew I wasn't ready to write until now. And to be honest in my soul there is already a second book full of exciting new ideas and techniques. However my first book has taught me how to paint. I thought I knew what I was doing until now. But putting into words why I  work in my style has really opened my eyes. I have studied why I choose colour combinations and why each brushstroke matters. I have enjoyed how water and pigment create patterns. Always. But now  I understand more clearly why every single detail is so important to my results.

It is as though someone has turned a magic switch on and I just can't paint enough  or find  as much time to capture all I feel . I see colour and light so clearly now. So much so that painting it  has become an addiction. I want all of my watercolours to literally sing with life as beautiful explosions of colour transformed by light.

I sat in my garden this afternoon and gently played with pigment and water to capture a poppy from my cottage garden. Photographs of the flower can be found on my cottage blog. I listened to birdsong and  became fascinated at how the light  shone through the upper petals making them appear to be transparent. I took a photo of my first stage and a memory flooded back of this time last year.

Then I had decided to include a poppy in my book. And that too is an explosion of colour and watermarks.

A year on I have grown so much. Light is even more important to me now and how it effects everything I paint.

In a few days time it will be my birthday and only then will I open my package to see my book. This will be the most special of birthdays . I will wait patiently looking forward to celebrating the magic of holding the first copy in my hands for the very first time as my dream comes true.  Until then I have a feeling I will be painting a rather large collection of poppy paintings!

**********************

" How to Paint Colour and Light in Watercolour"   my first book will be launched at the Mall Galleries on 7th July during the S.W.A. Society of Women Artists 2010 Annual Exhibition. 

Please join me to celebrate the occasion. Everyone is welcome.

******************