If Wishes Were Fishes

'If wishes were fishes, then the seas would be full' is the poem from which my latest painting gets it's title.

 

If Wishes Were Fishes, Acrylic on Canvas, 76cm x 101cm, 30" x 40"

Some close up pics:

Some evolution pics:

 I've been thinking about painting fish for a couple of months now.  In early December my husband bought me a silver ring for our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

And next week I start back with Neil Elliott for mixed media classes and our theme is an underwater scene - so I've been gathering photos from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law of their underwater adventures in Indonesia.  I've also been watching a lot of Donna Downey Inspiration Wednesday videos and she had this hexagonal stencil which gave me the idea for hexagonal fish.

Last weekend I watched Flora Bowley's latest video and was so inspired by her (it's nearly 2 years since I went to her workshop at Nanga in the bush south of Perth) that I grabbed the largest canvas I had (it was one for Neil's class so I need to go buy another...) and went out in the garden so I could paint freely, with lots of spraying and looseness as possible (my kitchen floor is covered in tiny spots of paint spray oops...).  I should have done more dripping before packing up my garden studio but it was getting too warm and my brain was fried.

I've had the most amazing fun painting my fishy painting and thank you so much to everyone on Instagram and Facebook for your likes and comments too.  I hope to make some more fishy paintings soon.

Hope you're having a fun arty weekend too.

Donna Heart's Exhibition Part 2

The Arts and Cultural Development Centre in Geraldton was buzzing on Friday night as the room was full of people talking about the beautiful art of Donna Heart. Over 30 paintings were displayed and most of them were sold though the exhibition continues for two more weeks so if you are in the area then pop in.

Over 6 months in the making Donna's paintings relflect her love of nature, seed pods, and her time in Western Australia's north.  Donna's layering technique, talent, ability and style have grown with the confidence of completing every new painting. Her success is hard earned and greatly deserved.

Me with Donna  - how cute that we dressed in the same colours!!!

Congratulations Donna on a beautiful exhibition, your art is very inspiring.

Inspiration for Uncreated Paintings

Inspiration...where does yours come from? 

Mine comes from a variety of sources and comes at the oddest times.  Earlier today I was describing to my son the paintings that are inside of my head then I went to the newsagent and found this beautiful card which I'd love to paint in my own style.  So now I have another painting inside of me that needs to be created.

Art - sometimes my inspiration comes not from other people's art but my own.  I was thinking about my latest girlie painting 'She Let Love Go' and will paint 'Butterflies Dance' which will be an anithesis to letting love go.

Music - I love the first line of the Birds of Tokyo song Plans: "We made plans to kiss the sun at night..." and would love to paint that...  Last year I created a collage and titled it from a line in this song:

Masquerade of Stars Collage, Aug 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owk3oqUjgh4


I heard for the first time today Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts and it reminded of an uncreated painting in my head titled 'She Kept Her Heart in a Jar'....is she reaching for the jar to get the heart out or to put it away.  Glass can be difficult to paint so that one has been put on the back burner for a couple of years now.  I may paint it differently in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_4O44sfjM

Words - I was chatting away with a friend this morning thinking about writing a blog on Teaching when this uncreated painting popped into my head about apple trees.

Emotions - I have another painting yet to be created based on depression and 'going into the well' - I was reading Dr John Gray's Men Are From Mars and Women Are from Venus at the time and the outlined sketch is around here somewhere.

A blog for another day will be titled Artists who have Inspired Me from my Pop to Pam Carriker to Flora Bowley.

Flora's technique is all about letting the painting talk to you and I'm trying to combine it with the need to give birth to all these creations stuck inside my head.