Thursday, May 28, 2009

Tomato and Chillie on Checked Tea-towel


Tomato and Chillie on Checked Tea-towel
Oil on linen on Plywood
150x170mm
Not sure if I would have been better sticking to my original vision of just the tomato on the folded checked cloth. That was how I first saw it sitting there, but I couldn't resist mucking around by sticking in a red chillie. Too much chillie!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Scrabble Letter J


Scrabble Letter J
Oil on linen on MDF
42x54mm
$10,000
sold
This one's worth more.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Mountain With Cloud 2.25.09


Mountain With Cloud May 09
Oil on linen on MDF
65x112mm
sold
A lively sketch painted this morning. It's on a slightly coarser weave of linen which was interesting to work on.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Mt Taranaki With Low Snow


Mount Taranaki With Low Snow
Oil on linen on MDF
82x98mm
$80
A quick sketch of the fresh snow on the mountain. The light goes so fast.

Yellow Pencil With Eraserhead


Yellow Pencil With Eraserhead
Oil on linen on MDF
82x135mm
Good for rubbing out mistakes.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Still life With Pluto




Still life With Pluto
Oil on linen on MDF
88x121mm



This was an eclectic but tight arrangement of objects on my shelf that appealed to me. It has a Morandi feel about it the way the objects are tightly clustered along the horizontal, and is lit from underneath. I liked the Pluto character figurine perched on the matchbox against the red of the coffee mug. I tryed to keep the painting loose and lively.

I've also updated my new blog "Another Day". I must admit to being a bit dissapointed by the lack of reaction to it. I've tryed to make it interesting, and I've tryed my hardest to promote it, but it has had very few visits and little feedback or comments. It's very easy for me to feel Eyeorish... If anyone has any positive suggestions on how I can improve it to make it more interesting please let me know!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Self Portrait in Red


Self Portrait in Red
Oil on cotton on MDF
90x80mm
This one was painted straight after throwing down my brushes in disgust at the last one. I wanted to do something loose and lively. Often I will grab a mirror - in this case a small shard of broken mirror - and confront it, almost tryign to surprise myself. Then I just paint. I dont know if it's a good painting or not, but I enjoyed it a lot more than the still life.

Ordered Still life on Brick


Ordered Still life on Brick
Oil on linen on MDF
157x149mm
$250
This was one of those paintings that seemed a good simple idea, but proved very frustrating. I was drawn to the ordered arrangement and diminishing size of the objects sat upon the old firebrick. A bit like the Three Bears. I started ok but then got interupted and couldnt get back into it. Then the light went and the next day I had other obligations and couldn't paint. So the paint was dry when I came back to finish it and I ended up overworking it - in every sense. Not very satisfying at all!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Mandarin Segment


Mandarin Segment
Oil on lineb on MDF
45x55mm
sold

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Wooden Clothespeg


Wooden Clothespeg
Oil on linen on MDF
55x96mm
sold
I've always had a fascination with clothespegs. As a child I used to pull them apart and play games with them, including fashioning them into a rather effective dartgun! The spring becomes the firing mechanism and you can fire a dart with a pin in it right across a large room. I introduced the fad to my school and had the dubious satisfaction of the headmaster banning them! Normally I was such a painfully boring and quiet Good Boy.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Two Chillies

Two Chillies
Oil on linen on MDF
80x202mm


This is like the story of the Little Red Hen. I grew the chillies, I ground the pigment to make my paint, I mounted and primed the canvas, I painted the picture and now I'm going to eat it all myself! Well, maybe the chillies. Carefully...


Thursday, May 07, 2009

Half a Chillie


Half a Chillie
Oil on linen on MDF
75x128mm
sold
This one is especially for the New Zealand taste.
Apologies for the email error in yesterdays post. The special offer of two paintings for one price of $100 is still available. Here's the correct email. Just click here.
And also I'm happy to anounce the launching of my new blog "Another Day". This blog will be dedicated to my other projects, painting, music etc. It will be mostly for larger paintings and I will be showing progress shots and working methods etc.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Two For the Price of One!!!

Mountain Summit With Cloud
Oil on linen on MDF
42x55mm


Mountain With Cloud 4.5.09
Oil on linen on MDF
61x80mm


A couple of miniature studies of Mt Taranaki with cloud. The clouds were moving and changing very rapidly so they were made from observation over time and memory. The mountain itself is relatively transitory. Apparently the volcanic cone has formed and collapsed many times in the last mere 100,000 years or so. It might blow up tomorrow. I'll sell these as a pair for just $100 if anyone's interested
email me. Buy now while stocks last!

Monday, May 04, 2009

A Different Tack


A Different Tack
Oil on linen on MDF
37.5x55mm
$80
I got a couple of emails concerning the Unidentified Flower post of yesterday. It is in fact "Tecomanthe speciosa", a native climbing vine. Apparently, the last surviving specimen of this plant was discovered on Three Kings Island in 1945, all the rest having been eaten by goats. So all of today's plants have been propigated from this one plant. According to Wikipedia "The flowers appear to be adapted to be pollinated by bats, despite the fact that bats are not part of the present-day fauna of the Three Kings Islands (though they may once have been present). Nevertheless, the flowers of plants growing in cultivation are readily pollinated by a large number of native and exotic birds. "

Unidentified Flower



Unidentified Flower
Oil on Linen on MDF
123x97mm
$150
This is a fascinating flower I picked up underneath a rambling vine we have growing and gradually enveloping our garage. I'm not sure what it is. I also found it quite a challenge to paint. It's always difficult painting pale and delicate subjects, and to make it more difficult I chose a pale and light background.