Been a bit under the weather lately - either two colds one after the other or the same one continually mutating - but a mild malady I find very good for enforced productivity...

'Winter Tree in a Field', A3 acrylic on canvas (title may need some work!) and
'Brimlad', acrylic 290 x 290mm (an Anglo Saxon girl's name meaning seaway, fact fans)

And what a summer it's been - weeks and weeks of warm sunny weather. I have been at my beach hut studio nearly every day, painting and meeting interesting people. Last week the Fringe by the Sea was in town too, so we were sharing our space with two Spiegeltents, interesting music and the daily tantalisation of wonderful cooking smells drifting over from the food court. I may have succumbed once or twice...
No hut today, or yesterday, as it has been rather damp. I have finally finished this painting 'Paragon & Design' and treated myself to a new tiny paintbrush (having ruined the old one!).
Next stop - the Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show at Bonhams in Edinburgh

Got the bit between my teeth the last two or three weeks and have been really quite productive - lots of painting! All boats from North Berwick harbour , and destined for various upcoming shows.

First boat painting finished in what seems like ages! Another view of Tidewatch II which I seem to paint rather often - I do like its shape though. Hoping that people will understand the title...

There's not been much in the way of painting, drawing or anything else going on for the past few weeks, with all the distractions of collecting Elder Daughter's flat contents from Aberdeen, distributing said contents into an already full to bursting house, having my elderly and faithful car put to sleep and then looking for a replacement vehicle. It's really not easy going around salesrooms when you don't have a car to get there! However I collect the new car tomorrow and I am already planning several trips to charity shops and the local dump, or Civic Amenity Site as we now should call it. Meanwhile though I have managed to start a new boat painting, with a slightly different colour feel to it from those I have been doing lately.

Head down this week working for the forthcoming St Andrew Blackadder Easter art show. This one is nearly finished with a bit of work on the prow and refelctions still to do. Slightly larger than my usual at 400mm square. These four buoys have featured in other paintings I have done - I find them strangely attractive :)

What I love about this time of year is that the harbour has fewer vessels in it - many are lifted out for the winter. This means there is a greater expanse of water and on a clear sunny day there are lots of wonderful reflections. What I don't love is the fact it gets dark too early, and despite "daylight" bulbs I find it very hard to work into the evening! The results of an evening's endeavour are oft viewed with dismay the following morning - when the colours reveal their true selves in the cold light of day...
Busy working away for next weeks NB Art Group Show. I hope to have this one finished tomorrow.

It has been ages since I worked on a boat painting, and with my colouring book off to the printers and a commission that I've been working on now finished and framed, I thought I'd get on with some new boats. This one is nearly finished, just a bit of fine tuning the buoys and some ropes to add

Yes it's one of my boat paintings without a boat in it! Just a bit of work to do in the reflections I think.

Deep blue and orange is now a colour combination I wouldn't go for in any sartorial situation, but it makes for an interesting combination in a boat picture. Just blocking out the shapes and colours now, it's always fun to leave the bright orange to the last.

Progress...