new portrait

Finished this recently and delivered to a happy family.

Meroogal Prize

I won the Australasian Occupational Health Centre (Wollongong University) Prize for the entry that most closely represented the theme "Celebrating the everyday things women do"

Latest Portraits

Two more for the collection:
45 mins pastel on grey canson

Meroogal Entry

This is "Circles of Life" my Meroogal Women's Art Prize Entry.
Oil on canvas 75cm x 80cm (two panels)

'Heat' Exhibition

Ready for Friday's exhibition, my response to our 'heat' theme is another in my hands series. oil on canvas 45cm x 45cm

Two more in the portrait project

These are 45 mins pastel on Fabriano full sheet.

boat in the harbour

What made this so interesting, was the sun just striking the side of the boat. I decided at the last minute to add the birds for a bit of movement. oil on canvas 600 x 400

more portrait sketches

First to sit was a real local identity who kindly sat (and dozed) for us to draw.
45 mins pastel on cansonSecond was a local shop owner who very kindly stepped in when someone became ill.

portrait group

More portraits from the Saturday afternoon group. We drew two local farmers, the first is a lavender farmer, the second has a garden produce on the edge of the town. These were drawn in about 40 minutes each. Pastel on Canson.

the chef: update

I decided to lighten the face, and I am pleased with the effect. I think it emphasises the hands more than before. I am calling this finished, and it will be hung in the exhibition at Cobargo opening on Good Friday.

the chef: triptych

this is what I've been working on over the past few days:

and two smaller ones that will hang together.

a second portrait of my daughter

This was about 2 hours from life and then finished from photos.....

Finished the portrait

I finished this last week. I am happy with the way it came together. The photo doesn't do it justice.

next stages....

This mornings stages.
I still haven't decided if I will
add the pencil to her far hand.



















Adding more detail and moving to
smaller brushes.

more progress...

Painting in more of the piano detail with the darks.





















I can see that the arm needs adjusting, and I am happy with the difference the darks of the piano have made to the painting.






















I have worked on the ear and can see the face needs work, because she is not looking at her hands.

Composing

A portrait in progress, of my daughter composing at the piano. The first stage of blocking in and is just getting the shapes and light and darks. I turn the photo and the canvas upside down often to check the sizes.















I notice the arm is too small as I
block in the cool background.




















I put in some darks and make some
adjustments to the shapes as I go.
I rough in some skin colour and
the t-shirt to judge the overall
values.

'life-like' my solo exhibition

....which has been showing for January at the ShowRoom gallery, Cobargo.
The paintings are oil on primed watercolour paper. Also shown are some of my fired clay figures. I use my life drawings as references for both the paintings and the clay works.
Friday was the opening of a group show of life drawings. I will post photos when I have them.

sketch from life

This one I drew a couple of weeks ago, about 15 minutes, pastel.

This is pastel,too, and took about 20 minutes, then another 10 minutes the next day just to refine it. My son was kind enough to allow me to draw him while he playstationed. I might call it "Regrowth".

3rd portrait sketch

I had this ready to show from yesterday. Another artist that sat for me, I love the way she posed with her hand in this position. She was so patient. Life drawing this afternoon!

portrait demonstrations

Today I was invited to a local Art Society open day to draw portrait demonstrations.
Although it's one of the most difficult ways to draw a portrait, it is also the best practice! It makes me draw fast, which makes me more accurate (I don't have time to think).
It's also good practice to 'tune out' whatever distractions are going on around me
I can usually persuade someone to sit for 10 minutes. I always wish for more time! I love to be able to do justice to the person.
These are some of the other artists that agreed to sit for me. They liked them.... and two bought them!

The process of a portrait

This is a commission I completed in October. The family wanted their portrait in front of their spectacular view. A landscape as well as a portrait.
I used a combination of photos and sketches. I take many photos with my digital camera, then show them on their TV. This allows the family to see which aspects they would like in the portrait, and gives them a say in how the portrait will look. Each person then sits for a sketch, which allows me to 'learn' their face. Useful in the portrait process.
This is one of the largest portraits I have done. It's almost life-sized. They were very happy with the result. When I began the painting, the hills were very dry, as we were in the middle of a drought. As I worked on the painting, we got more rain. It looks very much like this now.

some of my paintings

'Blue Lake' 60 cm x 40 cm. oil on canvas.
available to buy, contact me
I painted this a few months ago. I took photos early one morning near my home. I liked the way there were patches of still water and some ruffled by the breeze. The distant mountain contrasted with the warmth of the distant shoreline.