Painting From Start to Finish

© Mary Kemp
"Woman and Child"
I sold this painting earlier on in the year and because, unusually I recorded how I painted it, I wanted to share it with you.
Like a lot of artists I know, my head is always full of pictures, and it's very difficult when you think in pictures to put your ideas into words.

I took a photo of one of my granddaughters paddling in the shallow seas of the Norfolk coast. She was surrounded by water, with poised self sufficiency. So much so that I wanted to translate her pose into a painting.

Without further explanation here is how I painted this picture.

Quick sketch and transparent raw Sienna ground.

Cerulean blue and cobalt blue sea.

More yellow.

Defining the waves.

Getting to grips with the figures.

Whole picture so far.


Detail and colour on figures.


The orange changes
the feel of the  picture completely.

Finished!
Woman and Child
Oil on canvas panel
30 x 30 cm

Welland Valley Art Society Autumn Exhibition

Being an artist can be a pretty lonely life at times.

Day to day is usually stay at home and paint, listening to the radio or your favourite music.

Social interaction is sporadic, and to be honest, not to be encouraged when you're in the middle of your current masterpiece.

That is why it's so very nice to be part of an art society.


Not many of my family or close friends paint. Come to think of it none of my family and only one of my close friends paint. I haven't fired children or grandchildren with the desire to pick up a paint brush. I suppose it's a niche occupation, or perhaps all my family are just technical geeks.
There's a great comfort to being part of a group with shared interests, to know you're not alone. Of course the internet has opened up wide horizons, but there's nothing like the real life interaction of a casual chat with friends about the way the sun falls on a table or how a colour stands out with startling clarity from the rest.
I write this as it's coming up to the autumn show of the Welland Valley Art Society of which I'm a member. I have been for over a decade.
I'm looking forward to the exhibition not least because  we get to steward on a couple of occasions.

I used to feel stewarding, sitting at a desk being on hand for the public,  was a bit of a chore but over the years I've got to see it as a wonderful way to interact with members of the public, from our buying collectors to a group from a school for adults with learning difficulties who spent over an hour looking and discussing in detail our artwork and supplying some wonderful insights into what they saw as important.
Another aspect is the chance to spend time with at least one other steward. It can be a few minutes  when look round the exhibition and talk about what we like, what we don't like and analyse it all to death. It's also a chance to meet up with old friends.

This year I shall be exhibiting four paintings (if they're selected) and here they are:
© Mary Kemp
Cloud Over Norfolk Marshes

© Mary Kemp
Yellow Fields at Oundle

© Mary Kemp
Skipping

© Mary Kemp
Is This Your Dog?
This one's hot off the easel!
If you're in my neck of the woods do drop in.


Fashions in Picture Frames.

Over ten years ago my husband took over a small picture framing business.

It all came about when Bill who had been framing my paintings for years decided to up sticks and retire to Spain to live the good life.
"Mary" he said, "I've had enough. Would you like to buy my business?"
"No way!!!!!" was my very quick reply. After all I'm a painter. All I want to do is paint pictures.

But my husband was interested.
So a little while later we bought the business and moved it lock, stock and barrel into a brand new workshop next to my studio. In fact it's adjoining my studio so we can argue with each other as we work.
© Mary Kemp
Lengths of mouldings waiting to be made into frames.

We inherited a wide variety of stock, including a stack of mouldings, which included lots of gold and a ton of dark wood. There were some patterned lengths and some blonde wood too.
My husband took to framing like a duck to water. Being an engineer the precision and the practicalities suited him well and he produces neat, well put together frames.

© Mary Kemp
Some mouldings
At first our most popular frame was a chunky number in burnished gold, speckledy with a fancy profile. Next most popular were dark oak or mahogany mouldings. Most mounts were fairly slim and usually beige, cream or sludgy green.

We used up most of the gold and mahogany, even ordered in more, but much of the other stock remained untouched. Some of it even found it's way into the bin.

After a while the gold and the heavy wood became less popular and we started to be asked for more black or white frames with very plain profiles, nothing fancy. Mounts got bigger too (much to my husbands disgusts. I don't know why because bigger mounts meant bigger profits) and they became paler too, no beige, rarely any colour, only soft cream or white.

Fashion in frames, what's in and what's out.
Heavy wood and fancy gold seems to be out, and there's not much limed wood to be seen either.
Most popular frame and mount for 2018.
While some people like to stick to their old favourites we've seen at the moment the most popular frame is a plain slim black or white moulding often partnered with a white mount. It looks good with all manner of prints, photos and original artwork, complementing today's liking for a clean unfussy look.

As an artist I love a simple frame. It's hard enough painting a picture without agonising over a frame! A simple frame takes nothing away from the artwork, throwing it well and truly into centre stage.
I like white more than black but above all I want you to see my artwork not the frame.
© Mary Kemp
"Lindisfarne Sky"
Click caption to see more.
A simple white frame showcases this warm painting of Lindisfarne.



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