Lunch Break

21x15cm (A5) Acrylic on Watercolour Paper. $45. Available here

For the Weekly Challenge- "People Eating" and wow, was this a challenge! I'm still getting the hang of painting figures. I used a photo I took in London back in March- funny enough the hardest part of this was figuring out what to do with the background, which was a mess of intricate architectural detail and overlapping signs.

Cherries and Scallions

21x15cm (A5) Acrylic on Canvas Board. $45. Available here

I had a lot of fun building a composition around these scallions- and adding touches of yellow and pink into the greens to keep them interesting.

Seeing Red

15x21cm (A5) Acrylic on Watercolour Paper. $45. Available here

More cherries! I really like how their shadows became an important part of the composition here.

Daisies and Buttercups

5x7" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

The taller daisies that I collected were the perfect height to sit in my favourite little tapered glass. I'd also found some little buttercups, which were too short to sit in any vase I could find. Instead I laid them in a saucer with some water. I'd like to collect a few more for painting- a trip to the meadow down the road may be in order... Their rich yellow colour is fantastic to mix.

Daisies

4x4" acrylic on canvas board. $25. Available here

Another for the DPW Weekly Challenge. Hundreds of these little daisies grow on the verges all the way up our street, and I've always thought they were pretty. Today on the way home from the shops I picked a handful to paint. I arranged the shoter ones in this little dark green glass that I picked up in a charity shop last year- finally, a chance to use it again! My favourite part is the soft blue-purple of the shadows under my slightly yellow lighting.

Cherries and Glass Jar

12x15cm (A5) Acrylic on Watercolour Paper. $45. Available here

I finally remembered to paint the cherries that have been in the fridge for a couple of days- they're great fun to work with, so dark and glossy, with a really rich red-purple colour. I'm really enjoying trying to capture it.

In Bloom

21x15cm (A5) Acrylic on Watercolour Paper. $45. Available here

In response to this week's Daily Paintworks challenge, I took a look around my garden and found this little flower- some type of rose? At the time it was the only one that was open. I didn't want to pick it, so I just took some photos (it was too hot to be sitting outside, by my standards at least!) I checked again today and there are a whole bunch more in bloom now. It feels like it's been a while since I did a floral painting, and this was a really nice change of pace from some other projects I've been working on!

Storm Over Stonehenge

8x10" acrylic on canvas board, $65. Available here 

Yet another painting inspired by the cloud challenge! I dug out a super-old photograph of Stonehenge, taken as we drove past it on the motorway, as my reference. I can never decide whether I prefer painting peaceful or stormy skies, they're both great challenges in different ways. In this case, it's getting all the subtle variations of grey right.

Rain In The Distance

Whoops I forgot to post this one yesterday!

8x10" oil on canvas board. $65. Available here

On The Way Home

8x10" oil on canvas board. $65. Available here

When I saw the weekly challenge theme on Daily Paintworks was "Clouds" I couldn't wait to get painting! Anyone who's followed my work for a while knows I adore painting skies. Unfortunately it's a flat white today, so I broke out some ref photos- this one was taken on the way home from an exhibition.

Bluebells and Branches

21x15cm, oil on paper. $40. Available here

It's bluebell season! I spotted this cluster beneath a tree and had to do a little painting. Trying out oils on paper, which is something I don't often do. I'll probably try a few types of paper and see what I like best- it's always fun to experiment with new surfaces and techniques!

Leaning

5x7" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

This is a slightly older painting I forgot to post- a very wonky old house in a nearby village. No, I'm not making it up- the beams really were that warped! I love how many different styles of architecture there are in this area!

One Happy Apple

5x7" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

It's really enjoying all the bright colours I surrounded it with! It was a lot of fun to work on something so vibrant. I really love the way the glass casts a greenish shadow on the yellow card!

Preparations

5x7" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

Painted for the "Exposure" Challenge on Daily Paintworks. I recently exhibited a few pieces at the Kimpton Art Show, which is held in a beautiful old church- this is the scene several days before the exhibition, when I went to drop my paintings off. Lots of people bustling about with canvases and clipboards under their arm, things being sorted on tables- and a general sense of excitement in the air. I really like how this came out, with the strong lighting and warm colours!

Spring Sun Study

 8x10" oil on canvas board. $65. Available here

A study of the tree in our back garden on a particularly sunny day- the tree looked almost black against the bright light, and the colours were all so vibrant. I wasn't happy with this when I first completed it, so it's had a few touch-ups since, and I think it's finally pulled together.

Don't Get Too Close

6x8" acrylic on paper, $45. Available here

I haven't done any veg still life paintings in a while! So I raided the fridge. I love these tiny little carrots, aren't they cute? Some of them are only about an inch long! They're a little nervous about the pepper... Safety in numbers.