meldrum art
Like I said in the last post, this watercolour didn’t come easy. After coming home from France I had the half finished painting on my studio wall for weeks until one day I finally thought I’d have a go at completing it. It wasn’t obvious to me if I would succeed or not but I am so happy I didn’t give up and I made it work.
Have a nice weekend!
Click the thumbnail below to see the image in full-size.
This episode was filmed in Pontrieux, France. I have to admit that this watercolour was a bit of a fight. When I had reached half way I really didn’t know if I would succeed or not. I’m glad I didn’t give up though because I am delighted with the end result.
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It’s a sign of the changing seasons but I sat in my studio and painted this scene from a photo I took during the autumn.
Saying that, I have just bought a super-warm winter coat and so I certainly do not accept being stuck in my studio until the warmer days reappear in the spring. Nah, I’m going out there and painting real soon, vodka in my water, blow torch at my hip – watercolours will be done whatever the conditions. 🙂
Click the thumbnail below for full-sized image.
Yes, I had a wonderful holiday in Sicily this summer. It seems so long ago now, especially now that the autumn leaves have fallen and the bare trees are almost black in tone.
I paint every morning and so I often browse through my photo reference folder which is full of potential watercolour scenes. And so it was with this scene, it just said hello to me and I started painting it. I never know what I am going to paint before I start, it’s interesting how we get inspired, it can be different everyday.
I am happy with this watercolour, I seem to have found a new awareness on how to tackle a scene, it excites me and I want to just paint more scenes, isn’t life great! 🙂
Click the thumbnail image below if you would like to see it in full-size.
It’s ironic that I don’t have the time to draw at my own life drawing evenings, I visit other places like Konstnärshuset (The Artist’s House) and sketch there instead. I don’t mind at all, it gives me a great deal of pleasure organising life drawing sessions, making sure the lighting is good, getting excellent models and making fantastic coffee.
My life drawing session is today (Thursday) by the way at Dieselverkstaden 18.30 – 20.30, a shameless plug 😉
These watercolours where sketched at Konstnärshuset last Tuesday, number one and two I spent a few minutes working on the day after. The actual poses are between 10 and 5 minutes long.
With the help of my wife I gathered up all my watercolours and packed them into the car last night. It’s always a strange feeling coming to the end of something, be it a holiday abroad or an exhibition in Stockholm.
The exhibition was a success in many ways but to be honest I didn’t sell so many watercolours, enough to break even but no more than that. On the positive side though I really appreciated the words of encouragement I received from all the people who dropped by. Words of praise like, ‘you have developed so much in such a short time’ to ‘your art is at a real high level’ – this really charges my enthusiasm to keep on trying. One stroke at a time, a little better, a little wiser.
Right now, the way I feel is that I will not be having a solo exhibition anytime soon. I just want to focus on improving, I look forward to getting back into my routine of painting in the morning, I have many ideas on where I want to go with my art. That was one of the good things to come out of the exhibition, I had all my art from the last two years up on the walls, I had time to look and analyse them, to see which direction I would like to go. Some watercolours represented the old me where as a number show hints of where I am heading. Really exciting, I can’t wait to get back painting again. In that way, the exhibition was indeed a success.
My watercolours are on show at Rääf Gallery, Hornsgatan 32, Stockholm. Exhibition ends 25th of September 18.00.
12.00 – 18.00 Tuesday, Wednesday.
To be fair, we are having a beautiful week here in Stockholm, it could be summer, it feels like summer on the skin, the sun is so warm – I have to take my jacket off but I don’t put it down. No , I don’t trust this little bubble, I feel it will burst at any moment. We are heading into autumn and soon the trees will be a fantastic orange and I will suffer from SAD which I successfully deal with through light-therapy.
This watercolour demonstration was a real challenge because of frequent showers while painting. I was on the island of Björnö close to Stockholm a few weeks back and it was a wonderful day really because I learned a lot about my patience as an artist. It was also a day of discovery as I’d never been to the island before so it was fun cycling my trailer through woods and winding paths along the shore.
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