Cats, Cards, Calendars and Necklaces!

This is my cat Morpheus my mews!

I've done a lot of paintings of him which have been spreading recently to lots of new projects!

The paintings I like doing the most are the small square acrylic paintings of him in various hats/costumes! (Don't worry I don't really force him to wear my hats and goggles, I think he would have had my hand off if I tried!)

Happy Kitty

Pirate Kitty

Kitty Potter

Captain Jack Cat

These have been really fun to do and have proved to be very popular. So popular I started printing cards featuring my cat in hat paintings.

Steampunk Cards

When it came to the time of year to start getting my calendars printed I couldn't resist doing a Steampunk Animal Painting calendar featuring of course Morpheus the cat and friends!

Steampunk Animal Calendar 2015

Recently I have been working with Gemma from SparklesbyGem who has produced some lovely necklaces featuring my artwork and of course they had to be Morpheus with his hats! The only problem is they are so nice I don't really want to part with them!

Kitty Potter Necklace

Captain Jack Cat Necklace

Happy Kitty Necklace

I'm not sure what we are going to be doing next but of course for all this modelling he does get his commission in extra crunchies!

Clare xx

Etching

When I did my Fine Art degree in the 90's I specialised in the printmaking technique of Etching.

One of my first etchings of the stairs in Harlech Castle, Wales.

• Heres a basic guide to etching: Etching involves a metal plate being covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid. The image is then scraped though the ground with a pointed etching needle so the bare metal is exposed. The metal plate is then put into a bath of acid which bites into the exposed metal leaving grooves. The ground is then cleaned off the plate ready for printing. The plate is inked all over and then the ink wiped off the surface, leaving only the ink in the etched lines which is then put through an etching press which forces the ink into the paper.

Printing a Penguin Cat!

My new collagraph print Penguin Cat is hot off the press today!

Penguin Cat Collagraph Print

I couldn't resist putting my black and white cat Morpheus with a group of black and white penguins, he looks so happy but I don't think they are so sure of him!

Heres my collagraph printing plate before it is printed. Notice I always have to work backwards and dark to light!

Collagraph Print: Print created from a card plate made by adding glue, paint, enamel etc. This holds the ink in varying degrees and is then printed through the intaglio process.

Heres where it starts to get messy! Etching ink with a touch of extender medium is applied to the printing plate all over getting into every crevice of the plate.

The ink is then gradually wiped off and the image is starting to appear.

Final wipe with some tissue paper. The ink is retained in any areas that are textured and the smoother the area the ink is wiped off.

The collagraph printing plate ready to be printed on my little table top etching press. Slightly dampned paper is placed over the plate and then the blanket over this and then the whole lot is rolled through the press. The weight of the roller will force the ink onto the paper slightly embossing the paper.

Always the exciting bit as you never know if the print will have worked or not until you lift the paper!

The final print hot off the press!

Lots of prints waiting to dry.

Clare xx

Tiger, Tiger

As it was Global Tiger Day yesterday I thought I'd share some of the tiger artworks I have produced over the years, I didn't quite realise there would be so many!

I will start with my favourite - Sleepy Tiger. I couldn't resist painting this little cutey fast asleep, I just want to tickle her under the chin!

Sleepy Tiger Acrylic Painting

 I think this was my first tiger painting and it has proved to be the most popular greeting card I have ever sold!

Tiger Acrylic Painting

 A really challenging painting - Tiger Roar. Trying to get that mouth and teeth to look right!

Tiger Roar Acrylic Painting

 

 

I loved painting this one as it has such a lovely face!

Tiger Smile Acrylic Painting

Tiger Stand

 A watercolour and ink painting.

Regal Tiger Watercolour Painting

  Lots of tiger ACEOs all sold out almost as soon as I had painted them! Art Card Edition and Originals - mini pieces of art 3.5 x 2.5"

Watercolour ACEOs

 Couldn't resist a purple tiger collagraph print to go with my purple animal print collection!

Purple Tiger Collagraph Print

 A Steampunk Tiger looking rather dapper in his bowler hat and goggles!

Steampunk Tiger Acrylic Painting

 Had to try him in a top hat too!

Topper Tiger Acrylic Painting

Of course I just had to make some of the paintings into greeting cards too!

Tiger Greeting Cards

I'm sure there will be lots more tiger artworks soon as they are such beautiful creatures!

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

More Exhibitions!

Thought I'd better do a quick blog as its been a while!

Been really busy with exhibitions the last few months and at one point you couldn't get in the spare room there were frames everywhere!

Red House Glass Cone Exhibition 24th May - 3rd August 2014

My latest exhibition of 15 of my collagraph prints is now on at the Red House Glass Cone, High Street, Stourbridge, West Midlands until the 3rd August. Heres me in the local paper and my Dudley Castle collagraph print too!

The Private View is on Saturday 28th June 12-2 so I'm busy trying to decide what cakes to make for the day, must be something involving chocolate though!

I've also just had one of my acrylic paintings in the Junction Festival Exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This exhibition finished last Saturday but all the artwork will be on show again during the Junction Festival in the Clarendon pub, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton 11th - 13th July. The theme of the exhibition is Music, Art, Beer. My entry is called Old Tom New Tom
and I decided to feature my new tom cat alongside a bottle of Old Tom beer. I wanted to contrast my New Tom with a bottle of beer that was first created in 1899 and features a sketch of the old brewery cat.

Old Tom New Tom Acrylic Painting

 Finished framing and labelling yesterday for my next exhibition which is the Staffordshire Enjoy Art Summer exhibtion at the Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton on Trent. This starts next Thursday 3rd July and runs until 9th August. My theme for this exhibition seems to have become cats and bears! My cat Morpheus seems to be sneaking into most of my artwork at the moment!

Collagraph prints and oil paintings ready for the Staffordshire Enjoy Art Summer Exhibition!

Also just been asked to exhibit a few artworks in a new exhibition at Dudley Museum and Art gallery in September, just waiting for a few more details and then even more framing!

Clare xx

Witley Court - Exhibition May 2014

Over the years I must have visited Witley Court in Worcestershire almost 20 times! Witley Court is a spectacular mansion house and gardens which had a disastrous fire in 1937 leaving the site abandoned to become a ruin. 

I visited for the first time on a university day trip probably around 1994. This was well before the new visitor centre and the site had just closed for the day as we got there so of course we climbed the fence and had a wander like students do! We came back properly a few weeks later and had a great day there sketching and exploring. 

 The ruined mansion itself has inspired my artwork ever since and I still love wandering the site with its archways, ornate windows, balconies and grand sweeping staircases!

Over the years I have built up a large body of artwork based on the site and really wanted to bring it all together into an exhibition. I decided to talk to Gill from the Garden Tearooms which is a tradition English Tearoom right next to the site. She offered me the use of the tearooms for May to exhibit my work and I got framing!

I put the exhibition up yesterday and am really pleased with how it looks all my artwork together so close to Witley Court itself!

East Wing Collagraph Print

Ruined Forecourt Collagraph Print

One of my favourite watercolours of the Orangery steps, it wasn't until I framed this one I realised I had painted it in 2002!

The exhibition is on until the end of May so plently of time to have a look and there is a lovely selection of homemade cakes to treat yourself to while there!

Clare xx