Time to pick up a paintbrush again.

We have had a busy few days getting our house sorted. We have a loft full of junk that we have collected over the years from antique shops and car boot sales, plus all the usual stuff that you save over the years. Even if we do not move house yet, at least we will have a fresh start. We still have to paint the hallway, kitchen and utility room and put some of our big Victorian furniture into storage to give the illusion of space. The estate agent was full of ideas which basically meant throwing everything out and starting again. Hoping the market picks up again soon or maybe we will just build a big new extension here.

I spent a bit of time with my grandchildren on Friday. We had a lovely day making pottery and painting it before it goes in the kiln and looking round the Bedford museum. They both chatter non-stop and are still so sweet at only 5 and 7 years.

Still thinking about my abstract and looking for more of natures patterns. Close up photography of flowers and trees seem to work well. The painting above is a picture I did a couple of years ago, pouring acrylic paint onto block canvas. I loved the translucence of the paint.

Thank you Angela for your tip about the music - hope this has worked.

Yet More Winter Landscapes

My pictures are in the wrong order. I do have great difficulty getting them where I would like them to go. Any tips would be appreciated.

This is my photograph of an icy puddle which may work as an abstract reference.

Last Friday was our last day of painting warm and cool winter landscapes and here are this week's versions. It will be quite a relief (I think) to start thinking about abstract work which we will start in two weeks' time. The first couple of weeks we will work, either with an old painting or photo, and possibly have a structure of some kind as a focal point. Then, more excitingly, we will pour the paint on and see what we can make of it.

Well we are thinking about moving so will spend the next week having a bit of a spring clean before the estate agent comes to give us an valuation. It is a bit of a daunting task as we have accumulated so much rubbish in the 11 years that we have lived here. We will be having lots of trips to the charity shops and, of course, the tip. It is a bad time to sell, so it may not happen but at least we will have had a clear out. I will have to hide all my painting stuff in the garage. Thank goodness for the garage. Maybe we can hide the dogs in there too. Ha!

My Carol Carter Book Has Arrived!

Have just received Carol Carter's lovely book from Blurb. She is the master of watercolour with the emphasis on colour! With blurb in mind and a reminder from Joan, thought I would write some blurb of my own. We have been snowed in for a couple of days so there is time to look at the art books, tidy my painting room and actually do a little bit of painting in between towelling down damp dogs. Over the Christmas period I worked some more on my papaya but it gradually got worse (too much green) so I am thinking of gessoing over it, or using oil paint or throwing it away. Have also tried another watercolour of Kew Palm House which is still not really working. I don't know quite what else to do with it so I just look at it every day.

More recently we have been working on winter landscapes in my Friday workshops using warm and cool pallettes - a good exercise for me in using colours I am that I don't usually work with. Think I need to grey things down a bit though.

I will try to be more regular with my postings, even if it is only once a week. Looking forward to hearing any comments.