Still life with nasturtiums (86)

Another still life - this time of a bowl of nasturtiums. This is a very sentimental painting for me because I painted it while in the company of my dear friend, Jan, three weeks before she died.

I originally met Jan when I joined her belly dance classes in 1995. Over the years we became very good friends and did many projects and classes together, including art classes with Brian Simmonds. She was a very good artist.

At the time I painted these nasturtiums, Brian was away but we were able to use the studio. A few of the others from the class had turned up and were painting on the verandah, but Jan and I went inside and sat by the heater as she was very thin from her cancer treatment and was feeling the cold.

Jan had brought the nasturtiums and bowl for us to compose, and we sat and chatted while we painted. Afterwards we had a coffee at the little café at the art centre. It was so nice to have some time together, but just before we parted she complained of a pain in her side. She was taken into hospital that night and never came out.

Every time I look at this painting I think of her.

Daisy in bed (99) & competition winner

This painting was a Christmas present for my partner, Ian – another portrait of his dog, Daisy. The photo that inspired this painting was taken in the winter after she had been clipped. She was shivering, so we covered her up with a blanket in her bed and she looked very cosy. It was a difficult pose to paint, and I don’t think I quite got the angle of her head right, but it seems to work anyway.

I have an admission to make … I miscounted my paintings - I thought this was number 100, but it’s only 99! I am now working on number 100 and will post it here as soon as it is finished.

Thanks to everyone who entered my third anniversary competition which closed yesterday. The winner is Paul Merrick who said: 'I would get you to do a portrait of my dog, a blue heeler cross, in charcoal. I may even get her to sit still. Oh well, I still love her.' The prize will be in the mail as soon as I find out his address.

Some good news is that my exhibition at Two Rubens is continuing until further notice, so if you haven’t had chance to see it yet you’ve still got time. Another piece of good news is that I sold another painting on Christmas Eve - the oil painting of the Karri forest with the recycled Karri frame (see the blog from 3 July 2012). I was very excited about that sale and hope that it’s a sign of things to come in the new year.

On that note, I’d like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and creative new year.

Daisy (72)

I did this painting for my partner for Christmas. It’s a portrait of his dog, Daisy, who’s a spoodle (cocker spaniel x poodle).

Daisy loves water. Apparently she dived into the sea the first time she was taken to the beach as a small puppy and hasn’t looked back. She lives for her walks on the beach – at home she just sleeps all day, but when she gets to the beach she’s like a totally different dog! However, her love of water is not restricted to the sea. Once, we took her to a friend’s place and she was playing with their dogs outside when we heard a big splash … Daisy had jumped into their ornamental fountain and pond!

I decided to paint Daisy from a photo taken of her in her element. The portrait of Daisy herself came together very quickly, but I had a bit of trouble painting the sea. In the photo there was a sweeping current of water surrounding her, which I originally put in. However, it didn’t look right so I took it out again.

P.S. For the record, my partner loves the painting!