Art Exhibitions

In these weird times the way we exhibit artwork has changed an awful lot. I have just entered three online exhibitions (keep your fingers crossed!) and thought I'd have a look back at some of my recent exhibitions.

I started off the year really well by managing to get one of my collagraph prints "Tiger Relax" accepted into a very difficult exhibition to get into, the RBSA (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists) Open exhibition. 

This exhibition opened in March and luckily I managed to see it before lockdown happened and the gallery closed. Sadly I didn't get to wear my posh frock as the closing party was cancelled! The exhibition is actually still on at the gallery, as it couldn't be taken down, and I'm hoping the building ghosts are enjoying their exclusive exhibition at the moment!

My favourite exhibition of last year had to be the Wolverhampton Society of Artists Centenary exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in December. I was very shocked to win first prize in the Selection Panel Choice and got to meet the Mayor of Wolverhampton who presented me with my certificate!

I also exhibited another couple of times at the RBSA last year. Back in March 2019 for the Open All Media exhibtion, where I exhibited an oil painting for the very first time!

And in July 2019 I exhibited my collagraph print "Tiger Feet" in the annual Friends exhibition and even got to do a 5 minute talk about how I make my collagraph printing plates!

I really have had a busy few years of exhibitions and hopefully soon we will be able to exhibit properly in real life again!

Clare xx

Tiger Oil Painting

A few months ago I treated myself to a new camera and took it to Dudley Zoo to try it out and get some interesting animal shots. The male tiger Joao likes to pose and I got some really good shots of him ready to be made into some artwork.

While on lockdown I thought I would try a different painting medium - oil paints. I haven't done an oil painting for ages as I loose my patience with it as it takes a long time to dry so I tend to use acrylic paint more but I thought as I have plenty of time I would give it a go again!

I took a few photos while I was painting. Here's the very first layer, I just like to cover the whole canvas with thinned down paint and just establish as much of the image as I can very loosely. 

A few layers in and I'm just trying to establish a bit more detail but also I like to get a palette knife out and scrape the paint off again so you can see some of the other layers. I can't help it with oil paint I love scraping at it and the interesting marks the palette knife makes.

The finished painting. I've darkened down the background and added a bit more detail but still tried to keep the expressiveness of the marks of the paint.

In the end I could only really manage painting this tiger in small 10 minute chunks so I'm very pleased with how it came out. Will have to try another oil painting soon too!

Clare xx

Painting the Colosseum!

Colosseum Purple Watercolour Painting

We went to Rome a few years ago and ever since then I have been obsessed with painting the Colosseum. I still remember it taking my breath away when we came out from the station and saw it looming right in front of me! I love painting arches, windows, ruins and strong shadows so this was perfect for me!

I've painted it quite a few times in watercolour but I've been experimenting a bit with oil painting recently so thought I'd try to paint it in oils! Heres a few photos of behind the scenes of my painting (some of the photos were taken at night so not the best quality):

The very first sketch onto the canvas with a rough wash of acrylic paint just to get an idea of the structure.

First layer of oil paint to establish some tones and colours. I always paint everything at the same time and lots of layers.

 Lots more tones and a funny greeny colour has appeared!

Brightened up the Italian sky and added a few purple dark tones.

Starting to come together. I can't resist the purple and blues in the shadows!

Pretty much finished, I just like to live with a painting for a while to see if I can spot anything thats not quite right!

Colossuem Oil Painting

The finished oil painting! 

I'm off to Sicily soon so can't wait to be inspired by lots more Italian architecture!

Clare xx

My Studio Space!

 
I've decided to try and write a few more Blogs this year so this will be the first of many (hopefully!)

I thought I would introduce you all to my "studio" space or spare bedroom/dining room table! This is where all the magic happens!

This is or was my dining room table! My etching press lives on here most of the time and I always have the company of a Dalek or two while I am printing! Normally the cat tries to help too so he often has inky feet!

This my desk in the spare room. Its actually an ingenious design from Ikea and when all the drawers are away it just looks like a normal piece of bedroom furniture but when the big fake top drawer is opened it makes a desk, perfect for painting cats on!

One of my recent oil paintings just waiting for him to dry.

Lots and lots of pencils and paintbrushes ready for action. Totoro and Morph often help out too! The boxes in the background are where all my greeting cards live ready to be posted out.

 A few of my cat (and a sneaky parrot) paintings waiting for new homes. The easiest place to store them is on the walls so they don't get damaged and friends that come and stay always say that sleeping in the spare room is like sleeping in an art gallery!

Clare xx

Captain Jack Oil Painting

I love seeing behind the scenes of how an artwork is produced so thought I would take a few photographs of the different steps of my new oil painting!

This is Captain Jack Kitty. Its one of my most popular acrylic paintings and I really wanted to do a slightly different bigger version in oils.

Captain Jack Kitty - Acrylic - 20 x 20cm

Of course it had to feature the top pirate cat Morpheus in his most swashbuckling pose!

•  I always do an acrylic underpainting first to get rid of the white canvas and to make sure everything looks right but I forgot to take a photo of this! 

• Below is about half an hour of throwing some oil paint on the canvas just to get some shapes.
  
  
  

 

•  A bit more definition all over and I decided to make his eyes a bit bigger and less squinty.
  

 

• Again more definition especially on the eyes as I always think if the eyes don't look right the whole painting won't work.

 

• The finished painting just waiting to dry!

I love painting my cat Morpheus as he always has a cute little smile which his black chin accentuates!
I wanted him to be a bit of a scruffy looking pirate and I think it works!

Clare xx