Winter Berries 2016

"Winter Berries"

I am still very much wearing a nurse "hat" at the moment. While my husband is recovering from surgery I have had little free time to paint. It is amazing how well we work as a couple but at the moment everything in our home depends on me, so painting is a luxury I look forward to as and when free time allows.

Right now part of my husbands rehabiliation is walking and I am using this time to find new inspiration which has come in the form of winter berries hidden amongst the foliage on our country rambles. But I have painted holly and ivy berries so many times before and I was reluctant to paint them in the same way.

This afternoon I tried a new idea and it worked beautifully. You might be surprised at how I prepared the paper for this new approach to working in watercolour but as I am now heading into a new year, full of new workshops and a new literary project I'm going to keep my new technique a little secret , just for now because it is fabulous and so much fun. Naughty of me to mention it I know but if art was only about one way of creating, even I would get bored of painting!

You can see the beauty of flow in this section of the above winter berry painting, with gorgeous icy effects forming.

 Ice effects from preparing the paper surface prior to painting

 After creating the above composition I couldn't resist painting another simple berry scene. While I was in the mood. When there is so much going on in life and you can't concentrate on really serious detail or complicated pieces it is always best to paint something from your heart, something simple and usingc olours that make you feel relaxed and wonderful.

I loved painting these pieces today and now I have some great ideas for new work when I am next in my studio.

 

 "Winter Berries Too"

Artist tip for today?

Simple.

Go for a walk.

Look for treasure

Bring one simple thing home and paint it in a way that is different to how you usually paint

And most importantly?

Have fun!

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