Poetry in Motion : Rose

Rose

Workshop Demonstration 2013
Pure watercolour only

It has been yet another incredible week as I have held the last of my UK Summer workshops for 2013. Each day I met fantastic groups of artists and there were many moments where as the mentor I had to leave the room silently, just to soak in the incredible atmosphere which was fantastic. There were happy tears at times as artist reached goals for the first time or found a level of enthusiasm that had been missing from their art lives until now. This was indeed a very special week.

I show my passion for watercolour through my workshops mainly to share not only my joy for working in this magical medium but also to encourage artists of all levels to discover the pleasure I feel when moving my brushes. I cannot describe this fabulous "high" when pigments flow across paper. But I do believe everyone of us that works with colour is privileged in so many ways. 

I am now going to work on my new book quietly throughout the rest of the Summer, it is beginning to take shape and look fantastic. Each chapter is like a Chistmas gift waiting to be unwrapped by the reader and I am hoping to give as many "gifts" away in it of step by steps and tips. Writing it is making me feel even more enthusiastic than I do already about painting in watercolour. Something that I thought would be impossible!

I am now reading  touching emails from some of the artists who attended my workshops last week thanking me fo rthe sessions. If you are reading this Sue, I loved your comment about "watching me work is like watching poetry in motion". What a fabulous compliment and thank you so very much.

Thank you to all the artists who have attended my sessions  this year. The 2014 workshop programe will be sent by email to everyone on my contact list at some point in September or October. Please book early when it arrives as there are some  really exciting sessions planned for next year.

I will be sharing details of my 2014 International Workshops later too.

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For full information about my 2014 workshops please email me on

 jeanhaines@hotmail.com

If you belong to an Art Society and wish to book a workshop in USA or Australia please contact me directly for full information as I am now planning my 2015 tour.

Learning To Walk

Beautiful Veronica Flowers in a soft watercolour

Ever since I broke  my ankle I have had to learn new things every day. At first I had to learn to overcome the pain and discomfort.  I also had to learn to let go of my independance as I have needed help doing even the smallest of  daily tasks.  For example I can make myself a cup of tea but I can't carry it anywhere while balancing on crutches! It will also be some time before I am allowed to drive. But each day small steps in the right healing direction have boosted my soul and confidence so much.

My accident and what it has taught me really has been such a positive outcome for my life as it is  today. For a start I realise what a fabulous husband I have as nothing has been too much trouble for him and not once has he complained about his new role of carer.

But I also have stopped and looked at a white piece of paper each day and imagined what painting is like for the beginner or the artist who is frustrated at things not going how they want them to. Everything we do in life builds from the earliest, small baby steps, every new skill you try and sometimes even gaining back lost skills, lost for whatever reason. I am going to have to learn to walk again. Something I took completely for granted. Of course I know how to walk but putting my foot down in exactly the right way isn't quite as simple as I thought it would be. It isn't co-operating without a lot of encouragement from me!

Isn't that like starting out in watercolour. We know what we want to achieve but things don't always go as we planned at the outset. The main secret to any skill we learn really is not to give up when the going gets tough and to practise as much as possible. I have loved painting the Veronica flowers so much and each time I start a fresh painting it is better than the last. I am learning all about my subjects' colour, form and even "feel" because it is so delicate and that is what I am trying to portray in my results.

Learning to stand on my own, and walk again will take time, patience and determination. But I know this.  I know that if you want something in life badly enough you will get it. So if you are on the point of giving up or feeling disheartened with anything in life , take  baby steps to achieving your goal and guess what. You will get there. Like me. 

But maybe we should put off running until we are absolutely ready!!

Artist Tip of the Day : Never Give up and don't run before you can walk!

Golden Flow.

Golden Flow

Shades of Springtime

I have had a wonderful month in Spain and returned home last night eager to get back into my studio in UK.  On arrival I  became  immediately excited as so many flowers are beginning to appear in our garden. Snowdrops in beautiful white clusters, crocus pushing their heads through the lawns and the daffodils are out shining regardless of the grey skies above. Their glorious dash of yellow brightened my soul so much that I just had to work with them this afternoon.

I have simply sat and looked at what I see outside my studio window and played with every colour and shadow. This abstract beginning pleases me so much, so it is a great base for a painting and I look forward to continuing my experimental washes tomorrow and completing some exciting new work.

As there is no sunshine here today I am definitely making my own!

You can see more of my Spring Flowers on my web site gallery via this link

 http://www.jeanhaines.com/gallery?&g=11

I am currently  in a solo exhibition at the James Gallery in Budleigh Salterton.

I have a major solo show coming up which will include Sweet Narcissi paintings at the Wey Gallery in Godalming. Full details can be found on my web site

www.jeanhaines.com

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Heavenly Scent : Narcissi Spring 2013

Narcissi painted in my Spanish Villa garden this morning.

The sunlight in Spain is  wonderful. It was impossible for me to ignore the temptation to paint in the garden this morning. I listened to the distant bells on the sheep grazing in the fields as I painted sweet perfumed narcissi. Their delicate flower heads have always been a favourite of mine as subjects  and the calm I felt whilst working on these was wonderful

Art can be therapeutic and relaxing once you get into that wonderful zone of your own world and no one else exists in it.

Heaven on earth!

Snowdrops 2013

Snowdrops 

Work in Progress

Snowdrops from my garden are strongly on my mind as I start to paint each day.The small exercise I recently shared on my blog has instilled my passion for bringing these delicate little flowers to life. I am still drawn to the mixtures of violet and blues as my background with hints of green appearing now and then. My favourite small bud shapes which I usually depict in my snowdrop paintings have opened into the pretty shapes of the flowers in full bloom.

 Small snowdrop study from an earlier blog post this week

My studies each day grow in size from small pieces of paper to large as my imagination takes over. I now have so many wonderful options to choose from for new compositions and I am ready to start a new series of working with this beautiful sign of Spring.

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Artist Tips for the week.

1) Get to really know and understand your subject before attempting to paint it.

2) Take your time experimenting on scraps of paper before setting out to paint a finished masterpiece.

3) Decide what you love and what you hate from your results when practising painting a subject

4) Plan ahead to quality quiet time after the exercises to work on your real painting

5) Most importantly enjoy every part of the creative process.

6) Never put pressure on yourself to get brilliant results each time you paint, you learn far more from disasters than successes!

Waste Not, Snowdrop!

Snowdrop appearing

Negative Technique

I am reading some wonderful emails from readers of my blog and books letting me know how much my step by steps are enjoyed. Thank you so much to everyone who has contacted me and as I am slowly catching up with replies you should hear from me personally very soon.

For now, just a small tip that helps me get started each day. Keep a few scraps of paper so that you can start each painting session with a fun daily exercise. This morning I loved painting negative shapes around snowdrop flowers. Leaving the white petal shapes on my fresh paper I worked around them using  different colours from my palette.

The above small exercise was achieved with French Ultramarine Blue and touches of Quinachridone Gold  to warm up the very cool  appearance. I left random dots of white paper to give a sense of snow falling or movement in the area around the flower.

With very little detail this can later turn into a finished small piece but how about taking your study further? On a new piece of paper paint a cluster or row of snowdrops. Use salt on the background wash to create texture. How about using cling film in the foreground to add leaves or stem shapes? What about working with orange or pink in the background instead of blue and violet?

When you start thinking about how to paint snowdrops the possibilities are endless!

Have fun, enjoy creating and imagine you are seeing beautiful snowdrop flowers swaying in the breeze,with their tiny heads bobbing now and then.  Aim to capture this life and freshness in your results.

Happy painting!

Dancing in Sunshine 2012

Rudbeckia

Flowers coming to life dancing across white paper.

While I was teaching  my watercolour course at Dedham Hall I noticed some gorgeous bright yellow flowers on very tall stems, almost dancing in the sunshine. One artist asked how I would approach painting them as a subject and so I gave a small demonstration to show my way of working. Basically I wanted to capture a feeling of sunshine.

Today in my garden I have painted  vibrant yellow rudbeckia that are also on very tall stems standing above all the other flowers in the same flower bed. They look proud, majestic and almost as if they are wearing bright skirtst which move with the aternoon breeze.

I felt so relaxed painting this piece and allowed the colour to work almost on its' own to bring my subjects to life with as much light as I could gain within the composition. Although it needs further detail, as it is drying it looks as though it could be left alone as a painting.It works beautifully making me smile and feel the last of the summers rays on my shoulders.

Don't forget whatever season you are painting, it is short lived so make the most of every day and paint what you can when you can!

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Please note my 2013 UK workshop information has now been sent to everyone on my contact list so if you have been in touch you should by now have recieved full details. If not please email me again on jeanhaines@hotmail.com

I will be publishing the workshop information on Wednesday of this week once my email waiting list has been notified and had a chance to book. Please email me if you would like to be on the workshop email list.

Last days Of Summer 2012

Delphinium picked from my garden this morning for a wonderful relaxing day painting in blues.

Over the last week I have witnessed the wind and rain knocking down all the beautiful delphiniums in our garden. Normally I leave these flowers  rather than pick them for flower arrangements as their beauty and vibrant blue shades add such drama to our cottage flower beds. But as the wind had knocked them down my husband had gathered them and given them to me while he worked outside in the sunshine yesterday. I do so love this part of my life, being given armfuls of gorgeous flowesr from our own garden to decorate our cottage with. It feels like something I have yearned for over the years of constant travelling from country to country while we lived abroad,to finally have a place that I know I will be living in for the rest of my life.  Initially I made a wonderful flower arrangement with the delphiniums for our home but I kept looking at it last night and dreamt about the flowers as I slept. So I knew this morning I would just have to get the majestic blooms

 out of my system and paint them!

Cerulean Blue as a pigment has sat in my palette almost ignored all summer and finally it created a basic wash which I merged Winsor Violet in places for the petals. Inside each centre I used Indgo added with my own personalised rigger brush which is perfect for adding fine detail or smaller amounts of neat pigment which I often use as a technique.. I have also used my rigger for working around individual petals adding touches that seperate blocks of colour. I am thrilled with the feedback I am receiving from buyers of my personalised brush sets and love the words " sensual to use" that keep cropping up. They do glide across paper beautifully and help with my work so much. But the finest of Kolinsky brushes always will be a delight to use!

My tip to anyone aware that  a season is coming to an end, is to make time to paint what you love before it disappears until next year. I often say life isn't a rehearsal and we should never put off until tomorrow what we could paint today while we feel so enthusiastic about it.  During my demonstrations and at art events I am meeting so many artists who tell me they never have enough time to paint. Well today there are many things that I need to do including plant foxglove seedlings so that I have lots of them to enjoy painting next year but my heart and mood feels so much more energised and happier because I painted what I wanted to paint first!

So my artists tips this Sunday.........

1) Do something just for you even if it is just once a week

2) Find time to paint! Even if its a ten minute play with colour, paint!

3) Don't put off until tomorrow what you know you could paint today!

Have fun!

Close up of the delphinium I am working on.

Sweet Pea Seduction

Sweet Pea watercolours from an afternoon painting in my cottage garden

The weather has been glorious today so I have worked in the fresh air allowing the sunshine to  cloak my shoulders.Its' been a really superb weekend with time to relax in my cottage garden and move my brushes to simply capture light in my work.

This year has been  so busy with exhibitions and deadlines to meet so I feel as though I have had a wonderful holiday escaping into a world of florals,painting from life and loving every second  of it.

I worked on several small studies and then brought them into my studio to place on my easel. A few finishing touches will be added to each tomorrow and then I will probably work on a few serious compositions of the subjects I have painted over the last few days.

My favourite sweet pea painting so far ,almost finished with a fabulous softness about it. It really does look like the flowers in my garden in strong sunlight.

It is such a great feeling leaving my studio knowing these will be waiting for me on my return tomorrow.As always, I can't wait!

Pretty In Pink

Japanese Anenomes coming to life from a watercolour session in my cottage garden

The weather is beautiful and as our summer has seen little sunshine this year, I am making the most of every day by painting outside in my cottage garden.

I have many flowers to choose from as subjects. Whilst the foxgloves in various sections of the flower beds and woodland have been tempting my brushes I couldn't resist capturing the first Japanese Anenomes that are now coming into full flower. Their delicate petals are such a contrast from the stronger bell shapes of the foxgloves. I want to  bring that sense of their being able to move in a breeze, so find myself opting for gentle brushstrokes whilst I work. Which is really encouraging my colours to sing on paper.

Artists who have attended my workshops will know I use very little pressure on paper whilst I paint. These floral brushstrokes have truly been a soft whsiper across the surface of each white piece of paper that I have loved creating on.

For now I am going back into the sunshine while it lasts. Like flowers  that only bloom for a short season each year I strongly believe in making the most of every positive moment in life. Never wasting a minute of something too good to miss!

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Foxglove Fantasia

Foxglove Collection

August 2012

Works in Progress

I couldn't wait to race into my garden today. Armed with paper, palette and brushes to continue with my series of foxglove watercolours.

I sat in sunshine and quietly explored several of these gorgeous flowers growing in my cottage garden. The wild variety  have wonderful single,bell like shapes hanging downwards. These are in one area of my garden but the more domesticated variety  I have grown form fantastic shapes,several varieties have tightly packed clusters of bells forming downwards along the stem,opening more widely as they near the base.

Its' been heaven sitting studying the colours and patterns within these subjects this morning. Happy memories came flooding back from childhood when I was convinced fairies existed and lived in these beautiful flowers. I was always told never to pick them because they are highly poisonous but their beauty is outstanding and they make great subjects to paint. As an adult I am loving watching fat  fuzzy bumble bees disappear inside each flower as they collect pollen.

My favourite paintings  so far is the one in the middle on my easel,waiting to dry for the next stages to be added. How relaxing to paint a subject you love so much and enjoy working on sheerly for the pleasure of making them come alive on paper. Although these will be completed and framed at some point for exhibitions.

I can't wait to continue with my new floral collection!

Beautiful Fogloves almost leaping off the paper towards me as I work!

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Memory Lane; Sweet Pea

Yesterday I visited the Wey Gallery in Godalming,Surrey after delivering a new collection of work to be framed.  I loved seeing the fabulous gallery display and I have new subjects appearing there soon.

On my journey home I passed a garden that was full of rows of sweet pea, one of my favourite flowers. Their blast of colour  in the rural setting was incredible.  Everyone who came to one of my workshops, earlier this year ,will know I have been disappointed because the plants in my cottage garden this year at that time hadn't produced any blooms.  I am happy to say they are now flowering well and beautiful sweet pea paintings will be coming in the next few weeks I am sure.

Why do I like them so much as a flower?

They bring back memories from my childhood. I was brought up by strict Grandparents and flower picking from their garden wasn't allowed. But my Grandfather would pick little bunches of sweet pea now and then for me to give to my  step mother when my father remarried.  I would carry these little bouquets  as treasure to my new home, to a woman who changed my life by bringing colour into it. And kindness.

Their fragrance is so delightful that I now place little bouquets of the blossoms around my home to bring Summer inside. I chose two varieties to plant this year,both heavily scented. One is a  mix of vibrant colour.the other is soft muted shades. So it will be interesting to see which appeals to my brushes more!

You can read my orignal post about sweet pea via this link and it was really interesting for me to read this morning too. I am loving looking back on my older blog posts, enjoying how I felt at that time. I didn't realise by sharing my thoughts here I would be inspiring my own brushes to move on familiar subjects too. And see how I would portray them later on in my art journey.We will find out!

A real trip down memory lane!

http://watercolourswithlife.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/painting-from-life-sweet-pea-in.html