Painting Sunflowers ...

It has been a week of sunflowers

I bought a couple of stems on a whim the other day at the grocery shop

and yes I did forget half of the things written on my list

why I even write a list is beyond me

but the gorgeous sunflowers made it all quite acceptable

that we still had no milk and dinner was going to have dodgy sides

I started with this sketch of the blooms in my little sketchbook

while having breakfast early in the week

and figured a bigger painting was totally on the cards

because the colours and those magnificent overblown blooms

just needed to be painted again

So the rest of the week was spent on this bigger one

which was done painstakingly bit by bit over the course of three days

as most of it was painted and drawn left handed

due to the fact that I had my dreaded port a cath thingy removed on Tuesday

it has been bulging from my right hand chest like a mad alien growth

since the end of chemo and needed to be accessed and flushed regularly

but I am now deported and along with that fabulous milestone

came the inability to do much with my right arm for a few days

as the stitches needed to stitch and all that

the only problem was that I had been thinking about painting them up

all day Tuesday while I was at the hospital

so by the time I got back I really really wanted to get in and get working on it

turns out left handed was pretty cool

not quite as much control but that works well with what I was going for

Scarily there probably wasn't that much difference in the end result

except that those loose squiggly lines took forever

but it was great to have to get in and actually think about the lines I was using

but at the same time have that lack of control and just see what happens

which turned out surprisingly well

but now I am even more impatient for the stitches to do their thing

so I can get in and do a right handed one and see if there is a difference

happy painting all...xx

Goodness Me...

I signed up for this thing called a Goodness Me box

 which is a bit like a lucky dip for grown ups

 remember them... I used to love Lucky dips in toy stores

 the whole anticipation of not knowing what was inside

so even crap stuff like plastic soldiers were awesome if it was a surprise

although then having said crap toy soldier things stolen by your brother

and hung from your ceiling fan so it almost takes your eye out when you turn the fan on

added a whole new delicious risking life and limb to the exercise 

so here is the swag... well what is left of the swag

the chocolate didn't even make it to the end of unpacking I must admit

and it is a tad decimated a few weeks in

and everything we have tried has been fabulous so the whole thing is a winner

it is a great concept as every month you get sent all sorts of healthy stuff to try out

and they send recipes and all that

and the packaging is swoon worthy

so much better than flying toy soldiers

But other than painting up the magnificent haul

I also got in and worked on more perfume bottles

this one is coming along

sort of

not quite there but there are bits I am really liking

like this bit

and especially this bit 

and this larger one is starting to come together as well

though it would appear it has a bit of a wonk happening

I am hoping it is the photo as it looks ok when I look at it

maybe I will stick to this part

no discernible wonk in this bit

plus I started a drawing of my salad servers in a sketchbook

which also looks mercifully wonk free

lots and lots of work going on at the moment

which is awesome

I am thinking it is because every morning now I am greeted by this lovely light

when I come down to the studio

there is something about great light that makes the world a more inspiring place right

hope you are all similarly creating up a storm

happy painting all... xx 

linking up with PPF

and my last post was for a blog hop hosted by 

Seth Apter at The Altered Page

lots of desks to sticky beak at... here is the link to mine...

Studio Table...

For my mid week blog post I am doing something a little bit different

I am linking up my studio table with Seth Apter over at The Altered Page

partly because I am feeling relatively smug as my table isn't a complete bomb zone

plus it will give me a good excuse to go and stickybeak at other tables

and also because I am not quite game to try to get in and finish anything off

as it has been quite the morning

and yes it is going up a day early but blogging as a tool for avoidance

especially avoidance of a crap day.... is a wonderful thing

this delightful morning opened with hand sanitizer in the eye

I kid you not... somehow in the space of going to sleep last night

and waking this morning the spout thingy dried over just enough

so it could shoot out that gloop at warp speed at a right angle

and squirt directly into my eye

which led to much hopping around and washing of poor eye

resulting in knocking over all sorts of stuff and stubbing my toe

which in turn led to muttering and mumbling while mopping up various smears of makeup

once I recovered from this I came down to find all the bedding from the guest room

piled in a smelly mess on the floor in the laundry

and a note from Sinus Man explaining that the dog had thrown up all over it this morning

ah the joys of having a mutt with a glass stomach

who is also stupid enough to try to eat anything that sits still long enough to be hoovered

then I knocked over my cup of tea

I blame the still slightly blurry right eye for this one...

burnt my toast

not slightly charred either but the sort of cremation

that has you madly turning on all the extractor fan things

while fanning the air and nervously eyeing the fire alarm

I dropped Phants to the train station

and came home to find the driveway blocked by a big arse truck

delivering to the builders a few doors up

tripped over the mutt while trying to unlock the door and answer a text at the same time

almost took myself out

 well maybe not quite but at the very least performed mad gymnastic stunts

while trying to hang out the king size duvet cover on my own

Wild Burrito Ninja looked like making a guest appearance I tell you

and finally knocked over a second cup of tea

so I am calling it a day and seriously considering building myself a blanket fort

and am not coming out again until things turn around... happy painting all...xx

PS don't forget to go and visit the studio tables over at The Altered Page

when they go up tomorrow..

Daisy Dream And Irises....

Short-ish and sweet today as the weather is just gorgeous

 way too nice to be stuck inside at the computer

or even in the studio painting

and I am totally impatient to get out and push the dog off the sun lounger

where he is sunbaking lying on his back, looking like a toad squished on the road

which is not his best angle

especially as the new hair cut somehow shows his belly in an unflattering way

no fur to hide behind now buster

So here is a speed wrap up of the week

Daisy Dream perfume bottle watercolour finished

a pure delight to paint from beginning to end

loving the whole series actually

and have two more drawn up and ready to go

 and I would have gotten to them

but it has been a week of things like dog haircuts,

baking, procrastinating about cleaning

and making lists which amount to nothing

except to look impressively organised and efficient

 well maybe it doesn't look impressive or efficient

this is the view above my computer....

actually that was it two days ago

there's more bloody post-it notes there now somehow

I think they have been reproducing while I am not looking

there are similar collections on the door of my bedroom

above the kitchen bench, near the phone and beside the bathroom mirror

scarily I actually think that is possibly what my brain may look like if my head was opened up

it would just be a mass of post-its piled on top of each other

and tangled into a giant post-it rubbish tip

between wall papering the entire house in post-its

I also got to catch up and have a cuppa with my friend Von this week

and she bought me these beautiful irises

they were just begging to be painted up

several times and in different sketchbooks actually

the purple of the blooms looks awesome next to the payne's grey sofa

yep I picked it because it is one of my favourite paint colours to use

isn't that how everyone decorates?

anyway I have a dog to unseat and some sunshine to absorb

so happy painting all...xx

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

and here is the link to Tuesday's Post

Some Ugly Children ....

Some Ugly Children...

One of my followers sent me an email over the weekend which pulled me up short

She said she often goes away from my blog feeling bad because the work is so polished

and she feels like she could never create such finished work

now I must say the thought of my blog making anyone feel bad about their work

or in any way at all is pretty bloody awful to me

so I decided to do a post showing some of the paintings currently on my desk

which all got stuck in the ugly child stage, or never quite came together

or just are doing my head in for various reasons

So let's open with my new kettle... which is gorgeous... all deep green and shiny

the painting not so much

going to take a couple of goes to do it justice I would think

This little sketch of the outgoing kettle was better than the new one

as an aside... this baby was called a whisper kettle

and was the greatest bit of mis labelling ever

as it sounded similar to a bomb going off in a toaster when it came to the boil

but despite hating this kettle with a passion that was a little unhealthy

the 3 minute sketch turned out better than the half hour I spent on the new beloved kettle

which is just how it goes sometimes...

This one doesn't look too bad

gorgeous tea and container, colour not quite there, but ok

until you see the whole page

yep... ink smudges all over the place, frame wonky and crap lettering

I smudged the ink with my sleeve... twice

then tried to fix it and just made the frame thing wonkier

then didn't put any thought into the lettering and used my normal chicken scrawl

and it happens to be in one of my favourite sketchbooks

no clue how I am ever going to fix it

it may stay stuck like this forever and never blossom into loveliness

another page in a different favourite sketchbook

that is all over the place like a dog's dinner is this one

that chicken at the bottom looks evil and is totally doing my head in

Phantom believes the chicken doesn't look evil

she believes it looks like a gangster bouncer chicken

not sure about that one, but fair enough I suppose

not to mention the smudgey paint and running colours

This one has been on my desk for months

and this is the second attempt as number one went into the bin quick smart

it is for a blogging friend called Carol to celebrate her getting some great medical results

the background was too bright so I tried to knock it back... not great

then the composition bothered me

so here is version number three

better composition, but a bit scared to put the paint down in case it turns on me

like it has the other two times

and of course here are the bloody deer heads

this is attempt number five

yep five 

I swear to you these things are sent to torture me

the minute I add paint it goes horribly wrong... scarily horribly

and all other versions have been consigned to the bin with a great sense of relief 

because then I don't have to face them

 then we have the cursed hydrangeas

I can't even tell you what number attempts these are

and these were the pieces I put my hand on in five minutes

there are so many drawings and paintings stuck in that ugly child stage it is scary

but just like Phantom who went through a dead ugly stage when she was little

but turned out rather gorgeous if I do say so myself

I have quite a soft spot for the duds and crap work

some of these will end up ok,others will come together nicely

but some will be forever rubbish... and that's ok

happy painting all...xx

Daffodils...

It has been a bit of a messy sort of  week

not around the house mind you

because I have been in a bit of a mad cleaning frenzy

which is a rare and wondrous thing I must say

I have this theory that the cleaning mood hits when the hairs in your nose get too long

because by the time I have bleached everything in sight those puppies are fried away nicely

Despite my hairless snoz, gloriously clean showers and gleaming kitchen

the week has still felt all over the place

We had some spring days which saw me hauling pillows and duvets outside to give them a good thwack which is amazingly therapeutic, if a little dangerous at times

carrying king size duvets down a couple of flights of stairs

with the help of the mutt who thinks that pulling at the corners

and providing a furry little obstacle course is all sorts of fun

is epically fraught with comedic possibility

mind you it also adds a frisson of fear to the whole process which is kind of thrilling

Plus I may have called Spring a touch early and those wonderfully warm days

were followed by a blast of freezing winds that could blow a poor dog off a lead

which drove us all back under the now dust free duvets

and pretty much halted the uncharacteristic relish in domestic chores in its tracks

But cleaning mood over and nose hairs dispatched meant the home front was under control

and I duly retreated to the studio, smug in my domestic achievements

and finished off the watercolour of the daffodils

drew up and painted a bit of kale and a few other bits and pieces

which is part of my new morning practice of painting while drinking my tea and leafing through cookbooks and magazines looking for likely subjects to draw, thereby justifying my obscene collection of cookbooks and teetering piles of food magazines

even those pocket watches were in a food mag

weird right... it was about organising, or saving time in the kitchen or some such thing

I didn't actually read the article

as those sort of stories always lead to feelings of gross inadequacies on my part

and I prefer to stay happy in my delusion that procrastination and haphazard half-arsery 

are, in fact, valid methods of housekeeping, though the picture was fabulous

But the pocket watches has been pushed aside by the new perfume bottle I started

and it is practically shouting at me to get off the computer and get into it

so I will wish you a happy PPF and happy painting all...xx