This page is self explanatory ( I hope ) and is intended as a sort of on-going diary/blog – it includes works in progress and work completed, please feel free to post comments at the bottom of the page and on any work in My Gallery.

2024

I have decided to spring clean this page but have left snippets of the previous 10 years but I got a little delete happy and wiped out some years completely!!!

Well 2024!   

I suspect a challenging year, had another operation in March…. took me a while to recover…..each one I have takes a little more of my energy….. but here I am getting ready for Purbeck Art Weeks with lots of new work.

      Sneak preview!

   

2023

Happy New Year.

Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye. I have managed to keep my Gallery pages up to date, but as you can see….. not so much this page! It’s January and like last year I am due to start another round of chemo….GRRRRR, but heyho on a positive note I am still here! A huge thank you to my amazingly supportive friends and family, especially my amazing husband.

Creatively, it wasn’t a bad year- these went to new homes…. along with a range of prints.

                      Let’s hope 2023 is a kind year for all of us.

2020

At the start of the year I was in a bit of a panic thinking that I had no new work to show during Purbeck Art Weeks and various other exhibitions – and along came Covid.!!!

I am a hugger – I love to hug and to be hugged – so doubly horrid not being able to hug anyone apart from my husband and my dogs, who I suspect are just a bit fed up with being hugged and go and hide up in the garden!!

      

I have digressed!

     

2019

Well here we are again… another year and I am still no better at keeping this website up together- isn’t it good to know that some things in life are constant!! The trouble is, that as much as I enjoy doing things on here – I prefer to be painting and coupled with the fact that I am a bit of a muppet when it comes to technology – so I guess I will always be a bit tardy about keeping it brand spanking up-to-date!  😉  ;-

Abereithy in Pembrokeshire – very inspired (but nothing like!) the work of John Knapp-Fisher whose gallery I visited and was blown away by his work.

      

 Something totally different !

I am so pleased with my mosaic Dragon. Mosaics are quite addictive and I am trying very hard to resist doing more….. watch this space!

I have also been playing with images of my paintings in Smart Photo. It’s a lot less complicates than Photoshop and I have to say I am pleased with the results.

    

            

‘Elegance’

‘Listening Hare’                                                                                                                I am trying to do a series of three animal portraits in readiness for Dorset & Purbeck Art weeks in May….. this is the first.

Here is is number two under way….. 

On a bit of a ‘Still Life’ roll now…..!!

        

Going to end up with a fruit salad at this rate!  One more to go…Cherries.

…..done.

 Meet  ‘Dilwyn The Donkey’ He is just SO cheeky –             I love him. He is my third animal portrait for DAW & PAW.

April

News.……. very exciting new art space –Purbeck Artisan Yard, Church Street, Wareham.

Along with other members of the Phoenix Group we are exhibiting here. It’s an interesting space….an old builders yard, it’s very industrial, quirkily(is there such a word!) scruffy with lots of very different things going on. There are paintings, photography, leather work, jewellery, vintage and upcycling. Well worth a visit.

https://www.facebook.com/PurbeckArtisanYard/

2015

Well, another year begins……. let’s hope it’s fruitful and creative.Thank you to everyone who supported and encouraged me over the past 12 months, couldn’t have done it without you.

Must be feeling home sick as I have just finished a painting of an old Pembrokeshire cottage, Treleddyd Fawr Cottage. It is one of the last of it’s kind and about to be renovated by the National Trust Wales.

 I am so pleased with this.  

Still on the homesick theme…. ‘The Valleys’ my next work is going to seriously challenge me….. watch this space to see if it really does drive me bonkers!!!   😉            

      

I am using a very limited palette of browns and ochres with just the odd splash of colour to pull the eye in.

I have just noticed that I started 2014 by doing two painting of Wales….. that’s a bit spooky! Must be something in the air at this time of year.

 The finished article…. have to confess to being very unsure about it, but, having had SO many positive comments I am now secretly very pleased with it….. and didn’t totally loose my sanity!

February 2015 

Time to get back to water I think, so have just started this new one of North Wales.

and here it is, finished. I am really pleased with the contrast of light and shade…. quite dramatic. For a better look go to My Gallery – Landscapes. 

March 2015

I have decided to do another perspective challenge…. Why? well, I ask myself the very same question! It’s all about learning and improving and pushing myself to create better work.

I forgot to take a ‘work in progress’ shot, so here it is finished. I have had some seriously good comments about this work, which caught me a bit by surprise….. I suppose because I am not that confident when it comes to drawing and painting buildings and the dreaded perspective. Anyway, less rambling from me…..it’s titled ….

     ‘Crickhowell’.

I seem to be stuck in my ‘home sick’ theme……

 ‘Three Cliffs Bay’, Pembrokeshire. 

Another I forgot to take a photograph of. Just finished it, ready to go for framing. 

NEWS.

As this is also a ‘News’ page I thought I should include that George North signed his portrait….. you cannot imagine just how thrilled I was.

 ….not a brilliant image, but you get the idea!

Also, a couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by Peter Tate for a piece on the Purbeck Art Weeks web page….. follow this link if you would like to read it (please don’t look at the photo’s of me….I look like a stunned muppett. !!!!!!!)  http://www.purbeckartweeks.co.uk

I seem to have been quite productive this month, so here is one that I actually remembered to take a photo of in it’s early stages…… and it’s back to Purbeck for this one…… and it’s an unusual perspective.

             

In looking ahead to Purbeck Art Weeks I have been trying to plan my boards and decided that I might do different themes for each . So, my thinking is that I will have a ‘Welsh’ board – as I have done a few in the last couple of months, a ‘Local’ board, a ‘Boats’ board and a ‘Portrait’ board.

With that aim in mind I thought I should crack on ….always good to have a plan…… 

 I did this last year and I really like it, so I am planning on doing another couple of boat paintings to accompany it. 

 These are the preliminary drawings of a yacht called The Lulworth. I was drawn to it by the quite dramatic angle, the unusual perspective, plus I live in East Lulworth so it seemed apt. This is being painted on a 24×30 inch canvas and will be framed.  Please go to My Gallery / Seascapes to see the finished work.

Haven’t done any portrait work in over a year, so thought it was about time….. initial sketch and basic colour done. 

June 2015

Well I got so involved with Purbeck Art Weeks that I have been very neglectful of these pages!

Here are the three I have been completed. Have a look at My Shop page for more details.

    

This is another of Man O War Bay. I never tire of this scene, it constantly changes.

News

I have just sold my first work in America…… too excited for words…..  my ‘ Three Warriors’ have been bought by a lovely lady in Florida.

Does this mean that I am now an international artist!!!

Will probably try and do three of Venice.

      this will have a very simple colour palette.

and here are the starting ones for the third one.            

       

 September 2015

Well as you can see, I have been neglectful of these pages and I shall have to promise to be more diligent!

In my defense I began working on a portrait of Sam Warburton….. but it all went horribly wrong……..so I started another AND that went horribly wrong! Taking a deep breath I went for a third….

  which I was happy with – my brothers Christmas gift.

I also completed a commission – also wanted for Christmas.

2014

I will begin this year with a big THANK YOU to those who have bought my work and supported and encouraged me throughout 2013.

This year I plan on pushing myself artistically…. more portraits and more landscapes, so I will hopefully continue to grow and improve. 

January

 ….. here is a peak at a work I am doing for Purbeck Art Weeks, which I hope you guessed has a Venetian theme!       

Also working on a landscape of Llanberis is North Wales, it’s a bit of a departure for me….. especially as I am using a very limited palette of mainly raw umber, yellow ochre, ultra marine, cadmium yellow and white.

         

 and….. (busy month!) started a seascape of Lulworth Cove.

 Why work on three, did I hear you say? Well, I was invited to do a demonstration to Wareham Art Club and wanted to take three work, each at a different stage….. rather than just one work, which I thought might be bit dull. I think it worked well and they have invited me back to show the finished articles, which is nice. Thoroughly enjoyed the evening and no one fell asleep (always a bonus!)

February 

So, here are the finished works, all quite different.

  ‘Masked’                                                Hoorah, just heard (26/03/14) “Masked” has been chosen to head up    the Events section of this year’s PAW brochure…… really pleased.

 ‘ Llanberis’

 ‘ Lulworth Cove’

Also just finished this lovely lady. It was painted (by kind permission) from a photograph taken by Sandy Powers – www.SandyP.net – check out her web site, lovely work.

  ‘When I grow old, I shall wear purple’                 So pleased with the way she turned out….full of character and panache.

The up-side of all this awful weather is that it has kept me indoors painting, so it has been a productive few weeks…… but by golly I want some sunshine now!

Decided I had been a bit sexist with my portraits, so time to start on the male sex. Very limited palette for this one:- raw umber, naples yellow, black, white and a touch of sage green. The hands are a real challenge!

              

Another limited palette of Snowdonia, North Wales in the making….. trying to capture the wildness and majestic beauty of the area.

 

Man O War bay…. haven’t done it from this perspective before. While the sea is calm there are lot’s of different movements in the water as is curves around the bay and the rocks….. it will be a challenge to capture!

June 2014

Thoroughly enjoyed PAW, spent the two weeks sitting in the Orchard Tea Rooms at Holme for Gardens painting…. the results of which can be seen in the Seascape pages of the Gallery.

Have now started a new work……

 …. looking across the bay from Durdle Door.

This has it’s own unique challenges as I am trying to use a limited palette to create a striking colour contrast. 

July 2014

        

Working on a piece for Holme for Gardens, it’s the area just outside their Orchard Tea Rooms…… hope they like it!!! The detail is hugely time consuming but getting there – slowly.

 The finished article. Can be seen hanging in the Orchard Tea Rooms at Holme for Gardens.

November 2014 

…..and now for something a little more exotic. I thought I would use a very limited palette for this.

2013

I am still working on the seascape that I started on in December, it’s such a big work 47 x 39 inches and just a wee bit daunting, that I am doing it in between others.  

There is some progress on the seascape mentioned earlier… it’s still not finished but I am getting there slowly.

                                     

In the mean time I have been working on a number of other paintings.

 He makes me smile!

The following work was done for a friend who saw the original in a hotel somewhere far away and exotic.

Have been working on this for Purbeck Art Weeks. It’s another on Lulworth Cove, I never seem to get tired of painting this place. It should be finished in plenty of time.

2012

26th May – 10th June 2012

Purbeck Art Week

Finley’s in West Lulworth was the venue for Lulworth Arts, it was our best exhibition to-date. I will post details of the next one on here, so be sure to come back for an update.

Have been lucky enough to sell two pieces along with some prints and cards ……..hurrah!

08/06/2012

Decided to try something new today and challenge myself……..so here are snippets from the beginning of my latest work. I’m pleased with the colours ( Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Naples Yellow and Titanium White) and the general composition, so a good start!

        

I’m always nervous and excited about starting a new piece of work, it’s like a mini adventure because I’m never sure how it’s going to turn out.

10/06/2012                                                         .

“Side by Side”

As I sold my last deck chair picture at Bestival, thought it was time for another. I love doing these, they take me back ….. and I remember trying to pull my Granddad out of one on the beach at Tresaith, in Cardiganshire, Wales where we spent lovely hot, long summers running like wild things. Great memories – expect more.

28/09/2012

Below is a painting for my friend Jan, who is my IT Guru. This web site would not exist without his help. He’s a mad, bonkers windsurfer, hence the subject of the painting and it’s done under Gad cliffs.

By Gad ! – Windsurfers at Kimmeridge.

This is a BIG canvas – 47×39 inches and a real challenge as I have never tackled anything this size before….. it may take me a while!