“A moment of complete happiness never occurs in the creation of a work of art” so said Lucian Freud, and I am not sure I agree with him. There have indeed been many moments with this work when I have been frustrated, angry, anxious, tentative etc etc, but every so often and usually by complete accident, I will put a touch of paint somewhere and the painting will just ‘sing’ and then there is indeed that moment of complete happiness. Or I will end the day thinking something is not working here, only to come in to the studio the next morning and wow, the picture looks great and again then I have that moment of complete happiness. As an artist, you can get so involved in your work and in a particular part of the detail that you can’t see the wood for the trees and get overwhelmed and lose confidence. That is the moment to step away from the painting and go for a walk, have a beer, read a book, whatever suits you, because when you return to the piece, you might just find that elusive dart of complete happiness. My apologies for being absent from Twitter…
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‘At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can’. Frida Kahlo I put this up today as it is Frida Kahlo’s birthday and she was so inspirational to me as a self taught artist, something not easy to be I find sometimes. The words are very true for all of us, not just artists, and female artists at that, who have always had it tough anyway. So to week 2 for this work and working up the colour before I get into the detail. There is an interesting exhibition just beginning in London of David Hockney’s latest portraits and I have been struck by the similarity in the colours I am using to his palette, entirely coincidental, although I have always been a fan of his colours and ideas. I need to get the hands right by next week, as I really want to give the impression of tension in these hands. This woman is beautiful ( under that hat !) and has a charmed life I would imagine, but to my mind she is worrying about where her husband is and who he is with……what do you think? I wanted to hide…
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A complete change from my recent paintings. Much as I love my quiet domestic scenes, women doing just ordinary tasks like drying their hair or chopping vegetables, I was itching to get back to my Mediterranean colours, the blues, purples pinks and yellows that lift the heart. So……I began with a beach babe in her bikini in the sunshine and then decided to add a twist. She would have her hat over her face and hands slightly clenched with tension. She is a beautiful woman with a lovely figure, the whole world at her feet. But….. She is wondering where here husband/partner is. Is he with his new woman as she suspects he is having an affair? Has he tired of this wife of his? I wanted to convey that you can be the perfect woman, but you can still lack self-confidence and have gut wrenching doubts about your relationship. Or this woman could be just fast asleep in the sunshine! This is oil on canvas and is 24 x 18″. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to, please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home…
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