Pet Portraits

 

"My Sister's Dogs" acrylic on canvas 36"x24"

With Christmas looming I am spending some time painting pet portraits, here is one of my sister's dogs.

There are more examples of this subject on my blog "Paintings of Pets" posted on April 12, 2011.

http://sprotbropainter.blogspot.com/2011/04/paintings-of-pets.html

Paintings for Rock Cottage B and B.

Rock Cottage is 300 years old and a  perfect bed and breakfast with log fires and superb home cooked food with wonderful views of the Black Mountains. These paintings represent part of the work I have been commissioned to do for the owners Sue and Chris.

'View of the Black Mountains'

acrylic on canvas 48"x36"

(The cottage roof can just be seen at the bottom on the right of the painting.)

'Wrens Nest" acrylic on wood 7"x5"

door plate for one of the rooms

"Owls Roost" acrylic on wood 7"x5"

door plate for a second room.

'View from the gardens" large watercolour/gouache.

All the views from the cottage the  garden and the large field at the side are are of the Black Mountains and simply stunning.

Watercolour/gouache 7"x5"

Christmas card for 2010.

Rock Cottage Bed and Breakfast is well worth a visit and their website is

www.rockcottagebandb.co.uk

My Garden 'Tidy Up'

I got in a good days gardening yesterday, the sun shone and it was more than pleasant to be out there.

My intention was to clear the long strands of brambles which seem to have grown overnight and are ready to trip the unwary, and a large group of thistles which although very pretty I needed to take out. I have an abundance of nettles and thistles elsewhere in the garden for wildlife.

The green bin quickly filled up and I compressed it with spade and rake to get as much in as possible. 

Squirrel didn't seem too impressed with my efforts !! 

I don't compost my garden waste since I decided I was going to keep my garden 'on the wild side' and I did away with the lawns and mowing - so it is a mix of wild flowers and perennials with the addition of a few annuals geraniums and pansies etc, it suits me and it is very pretty in all seasons. 

So there will be pots of jam in the Autumn, if the birds leave any blackberries for me. In the meantime I have a yen to do some paintings, of my garden, maybe small watercolours. 

Watch this space !!!

Garden Festival Weekend at Barnburgh

Glorious sunshine all weekend for the Garden Festival. The interior of the church looked beautiful and I thought the various displays of paintings, photographs and woodcarvings looked very attractive in the cool light of the church.

My display of local landscape and flower paintings.

Yvonne Kirby's display of botanical paintings.

I took the opportunity to have a look at the Medieval Dovecote in the Hall Gardens. I had done a series of paintings in 1988 when this property was owned by the Coal Board and in a state of disrepair. 

'Dovecote Barnburgh' small watercolour gouache.

'Old Barn Barnburgh 1988' oil on board, 30"x16".

It was interesting to see all the improvements made over the years . What was once a decrepit old barn, now four very desirable cottages, and the dovecote repaired, now set in parkland with the most wonderful views over the surrounding countryside. 

I only had time to visit one of the open gardens and that was Manor Farm in Harlington, a lovely informal cottage garden with a orchard, bees and swallows swooping overhead, and lots of lovely flowers.

Sign acrylic on wood

Two interesting nests on display.....

Wasps nest

Bumblebees nest

....and of course honey for sale!!

The sun shone from dawn till dusk both Saturday and Sunday. I met some new and interesting people and some old friends and I had a very good weekend indeed.

Braithwell Church and Country Fair

On Saturday I showed my work at an interesting venue in the  pretty village of Braithwell between Doncaster and Rotherham at the annual Church and Country Fair.

St James Church , a small watercolour / gouache

It was just four hours on this Saturday afternoon in June, usually heaving with visitors but the weather played us foul again and there was not the interest of previous years.

I displayed some recent paintings which continued the painting over and around the frame.

"Bluebells in High Melton Woods'

acrylic on board 13"x15"  price £95

'Fishing in the River Don"

acrylic on board 13"x15" price £95

'Marguerites at the Top of My Garden'

13"x15" acrylic on board price £95

These created a lot of interest and favourable comment.

'The Blackbird Also Feeds"

acrylic on board 19"x23" price £350

The above painting of 'The Garden Room Restaurant' was the first time I used this technique. Coincidently that was also in Braithwell at Plants of Special Interest, since renamed 'The Garden Boutique'.

'The Masters House'

small watercolour / gouache SOLD

'The Village Pump'

small watercolour / gouache sold

On the whole it was a good day, I saw some old friends and made some new friends, in particular Diane Harrison, who was showing her collection of landscape photographs. I really liked the ones of the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales, and was also drawn to her portrait photography.  Diane's work can also be seen at www.imageandlight.co.uk

Paintings of Pets

I am trying to 'clear the decks' of things that require my attention so that I can concentrate on work that I need to do for various exhibitions this summer, and as usual, I manage to get diverted onto a different tack. This time it is the paintings of pets I have done over recent years.
 The most recent of these is a 'work in progress' in acrylics - 'Joel with George and Tom' - Joel has a packet of Smarties but neither dog appears very interested.

'Joel with George and Tom'
I have the underpainting to finish and a lot of corrections to make . I am also debating wether to continue in acrylics or finish it in oils,  so it will probably be a couple of months before I post news of progress on this painting.

I have always enjoyed painting pets, especially dogs,  I have not painted many and they have usually been well loved pets.

'Cassie'

After a first five minutes of bouncing around, dogs will usually sit quietly for a short time while a quick pencil sketch is made and photographs taken.  I prefer to take photographs myself so that I can get a feel for the character of the dog and also the different views that I like to work from.   

It is often necessary to use material from more than one photographic source in one painting.

     

'Pretty Boys'

Occasionally I have to make do with just one or two photographs - as in this next example of a painting commission from a lady who wanted a 'surprise' birthday gift for a friend and had managed to take the photographs without being seen. 

'Settled in for the Night'

Finally my own dog 'Dobi'. The painting was never finished apart from just the head and neck . It says just enough for me and I will always treasure it.





PS...I think a painting of 'squirrel' just has to be on the agenda!!!!!