'Almost' Daily Paintings by Lorna Storey

I'm Baaaaaack!

2011-03-25T21:55:00.005Z

It's been a mad few months, I've seen one daughter announce her wedding plans and the other daughter announce her engagement and my son announced that he's off back to work in Mallorca this summer.
I'm very lucky, I think both my prospective son's in law are just lovely and just the right man for each daughter, wonder how many other mums can say the same?

Sadly my old website had to go. I began selling jewellery components online in 2004. Having had time off work after uterine sarcoma was diagnosed, I then fell downstairs and broke my foot and ankle.
Another stretch of time at home twiddling my thumbs didn't appeal to me so I researched what was selling on ebay and found it was beads at that time.
I left 9-5 work at the local High school the following June to begin 'Art And All That Jazz'. After a couple of years I bought a beautiful all singing and dancing website and had it designed in an Art Deco style to display what had now become an extensive range of jewellery components and findings (didn't even know what findings were two years previously!). I called it 'All That Jazz Crafts'.

Nowadays you can buy jewellery making equipment directly from the wholesalers, the Chinese and Indians in particular have killed the traders and thus the high street shops too. Sad, but it's the march of progress...so they say. Anyway no need for websites such as mine anymore. She was a beauty in her time but now at five years old she's looking rather dated so I'm killing her off rather than letting her fade out.

Painting.... but not as much as hoped, slight change now, slipping in and out of the style that holds my heart, kind of a cartoon/illustration style with watercolour, inks and gouache.
Here's a selection of the past few offerings.

Rob, eating breakfast, late for work.

Our New Gallery!

2010-09-23T16:41:00.001+01:00

Yeah! As you can see, now our little office/studio/gallery is up and running :o)

It's been a very busy and tiring month, we had visitors too in the midst of it all so congratulating ourselves on getting there before the end of September.

The last two pics show Chester and Maisie are settling in well though it would be better if they didn't have to be removed from the room before we open the front door! and so much barking....hopefully that will get better in time.
Last couple of days have seen me dabbling with watercolour again. Trouble is, I know what I want to do but my lack of drawing skill lets me down. More practice needed I guess.
Tried gridding out for a landscape of Runswick Bay so we'll see how this one goes.

September sunshine

2010-09-01T17:07:00.000+01:00

Just five minutes in our nice new room is enough to convince me that all the dust, mess and upheaval was worth it. The afternoon sunshine lights up the warm thick terracotta carpet and sends spangles of light through the coloured victorian bottles on the window sill. I'm in sensory heaven!

I've been painting again for a week or so, still in the kitchen area but it's working. Just as well really because the roofer we hoped would sort out the out building has been fobbing us off now for three weeks.
It looks as though we are on target with the little gallery though, the laminate flooring has been forgotton and charcoal carpet ordered instead, the walls are painted and the hangers up, some of our paintings are hanging already and it's looking good.
Just got to move the office down there before September 17th when we have guests arriving and need the exisiting office as a spare bedroom.

Here are some of my latest daubings:

Back to painting, at last!

2010-08-19T22:55:00.003+01:00

I have finally completed the commission I undertook a few weeks ago.
Hilbre is a delight to paint and can look completely different each time it is painted because of the angle/tide/time of year.
While I was in the mood and had paint to hand I carried on and began a few more seascapes.
The pictures here are small because it rained all day so decent photography was impossible.

The commission has gone to it's new home in Glasgow

This one has now been sold

Is box canvas on it's way out?

2010-08-18T11:39:00.001+01:00

I think so and personally, I will be quite glad if it gets banished because I've noticed a cheapening down in the quality of them recently.
Sometimes I feel almost embarrassed to send out a painting on such a flimsy support whereas a framed canvas board always looks quality. The last few paintings we have completed have been on canvas purchased from a British company where they make the supports themselves. Quality of canvas is so much better there but accordingly the price rises by around £20 for an average sized (10" x 20") painting. Well worth it though.

Interestingly, the last two commissions that Rob and I have received, both specified they should be on board so that they can be framed. Is it a trend?

Work is complete now on our garden room but the painting and decorating continues, we spent the whole weekend painting the walls ready for the carpets on Monday. Of course that highlighted the state of the kitchen, so I was forced to re-paint that too and add a few flourishes :o) There's still the front room to tackle, some ripping out of fireplace and cupboards will be involved too so I had better finish my Hilbre Island commission before all of that begins.
I'm enjoyong having more space for sure but still having to use the kitchen as a studio until the brick out building work is done.

Picture of the outside here, then one of the inside just after the carpet fitter had left.

As you can see, Chester and I have settled in already.

A whole month off!

2010-08-11T12:54:00.000+01:00

August is always our quietest month for business. A lot of people are away on holiday so until September when the great Christmas craft-making rush begins, I have time to do other things.
The new room is built, carpet arrives next week so I have to paint the walls before that. I mixed up some vynyl silk with water and made a start at the undercoat.
Here's how it looks on the outside though...

As you can see, we added a little decked area. The front opens right back so a lovely summer breeze reaches the parts other breezes cannot reach, not sure if it will be quite so welcome come winter mind.

I'm about half way through my latest painting commission, working first thing in the morning suits me best and today I tackled the sky, my favourite part when using oils :o)
It's another Hilbre Island painting which I was asked to create for a very nice lady who has very strong connections with it. In fact her middle name is 'Hilbre' because of this!
I'll be posting the completed item on here next week if all goes well.

So apart from commission painting, painting and decorating and lugging furniture about I am having a reasonably relaxing month off before facing three soap demos, two lots of visitors and the beginnings of the craft rush come September....oh yes and we hope to squeeze in another little holiday around my birthday in the first week of that month too.
Back to the painting then...........

Today's paintings are beachscapes

2010-07-26T19:35:00.002+01:00

I was in an aqua mood today, must be all the rain out there, making me yearn for azure sea and pale sands. Again these are oils on canvas and 16" x 20" each.

Ooooh I so want to be by the sea-side!

Racing Towards August

2010-07-25T14:00:00.002+01:00

July has just about whizzed past and very few paintings completed. I blame the builders, the mess, the lack of space but really I can only blame myself...BUT, as if to make an attempt at rectifying matters I am just putting the finishing touches to not one, but two seascapes.
Not little ones either, these are a nice size at 20" x 16" each.

I was a little bit wary of painting seascapes because there has, in the past been a lot of ill feeling between certain seascape painters, accusations of copying, that sort of thing but hey...I was painting seascapes back in the 1980's, my ex husband has one on his wall to prove it ;o) so what the hell, I'm old enough to not give a damn what anyone thinks,I'll do as I please.
Soon as I have photographed them they'll be aired on here.

The new room is up now although Rob aint too happy with some minor parts of the finish and I'm thnking he'll have the fitters back soon to get it sorted. This is one of the benefits of being a chartered surveyor I guess, you keep quiet but watch what they do. Most of the groups of builders have been great but there is one....there's always one eh?

This was how it looked at the beginning of last week. At this point Rob had borrowed two huge easels to make a start on his commission and I was a little concerned that he saw the room as a large permanent studio. It's certainly a great size for a studio but that little building you can just see from the door will be converted soon to that role.
The patio slabs have been laid yesterday and the decking & rail will go up next week so things are moving apace.
We are going over to Wirral next week for a few days. My dad is having his first cataract removed, he was after getting into his car and driving home after the op! 82 and he's the most stubborn old guy you could meet. Anyway we'll take take him, tied up if necessary, and I'll father sit for a few days whilst giving him the impression that I need to get over to the coast to clear my lungs of all this dust ;o)
Back soon....

July already?

2010-07-12T19:21:00.000+01:00

This summer the weather has been so good that the time just flies by. It looks like the new room will be finished on time too!
Just as well because we have house guests arriving in September.
Rob has sent sketches off to the company who have commissioned the two big paintings. He's already well advanced with his palette all sorted out.
They loved them so he can go ahead as soon as this room is up and the canvases arrive.
This is how the room looks so far:

Windows arrive tomorrow and the roof too if all goes well. The builder wasn't convinced that would arrive in time but we are hopeful.

We celebrated Rob's birthday at the weekend. It was a sugar fest, he has a sweet tooth so I had three different deserts for him :o)
We have eaten out quite a lot lately so a home cooked meal this time and a very good red wine.

I have begun a painting but the muse has left me now, I reckon once the new room is up I will feel more like getting back to it.

Day one of the new room build.

2010-06-21T20:47:00.000+01:00

They arrived at 7.20am. We had been awake since 6.30am so it wasn't a shock but still surprisingly early considering they had a 45 minute journey to us.
Three builders arrived and worked solid at demolishing our old sunroom which has served as a studio since we moved in two years ago.
They worked so hard! Just a half hour break at lunchtime and then straight through til 4.45pm. Impressive! (as were the biceps ;o) )

It's now to be twice the size with a pretty apex roof of solar control polycarbonate and big glass doors opening out onto the garden (or what will be remaining of the garden) :o)
Currently the garden looks like a builders yard but by the end of this week we should have the foundations down, the drains re-located. There will then be a week of roof repairs before the walls and electrics go up and in.
The garden is not very pretty tonight.

I am so looking forward to it all being finished and by that I mean ALL finished because once this room is built then Rob has to complete his commission with his huge canvases pinned to the walls for support and then... the contents of that little brick shed are moving into it so that we can renovate the shed. Finally it will become our livingroom.
If we are lucky we'll be done by Christmas LoL

Canine Post Holiday Blues

2010-06-18T12:11:00.001+01:00

Chester is suffering from what can only be described as post holiday blues. The first day home he was totally depressed. Yes I know that pugs have miserable faces anyway but believe me, he was really sad!
Took to his bed and only ventured out to oblute and refused to look at me all day as though he blamed me for ending something he was enjoying.
It's been four days now and he's still only a little better, perhaps we'll take them somewhere nice this weekend and cheer him up :o)

Meanwhile I am still home alone until this evening when Rob gets back from London. He stayed the night at his eldest son's place in the city and passed a restless night on a sofa bed in a room he shared with the guinea pig but it must have been lovely to see kevin and Kika. We are all hoping to get away for a break together in Whitby this autumn.

Painting-wise I work best when Rob is away, no distractions, nobody calling to put the kettle on and the standard required response of "No, it won't fit me'. ...yeah, I know, but I bet you have 'couple sayings' too :o)
Anyway I managed to produce 'Vestige' as my daily painting..
('Vestige' A trace, mark or visible sign left by something vanished or lost.)

Time to catch breath

2010-06-18T00:30:00.002+01:00

It's a busy, busy time for us right now, lot's happening.
Preparations are almost complete for the building work to begin at the back of our house on Monday. I've had to clear an entire room and find places where there are no places, to put all the stuff that was in there.

The kitchen resembles an art studio now. That's not such a bad thing because I have the workbench right next to the sink :o) All the paint and poly clay things are stored in large plastic boxes underneath the counter. Soaps are in a display cabinet in the livingroom and the unwrapped on racks in the spare room.
It will be worth it in the end.
Rob has the wonderful commission to do for Skagen. They would like him to paint their Norwedian office building on a 1m x 1m canvas (huge!) and another the same size of their lovely building in London.
He's been a long to have a look at the city one, it's opposite De Beers and alongside some other smart company. Rob's paintings will both hang in this building, exciting stuff!

Having just a small house we decided that the best time for him to tackle these paintings is when the new room has been built but before we move into it. Nice big walls for him to hang the canvases and paint them :o)

The Eastrington Show is this weekend.
I've been very disheartened with the local ag shows this year. First the Howden Show which we attend every year, moved from the date it's always on, and it's now a week later. We are booked to do something else and will miss it. Then Eastrington, I sent off my cheque, it has been cashed and the show is on Saturday but have I heard a word from them? No.
Not only that but on the website last week there was not even a list of exhibitors and I have seen no advertising.
Despite having paid my £25 I have other things to do this weekend than stand in a hot tent to sell no more than 10 soaps so if they can't be bothered with the publicity, I can't be bothered to show up.

Todays painting is another in my watercolour and ink series, I painted two but the second isn't yet photographed so will appear tomorrow.
This one is called 'Notion'.

An Early Summer Break

2010-06-15T14:38:00.002+01:00

Just back after a lovely early summer break with Rob and the pugs. It was almost without incident (very unusual for us) although there was a small accident involving a marker post and later we hit a tree and knocked the ariel off the caravan but mainly it was smooth sailing.

A couple of days at Leaplish Water Parlk in Keilder Forest Northumbria was just what we needed. No midges when we arrived, just wonderful sunshine but we lubed up that evening (don't be filthy!) with Avon 'Skin So Soft' as the tiny black critters swarmed in that evening with damper weather.
It's excellent stuff, I found out about it via t'internet where I read that the West Scotland fire service regularly rely on it's anti midge properties. It doesn't stop them landing but somehow prevents the evil bite :o)

Lakeside at Keidler

Then away we travelled to Scotlan's south west coast, Dumfries and Galloway. My maternal family history centres around the peninsula , Rhins of Galloway. It's a beautiful spot, we had a little beach accross the way from our caravan, still empty since the school holiday are away in the distance.

The pugs just love running on sand. I nipped over to the beach while Rob set up the caravan. We had four days here at New England Bay.

A beach to ourselves at Ardwell Bay.

During our stay we ventured over to Morroch Bay. My ancestors were tenant farmers at Port O Spittal and then later at Morroch where having lost their house, the land owner, being fond of old Smith, built the family a little house in the bay. It's a fair hike down there and it's now holiday cottages so private anyway but we got as far as we could. (Google 'Morroch' and see what I mean)
There's a family story about my great aunt being hauled up that steep slope on a trailer when she was ready to give birth! Times were hard.
Later we had tea at Knockinaam Lodge, very posh. They brought the tray outside since we had the pugs and when Rob went in later to order cakes his car alarm went off. I was mortified, such a peaceful spot with this awful hooting coming from the car park.

We left and headed for Cumbria to break up the trip into manageable travelling chunks of no more that 3 hours (ish).

This was a tiny campsite compared to the last two and what it lacked in size it more than made up for in charm, complete as it was with a tiny shed like loo with a heater inside, shelves of books and fairy lights outside to guide you there at night LoL
We met up with some nice people there. Also at www.maestearooms.co.uk where Mark and Emma have converted an old school building into a tearoom/gallery. It's all brand new, just opened in May, great food and beautiful surroundings. Good luck to both :o)

We made the most of our two night stay with a drive around the locale including a whiz through Keswick. I would definitely like to return for a longer stay in this area.
Rounded off the time here with a get together at the site with a few of the lads and lasses to watch the first England match of the World Cup.

Lake at Uldale.

As for painting, well Rob managed to get five almost completed!!!!
I took some already begun before leaving and finished them.
Here are a couple :

Things are on the UP!

2010-06-03T12:54:00.000+01:00

A beautiful day here in Yorkshire, made even better by the possibility of a large commission for my husband Rob Soar (see his paintings on www.robsoar.co.uk).
It's a Scandanavian company who would like some architectural paintings by him. Sounds like the possibility of a trip to Norway which would be lovely :o)

In the meantime, my little offering for today is entitled 'Frozen Tracks'. It represents fragments of dreams and past experiences.
I will be away from the blog for a few days from tomorrow as we go off galavanting in the caravan with Chester & Maisie but I am taking my painting equipment so there should be something to pop on here ewhen I get home.

Dawdles and Doodles

2010-06-01T09:40:00.007+01:00

Our office window looks out over the street. It's a quiet little place and not a lot happens but to relieve the boredom, Rob has given some of the residents/ passers by a nickname. It always makes me laugh when the name he gives them, based on some observation and a lot of imagination, turns out to be completely wrong, as was the case for the "Polish Man" who wasn't Polish at all but a stout Yorkshireman!
Rob however still refers to him now as "The ex Polishman" !!!!
Today there was a unique sight over the road, a mother duck with eight large ducklings waddling past. Rob ran out to make sire she didn't become Duck soup (it's quite a traffic busy road) but they waddled off into someone's garden so he informed the occupants who claimed a dyke at the back of their property so that was ok.
We've had to do this sort of thing before when we lived in a little village in Essex. We were right opposite the village green with it's large duck pond and always having to stop traffic and guide mother ducks back to the pond....why do they wander off?

There was talk of doodles yesterday on Facebook. I am a BIG doodler, I doodle whilst on the phone, at the pc and if anyone were to dig out my old school books from my time at WKGSfG they would discover them filled with 20% school work, 30% home spun caricature poetry and 50% doodle!
This might go some way to explaining why I didn't realise any of the ambitions my parents might have held for me :o/
Doodling comes as naturally as breathing so I might just incorporate some of my ideas into paintings very soon though they'll have to be a good deal more proficient than these offerings from many moons ago!

They are a bit faded with time but you get the idea.

Rushing about....

2010-05-28T20:03:00.001+01:00

After the sale of my 'Hilbre Island' oil painting I was motivated to paint another of those larger works. This one is also oil, 20" x 16" and I have painted it in portrait because I wanted a big sky.
It took me three days to find the space / right light to photograph it.

This dusky seascape reminds me a little of the beautiful Isle of Wight where I spent twelve very happy years, but really, it could be any coast.

It's almost the weekend, just a few more days and we will be off on a weeks holiday pottering about in the caravan but there is sooo much to do yet!
Back soon :o)

Moving onward

2010-05-24T14:39:00.002+01:00

As well as the two paintings that I sold, there was another , very large painting that had to be packed up today. It's is called 'Icon' and was painted by a most talented artist named Susanne Clark who now lives and paints in Toronto, Canada.
It's on Susanne's website http://www.susanneclark.com/paintings-in-oil-acrylic-mixed-media-by-susanne-clark.html third in from the left.

This painting came into my hands back in the early 2000's when Rob and I took part in an auction of artwork in Newcastle. It was in aid of a children's charity, a group of artists from an art forum we belong to had organised the event.

It was a long trip for us that cold November day, as we travelled from Lincolnshire. I was still recovering from the latest sarcoma related operation, but I had received a small windfall.... (by slightly dubious means...no details ;o) )... and was looking forward to spending it at the auction.

We bought three paintings that day, Icon being one of them and it graced the dining-room walls of our Grantham home.
It moved with us when we set up home in a farm cottage on the idylic Culverthorpe Eastate with it's grand house and beautiful lakes.
Incidentally, if you have peeped at the link above you'll have noticed that the painting has a religious flavour, this wasn't our reason for buying, I am an agnostic, but the colours and shapes appealed to me so much.

During our time at Culverthorpe I had become ill again, the sarcoma had metastasised again, this time back to the pelvis and worse... it was inoperable now.
The treatment would be palliative only and involve chemotherapy followed by high dose radiation to the pelvis.
The treatment began immediately and was gruelling, I had never felt so ill before. I spent a lot of time lying down and just staring. 'Icon' was there on the wall and each time I looked at it, I could see new images within it, kind of comforting.Unless you have been in that same situation I doubt you can ever imagine how that felt. It was another horrible event in a stream of seemingly endless horrible events around that time which included family problems and the early death of my brother.

Every month the Parish newsletter for the area of Ancaster would plop through the door and I began reading it, I guess because it was there!
The Reverend Christine Dolby wrote an amazing column on her daily life and sort of tied it into the God stuff so perfectly that I was impressed and felt moved to write to her.

In my letter I wrote that I loved to read her column despite being agnostic, I told her that nothing could make me believe in something that I had decided long ago couldn't exist but, nevertheless, her writing made me feel happy and I enjoyed it.
Christine wrote straight back and asked if she could call and see me. She promised not to try to convert me and that there wouldn't be any 'God' talk.

She visited me at Culverthorpe several times after that, never tried to convert me, no 'God speak' just a very good listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.

She braved my awful strong coffee and Chester who was a puppy back then, shredding her tights at each visit.
Christine smiled a lot, helped me to see some events in different light and was the most perfect friend for that most terrible time in my life.
When we moved to a different village she emailed me until we lost touch around 2007 and I believe she moved to a new Diocese in 2008.

I still am an agnostic, but I believe that there is goodness out there and there are 'good people'who selflessley help others through all kinds of trouble, pain and misery just as Christine helped me.
What is it that guides them to us or indeed in my case, us to them?
Dunno.

What I do know is that if I can track Christine down, this painting is heading over to her.
She loved 'Icon', possibly for different reasons to mine and so I want her to have it.
It's my way of saying thank you.

Wow, summer is here!

2010-05-22T18:25:00.001+01:00

It's hot...damned hot!
The pugs and I are feeling pretty washed out. There was a time when the first glimmer of sunshine saw me reaching for the bikini and sun oil, sadly these days I don't even posess a pair of shorts let alone anything smaller.
Course, I blame Rob and his love of all things sweet and creamy. I was a size 8/10 when we met and I'll not see those sizes again for sure.
In a vain attempt at excercise today I lugged out the grass mower. Up until last week's mega clear out and boot sale we possessed a motorised one but since the lawn area will be ridiculously small after the extension is built we opted to replace that with a hand mower.
It's been a while since I mowed. Rob and one of his son's were away at the caravan so despite not being able to get the grass basket thingy to stay attached I launched in. I was about a quarted way through, carefully avoiding the pugs who will insist on leading me around when the phone rang. Startled momentarily I ran (mowed) over the dog blanket and got it all twisted up in the blades :o(
It was my son on the phone, to tell me he was off to the beach.... Grrrrrrrr.

I have been experimenting with negative painting recently and although it looks easy to do I really hate the effect I'm getting so it's gone...binned. I'll stick with what I know for now.
Speaking of which, three of my painting have been sold just since this blog began so I am happy.

'Wading In' was one of the paintings, 'High Plains Drifters' another and the one which isn't yet on the blog but sold today was 'Hilbre Island'

and this is it:

No painting to load today but I'm working on something for tomorrow x

Messing about with brushes

2010-05-19T17:16:00.000+01:00

With the extension date set for June 21st I've been busy clearing the room that has to be knocked down. No time for painting and worse...nowhere to paint!
Eventually I worked out that by removing the kitchen table I could get my workbench in there right by the sink and still have room for a small table to eat at. Happy now. :o)

The idea of negative painting appeal to me so that's what I'll be investigating in the next few weeks but for today, a rather random little watercolour of Whitby Abbey.

Muddling through May

2010-05-11T09:10:00.000+01:00

Forgive me blog, it has been several days since my last posting.
It's difficult to settle to painting when there are so many distractions and all of them less attractive than the painting but much more pressing.
Except the conservatory, that will be lovely when it's built but all the planning was grim and now we look forward to the mess while it's built, oh and NEVER trust a man to arrange a date of start for this sort of thing. Rob, I discovered, had booked the start of work to be the day following the evening that we return from a week's holiday away!

The good 'arty' news is that both Rob and I each sold a painting last night. Mine was 'High Plains Drifters' and Rob's 'Night Return'. Who hoo!!!
I have another in hand at the moment and if I ever escape the paperwork surrounding me I'll finish it off and post it.
Back soon......

Election Day

2010-05-06T19:48:00.000+01:00

Rob asked me if I was going to stay up and watch the election results. Hell no, I haven't done that since 198....something and then it was only because they were playing really good music videos on another channel. I taped those and kept them for years.
What I will be staying up for is 'Crime Stories' on CB Reality, completely hooked there I'm afraid.

Anyway, todays painting is a little different from the last few, let me know what you think of it if you have a minute.

May Sunshine.

2010-05-04T14:43:00.004+01:00

Woke to lovely sunlight streaming in through the bedroom curtains. It's still only May though so it's cold out of the sun. Reminded me of being at primary school and begging to be able to wear a summer dress uniform at the first flicker of sunshine. My grandmother used to say "Ne'er cast a clout til May be ooot' and that seemed to be a firm rule for my mother too for she never relented. Of course the tiny, popular, girl from the 'better off' family was always the first one into her little dresses and they were always shorter than everyone elses since they hadn't been bought three sizes too big to last :o) Hah, those were the days! (I think).

Back to work today so most of the morning was spent playing catch up on everything, packing orders and ordering equipment.
Now that Rob and I have resigned as secretary of ERA (East Riding Artists) there is at least an end in sight to all the work involved in that. The AGM is on Wednesday and I hope that someone is going to volunteer to take over from us because another year of that workload will kill me I'm sure.

So to today's painting.......(SOLD)

Day 7 of my 'almost' a painting a day challenge.

2010-05-03T17:20:00.000+01:00

Time to pack up and head home but since we don't have far to go there was no great rush. The weather is pretty dreadful, icy hail showers and galeforce winds.
We have a nice argument free way of packing up on site, it works like this, I pack up the inside and Rob does the awning then my task is to take the dogs for a very long walk and when I come back we get into a packed up car and leave. Usually I get the best end of it but today, with Maisie slipping her lead again in that driving rain and wind, well. :o(

I had begun a little coloured pencil sketch on Sunday night which inspired me to try a larger project. It's on heavy (300lb) and textured watercolour paper of the same dimensions as my previous few little paintings so I'm calling this my painting for today even though technically it's not a painting.
It's called 'The Rolling Wolds'

Day 6 of the 'almost' a painting a day challenge.

2010-05-03T17:11:00.002+01:00

Blearly eyed and slightly chilled we greeted Sunday morning. Much colder than Saturday but at least it wasn't raining.

Of course there were thos among us who needed to catch up on lost sleep!

Rob was the first to brave the awning to complete his first painting and make a good start on a second one which he was inspired to paint from a photograph of the campsite.
The weather deteriorated pretty fast and evolved from slightly windy with showers into a wild storm with hailstones that flicked past the window horizontally.
I would probably have packed up and gone home at that point because we only live 40 minutes away but Rob produced a bottle of good red and we snuggled up with the heater on. It didn't seem so bad really :o)
My daily painting for Sunday was something sunny to cheer the day up. It's just called 'Yellow'.

Day 5 of my 'almost' daily painting challenge.

2010-05-03T17:02:00.001+01:00

We went off to our caravan with the two pugs and a car full of stuff that Rob reckoned we didn't really need like a hot water bottle, fluffy socks, fur slippers and a winter tog duvet.
It was great being able to set up the painting easels in the awning and the view of the lake was fab but the pugs had escape plans and eventually Maisie made a run for it down towards the fishermen. Naturally, the moment we unzipped to head off after her, Chester made good his escape too.

Later, the sky clouded over and it cooled down considerably. Oh yes, Rob was laughing on the other side of his face (where does that saying come from?) when the weather turned icy on that Saturday night. He sure wished we had brought both hot water bottles, especially when Chester and Maisie insisted on getting up on the hour, every hour, to check out their toilet facilities, a five minute walk away and was he glad of the winter duvet? I think so!
Anyway I managed to get Saturday's painting completed on time and here it is. Entitled 'Moonlight Bay'.

'Seclusion' Day 4 Offering

2010-04-30T17:51:00.000+01:00

Today began well but the weather deteriorated quickly into typical Bank Holiday type drizzle.
Still, it gave me time amid the packing to get to grips with today's painting which I have named 'Seclusion'.
It's on 10" x 8" deep edge box canvas and will be priced at £50 to include postage.

I'll be considering what to paint for day 5 while the rain batters down on the caravan.

Day Three

2010-04-29T11:42:00.002+01:00

Today my smaller canvases arrived Hoorah!
This painting is on one of the little 10" x 8" canvases and is entitled 'Looking For Summer'.
It will be going onto my website for sale at £50 including postage.

As it's Bank Holiday this weekend I'll be away but still able to create the paintings for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, though I'll have to post them all on here on Monday night.

Rob and I are taking our paints over to the caravan where we'll have a lovely peaceful three days away from it all. Well, I say peaceful but there will be the usual pug snorting and snoring since Chester & Maisie will be along with us. They have a lovely big floorspace where the bunk beds would be for their bed.
This break will set us up for the hectic weeks to follow when we'll be having the back of the house removed to make way for the extension to give us a lovely livingroom to overlook the garden.

2010-04-28T13:06:00.001+01:00

SOLD

Day 2
Had to paint a bright and cheerful one today because I'm feeling so guilty.
I put a huge bumble bee out of the window yesterday and must have damaged one of his wings as I did it. He can't fly.
My first reaction was to put him out of his misery, but then that would be to assume that there was no hope wouldn't it?
I began to remember how I felt when my sarcoma had metastasised for the second time and was now inoperable. They were giving me palliative treatment only and I was sinking into acceptance of my fate some months down the line.
Hope emerged though, from somewhere within me and it kept me going. Without hope we all might as well lie down and die, right?
Well it's been almost five years since that dark time and I'm still here!
Still have hope, still painting and the bumble bee.... is (I hope) out there somewhere up to his thighs in pollen :o)
This painting is entitled ' High Plains Drifters'
It's on deep edge box canvas measuring 16" x 12" (410mm x 310mm) and is partly textured.
Available for sale, postage free for £65 on my website and on Folksy.

After setting a personal challenge for myself yesterday I'm now wondering if there was a full moon or something.

2010-04-28T10:58:00.002+01:00

The challenge is to produce a smallish painting or a polymer clay piece each day. Well here goes with the first painting.
Day 1
Slightly larger than the ones which will follow, this painting is entitled 'Across The Water' and is acrylic on deep edge box canvas measuring 14" x 10" (353mm x 255mm).

It's available on my website 'www.lornastorey.co.uk' at £60 and will be listed on Etsy too.