Autumn Paintings

I have three paintings on the go at the moment, well four really. Sometimes you just want to get on with them all and have ideas buzzing round your head.  I am striving to get them ready for
 Art in the Heart's autumn stock. Trees and my allotment are the inspiration.

Two New-to-Me Colours

Whenever I encounter a different way of working I seem to discover new colours. You'd think by now I would have found out about every colour, tone , shade under the sun, but of course I haven't. I certainly haven't used them all.

Transparent Earth Red and Brown Pink

When I attended the  The Norfolk Painting School I came across two of the most delightful transparent colours I have ever seen, transparent earth red and pink brown, or is it brown pink? Anyway a colour I had previously instantly dismissed because it contained the word pink. How wrong can you be. 

Such a Simple Way to Save Money for Artists.

No ! No ! No !

This tip is so simple, such a no brainer that I don't know why I don't do it every time I paint. 
But I get carried away in the moment , and there I go discarding lids right left and centre, dropping them on the floor, throwing them away with rags, letting them fall to the bottom of a box never to be seen again. If only I would put the lids back on tubes of paint, pots of paint, jars of primer, bottles of medium, bottles of spirit. And ideally wipe them first so they go on properly and seal. 
Then I wouldn't be digging out paint with a dodgey pallette knife or worse still cutting the tube in half using paint encrusted scissors.  I spend a  fortune on dried up materials that don't even make it onto the canvas.
From now on I will have a notice in my studio saying PUT THE LID ON !!!!

Norfolk Painting School

Being a starving artist I am a bit cautious about where I spend my money. I want value for money, which is why  after attending a very successful two day course a few years ago at the Norfolk Painting School of Martin Kinnear I decided it was time I invested some more of my hard earned cash in a few days of  training . 

The lessons I learnt from the first visit to the studio helped my work progress enormously so I came to the Light and Atmosphere three day course full of anticipation. And was not disappinted.

We worked hard, very hard. No standing around chatting, just detailed instruction , followed by painting with a definite purpose of a project to complete, each stage having been explained in detail.
After the three days I came away exhausted, my head full of loads of new information and four

Vanda - studio assistant.

pictures under my belt, two of which I quite liked. (The picture from my first course I sold  recouping my fees nicely)

I feel these three days have influenced my work no end. There was a lot of theoretical information which made sense of the methods and materials we were using. We were well fed, our pallettes were cleaned! and the atmosphere was business like and friendly. 

Thank you Martin for inspirational instruction, Jane for organising it all, Vanda for being a reassuring studio assistant and Lucy for fabulous lunches.

Handy Tip For Oil Painters.

I have just come back from a three-day course at the wonderful lNorfolk Painting School (more of that next time) and one of the many things I learnt was that if you put baby oil on your hands after painting all the nasty oil paint disolves and you can wash your hands in soap so much easier.
Of course I learnt a great deal more serious and important things than this but little tips about studio practice are amazingly helpful.

What to Paint For Autumn..

The next season will be autumn. Already the nights are drawing in and the Persieds meteor showers are upon us, and the new term for school is just a few weeks away.
So I must paint some autumn pictures because I'm beginning to feel just a bit sad and nostalgic already for the summer's passing.

Mary Kemp - Autumn at the Allotment, Last Year.

This is painted on canvas with lots of texture. I went heavy on the alkyd gel which has the added advantage of drying really quickly. There's more to add, possibly I'll sneak a dog in.

Sketching on the Beach

Oh joy! Off to the seaside. Family and dog. I did get a chance to do a bit of sketching. Ideal conditions of warm air and no wind. I sat on the beach while chaos was all around. Out came the sketch book, pen and coloured pencils and this is what I drew.

Mary Kemp - Woman on the beach.
Pen and coloured pencils in sketchbook.

Start Young, Draw BIG.

It's the school holidays in case you haven't noticed. Three lively children of my family came to stay for a couple of days.

Drawing Big.

The weather was boiling hot. (It's gone a bit cooler now) We weren't up to rushing about so as usually happens on their visits I get them drawing. It amazes me what manual skill they have and how quickly they learn, and how observant they can be. It also amazes me what rubbish they watch on television.
Anyway we found some charcoal and some shells and some very big pieces of paper and this is what happened. I wanted them to draw large, girls particularly seem to like small detailed pictures but drawing big and not very cleanly gives them a different perspective.

A Farewell Present.

Mary Kemp - 56 Broadway.
70 x 50 cms oil on board.

I painted this picture about 5 years ago, perhaps even longer, and the owner of the business where I work part time bought it from me and displays it in the waiting room for all to see.
This week one of the practicioners has left on maternity leave and won't come back to us, so as a little reminder of what I hope have been happy days I made her a print.