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Permission To Paint

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Permission To Paint

Do you give yourself permission to paint? When there are pressing demands on your time it’s worthwhile to evaluate the importance of the attention you give to your Art. What it means to you and why you want to spend time playing with paint.

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Do You Have A Hero?

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Do You Have A Hero?

I’m taking more time to mix colours that are ‘right’. Suddenly I hear a chorus of “What exactly is a ‘right’ colour?” Of course, there is no such one colour. A ‘right’ colour is one that looks absolutely gorgeous next to the colour around it. I’m not being haphazard and just seeing what appears – I’m thinking, what exactly do I want?

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A Painting's Journey

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A Painting's Journey

Deciding to rework a painting can often be seen as taking a backward step. But following your intuition and listening to your guiding inner voice is essential. Until you LOVE your paintings - they are not finished.

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SHOULD You Use A Sketchbook?

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SHOULD You Use A Sketchbook?

“How can you call yourself an Artist if you don’t have a sketchbook?” Well, I explore my ideas in the process of my paintings on the canvas. I love trying this and that right there on the canvas. And I love that these explorations become part of the painting and are embedded in the surface.

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About Winning Art2Life 1st Prize

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About Winning Art2Life 1st Prize

So last Wednesday when I sat at my computer on that Zoom call and one by one watched the other Artists get their awards and then finally when the 2nd place was announced and I knew I had won – I heard a whoop from my partner in the bedroom - and I cried…

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Selling Your Art

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Selling Your Art

SELLING ART. With the knee-wobbling price of art materials and given that none of us are going to stop producing it’s something that we have to deal with, like it or not. I‘ve learnt that selling Art is a long game. Read my 5 tips for selling your Art.

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The Power of Pretending

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The Power of Pretending

Taking doubt and hesitation completely out of our Art Practice is challenging. But what if we pretend we operate with assurance and confidence? The power of pretending can be enlightening and result in lasting change.

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Finishing Again

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Finishing Again

How do you know when you’re finished is one of THE most frequently asked questions, and probably the most difficult to answer. Well, you just know – you know? How do I go about deciding that perhaps… maybe it’s possibly… quite probably finished or…. almost done – nearly?

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From Start to Finish - in a nutshell

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From Start to Finish - in a nutshell

Someone asked me to explain my process. The clock was ticking, we were closing in on the hour and that’s a big question. So I summed it up by saying “I add, add, add and then I start seeing shapes, decide what the paintings going to be about and then edit.” If only it was that simple…

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Other People's Opinions

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How to be strong and resolute in the face of unwanted opinions. Asking the right people and asking the right questions will help us move forward with our painting and not be steered off course in our painting journey.

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My Studio – What it’s REALLY like

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My Studio – What it’s REALLY like

…when I have my music on, a canvas on the wall and my palette swimming in wet paint the mess, the skinks, the spiders, and the rats are not even a thing – kind of.

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Building Layers with Mixed Media

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Building Layers with Mixed Media

How do you integrate drawing and painting techniques in your artwork? Watch how I vary wet and dry media with differences in types of paint application. Working in this way holds my interest in the process and delivers variety to work with going forward.

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Painting with Total Abandon

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Painting with Total Abandon

The journey from difficulty and confusion to clarity and joy. That’s the path we are all on with our Art. We are all at different stages of that path – some at the beginning bogged down among the weeds, and others further along emerging into openness where the path widens and the walking is more easy. We can kind of see the way forward – a bit.

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How To Catch The Viewer's Eye?

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How To Catch The Viewer's Eye?

How do we get the viewer to notice our work? What makes us look twice at something? Knowing how to attract the viewers eye helps us to make more powerful Art.

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Do the Groundwork Women!

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Do the Groundwork Women!

My most recent experience of husbands getting involved with choosing artwork had not ended happily. ‘Dance Steps for Men’ was rejected by a husband (who I assumed couldn’t dance) after his poor wife had come from out of town to see it and almost had the picture hook nailed into her living room wall in anticipation.

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Opposites & Aliens

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Opposites & Aliens

When I paint I ask myself a series of questions. My number 1 question is: What is the Opposite of...? Finding a balance between Opposites and Relationships delivers harmony and interest in your work. Watch the video as I demonstrate using one of my favourite paintings.

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How to Start a Painting

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How to Start a Painting

Some people agonize over starting their paintings, which is a shame really because it’s like setting off on an adventure – but the best sort of adventure. You don’t have to scale heights, get wet, lost or hungry, you don’t even have to leave home. But you ARE venturing into the unknown with very little idea of what will result from the experience.

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Photo Transfers

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Learn how to do Photo Transfers.

Materials used: Heavy Gel Medium onto Laserjet Photocopy on photocopying paper

Then Soft Gel Gloss to stick the Photo-skin to the painting surface.

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Perspective

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Perspective

How do you achieve Perspective in your practice? I’m not talking perspective achieved by ruling lines and identifying vanishing points. I’m talking about how you keep a healthy balance between the good and the not so good that happens along the way in your Art Practice.