Hive of industry

From the title of this post you might think that I've been busy painting, but no, I haven't been particularly prolific. I'm really referring to the bees that nest in the roof space of my shed/studio every spring/summer. Each year I think they won't be back, and then around May it is rather disconcerting to hear them buzzing away just inches away above my head, just the other side of the tongue-and-groove pine panels. 

Their presence used to put me on edge so much that I found it difficult to concentrate on painting, and I didn't dare play any music in case the vibrations sent them into attack mode – or they're not fond of the Pet Shop Boys. But some research on the matter allayed my worst fears, because apparently they won't attack unless they think their nest is in real danger – and I don't plan on opening the loft hatch and prodding it with a stick. Anyway, as the bee population is under threat I am glad to offer a home to one swarm; it's the least I can do. 

Right, I've waxed on about bees for long enough; this is supposed to be a painting blog. Someone saw the 'Cows in Dorset' greeting card and commissioned a smaller version of the painting. I don't normally paint the same painting again, but I enjoyed painting the first one so much that I was only too pleased to create another version. So here it is, pretty similar to the original, and smaller. And the recipient seemed happy with the result, which is always a relief.

Cows in Dorset, Mark II. April 2013
Oil on board (25x40cm)
Copyright Karen Davies

Next, my then colleague (she has now retired), Lindsay FitzPatrick, showed my some fantastic close-up shots of a seagull she had taken while on holiday in Cornwall. She gave me a selection of them and suggested they'd make a good painting, so I gave it a go. Here's the work as it progressed.

charcoal sketch

block in main colours of sea and harbour

Start adding in more detail with smaller brush 

Seagull in Cornwall, May 2013
Oil on board. (30x20cm)

So, thank you Lindsay for giving me the photo: I won't show the photo because a) it's not mine to publish and b) you'll see that the painting doesn't do it justice. Ha!

What else is new in my studio? Well, I thought a new palette would inspire me, so after years of using disposable palette pads, I treated myself to a transparent perspex one. Here I am putting it to use for the first time:

My new see-through palette

Yes, I know, I could easily have gone into hand modelling. 

It was lovely to witness the splendid old magnolia tree that Stanley Spencer once painted at the Odney Club in Cookham, Berkshire. This beautiful property and grounds are owned by John Lewis and they open up the gardens once a year to the public. They also have a sculpture trail there too, with a wide range of pieces for sale. It's well worth a visit. And here is a picture of the magnolia tree:

Magnolia tree at Odney Club, Cookham.

Finally, good luck to everyone taking part in Art on the Street in Maidenhead on Saturday, 8th June. This event just gets bigger and bigger every year. 

Coat of many colours

Family life seems to be limiting my creative output of late; that and the fact that my studio is very cold and damp and therefore uninviting during the winter months! Yes, I'm a bit of a lightweight, this is why I have only two paintings to show you. Perhaps the new year will bring with it a wave of inspiration for me!

The first painting was done from a photo I took on my last day on holiday in Croyde Bay, north Devon last summer. The waves were so rough that the lifeguards had put up the red flags to indicate that it was too dangerous to surf that day. Not that I am a surfer – I prefer to watch from the beach. I took some snaps from the garden of Baggy Lodge, a laid-back surfers' hotel and cafe, which backs onto the rocks on the road leading from the beach to Baggy Point. 

Baggy Lodge, Croyde Bay

It's great there because you can enjoy a spectacular view of the sea whilst supping on a very reasonably priced coffee. Here's the photo that I used for the painting. 

My photo of the rocks behind Baggy's

And here are three pics of the painting as it progressed. After looking at some paintings by Kyffin Williams, the Welsh painter famous for his use of the palette knife, I tried to be more gestural in this particular piece of work. I thought this style would suit the mood of the picture.

On the rocks (one)

On the rocks (two)

On the rocks. 2012 (final)
Oil on canvas (25.5cm x 30cm)

It is difficult to capture a moment in time with paint, but I enjoyed trying.

The other work that I have completed is a painting of my sister's beloved cat, Stella, and it was for her birthday so I didn't want to make a hash of it. I took a few pics of the cat, mainly in repose – her preferred position! I chose the one I thought would make the strongest composition and set to work on a large canvas.

Stella (one)

Stella (two)

Stella, 2012.
Oil on canvas (40cm x 50cm)

The painting framed

I ordered a frame that picked out some of the colours of the cat's coat, blue and gold. I used Picture Frames Express again as I have been impressed with the quality and price of all the frames I've had from them so far. I'm pleased to report that Angela was delighted with the result and it now hangs in her living room. 

Lately I've been dabbling with acrylics again. The benefits are that they dry quickly and can be used indoors, so could solve my problem of not wanting to work in a damp studio. I'll let you know how I get on with them. Some other news is that designer Annette Taylor-Anderson has kindly put some of my prints for sale on her new website ATA Designs interior online shop. Her work is cool, urban and contemporary and sells internationally. So a big thanks to Annette!

Great, another blog done and dusted. Now I can get back to my favourite Christmas present: David Walliams' autobiography, Camp David. Gripping stuff. So before my 'Computer says no!' I'll bid you a happy new year.

Karen

Jubilation!

Hello again,

I thought it was high time I let people know what arty things I've been up to over the past few months, and it's not as much as I'd like it to be. But enough for a blog at least.

Anyway, first up in May was my second time participating in Maidenhead's biannual
Art on the Street event. This time the sun shone and we had local musicians gigging up and down the high street for added entertainment. I didn't sell any of my pictures - just a few cards - but I was proud to be part of the growing artisan movement that the event's organiser Marie-Anne Leonard is trying to generate in the town. She has big plans for Maidenhead and I'm sure, with her enthusiasm and energy, she will succeed in revitalising the high street. Hopefully I will get my work into one of the many pop-up shops Marie-Anne is now setting up. Perhaps someone else will be more successful at selling my work!

Back to painting, then. I've only managed two oil paintings of late. The first was the last of many chicken paintings I've done. This time, instead of focusing on one or two birds I've opted for a group composition. The following photos show how the work progressed:

 

Chickens in Wales (oil painting) 25.5 x 30cm (by Karen Davies)

The second painting came about after being invited to take part in an exhibition at Elizabeth House in Cookham to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I decided to paint a Corgi being walked by Her Majesty - anything to get away from all that red, white and blue. I didn't have much time to work on the picture before it had to be handed in for the show. In fact, it was still wet when I did turn it in. Oh well, it will be dry by the time the exhibition ends in five weeks' time (it opened on Saturday 16th June). Here's the painting:

'Loyal subject' (25.5 x 30cm) oil painting by Karen Davies

So, this picture is being shown along with Jubilee-inspired artwork in a variety of media by 15 other local artists. Pop along to Elizabeth House one Saturday to check them out, they're all for sale too. 

This week I've been inspired by David Hockney's charcoal drawings in 'A Bigger Picture' to get back to doing some sketching. It's an area that I've neglected as I tend to sketch straight onto canvas and then paint. It's good to get back to basics, though, and should help improve my painting.

Bye for now...

Double top

Hello,

My art cup well and truly overfloweth of late with 'blockbuster' exhibitions of my two favourite artists - David Hockney and Lucian Freud. I've been so impressed with Hockney's Yorkshire landscapes that I even bought the book to accompany the exhibition, A Bigger Picture, and intend to visit Bridlington one day, to see the source of his inspiration. I admire that he never stands still artistically, but is always trying new ways to depict his environs; be that using the camera obscura, photography, watercolours or even an iPad. Generously, he passes on what he has learnt on this quest to fulfill his own curiosity. One nugget of wisdom I found interesting was what he said he learnt from the Chinese approach to art: 'They say you need three things for paintings: the hand, the eye, and the heart. Two won't do' (Gayford 2011). So that's where I've been going wrong!

As for the Freud exhibition, simply titled 'Portraits' at the National Portrait Gallery, well, it's brilliant. The work on show spans seven decades, from when he was a student in the 1940s through to the unfinished painting of his assistant David Dawson and Eli (a whippet) called 'Portrait of the Hound'. It was poignant to see the last brush strokes this great artist ever made. After reading the book by Martin Gayford about his experience of sitting for Freud, 'Man with a Blue Scarf', it was exciting to see the painting for real. It's a very engaging portrait. However, I had a chuckle when I saw they were selling blue scarves next to the book in the gift shop. Those marketing people don't miss an opportunity! But the proceeds go to the gallery, so I hope they sold loads. And the hand-rolled felt whippet for £65. All in all, though, I came away with even more admiration for Freud's work, because what really came across was the utter power of his scrutiny and his dedication.

Anyway, back to my offerings. In between family life I have managed to get three paintings done in readiness for the next Maidenhead Art Market on the 12th May. There are two chicken paintings and another version of a fox painting done last year. Here follows the progression of the first one, called 'Golden chicken':

Golden chicken. Oil on canvas (25.5cm x 30cm)

Next up is 'Two chickens' (which isn't strictly true, because there is a third one in the background walking away):

'Two chickens' Oil on canvas. (25.5cm x 30cm)

And lastly,

'Fox in snow' (version II) oil on canvas (25.5cm x 30cm)

In preparation for the market I decided to get some of giclee prints framed. Rather than go to a shop,  I tried a framer online to cut down on the cost. I'm pleased I did. By uploading jpegs of pics to their website you can try out a range of frames and mounts to suit the image, the delivery was efficient and the product top quality. So I'll be a returning customer for sure. Now I just need to sell the prints…







Reference
Martin Gayford (2011) A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney. Thames & Hudson.

To market, to market

Well, there's just a few days left till I put my paintings up for sale at an open air art market this weekend in Maidenhead. It'll be my first time, and I'm sure it'll be interesting. I'm looking forward to talking to some other local artists as well as the general public – and maybe I will sell a painting or two. By getting some more giclee prints done of a few paintings I will be offering a range of prices – and hang onto a couple of originals I'd rather not part with! Let's just hope the weather isn't too inclement!

Since my last blog I've completed one small oil painting of a crab; I enjoyed painting the previous one so much I had to do another. I had planned to finish another version of 'Tree near the Jolly Woodman Pub'  in time for the art market (the first version of which I donated to Thames Hospicecare), but I wasn't enjoying painting a copy of something I've already done, so it's been put to one side for now. Anyway, here are the photos I took as the crab painting progressed:

Charcoal sketch of crab

Crab on a white plate (1)

'Crab on a White Plate' (2)

 'Crab on a White Plate' by Karen Davies  (20cm x 20cm)

 

As the festive season approaches and we are subjected to an avalanche of yuletide images, I've been thinking that perhaps, one year, I could join in and try to get a suitable painting accepted by a greeting card manufacturer. What about a painting of a handsome turkey? After all, I do like painting chickens so I reckon I could give it a good go and I do have some holiday snaps I took a few years back of the livestock on Lanlas Farm in Wales. I'll keep you posted on whether that little germ of an idea grows.

Recently I was surprised to be asked by for some tips on portraiture by a friend whose son is studying for his art 'A' level. The only nougat of interesting information that I could think of to offer was one that I gleaned from a book about the Welsh artist Kyffin Williams – and while it is fresh in my mind I thought I'd pass this on here in an attempt to make this blog as helpful as possible. In the book it was noted that Williams was influenced by an Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) who, in his portraits, 'would use the features of the face – particular the eyes – in a asymmetrical way, to heighten the impact of the portrait and to give the viewer greater insight into the subject's character'. After learning this, I noticed that many artists do this, including Vincent van Gogh, who uses this approach to great effect in his portraits. So next time I paint someone's eyes a bit wonky, I'll inform them it's deliberate and adds character.

And here endeth the lesson. Bye for now.


Reference
Nicholas Sinclair, The Art of Kyffin Williams, London, 2007.

Beside the sea

Hello,
Today I decided two more paintings were finished, so I thought it would be good to blog about them.

The first is a painting of a rocky cove which I passed on a walk up to Baggy Point near Croyde Bay in North Devon. The coastal path belongs to the National Trust and has stunning views. The rocks had jagged, sharp edges, so for the first time in years, I used a palette knife to help get the right effect. I hope to paint some more coastal scenes in future, and improve.

Photo used for the painting

Rocky cove, Croyde Bay (1)

Rocky cove, Croyde Bay (2)

Rocky cove, Croyde Bay 2011 (20cmx20cm)

The second painting I completed this weekend was of a crab and shrimp on a white plate. I had intended to paint an uncooked crab but the fishmonger only had cooked crab, but I was quite pleased about this when I came to do the picture because the orange/red hues of the shell made it interesting material to work from. Compositionally, those colours worked well with the blues of the big plant pot in the background. I took quite a few photos of the crab so plan to paint another version soon.

Charcoal sketch of crab & prawns

Crab and shrimp (1)

Crab and shrimp (2)

Crab and shrimp (3)

Crab and shrimp (30cmx30cm)

In readiness for the open art market in Maidenhead I'm taking part in on 3rd December, I'm getting some giclee prints done of three paintings – mainly because I don't want to part with the originals. The prints will be of the following paintings: Pigs in mud; Mackerel head and tails; and Seascape, Croyde Bay. And here they are below:

Pigs in mud. Oil on board

Seascape, Croyde Bay

Mackerel head and tails

I've sent them off to Redcliffe Imaging Ltd in Bristol as I was so pleased with the giclee prints they produced of my painting 'Cows in Dorset'. So fingers crossed these ones come out well too.

For any fans of Lucian Freud, I can recommend a book by Martin Gayford who sat (for many months) for a portrait by LF. The book is titled, Man with a Blue Scarf, and offers an insight into how Freud worked and his relationship with his sitters. It contains a lot of pictures of his other works as well - always a bonus.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to offer feedback on any of the paintings.

Karen

Mission accomplished

Hello,

I finally handed over three paintings to Thames Hospicecare who are based in Windsor, Berkshire.  And what a great feeling it was to do that and finally complete the project I began back in February. They seemed really pleased with them too. Just to recap, these are paintings I donated:

Big tree, Burnham Beeches 

Ploughed field near Cookham

Tree near Jolly Woodman Pub, Burnham Beeches 

In the meantime, I completed another mackerel painting, having enjoyed doing the first one so much, and then moved on to do a seascape.

Here's how the work progressed for the second mackerel painting:

Mackerel head and tails (1)

Mackerel head and tails (2)

Mackerel head and tails (final) (20cmx20cm)
Oil on canvas

I hadn't attempted a seascape for a few years and looked at some of the brilliant wave paintings by Maggi Hambling for inspiration. I used snaps of my summer holiday in Croyde Bay, north Devon, as the source material. 

Seascape, Croyde Bay 2011 (1)

Seascape, Croyde Bay, north Devon (2011) (final)
(30cm x 25.5cm) Oil on canvas

Currently, I'm working on a painting of the cliffs along from the same bay and I'll show you pics of that picture in the next blog.

The other news is that I have booked a stand at Art on the Street Maidenhead which will take place on 3rd December. It will be my first time selling in a market but my father-in-law Frank Stroud has the pitch next to mine, where he'll be selling his superb watercolours, so I won't be lonely!

Oh, and some more exciting news – an exhibition of Lucian Freud paintings is on at the National Portrait Gallery in February. Blimey, what with the forthcoming one of David Hockney's Yorkshire landscapes at the Royal Academy in January, my cup overfloweth!

Bye for now...