It is so nice to sell a painting, especially if it is soon after completion. This painting has not yet been added to my website, but it was seen privately and sold. Wonderful!

To celebrate ten years as a professional artist (2005 to 2015), I have published online my “Catalogue of Artwork, Volume I” containing my work over the last decade for everyone to share. You can download it here

Download Catalogue of Artwork, Volume 1

The Volume comprises 96pp and shows over 140 artworks, averaging 14 paintings a year over the ten years, as well as a short script about each work, some with poems for the paintings that have been used in calendars or books I have published.

 

I have now completed my Frilly Tulip, which I started way back in September 2015 when attending a 3-day course at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. The main body of the painting is watercolour with a blue background of body colour (very thick paint with a tinge of white added), and the borders and filigree are 23ct shell gold. The name of the tulip is Tulipa Bridgit Parrot. I just love the frilly edges! I hope you like it.

Tulipa: Bridgit Parrot

Too many jollies lately (always happens around Christmas, does it not?). But fitting in a bit of painting between eating too much and enjoying the festive spirit with friends and family. I hope everyone is doing the same. I have been working on a special tulip painting (the flowers have ‘frilly’ edges!) since the summer and reacquainted myself with the work over the last week. It is coming along nicely, and I hope to finish it in the next couple of days. This is the preliminary design drawing with a bit of the actual painting which was done in mid September. The style of this painting is based on the Dutch Masters and their floral paintings, i.e. solid bold colour and dark body colour background. I will post the finished work here (eventually!).

I have at last completed my ‘Old Cock in a Tree at Woodbridge’ View Picture Profile. It has been nice this week just sitting painting (in between playing golf) after the five exhibitions I attended during November (and the seventeen during the whole year before that), and I am so pleased to have finished this painting. I do hope you like it. I have several other paintings already sketched out or half-painted and it is my intention to complete all of these before attempting my new direction in painting (to be talked about in the New Year). May I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and excellent New Year, and may all the people in the world come to their senses!

Nearly made it. “Guardians of the Mangrove Oyster” (View Picture Profile) was pre-selected for the Columbia Threadneedle Prize, but I have missed out on the final 93 paintings which have been selected for the exhibition. Oh well…! The painting was done to help demonstrate a lecture given by Dr Helen Scales in May 2015, and the other little painting, “Digging for Mussels” (View Picture Profile) was a practice picture to paint with Acrylics as I had not used that media before (I do not like Acrylic paint much – like painting with plastic, and very forgiving for covering up mistakes). Digging for Mussels will be on show at the Cambridge Open Art Exhibition, Swavesey Village College, this coming weekend. I shall be there all day Saturday with some cards and prints for sale, so perhaps see you there? This is my last exhibition of 2015 and probably my last for some time due to personal circumstances. But I have had a great last two years, and thank you to everyone who has been to see my work, told me how talented I am and to keep painting, and to those special people who now have my work hanging on their walls. Do please enjoy. Happy Christmas and New Year, and may 2016 bring us all more joy than sadness.

I have been unable to paint much in the last few weeks due to the work involved in producing calendars, cards and prints (as well as framed artwork) for all the exhibitions I have been involved with recently. I have been at St Mary’s Church, Comberton, all morning looking at all the lovely paintings and cards for sale in their annual exhibition. Do get along if you can – it is really splendid. Click here for Details. But I have managed to do a bit more on the “Old Cock in a Tree at Woodbridge”. And, fortunately, he is still coming along nicely, even though very intermittently.

Come on all you Combertonites: St Mary’s Church, Comberton, is holding their annual art exhibition this weekend. Open today, Saturday and Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm. There is an amazing array of artwork and other goodies to see, and some will make excellent, unique Christmas presents. Apart from looking at the lovely artwork, you can have a very nice cup of Ceylon tea, or coffee and the biscuits are delicious. Entry and refreshments are free. The Church is lovely and warm with a very welcoming feel, so do please go along if you can and support the Church. Thank you. This is the poster with details:

At dead on 7.00am Thursday morning the doorbell rang and a lovely nice young man said, “Good morning Tina, I have come to collect your painting.” He was with Picture Post, the company which takes paintings to and from exhibitions for artists, and had come to collect my painting entitled “Guardians of the Mangrove Oyster” which has been pre-selected for the Columbia Threadneedle Prize. He will deliver it on my behalf to the Mall Galleries in London. This snapshot was taken at 6.45am, just before the collector arrived.

Tried out my new Polychromos oil pencils. Very difficult! Even though I have 120 colours, I never seemed to have the one which I needed. Mixing these pencils by layering one colour on top of another to produce the correct colour is a task, I can see, that will only come about with practice. For instance, if you have a black eye which needs a white spec, DON’T put the black on first, or leave a blank piece for filling in later. The lighter colours will not show over the darker ones! So I have put the tin away until I have finished my commissions and a few other paintings which are already started and need to be finished. But I quite like the finished picture which is called ‘Meerhug’ and have made a few cards. I captured These cute little things on camera at Banham zoo earlier in the year. (Of course they are not so cute when they fight a snake or kill a scorpion to eat!). They are related to the Mongoose family.