AMAZING I'VE DONE MORE FLOWERS!

Yes, folks, I've been at it again, more flowers!  Strictly Dancing with flowers again.  I cannot believe it, but I now have been taking photographs of flowers, thinking of dull winter days!  In tribute to Wimbledon, and to quote John McEnroe, 'You cannot be serious?'.  Yes I am!  Here are my two latest very different paintings of the petally, leafy things:-

Painted the background with gay abandon, then thought the flowers were  all to pot, so added ink.  I did NOT like this painting, but so many have on facebook and my teacher too, that I now think perhaps it wasn't too bad after all.  This Strictly Dancing with flowers was perhaps a stop start type of dance, a fandango of a dance. 

Very freely painted Alliums.  Definitely not for framing, just painted for fun.  A bit of an irish jig I think.

PUFFIN WITH PRIDE

This lovely little fella is this month's challenge from Sharon Whitley at http://sharonwhitleytheramblingartist.blogspot.co.uk (go to her site or look on facebook, Sharon's Art, if you want to paint this lovely puffin)

There are some really brilliant ones that have been done of him. I hope you like my version.  I so enjoyed painting him. Better than painting flowers any day.

Apparently they are very small, I have never seen any, but would love to one day.

(Photograph by Gary Jones)

HOTEL NOROVIRUS!

Well most of you know by now that I got the delightful (NOT) norovirus while on holiday at a Warners Hotel called Littlecote house. Has a tudor mansion at the side (when you book you think you are staying in it and you are not) which has connections to Jane Seymour, one of Henry VIII's wives (well the original building has been replaced by this tudor one which is apparently haunted - likely story) A couple of mornings before breakfast, while my fitness fanatic of a husband (sick making) was in the gym, I secreted myself in a corner or two, and painted these en plein air sketches, exercising my right hand vigorously. Little knowing that the virus could have been landing on my very lovely sable brush as I wafted it on the paper. 

This was in a little courtyard, where there were various farming implements.

This is the old tudor house which is next door to the hotel

And here is a pot of 'don't know what they are' flowers, that were in the courtyard

I'M GETTING REALLY EXCITED

I would never, ever have thought when I started a blog, that I would be saying this, but it's true.  Nearly 10,000 looks at my Watercolour Blog.  How wonderful is that.  So, may I say to you all out there what fun I have had, how much I have learned from you, and how much you have inspired me.  You see I had reached a safe plateau with my painting, never thought I could improve or find so many subjects to paint. My enthusiasm was waning.  You, yes you out there, have given me the joy of painting that I had when I first started. So a big and heartfelt thank you!!!

Right, back to the business of painting - here are some more of my 'things around the house'. I decided to find things around the house that were simple to paint.  I have already done a candle and some hand cream.  (See previous post)

Ok so it's a toilet roll holder, what else is there in the downstairs  loo?  And everything in there is white anyway so I thought that was a good challenge

This is from the Hall, supposed you would say it is 'retro' but it  is a family  memory item.  We used to have a red carpet in the hall but now it's neutral.  This doesn't really go but I just don't care!

Anyway, I again send you a REALLY BIG THANK YOU 10,000 times

Luv' from Polly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HENRY VIII, BOOBS & SKELETON

We holidayed for a few days in Surrey and visited Hampton Court, famous for chimneys and Henry VIII.   We met King Henry HONEST! (Searching for Anne Boleyn) and Anne Boleyn (Running from Henry, wonder what she had done wrong, watch out for your head girl).  She said she hated her sister Mary (nope she was ye olde mistress afore yon Anne) and she said she loved her brother very much (yep later accused of ye olde incest) What a rip roaring Palace. Thinking of bodies entwining leads me to a life drawing class (how subtle was that).  We went on to visit friends in the New Forest, where Mike asked if I could attend his life drawing class.  It is yonks since I did a life drawing, never in a large regular class, so was nervous and felt out of my depth.  There was so much brilliant talent and an interesting mixture of media used.  First we did very quick sketches 2 - 3 minutes and ending with a 30 minutes or so one.  Interestingly,  part way through the teacher brought part of a skeleton and pointed out the spine in relation to the pelvis etc.  The model was petite and very good, though she had very pert false boobs and I tried not to make them too obvious.  Here are my efforts, and for once I was quite pleased with my attempts.  That shocked you didn't it? Here are most of them ............................

2 min sketches - one crossed out nbg. She looks very tall!!!!

Still looking 6ft though more like 5ft

Did the skeleton first quick,  then added the model

Can see now that her bum is not right, but then whose is????????? This was the final long sketch. By now I was bodied out.

WHAT A TO DO!

Guess who has been thrown out of a hotel, well two actually! Not for being drunk and disorderly I might add.  Beware if you go to a hotel and they are deep cleaning the corridors, and you are met at the door by someone thrusting an antisceptic hand wash in your face, and people wearing rubber gloves.  There is the noro virus hidden down those lovely corridors and searching you out.  That lucky person was me!  After a lovely holiday we arrived at Littlecote Manor and had super three days, when I was struck with the sickness.   The hotel really wanted us out asap! And they cancelled their hotel we were due to go the day after. After I had finished throwing up we travelled 4 hrs home.  What a worry that was with a sick bag on my knee.  What's this got to do with watercolour, I ask myself.  Not a jot, just having a moan.

Right, to start the holiday, we went to Surrey to watch Lee Slattery try and qualify for the US Open (Golf) at Walton Heath (he missed out by 1).  What a prosperous county. What fantabulous properties.  I digress again.  I had a little break from wandering the course and did some sketching using my elegant finewriter pen. Not wanting to appear obvious I tucked away in a corner under a tree. Blinking cold and windy it was too.

I have lots to look forward to now, catching up on your blogs.

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.