I have been really busy lately creating new cards, which is very exciting. So I am running a sale on Etsy running mid April to mid May to help clear out some space for new stock.
I have a variety of items for sale including original paintings and my greeting cards using my original paintings. There could be the perfect item for an inexpensive gift for someone – perhaps a wedding or special birthday? To bring back special memories of Cornwall to visitors and residents alike.
Here are a small selection of what is on offer.
Here is the link if you want to see what items I have in the sale and remember once they are gone they are gone!
Perhaps you might like my paintings or you don’t! And that is absolutely fine with me!
Art is subjective
Each person has their own pespective on each piece of art. We have different tastes, preferences and life experiences. All of these will impact on your feelings and opinions on how you feel about a piece of art. So some people may like my paintings and others may not!
Change the design
I am also a graphic designer and whether I am being asked to design a logo, a brochure or a website the client will also have their own ideas of what they want. Part of my job is to interpret those requests and create a beautiful design that meets the clients brief. Changes are inevitably requested, hopefully not too many until the client is happy. Being totally honest the final design may not something I am totally happy with, but it is not about me it is about the clients requirements.
This doesn’t happen in paintings, well not 99% of the time! If I painted St Ives Harbour, would you say to me, well I like that painting but I would prefer the boat in the foreground to be blue not red. Well you might ask, but it isn’t easy to change colours in watercolour.
Chances are, you would just decide you were not over keen on that painting and look elsewhere (hopefully choosing another of my paintings!)
I paint what inspires me, or what I love that means I do struggle to pain something I have no feelings for.
I was once asked to combine a photograph of a boat and a deserted island in the Caribbean and I really struggled with this. There were two different photographs.
Whilst I could paint the island and I could paint the boat but getting the two together took me about 4 attempts! You may have spotted there are only 3 images above, and yes you have guessed I didn’t photograph the first one it was so bad!
So I do hope you like my paintings, mainly of Cornwall and hopefully my love of Cornwall comes across in my paintings and that it invokes a similar response to you. There are some amazing artists painting Cornwall and you may prefer their paintings. That is just great because it is still about this beautiful county of Cornwall.
We enjoyed a glorious sunny but cold February but sadly March has been very mixed. On this day the forecast promised sunshine so I headed out to do sketching at the Helford.
Glendurgan Gardens
I do love it down around the Helford River but with its narrow lanes I prefer to visit out of season. First stop was Glendurgan Gardens, with its beautiful blooms, the rhododendron in all their glory, the magnolia trees in bloom. It was so peaceful and it was great to be out and appreciate nature at its best.
View of the River
After walking through the gardens, we ventured out of the gates at the bottom of the garden and on to Durgan beach. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I found a lovely spot to capture the scene looking towards the beach at Trebah Gardens (Polgwidden Cove). Helford village is in the background and out came my paints and sketchbook.
Grebe Beach
Venturing further I then followed the path down to Grebe Beach. There was a few people making the most of the weather and enjoying a swim. I wish I had my swimming kit with me, but as I didn’t I sat down to capture the scene instead.
Back to Glendurgan Gardens
As well as enjoying sketching on the Helford River, I also took some photos, mainly of Glendurgan Gardens. My photos of this glorious day are below, click on any image to see an enlarged version.
At the time of writing this blog post I have a couple of paintings of the Helford River for sale. One is of the tree-lined banks of the Helford River. The other is Grebe Beach , but a slightly different scene from the one I sketched today. If these have sold then have a look at what paintings for sale are currently available.
In a previous post I talked about my recent eye surgery however I am delighted to report that I am sketching again!
A few weeks ago it was a gloriously sunny day, Mark had made pasties so we packed them up and headed up to West Pentire. The view from the car park was just stunning – gosh I do love Cornwall.
I decided to have a go at a quick sketch looking across to Pentire Headland. The tide was coming in and there were great surfing conditions. I did struggle a bit using my one good eye, which made it quite hard to work out the exactly how far away the paper was! We also had a walk around where I was able to get some good reference photos for future sketches.
Looking towards Crantock beach
As the car park was rather expensive, we only stayed for an hour and drove up to Pentire Headland. Thanks to Cornwall Council offering free car parking during the winter in some places, we could stay as long as we liked.
The tide had been coming in fast and looking across to Crantock beach, the sand was almost covered.
I didn’t think I did too bad a job until I realised I forgot to paint the sky!
Not sure how the sketching went, painting with one eye is not easy but I did enjoy our beautiful scenery.
Sketching at home
Back at home I decided more practice needed and as I had been asked if I had any small paintings of the Newquay area, so I some more sketching from my ol photos.
I started with my little sketches of Holywell Bay, Newquay Harbour and the views across Fistral Bay.
This was very successful annd I am pleased with the results. Even better I turned 5 of them into cards and 3 were sold within a few days! I definitely will be sketching more locations around Newquay.
Chapel Porth
I know feel inspired to get sketching again and Chapel Porth is next on the list! This and I love this scene.
I have lots more ideas for future cards, mainly painting scenes like Chapel Porth above that are always popular. Also on my list are Kynance Cove, St Michaels Mount, as well as different locations like Porthgwarra, Housel Bay, Lands End … to mention but a few!
Someone recently said to me “I wish I could paint like you”, which was a lovely compliment but I thought you should see some of my earlier work! So I have decided to show you my earlier work, and tell you more of my story about how I got started.
Painting in Menorca
We were on holiday in Menorca during August, and it can get very hot, so whilst having a Siesta I decided to use the sketch books and watercolour pencils that my daughter Siobhan had brought with us (she wanted to go to Art College).
These were painted at our favourite spot in a little place called S’Algar and whilst I found it extremely relaxing and I enjoyed it, I was also frustrated because I couldn’t achieve the results I wanted, it all looked a bit flat. Actually it is a lot worse than being a bit flat, there are so many other trhings wrong with it! The perspective is totally wrong, not to mention the field of depth. The lighthouse (the red and white striped building), is many miles away, the watchtower, sat on the rocks is a bit closer, but it feels very close. And talking of rocks did you realise it was rocks? I could go on …
I won’t post all of my paintings from that holiday but I feel happier with this pot. It was a decorative feature in front of the holiday bungalow we were staying in. This time I didn’t have to worry about perspective or depth of field and as a consequence is a lot more successful. This gave me hope that I could improve I just needed to learn new skills.
Attend evening class
Whilst at school I was good at drawing, and in fact my best O Level was Art (yes I am that old that I did O Levels). So on returm from our holiday I decided to attend a local evening class for Beginners in Watercolours. My tutor was Rachael Phillips, an excellent teacher and I owe so much to her.
Within three weeks I produced this still life drawing of lemons — already looking better I think. I had learnt how to use the paint and blend it much better. The image at the top of a Fuschia, another still life, learning a technique called “wet on wet”, was also from those early lessons. I was really getting into this and enjoying painting.
Won an award!
By the end of the first year I painted this seascape of a wave splashing against the rocks at Godrevy. This is still one of my favourite paintings and I won an award for it!
But what about my daughter Siobhan? She did go to Art College and trained as a Graphic Designer. She is currently working as Art Director for a major book publisher, with millions seeing her book covers! So win win.
I would encourage anyone to go out and try what you want to do, who knows where it might lead.
I have introduced a new product line – A5 printed cards. I already have a range of greeting cards , in various sizes including A6, A5 and square cards that I produce myself, using original watercolours. These are very popular as it is an inexpensive way of owning a piece of original artwork. You can also make them into inexpensive presents by purchasing a frame.
As mentioned in my previous post, I am struggling to paint at the moment due to recent eye surgery. That has meant I am struggling to keep up with demand, although I have managed to paint a few of these little paintings. So I decided to get some A5 printed cards of my most popular paintings to help meet demand.
Initially I have chosen 8 paintings, 4 in portrait format, and 4 in landscape format, to gauge the amount of interest. If they prove popular I will get more paintings/designs printed.
They will be available individually, as well as in a 4 and 8 packs. There are two 4 pack cards – one features West Cornwall beaches.
These beaches are all from St Ives Bay – such a glorious location and a clear favourite with people. There are two of Godrevy beach, one with the lighthouse and one focusing on the water; looking down on Hayle beach from the Towans and the harbour beach at St Ives, looking across to Smeaton’s Tower. Other beaches that spring to mind for future cards are Sennen and Porthcurno.
They have been printed by St Austell Printing Company on Premium 300gsm FSC card from sustainable sources, the inside is blank for your own message. Each card will be supplied with a quality white C5 envelope. I can’t wait to see how popular they are.
I like to experiment with different techniques and I have tried adding some colour to some pen and ink drawings that I have drawn previously.
Does it look better in colour or do you prefer the black and white originals?
Wheal Francis
Wheal Francis Mine Workings, on the Great Flat Lode just outside of Piece. On this one I like it as a drawing, I feel it captures more of the essence of the place, and the atmoshere of the disused mine buildings.
Frigliana
A courtyard in Frigliana, Spain – and whilst I really enjoyed using pen and ink to draw this, I think it looks better with a little bit of colour. The colour of the plants, and subtle paving, adds a splash of colour against the white spanish buildings. Buildings definitely look better having the original drawing in ink, so that the structure of the buildings are clearly defined.
Venice
Venice
My pen and ink drawing of Venice looks ok, especially for the buildings in the foreground. However the inclusion of colour to my painting of Venice definitely looks better in colour, especially with that dramatic sky.
I asked whether it looked better in black and white or colour on my Facebook page I have had some good feedback. It seems the general feeling is that, whilst the pen and ink drawings are good, that people prefer the ones with colour.
I have been diagnosed with a Macular Hole in my left eye and I needed eye surgery to fix it. Having a macular hole means i am losing my central vision . My vision is blurred, straight lines become wavy and distorted and I have difficulty in reading. I have attached some images below to try and explain what I see!
How the painting actually looks
Sight from both my eyes
Signt from my left eye
From normal, to what I see with both eyes and just left eye. Anyway the good news is that I can have surgery to help it.
In the meantime, my husband Mark has been looking after any Orders, so that isn’t a problem. However I should warn that at the moment – “once it is gone it is gone”, as I won’t be painting for a while!
I will spare you the gory details of my eye surgery, but I had complications that resulted in a second emergency operation the following day! Followed by several procedures in clinic the day after that, all related to raised pressure in my eye. They are now waiting for the gas in my eye to dissipate to see how it settles but I may require another small op.
It has been very difficult and having to lie face down for 24 hours a day for 7 days was, to be honest, awful. During the day I alternated between resting on the ironing and sunbed that had a “breathing” hole!
I am now slowly on the mend but reading and writing makes me feel very nauseous so responses, not to mention using computers! Hopefully in February I will be given the all clear and I can order some new glasses, all ready to start painting again.
Progress update on eye surgery
I first posted this in January and it is now mid February and here is the latest information. The gas in my eye has now gone but I still have problems relating to the new lens they inserted. As a result I will need laser surgery and I am still using eye drops to help with the ocular hypertension. I will have to wait at least 6 months until it all settles down before I have the laser surgery.
So please excuse any typos that you see on this website, as I still have distorted vision and also my style of painting may be a little looser! Which could be good or perhaps not!
I attended a great seascape watercolour worksho. I love painting seascapes, but there is always something new you can learn and I definitely did at this workshop.
The idea was to combine photographs to create the image that you want. Paintings are not intended to be a photographs, so we can paint the image we want to!
I love St Ives harbour, but on some photographs you can end up with a lot of seaweed and the sand can look rather “dirty”. This is especially true in the harbour area where there is probably fuel spillage from the boats. The idea was to take the scene I wanted to paint and use the colours from a photograph of the sea at Porthminster beach, where the sea is a beautiful shade of blue and the sand very white.
However what to leave it and what to add? I started by painting a couple of quick thumbprint sketches, so I could work out what would work. The sky worked having it relatively clear and to have a little bit of seaweed near the shoreline.
I decided to work with just three colours and I choose Windsor Blue (Red), Naples Yellow and Venetian Red as a cool palette. Whilst painting it I wasn’t altogether sure about the colours. As the Workshop was a full-day course I painted another one at the same time!
I used the same colours, in different quantities, I think you can see the difference. I like them both and am delighted with the result.
All of the original paintings are now sold so I have the painting above printed and it is now available to buy as an A5 greeting cards.
Chris, who used to live in Cornwall and comes back every year to visit, asked if I could do him a painting of Godrevy, one of his favourite spots. So here is the start
What do you mean it looks like a blank sheet of paper?
Well nearly, because I need white bits on my paper for the surf I first have to start off with masking out the areas that need to remain white. I have also used a white candle, which should transform into those little white bits you get on the waters edge as the tide goes out again. If you look closely you will see my rough pencil sketches and masking fluid.
Can’t wait to add some colour, most especially a new colour, Manganese Blue, which I think will show the beautiful blue sky and clear water.
Here is how the painting of Godrevy is progressing, to reassure anyone looking at the previous photo (especially if on Facebook), that it is not just a sheet of grey paper!
This is my first wash of colour, using the lovely Manganese Blue, a new colour for me and a very much appreciated Christmas present! The sand uses Naples Yellow Deep, another new colour, it has a hint of Burnt Sienna to take off the yellow. Much as we think our sand is golden yellow, in reality it is not.
This is the second stage, where I have intensified the blue of the sea, but now starting to get some texture in the close up area, where the sea is so transparent you can see the sand below.
I am also using my new paint brush, purchased as a bargain at Arts and Graphics closing down sale for only £50 (it should have been £182), but it is wonderful at moving the paint around the paper and worth every penny!
The masking fluid and has been removed, the finishing touches added and my latest painting of Godrevy is now complete.
This is a painting done specfically for Chris and Trudy Stevens. Chris used to live in Cornwall and comes back with his family every year to visit as they love the County so much. They have fond memories of Godrevy beach, particularly one year as they stayed on the campsite just up the road.
Hopefully every time Chris looks at this painting in his home it will transport him back to sunny Cornwall.
Because this painting has been so popular it is also now available as an A5 printed Greeting Card, so you can enjoy it as well as Chris.
Searching for a painting of a particular location?
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