Loose flowers

Nasturtiums

Painting Watercolours

I have really been trying to improve my watercolour painting by practising constantly,reading articles,watching YouTube productions and discussing my concerns with friends.My main emphasis has been painting flowers while seeking to express them in a freer way.Using more water seems to me to be one of the many solutions.
Sometimes I toy with the idea of just dropping colour onto a sheet of paper ,spraying it,moving the paper carefully while watching where the paint goes.I have tried that,then let it dry and then worked back into the various colours with my pencil.
I have tried drawing out very sketchily where I want my flowers to go then put background colours in,let it dry completely,and worked each section carefully .
I will continue practising.

I love the freshness of watercolour and the beautiful effects that can be made when colours mingle on the paper.It is exciting and at the same time maddening  when it doesn't always work out.However,I keep telling myself"It is only a bit of  paper"

Watercolour sketches done in New Zealand

The old boat, Queenstown.

Reflections.

Lunch at Arrow town

Mountain Scene

The Poplars 

Clouds are gathering

Yellow roses

Beautiful Mountains

Across the Bay

At Arrow Town

In the Bay at Queenstown

More poplars

More mountains

At the farm out from Queenstown

More mountains

My oil paintings

Since I attended a recent workshop with John Wilson ,a highly regarded artist from Victoria ,my interest in oil painting has again been renewed and each week I have been inspired to look at  my photos to see what I could attempt.I must admit the paint is much harder to carry around and clean up after a session than watercolour.However,I have really enjoyed using oils again.I have been trying out different sized canvases and am eagerly waiting to see them framed.I hope I am pleased as they should be much easier to handle and also lighter as there is no glass to worry about.I will enter some in the Rotary Shows and see whether I have any success.

Golden Wattle ...an oil painting from a photo I took near Pt.Lincoln

Recent photos of my paintings

It has been a long time

After struggling for months trying to get back on my Blog ,today I made an appointment with Apple in the city and spent nearly 40 minutes with a very competent young man who somehow got rid of many of the passwords I had used before when attempting to open my Blog.I now have a new one and can actually start writing again.I just hope it will work for me so that I can download my latest paintings and thoughts.My last input was just before I went to New Zealand with Ev Hales and a group of about 12 artists .

New Zealand   Flying into Queenstown was a spectacular sight with high ice and snow topped mountains and rivers and valleys below .The air trip was quick and not at all tiring.We were soon through customs and on our way in a mini bus to the Novotel Hotel where we spent the next week or so.I travelled with a friend ,Lesley,and caught up with two other friends soon after arrival.Before long we were introduced to the rest of the group at the introductory dinner.They were a keen and friendly lot of people,both men and women.Ev spoke to us about the programme she had planned and how each day would progress.It was such a well planned and organised workshop with us travelling by bus most days to some wonderful destinations.The  drivers ,a husband and wife team ,were wonderful.They arrived on time,as did our group and provided us with morning tea ,coffee and eats each day.We went to places where it was possible to purchase    drinks and food when we stayed all day.The scenery was amazing.We all took photos,sketched and painted while Ev demonstrated and moved among us as we worked.Every evening we had access to a room at the hotel and the nearby Uni where we were able to discuss and share our efforts.Ev 's planning and preparedness made the trip a very happy and successful one and one which many participants want to repeat with such a skilled and sharing person.

I leave for New Zealand on March14.Three of my friends are going too .We are participating in a week of watercolour painting with Ev Hales ,an artist from Victoria who conducts Plein air painting trips in various parts of the world.Several of my friends have done repeated trips with Ev and highly recommend her and I am keen to participate and learn how to do quick sketches and paintings.Ev has produced several E books which I have bought from Amazon and these are very skillfully written.I intend to take my IPad so that I can refer to them if I want to.

At Ev's suggestion I bought various qualities and quantities of watercolour paper which I took to Office Works and had cut and spiral bound into different sized books which I will take.She has clearly stated the necessity of travelling light  with a minimum of gear and I am determined to do that this time.

Yesterday I spent some time trying out one of the spiral books on differing papers.As we will just be gathering information and not completing "real"paintings I imagine we will be working quickly so that should be a challenge.

Getting ready for New Zealand

Recent activities and preparing for a painting trip to New Zealand.

Since the busy Christmas season I have been to stay at Victor Harbor with some of my fellow watercolour artist friends.The weather was unbelievably hot with the temperature around 45 degrees every day..Consequently we spent most of the holiday week at our rented beach house in the coolness of air conditioned rooms and I painted for 5 days straight.As a result I have injured my shoulder again and am now only able to start painting again .Carrying heavy framed paintings to the Victor Rotary Art Show didn't help either.I have made a decision to paint smaller paintings from now on .

I enjoyed the time spent painting with friends.We watched some art videos and shared lots of thoughts and ideas as well as reading art magazines and books.A great way to start 2014!