Critique night at pastel society

I took this painting along to a critique night at the pastel society. What an interesting night. Robert Wade was the artist critiquing. He was a wealth of knowledge and constructive in his opinion. As a result I have tried to tone the background down a bit so it is not fighting with the whole picture. He loves broad strokes and was fond of commenting on them in different pictures. I have utilised lots of lines in this picture which was confliciting to the judges opinion. The main thing is I enjoyed painting this picture, which inthe end is all that matters.

One of my favourite pieces for the night was a painting of a venetian mask with masses of feathers surrounding the mask. The detail in the body of the mask was magnificent with gorgeous contrasting loose feathers enveloping it.

Millgrove Saw Mill

Hi, I feel like I may be channelling Van Gough without the anguished mental state at present. I am really enjoying the looseness and freedom of this scribbly style of painting.

This picture is as titled Millgrove Saw mill. I have previously drawn a small black and white of the mill. We were driving up the road to Warburton where you pass this saw mill. We often enjoy going for drives as a family, especially with the hills and Yarra Valley just on our door step. Actually I don't think the kids think it is that much of a terrific idea, but we enjoy it. I was captivated by the rusticness of the saw mill with all the bits of timber in piles everywhere. I especially liked the pipe that dissects through the picture like a roof top.

I won a third prize at the Ringwood art Society judged competition for my "Aboriginal Children" the other week. So that was excting news. I have paintings going into the Mt. Waverley competition in a week and The Bay side exhibition in Brighton. I am hoping for some sales, which would be nice. I am keeping my fingers crossed for my friends as well. Good luck everyone, lots of red dots please!

Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo, an aboriginal musical instrument that only a amle may play. The sound resonates through the air in a distinct melodic way.

I had lots of fun with this aboriginal man. Once again the source of reference has to be credited to Lyndal Alston.

A game of cricket!

Okay, my previous blog of the work in progress just got stuck. I may go back to it at a later date. This picture of aboriginal children holding a cricket bat is my latest work. They are so animated and full of personality. Once again I have to credit the source of the reference to a friend Lyndal Alston. She is a fabulous photographer and was able to capture so much liveliness.

I really enjoyed the colors in this picture and I had a lot of fun with the animation of the central figure.

Work in Progress

I started this piece yesterday. It is another scene from karunda Markets. I am not sure where it is going, but it will definately be an experimental journey in technique.

Aboriginal children

This is the finished piece. I am still trying to come up with a title for the picture. What do you think about "What are you looking at?".

Aboriginal Children

Hi, I haven't quite finished this piece but what do you think? I was lucky enough to get the reference from Lyndal Alston, a friend and great photographer. Who was working in the outback.

If you can think of a good name for this piece I would apreciate the help in naming it.

I recently exhibited at Belgrave Fire Brigade show and was lucky enough to sell two pieces there, "The Chocolate Shop" and "What about me?" Thanks to who ever bought these pieces, especially during recession times. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did painting them. The good thing about this is it gives me a little bit more money to spend on additional framing. This is the really hard part about doing pastel paintings, as they need to be framed under glass and costs a lot of money. If you try and do it cheaply then the whole look of the picture is spoilt.
Now, I have to think about the next show, what to exhibit and maybe get something new framed for it.