Coming To Life

Loved pet dog, coming to life  during a workshop demonstration

Work in progress.

Hi again. I finally have time to come onto my blog and leave an update. The good news is that Bailey, my Bearded Collie, is now home from the Royal Veterinary College in London and whilst last week was a nightmare he is doing very well and has started eating too. We took him to our local vets this morning and they confirmed that they hadn't expected him to survive. It is still a complete mystery what caused the infection that nearly killed him but he is  getting over it and  I am so relieved. I do understand losing pets to old age, a sad time we all have to face  as a dog owner, but for Bailey to go through this ordeal was alarming and it wasn't time to say goodbye yet to our dog, we knew that.

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me such kind messages. Its' going to take me forever to reply but each one has been a much needed hug. I actually felt a lot more " fragile" than I was letting on but I think many of my friends already knew that . I'm not ready to lose my four legged shadow yet and he obviously isn't ready to leave me!

So lets' get back to painting on my blog now!

Yesterday I had time to unpack the files from last weeks workshops. I put photos away , dismissing any I didn't feel were of value for future courses because next year  I am moving into a new "realm". Then I looked through my last weeks' demonstrations. I must have had sparks flying off my brushes! I still cannot get over how fantastic the groups of people were on each session last week. I loved the time of day when you could hear a pin drop in the silence of  fabulous  enthusiasm  whilst everyone was painting following my mornings demonstrations or "one on one" time in the afternoon.

Sometimes its' easier to sit quietly with an artist and show how I would approach the subject they have chosen as it doesn't necessarily follow on from my demonstration. Sometimes just one small tip can make all the difference to the watching artist " getting it" in how I paint without a sketch. I loved the little dog above and happily showed how I would work from a starting point. In this case the eye, and move away from it to build up the painting gradually. Each section has its' own importance and I loved  working towards the gorgeous ear that I felt I would stroke gently if the dog were mine. Fur under the mouth was interesting in that it added to the dogs facial expression, one of hope for a treat perhaps!

I love facing a completely white sheet of watercolour paper and watching a subject come to life on it. Theres' a point where all of a sudden , someone watching the demonstration sees what you as the artist are aiming for and it is magical. I certainly felt the connecttion when this little dog apeared from first the eye, the ear and then finally the soft smudge of a nose.

How much more should I work on this piece? Well the nose does need stronger definition. I may blur colour away from the defined side of the face to hint at the second eye being there but the painting is working very well almost as it is. We can see the character of the pet now, so much more added could lose the freshness and sense of  intrigue.

I will update my blog more regularly as I am now in my studio working on  my next solo exhibition and I am on the last stages of writing my next book so there is so much to look forward to. 

And so much to do! I had best get back to work!

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