When Inspiration Strikes or Things to Do Whilst Cooking Soup or Painting Inspiration.

If there's one thing that gets me it's that inspiration for a painting comes at the most inconvenient of times. Furthermore  I don't even know if it deserves the name inspiration, more of a case of "that'll make a nice composition if I just do this, or tweak that a bit." And away you go in a little day dream and something else on the domestic front doesn't get done properly.

Mary Kemp. French Jug. Oil on board .

My very favourite painting called "French Jug" was born one autumn day as I was doing the washing up, and just happened to look at the early morning sunlight through the kitchen window. I left the washing up and worked all the design out on a piece of paper as quickly as I could because I knew the sun would change.
If only inspiration would come when you're poised in front of a piece of paper or a nice white canvas, and away you go....... Another day dream.
Today I was cooking soup for lunch. The weather is awful, dark and damp. It's not dreadfully cold but it's the sort of day you feel you need the heating on, and a nice cuddly jumper and a bowl of soup.

I looked over to the kitchen table, and there, against all the rules was our ginger and white cat Ginger ( we don't go in for originality on the name front) curled up on the table by a vase of flowers. Not only that he was sleeping on my painting smock !

Mary Kemp. Drawing.

"That'll make a nice composition," I thought. So I grabbed my trusty Galaxy Note, and did a quick drawing, and also took a photo. It's strange how photos rarely match the picture you see in your head. But I think I have enough to paint a picture from this. I can always put some different flowers in the vase for that part, and I'm sure the cat will sit for me in the same spot again.

Here's a picture of Ginger's brother Zebra painted last year.

Click here for info.