Showing posts with label Violets in Watercolour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Violets in Watercolour. Show all posts

Wednesday, 12 April 2017

Scented Violets: Spring 2017

"Sweet Violets"

This afternoon I visited Christine who used to handle my UK workshop bookings. In her garden she has a wonderful path that is covered with wild  violets and she kindly gave me a small posy which I  hastily painted on my return to my studio. The posy is now on my easel, as seen above,  as these delicate flowers don't last very long in a vase.

As I painted them I smiled because Christine once came to vist me some time back ,with a tiny glass jar full of violets from her garden which I also painted. After a while  I gave Christine her little glass jar back but by this time I had fallen in love with it. It wasn't special. It was just like a little jam pot but incredibly small and sweet. Perfect for holding small flowers like violets.

Christine later, knowing me well,  gave me a gift one Christmas which was a box full of things I loved but wrapped amongst these treasures was one better than any other. It was my own little glass jar to put violets in. I loved the kind gesture.

I now have my own violets  starting to bloom in my own cottage garden. Not as many as in Christines' garden yet but in time there will be more, as they self seed and plant themselves everywhere. Each time I see this little flower I always think of Christine now.

I enjoyed playing with colours this afternoon to create this quick little study. Seen above. And I loved the happy memories it brought back to me.

Isn't it funny how one little thing can lead you to thinking of so many others?

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Saturday, 29 March 2014

Spring Violets at The Frame Gallery in Odiham, Hampshire

Spring Violets
£350

This time next week my new solo exhibition "Watermark" will be open at the Frame Gallery in Odiham, Hampshire.

Among my new collection are two very sweet paintings of violets. I am thrilled with how they look in their frames and will be very sad to part with either . So much so that a part of me is hoping that no one likes them! I probably am not the best artist to show in a gallery as I often wish to keep my favourite paintings however I have limited wall space in my cottage!


Please contact the gallery if you are interested in any of my work

The link to contact Jan the gallery owner is 

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Violets in Watercolour

Violets in Watercolour

How I love my life! Okay there are blips in it at times but if my life was always perfect then the wonderful days wouldn't be so fantastic. Today I had a meeting with my wonderful PA, Christine, who artists on my workshop will remember. Christine is fantastic in everything that she does for me and together we make a perfect team. But not only do we work well together, we have many similar interests. Gardening and flowers being just two.

Today we had rather tedious issues to discuss. Behind the scenes details that all businesses incur. But Christine arrived with the sweetest little glass jar of  stunning violets. Their colour was amazing and when our meeting was over it was impossible for me to continue working on my book or exhibition paintings. I just had to paint the violets. I painted three little pieces, each very different in composition. One had  fine detail on the main flowers. Another was more of a wash with flowers  "discovered" in it as is my way of working. But the painting I like most of all is the quickest brushwork . Telling the story but without too much fuss. Which is the piece I am sharing in this blog post. ( See above )

I learn so many lessons when I am writing my blog. From this post I can say 

1) Life without friends would be empty
2) Cease the moment, because these little flowers wouldn't have waited for me to have time to paint them and look what I would have missed.
3) Treat yourself now and then to something just for you. This painting was just that. Painted for fun to relax and I loved it.

I hope you do too!


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