JOINING THE COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS

Decided to join the community of artists showcasing their artwork on deviantArt
So far I've only posted 4 paintings/drawings so I'll probably take a while to build up my gallery as I'll need to decide the type of works I want to share with the public. It's a great site be sharing one's artwork, but I'm needing to learn a bit more about altering the sizes of my pictures so they conform to the specifications necessary for some of my paintings to be sold as prints.

The picture above shows my studio and workshop. As with most artists, I'm surrounded by creative and inspiring clutter!
http://arisingmoon.deviantart.com

**SEPTEMBER SKIES**

Just thought this was lovely
The sky, forever changing is always a source of interest to me. I don't paint many pictures with sky, but I still find them fascinating and spend quite a lot of time looking at them and seeing how the interplay of light, shade and movement creates an atmosphere.
This sea and sky picture was taken shortly after midday overlooking the Rock of Gibraltar a few weeks ago. The light was amazing and the colours quite surreal.

**THE POWER OF WORDS**

Stories as inspiration

Fairy tales, fables, legends and children's stories generally, are as fascinating to me now as they were when I was a child. I have my favourites, like any child would have, but sometimes it is not the best stories that are the most inspiring, but the ones where the power of the words touch a part of me, whereby I can see something special in my mind's eye that desperately wants to be expressed in colour and form. The Little Mermaid was one such story that I have often re-visited over the years. The painting above was the second version to be living in the round picture frame, with many years between them. The actual painting was created with watercolours and inks, but I also painted both the inner and outer sides of the glass frame as well as etching the glass, to bring about some depth into the subject. I created a collage around the frame too, using real shells and plant material. I love to create things using a variety of materials and techniques as it's exciting, and sometimes challenging to achieve the effect I have in mind

** A GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN**

Songs as inspiration
My title today is from one of Donovan's earlier collection of songs which have been a constant source of inspiration for my art throughout life. Donovan's songs to me, are from an artist's palette and full of colour, providing me with rich imagery and touch the very core of my being. A strange thing to say, but as true to day, as it was for me in the 1960/70s.
I remember even in my school days, that songs and music inspired my art. Careful with that Axe Eugene by Pinkfloyd, became a large pen and ink drawing, Lucy in the sky with Diamonds by The Beatles, became a painting and over the years many others some of which I'm going to share on this blog.
Donovan sang " Seaweed clings to Ruby rings on the fingers of my lady'o....." My painting is 'Dawn, gypsy of the shore'
Hump sang in their song Moon sky "I could touch the sky, I would touch the sky for your love......" I have included the rough sketch above, as well as the finished painting, which is very different in it's finish state.
'Magpie in a Diamond Tree' was again influenced by Donovan who sang "The magpie is a most illustrious bird it dwells in a diamond tree......."

**VISITING ANGELS**

Visiting Angels

Come sweet angels shining bright,
Your love is beaming a wondrous sight.
Place your hands upon my own
So I may feel your blessings pure.
Your love brings joy and gentle tone,
Your touch brings healing, and a cure.
For my body is laden, all tattered and torn
And feeling life's worries have made it so worn.
So, when I lay my head to sleep
Let it be peaceful dreams to keep
And when I wake to see you there
Still, awaiting by my chair.
I say 'good morning' to you dear friend
For you are what the Lord does send.
I smile to see what you might say
But you have vanished on the sunlight ray.

by sunray

© All rights reserved
'sunray' is my pen name for my poetry
The painting/collage is entitled 'Cosmic Serenity' and is a detail from the picture's early stage. It is also one of my 'Angel Series' of paintings, that includes angels of the colour rays.

I would like to incorporate words within my paintings at some point in the future. For the time being though, my paintings exist apart from their inspiration which comes from many different sources be it songs, poems, things I've see or heard or those ideas and images that float into my mind.

**PARADISE FOUND**

'Paradise found' is what I call my garden as it wasn't of my creation, but one that
came with my house. So beautifully laid out in an unconventional manner. It provides a little bit of wildness to attract the birds, butterflies, moles, bees, beetles and spiders and all kinds of creatures. Throughout the year my garden grows with drifts of colour, of the Gertrude Jekyll cottage garden style which I can see from my sun room studio. How could I not be inspired with all this beauty?

Some of my friends view me as a wildlife artist because they have seen all the pictures I've drawn and painted of birds, flowers, animals and insects, but for me these subjects are about working from life to become a better painter in terms of technique. Working from life means that I'm thinking about the light sources, the interplay of colour and shade, texture and patterns, and developing a keen eye for observation. The other thing about my art, is that I have no ONE type of material to use, sometimes the subject matter cries out to be painted in watercolour whereas another would be better in pastels. You will become aware over time how diverse my range of materials used truly is.

As you can see, I've added some photos taken in 'paradise found' and I must own up to also working from my photos, as well as directly from life, but more often it's a combination of both.

**ORCHIDS**

On my birthday in June, I received a beautiful magenta coloured orchid from a special friend of mine. Little did she know that I always wanted to have a greenhouse for growing orchids. I still don't have a greenhouse, but I do have a 'sun room' which I use as my studio and there is a lovely corner that may be perfect for the job.
I've since bought an additional orchid and a couple of books that I expect to tell me everything I need to know. So far, my gift orchid and the one I bought are growing well and still throwing up plenty of new buds. So it looks like I've got myself a new hobby.Orchids are not really one of my favourite flowers, but artistically, they're just so fascinating with their wide ranging colours and patterns.

**THINKING of REIKI HEALING**

I'm in the process of designing, and then printing certificates for a Reiki Master to award her pupils as they pass each stage of training. So today, I spent ages looking through all my photographs for something that I could use for a background. Having found a few possibles and making some modifications to them, I've put them onto disk ready for printing.

Once I've got the background papers printed onto high quality paper or card, I can design a decorative border to compliment, and lastly the script. It's important to me that producing these Reiki certificates, means that not only have I been chosen for the task but that I will also be inspired as to how they should look once completed.

Just wondering now whether the background should be different for each certificate, or for each stage, or the same for all. No doubt this will be clearer as I'm working on them.Reiki Healing deserves to have beautiful certificates that reflect something spiritual and I may even add some metallic hand painted details, or even a decorative 'ribbon'.

**AUTUMN TRANSITION**

• A real autumnal day, with morning rain and darkened skies that shifted in time for lunch.

• Russet leaves upon the lawn but too wet to work in the garden, although there's plenty to be done!

• Afternoon was bright but short, and night descended fast.

• All the stars were out this evening as I waited for my friend.

• The night air had a bitter chill as I stood and looked above at the starry sky..

******Red Fairy watercolour painting******

So this time of year it always gets me thinking about the seasonal changes and what it means for me, such as the shorter days in terms of light, or the sleeping later because morning still feels like night. As an artist, I have to plan my paintings to ensure that I can adjust what I'm working on, to take account of the failing light and the alternative, artificial lighting making everything look so different.
It becomes a time to reflect on where the year has gone, whilst being mindful that Christmas is not so far ahead. Less sunlight begins to have it's affect on everyone's 'feel good factor' and a sense of loss surrounds us if the summer had few sunny days, a feeling that the weather has cheated us. Now the skies are grey and dull, but "hey! Let's have some optimism here. It's not all doom and gloom, when the sun does shine, everything glows, and at night all is warmed by the harvest moon, so big and beautiful in the sky. "
October is a brilliant time to be walking in Epping Forest, as it can look very surreal with the contrast of bright orange leaves against the, almost fluorescent lime green moss on the many trees, be they hornbeam or beech, they look absolutely wonderful.
So everything is in transition from one state to another. A time for 'shedding the skin', leaves off the trees and a mental clear out for me. I want to get cosy for the winter, organise my work so that I can finish things and put them aside whilst anticipating something new, and in tune with my feelings at this time of year. I love to paint with the seasons even though my work is not displaying the scenes of autumn, I like to feel the autumnal energy, how it slows up to prepare for hibernation and to feel the seeds wanting to be planted in the dark to build up their strength for the following spring. This is how my work pattern is too.