Steamy

The trees in Swinley woods were steaming, like vampires in direct sunlight after the snow.

Snow

Snow finally arrived in Bracknell today. If I didn't have dogs I would have appreciated this fact from indoors.

Do not touch

Another Anish Kapoor piece in Hyde Park. My Dad stepped over the boundary wire to get a closer look and was moved on by the security guard.

N-ice

Shards of ice glittering on the frozen pond in Hyde Park today.

Kensington Gardens

Well fed Geese and ducks.

Every Cloud has a silver lining,

if it is being reflected in a giant stainless steel dish.

Reflecting on my day in Hyde Park

Not only is Hyde Park the home to art on the railings on Sunday, I came across this mirror (one of four) in the park by Anish Kapoor.

A Short Story

I was therefore relieved to discover a squirrel with no tail.

Lucky rabbit foot?

I looked out of the kitchen window and saw this. Why would next door nail a rabbit to their shed I wondered. As vegetarians it seemed out of character.

Tree topless

I wasn't quick enough to capture the lightening flash but I love the colour of this sky. The sunshine was intense and then the rain fell. Leafless trees are beautiful too.

A Dove Tale

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I saw this striking Dove Cote in a pub garden, 5 minutes outside of Burgess Hill today and wanted to share.

Magic

I noticed new toadstools popping up in Swinley Woods yesterday, although this is a photo from last year. Autumn is my favourite Season and am starting to look forward to Christmas!

Spidery

A spider catches his reflection in my bath! I don't usually mind putting spiders outside but this one didn't fit in a pint glass so I left it for the man of the house to evict.

Standing outside of the Pink Flamingo's

Like Ballerinas.

Sun-day

It isn't sunny today at all, in fact it feels a bit like autumn. I'm spending this Sunday tidying up the studio.

Bootiful

I visited Birdworld today in Farnham Surrey. Out of all the beautiful and exotic birds I photographed today - this is my favourite snap.

Mountains

A mountain range on a seashell.

'firs'day

Another Woodscape!

Tweeting

A day planned in the studio tomorrow.

Gold Leaf

A finished Woodscape painting.

White Nun

Bayswater Road on Sunday. Four Nuns heading in the direction of Tyburn Convent, near Marble Arch.

Branching Out

I thought you might like to see a work in progress. This is me dusting the sky with a large dry soft brush to remove all the excess paint down to canvas. This accentuates the contrast between the smooth, flat as canvas sky against the rich textures of the Forest.

Bootylicious

Forget carbooty the best way to spend Sunday is at Bayswater Rd.

Pine Needles

This photo I took in Upper Harbledown makes me pine for Willow Wood. I'll be back at Christmas time!

Can't see wood for the trees

Woodscapes in progress, watch this space!

The butterfly effect

I was in Swinley Forest this evening gleaning inspiration for a new series of wood scape scenes. This photo is of a patient Speckled Wood Butterfly that I happened across which kept nicely still. Unfortunately while I was occupied the Horseflies were busy too.

Nosey!

I had a few sniffles after this nose went to a new home on Sunday. I'm on maternity leave and am already missing Bayswater Road. Time now to reflect as a painter and smell the roses!

Bayswater Road weird and wonderful

A new artist Gosia Kryk has joined Bayswater Rd, I've just uploaded her to the website;
www.bayswater-road-artists.co.uk
I'm very impressed by her pitch. That's what I love about Bayswater Road, as anyone fascinated by painting - there is so much weird and wonderful art to see and every week it is a unique experience.
This is a photo I took a couple of years ago which shows the road in summer time.

Coming up Roses

Am receiving lots of enquiries via the website
www.bayswater-road-artists.co.uk
from Artists about exhibiting at Bayswater Road this month. I'm encouraging everyone to see the road for themselves and research.
There's a minority of painters who sell well and frequently but there are many who don't. It's not always rosy for the artist at Bayswater Road.

ArtWeb

ArtWeb who host my website selected me as one of their featured artists on their new Facebook account which was nice surprise. This is the image I gave them, of my Bayswater Road Pitch. Normally my paintings refuse to hang straight on the railings because of the clips I use so this photograph is unusual.

framed

Today I found the small frames for my surrealist images, at last!
Despite not being able to carry larger pieces to Bayswater for the time being, I am still painting them. This Hot air balloon floated away to a new home on Saturday.

Hedgehog blogged

We saw a hedgehog in the hedge(!) at the bottom of the garden this evening. As you may guess, painting is going very slowly this week.

A poem for Friday

The Beach Hut

Quietly Creaking

With a doorstep full of sand

The hut – licked by salt air

Ship shape stripes

Flake away

In a row of candy colours

Tasting of the sea

Shutting out gulls cries

And winds whispers and shouts

In a cupboard full of damp towels

And blankets

Sticky ice cream fingerprints

Coffee cup rings

Driftwood and seashells

World Cup Hopes

This is my footy tribute! I wish the country got as excited about Eurovision.

Dandelions

Dandelions are one of my favourite flowers to paint. They have an ethereal and magical quality, if you blow on them you are supposed to make a wish. I had guests sewing on the beads with these at our BBQ which was a great help. One of my (male) Bayswater Rd colleagues mistook them for nipple tassels however so maybe I should re market them!

Blog bogged

Two weeks since I last wrote, what happened?! I've been blogged down making art, looking after whippets, home and husband. This is my pitch on Sunday, it was a quiet day. I'm not able to attend this week so I have a fortnight to prepare my surreal pieces for launch.

Key to Success

This is a still life I set up for an art class. Is Surrealism my key to success this week at Bayswater Road?

The icing on the cake

Three new artists joined the Bayswater Road Art Exhibition, I posted their receipt and newsletters today. Three new reasons to visit on Sunday!

Fantasy Fish

Today I have been drawing all my random thoughts. Tomorrow I will be painting them.

Look Out!

This photo was taken last year. I've always enjoyed the surreal, another artist at Bayswater encouraged me to hang the paintings like this, it wasn't my original intention hence two left eyes. I wonder where the owner of each of these have hung them! When I was in Las Vegas in April I discovered the work of surrealist painter Vladimir Kush, amazing and well worth looking out for.

Thirsty Work

Yesterday by 8pm, Waterloo was coated in a fine layer of empty plastic bottles. A bit like our lounge really. It's too hot to do much today. However I am planning a surreal series of pen drawings. Ever seen a floating strawberry milk shake?

Sundae

Loving the ice-cream weather

Sunrise

Drifting up and away
Carried by hopes and dreams
Wrapped in a sunrise blanket
Saying hello to today

Paintings drying in the sunshine. Happy with work, it means I can varnish tomorrow and have the afternoon off. Sunny days aren't the best to be selling at Bayswater surprisingly. When it's too hot Hyde Park is packed with sun worshippers spread over every square inch of grass but the road is deserted. Looks like I need to buy a sun hat for Sunday and keep my fingers crossed for serious art lovers.

Up and away

Today's task was cutting out hot air balloon shapes which I've pasted to canvas. They look fairly convincing, I've avoided the look of a light bulb or plectrum. Once dry I'll be doing a wash of colour over the top this evening. At this stage everything looks hopeful. I feel I'm really up and away with this series of paintings. Now to update website.

Watching paint dry...

It's 10am I've been up hours to prime canvas. At lunchtime I'm going to Ascot with my husband to have an Anti-D jab which will be a break and then it's back to do second coats. It's an exciting time for me as this is when the anticipation builds...what am I going to paint? On the other hand today, I am basically watching paint dry.

My first Blog!

I've been thinking for a while to start a blog. There are a few reasons but mostly to tell people about the Bayswater Road Sunday Art Market and to shame me into being more productive during the week. Today I've been chiselling out staples to remove canvases that have gone wrong from stretchers (36 total although I have only managed 7). In the past few years I've become more experimental as a painter.

As well as exhibiting I'm membership secretary for the Bayswater Road Artist Association known as BRAA. I've two new members receipts to post today which is good news. Am also looking to recruit new artists....

Bayswater Road on a Sunday