News From Mulberry House, Garden & Studio

August Newsletter Well I have to say July was a month to remember or maybe forget. Disappointingly I had to postpone my course in Harwich as I had only just broken my right arm and it was too painful to travel.   Two weeks later I did manage to run a very successful painting course for Big Sky Art in Norfolk staying at the White House, Burnham Market. I had a really lovely group and was even able to manage a couple of left-handed demonstrations. I did promise you last month that I would show you any paintings that I managed to do with my left hand I will post these below. Some of you may know, I have been coordinating the next exhibition for British Plein-Air Painters. We had got the smaller North Gallery booked at the Mall. Whilst standing at Brancaster Staithe painting with my group, I had a phone call from the Mall to say that the proposed exhibition in the main gallery had pulled out and they offered us the chance to have the main gallery. I had to make a snap decision on behalf of the group and so I said "yes" - then the reality set in, my goodness what a big space to fill. I’m sure we can do it we have some excellent artists in the group.

Mulberry House & Garden Very little has happened since breaking my arm. I could almost weep when I walk down the garden. With recent rain and warm weather, the weeds have gone crazy, some of the dahlias which I hadn't got around to staking have fallen, the lily beetles have had a field day, most of the apricots dropped off in the heavy rain and the plum tree seems to have some kind of fungus. Frank has been going into work as we are starting to get bulbs in now at Gee Tee so he hasn't had time to help.  I did try to to pull a few weeds out with just my left hand but had to give that up when I put my back out!! It's a bit disheartening after all the hard work we put in at the beginning of the year Anyone know a good gardener?? On the upside, we've had a brilliant crop of French & Runner beans and the tomatoes are beginning to ripen. weeds are taller than the flowers Studio I was delighted with my one off Open Studio Norfolk weekend, I had a constant flow of visitors, friends, followers and buyers. Thank you every one that came to see me. I shall be taking part in the wider Norfolk Open Studios in September & October You can see who is taking part here I shall give more information nearer the time.  studio clearance                                                   one happy buyer & artist IEA Painting Day On 29th July I was picked up by fellow member of the Institute of East Anglian Artists, Jim Power, to take part in a Painting Day at King's Lynn. I optimistically took my paints and decided to give it a go. This was my first attempt at painting left handed room for improvement? There was a very good turn out and the predicted rain stayed away until the very end of the day, mind you it was very windy on the quay sideband I had to use my body to stop easel blowing over as I couldn't hold it    chatting with Ian McManus                                     enjoying a midday coffee Big Sky Art I have just returned from a wonderful week in Norfolk running a painting course at the White House. I had a group of 15 enthusiastic painters. On the first day we painted within the grounds but after that we went and painted at Brancaster Staithe, Burnham Overy Staithe I did manage to do a couple of left handed demonstrations and paintings. A lot of the group have rebooked for next year but there maybe a couple of places left if you are quick Big Sky Art. Phone +44 (0) 7785 439727 Burnham Overy Staithe                                        Brancaster Staithe            The White House                                                My bedroom                                                                             (shower room downstairs) I was very pleased that I managed to get special permission to paint in and around the grounds at Wiveton Hall. There is a wealth of subjects everywhere you look. The group were very pleased to meet Desmond from TV's 'Normal for Norfolk' fame and yes, he is as mad as he came over on the television. We had the most marvellous lunch there which I had preordered.  the wonderful Wiveton Hall Exhibition at the Mall Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be organising let alone exhibiting at the Mall Galleries in London. (I've had the odd painting accepted and hung in some of the major shows but this is much more) I count myself very fortunate to be part of a wonderful group that we call the British Plein Air Painters. After painting with a group of friends in Portugal in 2017 we decided to have an exhibition together. As there were only 10 of us we decided to invite some of our friends to join us and had our first exhibition was in 2018 at the Menier Gallery.   Following the success of our first exhibition, we booked the North Gallery at the Mall for our second London show. I volunteered to coordinate the show with the help of some of the members. This I can tell you sounds easier than it is but we won't go there. While I was painting with my group in Brancaster I had a surprise phone call from the Mall, they told me that the exhibitors that were going to be in the main gallery had pulled out and they offered us the chance to use that space. I made a quick decision on behalf of the group and said 'yes,  we would take it'. I then realised the enormity of filling such a huge space and all the other problems that go along with it. We are very excited about it and it promises to be an excellent exhibition. I do hope you are able to come along, there will members there each day and we hope to have demonstrations each day too. As part of our promotion for the show I have organised painting days around the country where we can hand out flyers. The next painting day is in Oxford this weekend 14th August followed by one in Kensington Gardens on 23nd.  All the details can be found on our web site British Plein Air Painters These painting days are free and open to any one who cares to come along and paint in the company of like minded artists. Left handed demo                                           10" x 16" Weybourne I was particularly pleased with this studio demonstration. I am offering it, unframed, at the special price of £190 including free P&P Drop me an email if you are interested Thank you for your support, I really do appreciate it. Hopefully by the time I write  next time, things will be back to normal, well, as normal as they'll ever be. I'm looking forward to being able to drive again. One thing is for sure - ambidextrous , I am not. take care and best wishes Mo xx

 

Another first for me today!  

I gave my very first Zoom demonstration. It was to Norwich and Norfolk Art Circle. I have no idea how many participants there were as I couldn't see anyone. I have to say it was very strange, working alone in my studio and giving a running commentary to a silent audience, nevertheless, it was well received and I have had a lot of good feed back. 

The original demo was 1 hour 45 mins but I have edited out the chat and unnecessary bits so it is now just an hour long.

Here is the link to my You Tube channel if you'd care to have a look.

https://youtu.be/5AFntqsnZJw

Sweet Peas demo in Oils

I have been playing around with editing and have put together a short time lapse video. 

I have to say I feel rather pleased with myself. It is a steep learning curve for someone who has no idea when it comes to technology but I think I'm getting there.

See what you think, all comments welcome.

Here is the final painting to see the video on You Tube, Click HERE

Finishing the Flower challenge

Well, I made it to the end of the challenge to paint 20 flower pictures in 30 days. The thing about this challenge was, unlike other daily challenges, you could take a day or two off. This I did do and kind of lost track of where I was.
in my last post, I'd got up to painting 14 so, here is

15 of 20

Double & Fringed Tulips

I found this double tulip incredibly hard to paint, it probably looks more like a Camellia. It was a good exercise in mixing pinks, Michael Harding's 'Brilliant Pink' came into it's own here. The fringed tulips look a bit dull but I didn't want to overplay them. In hindsight, I should probably just have painted the double.

16 of 20

Lily flowering Viridiflora

MMM!  probably the less said about this the better.!  Roos Schuring uses Gouache for a lot of her flower paintings and they look amazing. so, I invested in a few tubes.. First, I tried to use them like oils, then I tried adding water but used too much. They dried quicker than I expected them to as well. The frustrating thing for me was that the lights dried darker and the darks dried lighter. Definitely need more practice at this.
 I was encouraged to read in Roos' blog that she did not dare post her first efforts - (maybe this shouldn't be here?)

17 of 20

Narcissus in gouache 2

Narcissus in gouache 1 

Not one to be defeated by a tube of bl***y paint, I thought i'd give it another try. Same subject, different backgrounds. Slightly more pleased , particularly with the one on the right - third try lucky?

18 of 20

Marigolds & Orange

Back to the oils - phew!!
I was very pleased with this little painting.  At least I knew what I was doing

19 of 20

Helebores

 Slightly cheating here as I'd already painted this previously. The thing is, I'd learnt so much since then that I repainted areas that I could see I could improve on. Much more pleased with it now

20 of 20

Lysianthus 

Not sure if I spelt that right but you know what I mean
Final painting. Playing with background and texture. The aim was to graduate the colour . I painted over an old painting that was on a textured board. To be honest I think I prefer a smoother surface


It's been an interesting experience for me as I don't consider myself to be a flower painter but, having said that, I do include them a lot in my still life paintings. I'm now continually eying up flowers in my garden with a view to painting them.
Although I didn't take the paid challenge (whereby you got feedback and help from Roos) I feel I've learned a lot. Certainly, looking on Instagram at the #30days20 I can see a massive improvement in everybody's work as the days have gone by. So a big thank you to Roos Schuring.
I'll be looking out for more challenges in the future to keep me on my toes

Self Imposed Isolation

Two weeks after our return from Vietnam, the country is in virtual lock down because of the Corona Virus. Hotels we stayed at in Vietnam have closed. two weeks later and I think we would have had a very different holiday. Still, best not to dwell on that but just to hope that it doesn't knock those lovely people too hard, same goes for the rest of the world.

Meanwhile we are advised to keep social distancing and to avoid unnecessary travel. Now this is where being an artist is an advantage. We can easily work from home or find an isolated spot to go and paint.

I have decided to use this time to try and get to grips with water soluble oils. I have had some that I was given ages ago. When I first got them I topped up with my favourite colours and gave them a go. Couldn't get on at all, so, put them on the shelf to gather dust.
Recently I have become more concerned about the use of solvents and also have been inspired by the lovely paintings by my friend Valerie Pirlot who only uses ws oils. so, I have dusted them off and been playing .
The main thing I've had to bear in mind is that I am playing, not trying to produce masterpieces -(mind you, it would be good if it happened)

This is the first effort. I set up a still life using a lovely colourful pot that I bought on holiday. Was actually quiet pleased with this. I found that I had all the colours I needed too

This picture was taken from a photo taken on the beach at Hoi An. The beach was a stone's throw from our hotel, I only got the chance to walk there on the last morning as we'd been so busy. I could have spent the whole week painting there if I wasn't with Frank & friends (didn't take paints for that reason)
Got on quiet well with the mixing here too

One of the highlights of the holiday was a three day cruise on Halong bay. Again this was taken from a photograph. I am finding that the paints are not drying as quickly as my regular paints so started using a drying medium. This is fine when I remembered to use it but I found that it does make the paint a bit slippery. Even using softer brushes I couldn't layer up the paint so I resorted to using a pallet knife. I like the effect it has given.
The little junk with red sails was a real gift

This 12" x 12" painting I really did struggle with. It started off ok with thin layers but as I built up the thickness, I could not get the effect I wanted on the daffodils. The paint got very slippery. The yellows I have are not opaque so added white which wasn't the colour I needed. I also couldn't get the light shining through the trumpet of the right hand daffodil because adding white flattened the colour too much.










I shall persevere as Valerie did say it took her quite a few paintings before she got used to them. Meanwhile, I shall just have fun and not worry too much about the results. Click here to check out Valeries' materials list if you are interested in trying them. Her website has  some useful information as well as showing her lovely paintings

Days 15 - 18 of 30

I have been painting every day - honest, but have slightly neglected to post here.

Day 16

Day 15

Two versions of the same subject. I felt the first one was too hard and wanted to try a different palette and softer edges

Day 17

It had got to the end of day and I hadn't done my painting as I'd been wiped out with some weird virus. This was hastily painted in fading light. Not sure cup shape is right but I like the looseness and colours.

Day 18

 A friend gave me a bag of mixed chillies. I used a couple in the evening  meal and did this quick study while it was cooking. Amazing shapes and colours.

Day 10 of 30

Peaches on an Indian Dish  8" x 8" Oil

This was a hastily painted subject as we had our two lively (but lovely) grandsons staying with us. I snatched 1/2 an hour with they were allowed to play on an IPad.
I liked the perspective of looking down on the  subject. I felt that the fabric added a complimentary interest to the picture. This is something that I would like to explore more.

30 in 30 Day 2

Marigolds in Quimper jug 8" x 8" oil

These little marigolds are a delight to paint and a perfect companion to the little French jug.

Visitors From Holland

Last Wednesday my dear friend Corry and husband Ted paid us a visit.Corry had a painting in the Artist exhibition at Patchings. So on Thursday we went to the show. So many artists offering their wares and there were demonstrations in every media. The exhibition itself  was a very high standard as usual. Corry was delighted to win a prize for her pastel of a new born calf. Well deserved too.

It was a good day out and I can home with a new supply of Rosemary brushes and Michael Harding paint.

The following day Corry & Ted went to Norfolk to stay for a few days. .I Joined Corry on the Saturday to go and paint at Felbrigg Hall

Felbrigg Gardens 8" x 8"

The Dove Cote. Felbrigg 8" x 8" oil

The gardens were full of visitors but I managed to stay tucked in out of the way. I returned home early Sunday morning (before either Corry or Ted were up) as Frank and I were visiting friends in the North of the county for lunch. I managed to sneak into the studio first and got another painting done for my forthcoming exhibition.

Monday morning I was back on the road for Norfolk. Corry and I went to Blakeney as the tide was high 

High Tide, Blakeney

From here we went to Wiveton Hall of the 'Normal for Norfolk ' fame (BBC series) I painted chickens whilst Corry painted Chloe 102 year old mother of Desmond, the Halls owner.

Wiveton Hall, chickens. 8" x 8" oil

Tuesday was much cooler. Our first stop was Salthouse. I had to tape my pallet to my easel as it was so windy 

Salthouse 10" x 12" oil

Coffee time took us back to Wiveton Hall. It was very busy as the TV program had aired the previous night. We met Chloe and Charlotte walking back from the cafe and made arrangements for us both to paint her.

Corry managed a brilliant portrait in between her nodding off. I chose to paint the sleeping position as it was more constant 

102 year old Chloe enjoying the sun

Charlotte that cares for Chloe liked the picture and as she was such a kind and generous lady I gave her the painting. 

I look forward to going back to paint at Wiveton. I was made to feel so welcome. Looking forward now to the next episode of Normal 4 Norfolk 

Plums, Hellebores and Muscari

Plums, Hellebores and Muscari 8" x 8" oil

This is about the last of the Hellebores and Muscari so I thought I'd better get another one in quickly. I must remember to start painting them earlier next year. They are so delightful to paint in fact I think I will plan ahead and plant more.

Helebores & Lime

Helebores and Lime 8" x 8" oil on canvas card

Helebores are amongst my favorite flowers and I have been meaning to paint these beauties for ages.
I missed the white ones again this year, must make more of an effort in future.
I also love painting (and eating) figs so snuck one in for fun.

30 in 30 Day 29

Ludham Sunset 8" x 10" oil on cotton covered card

This was painted from a photograph taken by my friend Kate in Norfolk. It is another example of a graduated sky. The colour changes were so subtle yet there was so much colour in the sky. You could hardly tell where the colour changes occurred. Unfortunately I decided to put in the tree thinking it would give more depth but I ended up loosing one of the best parts of the painting.

30 in 30 Day 24

Sun Rise & Frost 8" x 12" oil on canvas board

The sun was an intense red this morning. I painted it as I saw it but then modified it as it looked so wrong. The reflected light in the greenhouse was a lovely bonus.
There were loads of vapour trails from passing aircraft. I reduced the number of those by over half as it would have looked too busy.
I had been hoping for fog again this morning but on reflection, this was better.

30 in 30 Day 23

Frost & Fog 8" x 10" oil on cotton covered board

I loved the colours this morning as the fog rolled in across the field.
I've not tried painting fog before. I have to say it was a bit of a challenge. I hope it is foggy again tomorrow as I would like to try this again, don't think I quite got it.

30 in 30 Day 22

Mare's Tails, Happisburgh. 8" x 10" oil on linen covered card

This beach on the North Norfolk coast is actually pronounced 'Hazeboro' . yes, I know - go figure.
Anyway, it makes a good subject. The wispy 'mare's tails' were blowing towards me and reflecting in the sand.
I dipped into my cache of paints and pulled out an old favourite Unbleached Titanium. This I used for mixing the sand colours and found it to be a good mixer with Kings Blue Deep for the sky colour. It was also with white for the clouds, especially with Permanent Rose for the cloud shadows.

30 in 30 Day 18

Barge at Pin Mill 12" x 12" oil on canvas board

This painting took about an hour. I wanted to work quickly to avoid the temptation of blending too much. The photo reference showed the strong outlines and structure of the clouds and I wanted to capture this with my brush strokes. I used a flat no.6 brush from the Rosemary & Co Ivory range for most of the painting, this again inhibits the temptation to fiddle. The limited pallet creates a harmony within the picture.

30 in 30 Day 17

Sunset at Moulton 12" x 12" oil on canvas board £190

The sunsets in Lincolnshire have been amazing the last few days. I was lucky to catch this one.
The water standing in the fields perfectly pick up the sky colour helping to tie the painting together.
I don't often put in telegraph poles but felt that in this instance, they were essential to the painting and do help to give a sense of perspective.

30 in 30 Day 14

After the Spring Tide, Blakeney 12" x 12" oil on canvas board

The sky was an incredibly deep blue at Blakeney on this day. Usually when I use Ultramarine, I tend to knock it back a bit with either Yellow Ochre or a touch of red. In this instance I just used Michael Harding's Warm Light Yellow to lighten the blue.
 The same yellow was also used for the clouds as pure white would have been too cold. The pattern of the deep puddles left by the high tide were the perfect shapes for this composition. It definitely a scene waiting to be painted.

30 in 30 , Day 11

Cloud Reflections, Cromer 10" x 12" oil on board

I painted this from a photo reference taken last year. Memories of summer and things to come.
I loved the strong light on the distant sandy beach which gave a strong contrast to the dark shadowed cliffs