Clown

This picture is one I did last year and it surprises me every time I enter it into a competition. I had a few things in a show and I had other things earmarked for another show. I was running out of framed pictures (plenty of unframed pictures as can be seen in my blog). I thought I will put this picture in Mont de Lancey. This is a historic homestead in Wandin. The artists had to be living in the shire of Yarra Ranges and I purely came across the show by accident in the RACV magazine. Well I received a phone call today to say I had won an encouragement award for this picture, which also came with a monetry win. Very surprised and very delighted. This makes the last week a good one for me as I acheived a first at the Pastel Society for "What about me?" My good friend Wendi received a second. Check her blog out under the blogs I am watching.

I just found out this painting sold this week at the Mont de Lancey art show.

The Salamanca Buskers

Everyone seems to know how much I enjoy drawing buskers. Linda from my art class went to Tasmania and visited the Salamanca market. She was kind enough to give me a photo of these buskers. They look extremely cold, all rugged up in their tartan blankets and berets. They look like they are concentrating hard and enjoying the music. The colors I have chosen are to help create the cold environment. I believe they must be siblings as they have a similar look.

On a roll this week. Went to Ringwood art Society last night withthis picture and won first prize in the ABC competition in the B section. The judge was Robyn Schubat. Robyn demonstrated palete knife painting. She depicted a laneway scene. The painting was portrayed in brilliant oranges and blues and completed within 1.5 hrs. Amazing demonstration.

Healesville Sanctuary-What's that? WIP

I went to Healesville sanctuary on a school excursion recently to see "The disappearing froglet" with my son. There were a variety of schools involved. The kids had to go and learn about the environment and how pollution is affecting the frogs habitat. Great day but freezing cold. I didn't warm up until I went to bed that night.

Preliminary sketch to the left with ?finished work on right.

The focus is the boy in yellow and I have incorporated some of the yellow in the grasses. The children are all looking at a wallabie that is hiding in the scrub. I liked the pose of the yellow boy, with all the children looking for the allusive wallabie. I had lots of fun with the grasses. I added blues, and purples to create movement and interest.

I have revised this picture thanks to pastle guy's comments and have muted the background.

The Flower shop

When I went into the city with friends, we stopped off in Richmond. We were going to see an amazingly expensive contemporary art show where all the paintings were in the 20-30,000 dollar mark. The only problem was it was Monday and the gallery was not open on a Monday. We had fun getting there and saw some beautiful places. This was a florist shop in Bridge road Richmond. It caught my eye. We saw lots of lovely shops. We also came across a little art shop on our travels which I hope to get back to. The style is different to my normal one, more illustrative.

Contemplation

I went to life drawing yesterday. I haven't been in simply ages. Note to self I should go more often. I had a great time. The model was fantastic. We did five two minute warm ups and then she went into this pose for the rest of the time. Amazing her arms didn't drop off.

What about me?

I've changed the name of the picture from "Friendship" to "What about me?"It is about the feeling of friendship created by the four children on the right and then the sad feelings portayed by the space of the little child on the left. It's hard being the smallest. This picture has been uploaded through various versions of finishedness. I think I have finally finished it. Last week I was so angry with it that I whacked my rag at it and the pastel dust flew into the air. I wiped off a lot of the pastel and started again. I think this is it. I will continue to contemplate the end product.

Lucky enough to win the September Generalist MEC awards at the Pastel Society of Victoria with this picture. My good friend Wendi was second with her lovley little girl pushing the pram. You can view her blog under blogs that I am following.

Horse and Carriage

This picture is in the centre of Melbourne. The two horses are waiting passengers and are tied up to the side of the road.. There is a tram in the background and the light highlighting the church in the background.