I lived in Cape Town for five years until fairly recently and one of my favourite haunts was a Mexican restaurant called Panchos in Observatory’ where I discovered the pleasure of Margaritas big time. It was, and still is, a vibrant area and this restaurant is right in the middle of it. I saw these two girls there one Friday night, enjoying their evening, eating their Tacos, drinking Margaritas and I just thought it would make a great painting. I have kept this photo till now and am ready, hopefully to do it justice. I am not a fan of the colour green usually, for some reason, but this vibrant shade on the wall just has to be kept in, as it touches and adds colour to so much around it, the glasses, the jacket, the hair and even the flesh. The painting would lose a lot and become boring without this rich colour. So be it! Do sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home Page if you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to. I will be showing my work at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead, London…
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Completed and happy at last…. I have so enjoyed the composition of this piece. It is a restful pose, very peaceful, although I am not sure how many women keep their shoes on to read their book. My shoes are the first thing to come off when I come home – it must be an enthralling novel. I was going to leave out the Christmas tree initially, not being sure if it helped the composition, but in the end I decided it added to it, hence the title of the work. Christmas is such a busy time and sometimes one just wants to escape it all and settle down with a totally absorbing book. The red hair has been a real bonus to paint and I am very happy with how this has turned out. So next in my head is a scene in a Mexican bar with some Mojitos to hand, girls having fun on a Friday night. More next week! Keep up to date with what I am up to by signing up for my Newsletter on the Home page of my website. http://www.michewatkins.comRead More ›
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream”, Van Gogh. I get so excited when I start a new painting, because it is an idea I have had germinating in my mind for a while and I can’t wait to put paint on the canvas and paint my dream, exactly as Van Gogh said. The photo for this work was kindly given to me by one of my Twitter friends, Tom Boulton (@snowglobeman on Twitter) who writes wonderfully evocative sensual poetry. The photo is of his beautiful wife Natalie. It is a great photo, but has presented me with a few problems. Normally, I don’t necessarily concentrate on getting a likeness (I was a portrait painter in a former life) as I want to get on with the narrative side of my work. However……I DO want to get a likeness this time for both Tom and Nat’s sake, so will be doing one more week’s work on the detail! I am nearly there, but as with every artist I have ever known, we are always, always, trying to reach perfection and never seem to attain it… I was so pleased to be part of Manhattan Arts International’s Featured Artist…
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