Me and my doll

This painting has been sold


Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"

My doll, Diana. She really was as tall as she looks here, quite beautiful in a kind of "don't mess my hair and my dress up" sort of way. Look at my body language. I knew my place. She was the first walkie-talkie doll anyone in my school had ever seen or heard of. My uncle who was in the Merchant Navy, brought her back from the Far East - Hong Kong or Singapore, not sure which. I don't know what happened to her but she isn't around any more. She probably got a top job at the European Commission in Brussels and just packed her bags and left one day.
Technical point: I am addicted to scumbling in acrylics, building up the layers; it's a magical way to work.
(By the way this is number 7 in the "Not the Sheila I know" series).

Facing the Day (reworked)

This painting has been sold



Oil on wood panel 7.5" x 7.5"

How many times in a lifetime do we look at ourselves and sometimes try to fix the face or the demeanour to what we would like it to be. I take a hot shower every morning not only to get me clean but to ease away the aches and pains we all get - especially us painters - mine are mostly in my shoulders. But then I come into the bedroom and take a quick look at myself and wonder what the day will bring to me and what I will bring to the day.
Enough with the philosophy - I think I have given myself six fingers. I quite like them. Just call me Anne Boleyn.
This is number 6 in the "Not the Sheila I know" series.

Hope

This painting has been sold


Oil on wood panel 7.5" x 8"

This is number 5 in the "Not the Sheila I know" self portrait series which I shall probably keep revisiting but they may not be sequential. It's interesting to do other things in and between.

Expectation

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8" £65 (British pounds) plus postage & packing

This is number 4 in the Not the Sheila I Know series. I realise I'm jumping around from being small to being my age but not to worry.

In my grandma's garden

This painting has been sold


Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"

I was allowed to walk on the brick paths separating the flower beds but only if I asked permission and was very careful not to step on the flowers. I know it might look like a Turkish carpet to you but it has a deep meaning for me. This is the 3rd painting in the "Not the Sheila I know" series.

Small ('Not the Sheila I know' series no.2)

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8" Not for Sale

This painting is based on the same black and white photograph as the one below. For me it has a strong feeling of how it felt as a child growing up in a largely adult household, spending lots of time on my own, making up my own games.

Forest landscape

Charcoal on paper 18" x 24" Not for Sale

These are some more of the charcoal drawings I did between 1997 and 1999. I had not realised it was so long ago. As I said in an earlier post it was a sort of release for me to simply work with lines and shapes with no other reference except my own ideas in my own head which perhaps are much stronger than we realise if we give them a chance.

Family meeting

Charcoal on paper 28" x 33" approx. This drawing is not for sale

The Man in the Moon's wife

Charcoal on paper 33" x 28" approx. This drawing is not for sale

Stephen Haller - Interview with Morandi

Ijust came across a wonderful blog entry by Joanne Mattera. Joanne describes the Imeetings between Stephen Haller and Giorgio Morandi through her interviews with the former. This is a "must" to read, really, grab a coffee and treat yourself. Thank you Joanne for sharing that with us.

Kitchenalia II

Oil on wood panel 8" x 5.5" £55 (British pounds) plus postage & packing

Cauliflower is a nice vegetable. It looks nice and to me it tastes nice - best with a cheese sauce. That's what we'll have tonight.