NEIGHBOURS CLEMATIS

Naughty Polly pinched some of my neighbours Clematis.  Well I digress here.   By kind permission of Beverley Wells (wonderful flower painter) I have copied a painting of her Irises (second painting) to give me an idea of how to paint and enjoy painting, freely painted flowers. Enjoy being the main objective.The painting  I am dead chuffed with.

First here is my first solo effort in this method, without the use of a 'safety net'.  To be honest it isn't too bad for me but I started to fiddle and lost my 'lost and found' edges and fiddled with the left hand one now overworked. Looks better on tinternet!

A gentle hesitant foxtrot of a painting

My problem is I am too tight when painting flowers and Beverley is trying to encourage me to dance with the brush.  I feel I am on my first week of Strictly Come Dancing (or Dancing with the Stars if you are American). So the steps were laboured but there was some semblance of a flow and a couple of times I lost the routine. Yet still quite quite enjoyed it.  I don't know how many marks I would get, but hope I wouldn't be kicked out in the first week!

A tango of a painting! (Kind permission of Beverley Wells)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

EACH ROOM OF THE HOUSE

I have decided to paint something from each room in the house, just something simple and just for a change.
So in effect, I have challenged myself!  So obviously I have made it not too challenging, so no flowers, no boats, no buildings, no portraits - Hooray. I am very kind to myself ..............

Living Room - My poor old hands get very dry, so I always have some hand cream nearby.  This one is pro age.  I haven't noticed my hands turning younger yet.  Should I sue the company?

Dining Room - Not knives, forks etc as you would imagine but a candle. A friend of mine bought me this lovely National Trust Candle.  It smells so lovely that I don't want to burn it yet.  What a lovely thought it was too.  Can you smell it?

Hope you had a lovely weekend.  Today we had sun and it was warm. Extraordinary.  Had to grab this day with both hands as it may be the only summer day we get!

LONDON'S WEST END

This is the third time I have attempted a night scene in watercolour.  I'm finding it really, really, difficult. Getting colours dark enough yet not muddy is really hard in watercolour and I feel this subject would be better in oils or pastels.  But old intrepid here will not give up.  This is my best night scene so far.  Wonder if anyone else has tried this subject,  I haven't seen any on blogs. Oh, and by the way I wasn't drunk when I painted this, the paper was cockled and that is why the lines are crooked, so there!

I've had three days cutting back on my internet use, and it has been nice to have a life! Reading, lunching out, gardening etc.  Can I last any longer without my internet friends? Now that is the question.

ANNIE ARKWRIGHT'S NEW JOB

Meet a friend of mine.  Annie Arkwright from Accrington, in Lancashire. Those of you who followed my other blog pollyluvspainting will have already met her. I aplogise for the Lancashire dialect I have written in, to some of you it may seem like a foreign language.

Annie worked in t'local library. Unobtrusively working her socks off, till one day she came across 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and thought it were an art book on colour mixing, but it weren't it were about sinful sex!  It changed her life, eeh ecky thump by gum it did!  Prim Annie joined a dating agency and met many a twerp.  Now of an evening, she's gorra new job as a lucious life model at Accrington Community Centre.  All the folk think she's a reet grand model as she's a fine figure of a woman!  Who is that painting his heart out? All agog? Could it be Woody has found out who the woman walking through the woods is. Is he stalking Annie.  Woody Eckerslyke!

To read more about Annie and my other friends go to my other blog pollyluvspainting and click on the label 'friends of mine'.  You will meet Fag Ash Lil, Woody's brothers and cousin, Willie Eckerslyke, Kenny Eckerslyke and Diddy Eckerslyke and a few more.  They are quite a mixed bunch.

LILY OF THE VALLEY

Can you believe it, I have painted another flower. I wonder am I sickening for something, this isn't like me at all!  I may have caught floweritis from all you flower bloggers!

For my next post I will be introducing you to Annie Arkwright.  Who is a friend of mine.   You may want to catch up with her story on my other blog Pollyluvspainting and the label is 'friends of mine' before she appears here.   Those of you who have visited this blog will know that I have several unusual friends from the Lancashire area!  I have combined my 2 blogs now, so I welcome my followers of the other blog here to  this one.

SHARON'S CHALLENGE

Sharon Whitley's Challenge this month is of Cwm Idwal and the photo was taken by Gary Jones.  What a spectacular view, it fer takes yer breath away!  Although it is so awesome I felt that it wouldn't make a good painting.   However, when I got stuck in (very technical artistic term) I really enjoyed it.   I decided to use a limited palette of french ultramarine, burnt sienna and raw sienna, and, unusual for me, is painted small only 29cm x 20 cm.

I couldn't resist putting the real photograph taken by Gary.  How lucky to be able to walk so high and capture such breathtaking beauty. I thank Sharon for using this pic and for Gary for sharing this beautiful view.  Brings back memories  walks that I did way back that took my breath away.

BATTLING WITH LILAC

Was getting too confident that I was getting into painting flowers until I tried to paint this Lilac, now I know why I have avoided flowers for so long. A little success went to my head!  Took me ages, ages and more ages to get to this not yet finished, but can't face it ever again, stage!  There is a lot of mud here!!!!!!! However, it looks better on tinternet but will am posting it to show that I really have tried ever so hard and am, for once, determined to try another flower, BUT another day.

Also, yesterday, I tried out some new brushes, which feel so different. I played safe cos I wanted to spend time practising and for speed traced (with tracedown) some children I had done once before, but this time I had them playing marbles (do children still play marbles I wonder or is it one of those health and safety worries). Anyone remember their marbles.  I had a lovely collection.

Have a wonderful Bank Holiday.