Feeling Floral

I am feeling in a floral still life kind of mood today, I think it's something to do with the weather the sun is shining and the sky is blue but it doesn't really have the intensity of Summer it has a slightly faded feel to it.

Elaine Pamphilon one of my absolute favourites she always captures the perfect mood.

Mhairi McGregor's beautiful thickly painted oils are bold yet still sensitive to the subject matter.

Christine McArthur's mixed media collages have a quiet and soft appearance.

Alice Mumford paints these lovely romantic paintings of ordinary objects from around the home.

Jessica Cooper simple but elegant acrylics and pencil on canvas.

I couldn't leave out a lovely painting by Emma Dunbar, I love anemones and the colour combination is a favourite of mine.

Kirsty Wither

I am feeling a little under the weather today, just a cold but it makes me wish Summer was still here. So I cheered myself up a little by looking at the beautiful floral paintings of Kirsty Wither.

Kurt Jackson: The Trees of Cornwall

Whilst I was in Cornwall over the summer I visited the lovely Lemon Street Gallery in Truro. They were getting ready for the new Kurt Jackson exhibition TREE: GWEDHEN The Trees of Cornwall, unfortunately I will not get to see it, however there were a few paintings stacked up against a wall and I did have a little peek. I decided to buy the catalogue and it arrived in the post this weekend. Kurt Jackson is a prolific painter and I admire the enthusiasm and joy for painting that he has, if I could produce a fraction of the paintings he does I would be very happy. For this latest exhibition he has focused on the tree population of Cornwall, it is not an encyclopaedic survey it is more an observation of favourite trees which have been followed through the seasons, some are the rarest trees in Britain and some the oldest planted by his own family in the orchard. The exhibition is on now and finishes on the 8th October 2011.

Maggie Matthews

I have long been a fan of the welsh artist Maggie Matthews. Now based in Cornwall she is one of the areas leading abstract painters. Inspired by the coastline, indigenous and exotic plant life, and collections of pebbles and shells, Maggie sketches while out on cliff walks, recording the shapes and patterns below her. Returning to the studio she works on abstracting her experience reducing her sketches down to flat areas of space and colour. You can see more of Maggie's work at Cornwall Contemporary Penzance.

Sketchbook

I have had another good day in my studio working from the photographs of my recent holiday to Cornwall. These small sketches have been worked in watercolour and pastels.

Beach Art

Came across the artist Andy Coutanche today whilst browsing Coast magazine, Andy is from Jersey and he is a sand artist and will soon be competing in the My Memory beach art championships.

I don't think he has a website but I did find this video.

Also competing is the San Francisco artist Andres Amador who makes some amazing patterns in the sand.

Sketchbook

I managed to do some sketchbook work today, working from photographs and memory.

Abstracts

Here are just a few photographs taken whilst sitting on the beach or on the harbour front. My main focus was looking at colour, pattern and texture for future inspiration.