When I run classes at any of the programs I run, including at my studio "Art in the Garden Room", I always recommend to sign the artwork and date it on the back. 
I wish I had done this when I started back painting. Fortunately, modern technology means I can work out dates based on the photos on my phone.

I love to look back and see the progression in my artwork, how my brushstrokes have changed, my colour palette and style changes. My art has always been inspired by nature, the style and colour palette has changed over time, yet my artwork continues to be inspired by nature.  Over time, I realised, I  prefer to paint impressionistic and abstract work, using mixed media. 
 
When we look back at our artwork it can trigger ideas, identify what we love, what we prefer to leave behind and monitor our development. Looking back can move you forward to exciting new ideas, spark joy in following your own artistic journey and create a sense of accomplishment.  This is why, I highly recommend having a sketchbook for practice as well as a safe private place for experimentation. 

Do you sign and date your work? Do you like looking at an artist's earlier work?
Feel free to leave a comment below.

Featured Artwork: Spring Meadow
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Just this weekend, I was gifted a weekend to myself.  Hubby headed off to a blokes weekend in the country and I had the house to myself. As our little fluffy mate passed away over three months ago, there was no one relying on me or waiting for me.  I was as free as a bird to do as I pleased. 
The monthly paint-out had been postponed due to inclement weather.  This had been my only commitment over the weekend.

After heading out for some extra art supplies I headed back to my studio with the heater blasting and started on a project I had not had time to do for months.  The panels I had purchased had sat there on my shelving teasing me every time I went into the art shed. They would look at me and I at them, wishing I had the time to take them off the shelf, unwrap them and then cover them with creamy delicious acrylic paint. I started slowly on my idea using paper and working on my idea for the eight panels. Suddenly two hours had slipped by as I worked on a small 20cm x 20cm piece.  I was happy with the outcome.

Finally, the next day I set up in the garden room with panels, paint, water, brushes, palettes and paper towels, I was ready. I could now start on my project giving it my full attention.  Throughout the process, I mixed an array of colours, used a variety of mark-making tools and skimmed books for the right words to jump out at me for the collage.  It was exhilarating, to say the least.  I didn't stop for a coffee or a break, I was so focused and in my zone.  After many hours, I was finished, it was time to sit back and let them dry so they could be varnished. 

The gift of a weekend to enjoy creating was invigorating, peaceful and filled with what I love to do. I think you need one of these weekends once and a while. 

How would you spend the gift of a weekend to yourself?  Leave your comment below. 
 
Featured artwork: Unscaled Peaks and Uncharted Waters

When I picked up painting again, I went straight into acrylic paint.  It was fun and forgiving and I enjoyed the medium.
Over the last couple of years, I have taken lessons in watercolour, pastels and gouache.  I love various mediums, given I do mixed media, that is a good thing!

For the last twelve months, I have been enjoying the medium of gouache. So what is gouache, I hear you ask.
Gouache is a water-based paint not dissimilar to watercolour, it is however, matte, opaque and creamy.  Being similar to watercolour, it is more opaque, which means you can layer from dark to light and correct mistakes. I love how the medium quickly dries to a matte finish, making it ideal for photographing, and scanning for prints and doesn't have that shine.  

As I have been venturing out on en plein air excursions, gouache is an ideal medium to take out and about.  It is compact enough for a small palette, dries reasonably quickly and can be activated with water.  I enjoy being able to sketch and then paint while I am out, sometimes in my sketchbook and sometimes on watercolour paper. These en plein air paintings are then reference guides for future work.  The fact I can paint in the colours of the day is ideal to capture the moment, the shadows, the highlights and the essence of the session.
   
Although you can paint larger paintings using gouache, it is often associated with smaller works from an A3 - A5 painting. Smaller work on A3 to A5 is ideal when you have limited time and space, making gouache the perfect medium. 

The artwork you see here is a small artwork on paper using gouache. This was done with an initial light translucent wash and then layered with a more creamy gouache texture to give depth to the piece. 

Have you heard of gouache or do you use it?  Leave your comments below, I would love to see your comments. 

​Featured Artwork:  The outback shed

To easel or not to easel, is the question today.  
When I got back into creating, I purchased a small desktop easel to hold my small canvases.  It was good enough; I didn't know if I was going to continue the creative journey when everything when back to "normal" so I went with a cheap and cheerful option which suited me at the time.   Within a few months, I realised the cheap and cheerful just wasn't cutting it, so ordered in a desktop easel which was so much better with larger canvases.  I soon learnt I much preferred standing to paint than sitting. 

A few more months later during one of the breaks in lockdown, my gorgeous hubby came home with a studio easel for me.  I love it and use it every day I am in the studio.  It is sturdy, holds large canvasses and is now covered in paint, I think the paint gives it character.

I found as my circumstances changed and also my painting style I needed a few different easels.  My larger desktop easel is still on hand for when I am sitting at my desk and creating, my studio easel is a must and I have a few portable easels I use for open studios and displays.  I have also been using the portable tripod to take to my art classes. 

The tripod easel I have been taking to various classes is great, yet it is bulky to leave in the boot of the car. I had been eyeing off on Amazon a tripod easel with a shelf etc. (pictured).  So last week I ordered it, and it arrived 2 days later. I was pleased to see it fits in a small bag and is so light and versatile. I can now use it at my art classes, along with en plein air excursions and also painting demonstrations.

You don't need to be like me and have multiple easels, pick one that suits your needs, ask yourself, will I be painting on paper or canvas?  Will I be creating large or small pieces? Do I need to incorporate storage?  Does it need to be portable?   Can I leave it up or do I need to pack it away?  Do I like working on an easel or on the table? What type of medium will I be using?

Once you have answered these simple questions you will have a better understanding of your easel requirements.    You can check out some of my favourite tools and a couple of easels. 

How do you like to work?  Leave a comment below.
  

A few years ago, I did a course on using a limited palette.  I found it to be a stretch initially using just a few colours and black and white.  
So what is a limited palette? Imagine you're baking biscuits, but you only have a few ingredients in your pantry. A limited palette in art is like that, it's when you choose to work with only a small set of colours instead of having every colour available, just like having only a few ingredients for your biscuits.
So, instead of using every colour in your art supplies kit, you might pick just three or four main colours, like red, blue, yellow, and maybe white.  I also like to have black or Payne's Grey.  With these colours, you can mix and blend them together to create all sorts of new and exciting colours.
Working with a limited palette is a fun challenge. It helps you focus on learning how colours work together and how to mix them just right to get the shades you want. Plus, it can make your artwork look really harmonious and cohesive because all the colours are related to each other, just like all the ingredients in your biscuits work together to make them taste great!
One of the main reasons I love to work with a limited palette, it makes me stretch myself with blending colours to get just what I need and want for a particular piece.
The photo of a work in progress in this post is using a limited palette of cobalt blue, Payne's grey, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna with white for adjusting tones.  Mixing colour with a limited palette is one of my favourite ways to paint.  

If you are just starting out, you can start with a few colours and mix your colours without buying every tube on the shelf!

So, think of a limited palette as your artistic recipe. You might not have every colour in the world, but with a little mixing and experimenting, you can create something really special!

​You can find some of my favourite tools here 
If you have favourite colours you use in a limited palette, why not share them in the comments below.

I love painting, I love sketching and I love spending time in my art shed.  As soon as hubby heads off for golf with his buddy's, I have whipped open the door of the studio before he has even reached the end of the driveway.  There is something about having no one around, no distractions, no noise, nothing for me to even think about. 

I open my sketchbook and lose myself in the pages.  sometimes I decide to use watercolour, other times acrylics or there are times I delve into the art supplies and enjoy the freedom of mixed media. There is no rhyme or reason to what medium I choose.  Sometimes, I flit between sketchbooks,  Just the other day, I went from sketchbook watercolour (the photo is the end result of my sketch book watercolour) to a canvas using bold vibrant colours with impasto medium.  As one part dried I worked on the other.
  
Can you believe three hours had passed by without me even knowing it. There is something said about immersing yourself in art.  For me I go to a place where worries, sadness, hurt, frustration and negative thoughts don't live.  This is a place that is void of negativity and a place where time stands still. This is a place that time forgot and peace exudes. 
Does art give you a happy place?  Does art give you a sense of peace that can reinvigorate you and send you back into the world refreshed and positive?

​Leave your comments below and let me know what art does for you and if you can relate,  

I often wonder is it important to have your art fit into a style or a label. My work flits between expressionism and impressionism and sometimes slides into abstract. 
Expressionism art uses vivid colour to convey the emotional response to the subject where impressionism art captures the essence of the scene relying on the use of light.  Abstract however, is non-representational and left to the interpretation of the artist and the viewer.  I do enjoy abstract; however, I keep finding my way back to vibrant florals.
For this reason, I call myself a mixed media artist, as I use multiple media in my work and I can't really put a style or label to it. 
Should we label our style or should we be able to create to our passion as opposed to a label.  There are differing opinions in the art world as to the benefits or attributes of labelling an artist to a genre or movement. 
For me, I don't want to limit myself as I continue to experiment, play and develop my artistic skills.

What is your favourite stye, genre or art movement?

Acrylic paint was my way back into art and I loved it that's for sure. I signed up for some on-line art classes during lock down and was exposed to the world of mixed media. This changed everything for me and my art.  Also, attending art classes where you could experiment and use different mediums opened my eyes and hands to different textures and styles.
So what is mixed media I hear you ask.  Mixed media is the combination of two or more art mediums into one piece of art. Some examples would be painting a watercolour picture and then adding pen or ink to the works or using acrylic paint and then adding oil pastels to the piece.  Of course, you can have multiple mediums in one piece to get your desired effect.  I tend to use soft oil pastels and or charcoal after I have completed the acrylic artwork.  I find adding another medium gives you some amazing affects you can't necessarily achieve using the one medium. 
Mixed media can be used on all genres of art whether you love abstract, realism, expressionism or impressionism.
Vincent van Gough before his early death had been experimenting with colour combinations and mixed media, although it hadn't been named at that stage.
Mixed media for me is a new and exciting way to find expression and texture in my artwork, particularly as my art is inspired by nature and nature is full of texture and colour.