A week away

On Sunday I returned from a week away. I spent a few days in Noosa with my family, sketching along the river and on the beach. Then I went to Cedar Pocket for a long weekend of sketching with fellow artists. It was great to be in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

I spent my time in Noosa along the river and down at the beach – boats and people caught my attention there.

Lochiel 1938 - ink and watercolour Alpha sketchbook

Beach People - ink in Alpha sketchbook

A trip to the Eumundi market was perhaps unwise given that it was school holidays. I drove around in vain looking for a parking place so I gave up and stopped on the side of the road to sketch this old truck.

The Old truck - ink and watercolour Zeta Sketchbook

At Cedar Pocket two themes emerged – trees and bridges. I did a number of sketches of the trees, my attention held by the shapes of the trunks and the spaces in between. These sketches are all in ink and watercolour in an Alpha sketchbook.

Tatnell Bridge on the road to Kin Kin looks in danger of falling down, and indeed it seems in line for an upgrade if the surveyors markers alongside are any indication of proposed work. It will be a pity because the old beams are great to draw. 

Tatnell Bridge on the Kin Kin road, Queensland -ink and watercolour Alpha sketchbook

The second bridge, the Dickabram Bridge, was an old heritage listed dual purpose road-and-rail bridge crossing the Mary River at Miva. It was built in 1886 of wood and steel and is the oldest surviving of its kind. When a vehicle moves over the bridge, rattling over the timber slats, it sounds like thunder. 

Dickabram Bridge on the Mary River at Miva - ink and watercolour Zeta sketchbook

Mary River Panorama 

Sharing Favourites IV - Brian Rutenberg

Brian Rutenberg is an American painter – his work is an explosion of colour and paint – I guess you could call him a landscape painter, an abstract landscape painter.
I’d just like to call him inspiring.

Enjoy his paintings here on his website.

And here's my favourite - videos where he talks about his work in a series called Studio Visit. To date there are 45 of these. But do start at the beginning, there’s so much to be enjoyed. Here's a link to Studio Visit 1.

The Reader - mixed media on paper 320mm x 240mm © 2015 Carol Lee Beckx
Available on Etsy

Portraits on Etsy

Drawing portraits using the Sktchy app has been a rewarding experience. Some of these have now been added to my Etsy shop. These are listed in a section for Original Portraits. This is the link

Although strictly speaking this painting is not a proper portrait in the true sense of the definition it's one of my favourites.

 Leaping - watercolour on Canson Montval Rough 270gsm 10" x 11"

The portraits are done on watercolour paper and will be shipped unframed in a secure waterproof padded bag to keep postage costs down. 

An additional option is to commission a portrait using your own photograph. Please contact me directly to discuss this.

Paintings at Nundah Village Art Exhibition

This weekend it's the annual Nundah Village Art exhibition. I have four paintings that will be exhibited. The artwork can be viewed on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September, from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm both days.

Exhibitors can enter work in various categories: Landscape, Contemporary, Portraiture and Still Life, as well as a section for sculpture. I have paintings in four categories, so each work is quite different. 

Low Tide - Currumbin Beach is of a particular place and time. It recalls a bright winter day - a cold wind - a very low tide and white light reflecting off the sea. The human element, the little girl is there, but dwarfed by the vast stretch of beach - she's the only one to brave the chilly wind.

If you would like to see the process of this painting, I have complied a Flipagram here.

Low Tide - Currumbin Beach - oil on canvas ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

Strata has a very different feel. I've been working on this painting for quite a while. It's the kind of painting that has to take time; like the way the geology of the earth is built up layer upon layer over time. Certainly this is not a motif that can be rushed. I enjoyed the change of pace with this painting, using gentle muted colours and abstract shapes, hinting at the layers of the earth.

Strata oil on canvas ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

My entry for the Portraiture section is Reflection. It's a portrait of my Great Niece, reflected in a nearby window - sitting quietly on some boxes - totally absorbed in her own thoughts. 

Reflection - oil on linen ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

The last painting is Love Dahlia -  watercolour on paper, my favourite pink makes an appearance here.  

Love Dahlia - watercolour on paper - framed ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

When I look at these four paintings together I realise that my star sign, Gemini, is evident here - a different person seems to have been involved with each one...

Sharing favourites III - Creativity

This week we continue the theme of our habit of  judging ourselves and our creative work started last week with 'Compared to...' 

In this video Ira Glass talks about creativity

Blue Porcelain teacup - watercolour 

Sketching in Milton

Yesterday I joined the Urban Sketchers Brisbane for a morning of sketching. We met at La Dolce Vita in Park Road. I had been able to find a place for my car near Milton House a rare surviving example of 1850s Georgian architecture, so spent the hour’s parking time doing a quick watercolour sketch.

Milton House - ink & watercolour Zeta Sketchbook

Moving around the corner, I stopped for coffee at Mary Ryan’s Books Music and Coffee. There were plenty of men in suits having earnest meetings. Browsing in a proper bookstore is a favourite occupation, but today I was here to draw a couple of people.  

Park Road Shoes and other buildings - ink & watercolour Zeta sketchbook

There was a good view of the modern buildings from across the road so I sat on a low wall and completed an ink drawing. I enjoyed the geometry of these buildings adding the watercolour later at home. Then I joined the other sketchers at La Dolce Vita caffe`. Here there is also plenty to sketch - statues, elaborate lights and of course people.These two statues look as though they are waiting on the gent in the centre!

La Dolce Vita - De Artramentis Fog Grey & W&N watercolour marker Zeta Sketchbook