2011 The Year of the Shed and Many Things to do

I have a new studio.....Hurray! The garden shed was insulated a week before the Big Freeze and is now my own domain where I can make art, mess, and no one else cares. So my aim this winter is to paint enough pictures for all the summer exhibitions. Mice, men and other things not interfering too much, I might get thirty paintings done. Too ambitious? Maybe, but New Year's Resolutions are, de facto, half full glasses.
2010 was the year of Chipboard. Those pastel panels seem to appeal to other people as well as to me, so I only have two left now and need to start some others. I aim to have five new ones in time for Derbyshire Open Arts, May Bank holiday at Via Gellia Mill, Bonsall, DE4 2AJ
This yearI am also starting a new series of paintings in black ink on white canvas. Check out 'Things' in my gallery as I'll add them as they come.

Painting is an odd thing. The medium itself dictates the result, like writing: handwriting has a life of its own quite different in character to typing. Thus, 'Things keep Piling up' done on A4 card is quite different from the same title done on canvas. I will post both to illustrate this. And if I painted it again, it would be different once more. These Things keep growing on me..... [that should prove to be an interesting picture too, maybe next month.] At the moment 'It's a Good Thing on a long haul' that starts the year, and it is a long haul, as Things keep multiplying (see what I mean?) In fact, Things are probably limitless, (stop it!) and you know how it is, 'One Thing Leads to Another' and then all of a sudden those Mice or Men interfere and 'Things have gone Pearshaped' leaving me with 'Things up in the air' and Things to do, places to go and a lot of 'ThingKing' to do. But generally 'Things are Looking Up'. I personally never say, 'Some Things were meant to be', or Some Things weren't meant to be!' but a lot of people do feel influenced by Things. Some people says 'Bad Things come in Threes', I just hope 'All Things Bright and Beautiful,' come your way in 2011.

At the moment most of these pictures, and about 40 others, are in a sketchbook, waiting to amuse you through the year ahead. Um...that's about four a month. Gotta go.