Watercolour Painting. Boats in the Harbour.

I painted this watercolour a couple of years ago. It has since found a new home in the USA, and I was pleased that someone liked it as much as I did.

Mary Kemp. Boats in the Harbour.
10" x 10" watercolour.

I loved the form and rich colour of the boats when I saw them safely moored up.
It's of Blakeney harbour in Norfolk, a place I've drawn and painted many times.
Last time I was there I had a very interesting conversation with a mother with her toddler (you get to talk to a lot of people when you sketch outside) about how the habour was run. Apparently it's a very rare beast, a free harbour and any one can moor their boat there and not pay anything. This is a little creek that fills up fast when the tide comes in. The marshes are to the right full of birds swooping above the water and crying to each other. It's a peaceful place to be.

My Epson Stylus Photo PX73OWD Printer!!!

Have I written about my Epson Stylus Photo PX730WD printer before?
IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY.
Don't get me wrong, it produces lovely prints, real top quality classy prints, probably at an exorbitant price if I could only work out cost per print.
But the ...thing has a mind of it's own.

My Beautiful Bicycle.
Lovely print. Great reproduction.

It's always been a bit funny about printing stuff via wi fi. Of course there's no connecting cable from the computer so if it's on an off wi fi day it's via a flash drive, and that's fine for images but a word document doesn't register at all.
However one of the advantages of  using the flash drive is that I can print sheets of different images where as from the computer that doesn't seem possible.
And I have spent an awful lot of today trying to print a packing slip and it has made me very cross! In the end I used my husband's computer.
Oh this digital life!!! Will I ever master it?
And would you believe, the next time I went to print with it it worked perfectly. Grrr!!!!!

Painting on the Easel. An Update.

This painting has been on the easel for a long time.

Oil painting in progress.
Mary Kemp.

Well not really on the easel, more hanging around the studio. I've been trying to resolve the right hand area of the composition because I felt it needed to be empty but not in a nothing sort of way.
After a bit of work on it yesterday I looked at it this morning and it felt complete.
The inspiration for this painting was a photo I came across of the great Barbara Hepworth at the beginning of her career caught looking out to sea.
The pose spoke of that excitement when all is possible, the world and life is laid out before you just for the taking and you are poised to dive in.
So I persuaded my granddaughter to model for me. She is fast growing and quicker than we know will be at that exciting time of her life.
I think I've finished it now. 
I wonder if this painting will still be around when she's my age.
Here's the link to the first post I made of this painting.
Now all I need is a title.

A Different Seed. John Lincoln and Stuart Goodacre.

I have known John Lincoln and Stuart Goodacre for a long time and always been interested in the work they produce. So I was pleased to see that they were showcasing some of their recent paintings in an exhibition at Ayscoughfee Hall in Spalding, in the Geest Gallery.
Here is the lovely poster they produced, though I had to stalk Stuart's facebook page to get it!

"A Different Seed"
John Lincoln and Stuart Goodacre
Geest Gallery, Ayscoughfee Hall, Spalding
5th September to 26th September 2015

They are two very different artists but somehow similar, both quite abstract in their approach to painting, but very precise and contained.

If I had to describe John Lincoln's paintings in this exhibition I would say they're very cellular, like botanical drawings but with more substance, a bit pop art. I hope he doesn't mind me saying that. I liked them very much, even though I was left with the feeling there was something going on I didn't quite understand.

Paintings by John Lincoln 

I couldn't find any website for Stuart Goodacre but I wouldn't mind seeing one. His paintings are bright and full of interesting patterns and colour juxtapositions. Again I was left with the feeling I didn't know what was going on. I was particularly puzzled by one piece called "it is not right". On closer examination it had NO HA HA DRET written into the design.  

I was also greatly intrigued by three black wall mounted 3D artworks called Black 2, made from a shiny plastic substance. Reminded me of entrails. It leaves me with the old chestnut should you be able to explain art in words or let the visual experience take over?

Paintings by Stuart Goodacre

Yes , in this case, I could have done with a bit more written explanation from both artists, just a few words to help me along. But having said that it was a thoroughly enjoyable exhibition with a lot of food for thought.

Please visit. It's quite small  but well worth seeing. On until 26th October.

I couldn't help adding this snap.
Beautiful begonias under the magnolia at Ayscoughfee Hall!

Beach Huts. Oil Painting in Progress.

This rather larger painting than usual is the oil painting I have on my easel at the moment. It's been germinating away in my mind for a long time, beach huts on the coast in line, isolated in a floaty sort of way because life on the beach is isolated, not of the real world.

Beach Huts. Oil painting in progress!
100 x 50 cm

I drew the outline carefully, trying to keep all the uprights upright and the perspective in the proper direction! Yes of course I used a ruler. I drew with a water soluble pencil in a dull Delft blue.
My palette is rather restricted
Titanium white
Cerulean blue
Cobalt blue
Ultramarine violet
Buff titanium
Naples yellow
Raw umber
and raw sienna and cadmium yellow to make a pale cream with the white.
There's still a way to go but I aim to finish it this week and will post it on my facebook page.

What Do You Listen To in the Studio?

Well, what do you listen to when tucked away in your studio, or sat at the kitchen table paint brush in hand?
Since I've fixed the studio's cd player (I wiped the little lens thing and cleaned it of all that dust) my listening experience has expanded. I've been quite happy with the radio, sort of, but since my trusty cd player has been up and running there's no stopping me!

What I'm working on at the moment.
Untitled!

I find listening to the radio or music helps

Twilight. The Power of Blue.

I can't seem to get away from blue. It haunts my dreams, takes up lodgings in my wardrobe and influences so many aspects of my life. 

I even married a man with blue eyes!

Mary Kemp.
Tranquility
Oil on canvas panel.
30 x 30 cm

They say that each colour has an emotional significance and a quick trip round the internet tells me that blue symbolizes trust and loyalty, peace and heaven, wisdom, confidence and also points to good technology.
I just like blue because it reminds me of the sea and sky and a lovely dress I bought when I was 18. It was the colour of delphiniums and I have a piece of it sewn into a quilt.
p.s. An awful lot of my paintings are blue. Click here.