pictures for 'shift'

at Araluen in a couple of weeks . . .

and sometimes

even so

just then

A couple of tweaks to the one above (face shape and a bit more colour and definition to the face and thumb) and a bit more on this one, the final 'At the River' one.

if not

Sold my first pic from Mbantua Gallery on Friday (At the River II, you can just see it between a camel head and the double hung pictures):  to Alicia Molik no less!  Great start to the weekend.  So, in simplistic marketing, thought I'd replace it with Boy in Cap, which I did a little fiddle with to warm up the skin tones and sharpen the eyes a bit (just shows it's good to not look at things for a bit:  I'd always felt something was missing from this little fellow, but couldn't pin it down until now.)

Also doing a lot of early stages ones and continuings that have sat neglected in the studio for too long.  Studio 12 has two shows coming up:  Araluen in April (eek) called Shift, so fairly open in terms of theme, and the Olive Pink in July, called Skylines, so not quite so open.

This is a bit of an experiment (but they all are really I suppose) on how far I can show identity by not showing:  I'm enjoying trying to get the sense of a dark room and a bright window.  Still with the idea of people in windows and doorways, inside looking out, outside looking in, not quite somewhere and always framed by the circumstances.  Cheers Bevan.  .

These two make up a triptych, provisionally titled Nightmoves or Nightviews.  I think I must also be going on a roll with the 'bad photos make good paintings' as these were just randomly taken underexposed and camera-shakey snaps.  I like the energy though.  Whether I can keep in coming through in the paint will be another matter.

Been meaning to play with some more studies of my tree climber:  these are much smaller than the first pic that was the publicity pic for my solo show at Araluen last year.  They're also on board and I'm going with a more stylised idea I think.  Ie I'll try to do away with the foliage in two.  Try.  For some strange reason the branches make me think of the Japanese picture of cherry blossom.  Must be the bareness and the colours of white against blue.  Or something.  Could work for the Skylines exhibition at a push, though I'm thinking about these to go into Mbantua.  Oh choices choices.

These two are more clearly Skylines.

This one I really want to work, but between stubborn telephone lines that went all splodgy so entailed re-painting the sky and clouds behind them (fiddly fiddly fiddly) and my current inability to get the angle of the sneakers right (classic left brain doing the 'you know what shoes look like' and making me paint them wrong), this simple little piece is anything but.

Third of the 'sliding doors in the darkness' piece (the other two are from the outside looking in).

but soon

but if