A little bit more...

Another thought to add to this piece.

Starting and finishing a painting

I have been working on a commission over the past ten days or so. Here is the finished painting.....

The painting is 80x120cm. Here are a few pictures of work in progress.....

Reflections and sunshine

This piece is working from the same roots as this one. It is a bit smaller, the shape of the canvas is the same. I have always loved the late lily paintings of Monet, they seem very modern to me.

Finished

This 90x90cm piece is heading with a couple of others to the gallery I show with in Godalming, Surrey.

Near Twilight

I do love a bit of melancholy!! Early evening is a favourite time of day, and during this autumn it has been very lovely in the late afternoons.

Camber sands

We are enjoying the most beautiful autumn, day after day of warmish sunshine, not really windy and so the leaves are bright and colourful. Here is a painting of the walkway down to one of my local beaches, Camber Sands.

Working on...

I started this painting a short while ago....see here. I am working on it in conjunction with my new piece. Having one one painting out to look at whilst working on another is something I do quite regularly.

Love this artist

I have been really enjoying looking at the artwork of Antony White on-line. He spans the world between abstraction and landscape in a way I find immensely appealing. The thick viscous paint and often patchwork piecing together of forms reminds me of Lars Dan too....

Work in progress

I have a 90x90cm stretcher, linien on canvas, and several drawings scattered around. I have just made a few marks on my brand new painting. I love this stage in a painting, there is so much freedom.

Last drawing, now to work

At 57x75cm, oil pastel, compressed charcoal (for a really black black line) and acrylic paint (not much, just some tints really) on watercolour paper, this is my largest drawing.

as well as working on all the drawings I have made in the last day or so I will use them in my larger paintings. the colours, skies and perspectives are all inspiring.

Rowley Gallery

You can see two of my paintings in the Rowley Gallery, Notting Hill Gate, London take a look here and here!

Apple country

I live in apple country, Kent is a big producer of apples and pears. We are surrounded by wonderful orchards. We have two apple trees in our garden...hardly an orchard, but they certainly produce a lot of apples. The crop is just coming to a close now.

A few more drawings in the rain

A days drawing

Up on a local hill looking over the farmland and fields on a blowy November day....All these drawings are compressed charcoal, oil pastel and acrylic paint on watercolour or cartridge paper.

Autumn Blue to the fore

Autumn sky, autumn leaves

A sketch on canvas, which I will work into. This is 92x92cm, acrylic and charcoal on linen. The leaves are turning and falling here!

Petal part two!

More work on this little painting, see my earlier diary entry.

Apricot palette

I like the combination of orange, apricot, wedgewood blue, ultramarine....

One painting leads to another

Painting is certainly addictive, sometimes one idea leads to another. This large painting is going back into storage for a while while I think about it, in the meantime it has spawned lots of ideas about colour and using marks in a really free way. BTW, it is too large to hang so I have propped it up in my sitting room.....

One more layer on my painting.....

Painting taking shape

I feel that this painting is starting to take shape, it is so much larger than work I have done before. This make scale an issue, and keeping the marks simple and proportionate. I also have this smallish green painting just about finished.

Petals, a sketch

A small (40x50cm) sketch to support my large painting. My garden is full of scattered petals and flowerheads at the moment, the gusts of wind and September sun are an evocative combination

Sunny work afternoon

Work continues apace on my huge painting. I am loving this process so much.....the wide open spaces!!

Progress....

I have been working on this very big (for me) painting of 200x120cm. It's interesting to use big brushes and big marks, and i have to step way back to look at it as I work.

Winter Revisited

I am enjoying the soft palette in this painting. It is 90x90cm

Working outside

Definitely finished painting....

I have difficulty in finishing paintings off, very often! It's hard for me to put them aside. Anyway, I have definitely finished this painting....maybe....

William Gear

Saw some William Gear paintings to day at the Redfern Gallery in central London. this Scottish artist worked from the mid forties till his death in 1997. Lovely paintings! I also bought a beautiful book about Cy Twombly. Altogether a good day!

Our stream in sunshine and shade

Another smallish (40x50cm) painting, I have a large canvas ready to start, these watery pictures will be my starting point....

Underwater Onland

I am finding these paintings really absorbing and stimulating, and working on this long, landscape format is interesting too. Grabbing inspiration from shadows and sunshine above and below water makes the marks very fluid. i find the subject rather evocative, which gives me a lot of freedom.

New thinking

I love to swim, apart from the fact swimming pools and nice hair do not go together particularly well I think it's a great way to start the day. As I count my lengths off, the reflections from the huge window that runs one side of our local pool mixes and jumps off the water. It's fluid and dynamic....on a beautiful morning like this morning it's magic.

this little painting, started a short while ago is about that feeling of water and reflections.

One more layer on my beach painting .

Breezy, blowy painting

Sandy Dooley: sandy@designbywire.com

Nearly finished this piece.

Turner fan

I am a William Turner fan!I studied in London and used to visit the Tate (now Tate Britain) regularly. It's a rainy, windy morning in Kent, (plus I took part in the Londom Duathlon yesterday....cycling is possibly not my strongest suit) so I am having a virtual visit to see some of his work this morning. http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/WorksList?cgroupid=999999949&searchid=10644&tabview=lightbox

A Gorgeous Mess

Love Michael Raefnyder's paintings. See some here.....the refers to an article by Katie Anania. "A Gorgeous Mess"

Grasses in September

Another layer of paint on my favourite work in the studio this afternoon.

Beach painting

After spending a week on Pantin Beach on Spain's Atlantic coast in the sunshine, I am starting to make a series of small sketches. The breeze, sea, sun and good breakers make for a great cocktail. Here's one.

More paint

Thinking about fresco like colours, viridian, chromium oxide green, cerulean blues and chalky shades.

Art in situ

A really busy day on my computer! Catherine from Art Acumen has kindly sent through a few images of a couple my paintings in situ, in a central London office. This one is called 'Big Field'. Great to see them in their new enviroment.

photo credit: Art Acumen

Always nice

Always nice to hear I have sold a painting....This one has just been sold

A few hours later.....

Chalky painting

I like to work on several pieces at once. It's good to bounce ideas off one canvas to another. I am looking at this piece along with the more abstract one below. It is 90x90cm