Long Weekend Kick-start

Got moving today: perhaps the inspiration of my lovely new easel, beautifully crafted by Jeff of Easels Galore, http://www.easelsgalore.com.au, and funded with the Araluen exhibition proceeds, 

perhaps the space of a long weekend.  Finished one, moved one along a bit, and started a whole bunch of new ones.

A Little Bit More

A Slower Pace

but still painting every weekend.  A few bits and pieces on the go.  Mona's heading for the Senior Territorian Portrait award in September; after messing with composition for a bit (she started out much more tightly framed and on a square canvas) I'm now really enjoying getting into her wrinkles and of course the eyes.  Possibly Betty-a Level of Interest, might be up for the Advocate in July  (she's my biggest camel head so far, 120 x 90), painted over a failed landscape.  The others are really about playing with figures and environments (Recess II is a repaint of a sketch painting that I was never really happy with, either in terms of proportions or feeling, At the River II is the same girl as in a piece I sold in the Araluen exhibiton, from pics taken when the family were over and we saw the Todd flow in 2008); all fairly preliminary ideas at this stage, but something I'm thinking about a fair bit.

And of course, the final final version of Frames III for the Alice Prize in a couple of weeks (thanks to Bean's patience with photographing this one, and the benefits of polarizing filters, light on shiny textured darks is a bit of a mare:

First Painting Day for a While

And quite productive too (I had wondered if the mad sprint before the exhibition would have left me inspirationless, but it's amazing how another deadline gets, if not the juices flowing, the paintbrush moving.  I've started a few bits and pieces . . .

 

but the main work's been on the Alice Prize piece, which went from . . .

 

through . . .
 

to . . .

 

It's not finished yet (thumb is the major thing that needs work) but I'm now confident I'll get it polished off in another day (and I've got two days next weekend . . . what luxury!).  Have been casting around for a name (nothing as denotative springs to mind as it did for the other two, frames: windows and frames: curtains, so current working title is a bit more off the wall - frames: seasonal adjustment; staying with the same idea (of the way we frame what we look at also frames us) but taking it out of space and putting time element in to the framing . . . ummm . . . she has one solo and now she's talkin' all arty-farty . . . (guess it had to happen sooner or later)

Exhibition!

Yay; it's into its third week now, and sold almost a third of its value on the opening weekend; I've still been painting but not at quite the same rate.  Had to finish three last weekend for the Studio 12 hang and am working on the third of the 'framed' self-portraits for the Alice Prize, which needs a catalogue shot by next weekend . . . but I'm still enjoying the glow from my first 'solo'.

So this is where it all began: three days of wrapping and transporting the pictures to the gallery.  It's called 'bump in' which sounded a bit ominous, given my clumsiness and the vulnerability of the boards (which tend to scratch much more easily than canvas), but all was well.

With a considerable amount of help from Kate, the curator at Araluen, the pictures started looking like they belonged together on the walls . . .


. . . and then it was simply a matter of the lst minute jobs, putting the catalogue numbers out, and, ah yes, signing a painting I'd forgotten to do.

Opening night was great.  If a bit of a blur.

People came.
Kate MC'd.

Dugald did a wonderful opening speech.

And then there was the general milling around . . .

And even some looking at the art.

But mainly milling.

And people bought pictures!

The Commission

This was the double portait I was alluding to in the last couple of months, but couldn't post as it was a surprise birthday present for the sitters' mother.

OK Just One More, or Two or

I'd hoped to finish this one of Tina (had put it it the price list in optimism) so am pleased I did, as it's a sort of pair with the one of Alicia looking up and with foliage shade on her face.  The camels was a bit of a 'I wonder if I can do bigger paintings on board' which started very badly yesterday but went better today.  I'd picked up some stand oil (thickened linseed oil) that was recommended instead of varnish to give a bit of protection to touch dry paintings that arent ready for proper varnish (which is a 6 month wait that I've not got).  It's almost as cool a discovery as the boards: very slippy and gloopy and nothing like the usual mediums I've used for the last few years (which have been alkalyds a kind of synthetic and much more 'normal' in behaviour).  This one wasnt on the price list, so I might have to do some alterations . . . luckily the room brochure's an in house production so I've probably got a week before it needs final finalising.  One more weekend before the opening . . . a bit more time then . . .