Man’s Best Friend

Over the years I have painted Man’s Best Friend a number of times so today when I was asked to send images of my work I decided a blog post including the doggie portraits would be a good idea. 

Norbert - watercolour on paper 

Kinsey’s pup - watercolour on paper


Laura’s pup - watercolour on paper



Laura’s pup - watercolour on paper

Blaze - oil on canvas 

Dakota, above and Belle below - both oil on canvas 

 

cARTwheel Collaborative exhibits at Percolator Gallery, Paddington, Brisbane

Four artists, members of cARTwheel Collaborative Janine Whitling, Giovanna Scott, Vicki Donaldson and I will be exhibiting at Percolator Gallery in Paddington from Wednesday 11th November to Sunday 15th November 2015.

As always, there will be a wide variety of exciting work on display. It's a good time to find some wonderful gifts for Christmas. 

The work I will be showing will be a selection of recent paintings - some large and medium-sized landscape paintings with the themes of ponds, reflections and trees.

In addition there will be some small framed watercolours that will make ideal gifts. After working in oils for most of this last year, I'm enjoying painting these still life subjects in watercolour and loving the smaller, more intimate format.

We will hang the exhibition on Tuesday 10th so  the exhibition will be open from Wednesday.
It will run until Sunday 15th November. Opening hours are 10.00am - 6.00pm Wednesday to Friday; 9.00am - 4.00pm Saturday and Sunday.

If you would like to chat to me about the exhibition I will be in the gallery for most of the day on Wednesday 11th November. 

We'd love you to join us on Friday 13th at 6.00pm for drinks and nibbles. 

In the meantime, and keeping it real, here's what my studio looks like today! 

Holiday Workshops

The Studio has been a place of creativity during the short winter school holiday break. Workshops with a number of different topics have been held - an introduction to oils, experimenting with watercolour and playing with ink. 

Participants have enjoyed trying new mediums and techniques, and the emphasis has been on playing rather than producing a perfect artwork.  All too often we set ourselves such high expectations that all too frequently we find the result disappointing. I'm reminded of this video where Ira Glass talks about creativity - it's good to watch it again. 

Introduction to Oils

The workshops are a good way to explore an unknown medium without incurring the cost of buying all the equipment. The oils workshop included all the necessary paints, supports, mediums and brushes. After the workshop, I wasn't surprised to find that most of the artists are now working in oils. Perhaps my love of the medium is infectious! 

Strata - oil on canvas 760mm x 760mm ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

Playing with Ink 

I have been collecting various inks - both those suitable for use in fountain pens as well as some acrylic inks. Previously I have used the FW acrylic inks made by Daler Rowney and my newest acquisitions are some made by Schmincke. These are intended for use with an airbrush but are wonderful when used with a dip pen. The Speedball range of calligraphy and poster nibs encourage bold use of line, as well as a fearless approach to randomly created lines - these nibs tend to be slightly uncontrollable!

Painting 'Bootcamp'

The last workshop was more of a painting 'Bootcamp'. The artists came to the studio to paint for three days running, leaving other responsibilities behind for a while. A couple of them were new to working in oils so this was an ideal opportunity to work on technique and become familiar with the medium. I must confess that I worked them quite hard and I think they were rather shattered at the end of the three days! 

Now, all too soon, the holidays are over and the regular weekly classes have started. Most days are fully enrolled but there is space available on Thursdays and Saturdays this term. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about the Studio or if you would like to attend a future workshop.

Memory Wall

Memory Wall - 40 canvases 8" x 8" oil on canvas Carol Lee Beckx 

A recent commission to create a wall of paintings proved to be an inspiring experience. 

There is an album of some of the paintings on my Facebook Fan Page. 

Some years ago, I took part in a  project called The Artist's Blocks. Each artist received wooden blocks, all the same size and approximately the same dimensions as the current work. My work consisted of ink drawings on carefully prepared gessoed blocks.

Some of these botanical elements were used in the commission and painted in oils instead of ink.  Replacing the wooden panels, the supports are 8" x 8" canvases.

As the work progressed, the client found various images from their family album that were then incorporated into the installation. There is a small part of the wedding dress and veil; a grandmother's Paragon China teacup; the family crest and some family silver. 

Since the work was to be large - installation size 1.85m x 1.15m some abstract elements and single colour blocks were used to balance the composition. 

The Wedding Dress - oil on canvas 8" x 8"- Carol Lee Beckx

Brown Spotted Eggs - Oils on canvas - 8" x 8" Carol Lee Beckx 

You can commission your own Memory Wall. More details about ordering these can be found on the stand alone Page - Memory Blocks. 

They are the ideal gift for many occasions - birthdays, weddings, a new baby in the home. At my Etsy Store (see the side bar for the link) you will find some of the blocks as stand alone paintings or as the basis for a group of Memory blocks. 

Abstract painting - the process

Recently two commissions for abstract paintings led me to explore a couple of different avenues. I returned to look at the American Abstract Expressionists and  Franz Kline in particular.  

Given a superficial glance these paintings look so simple - a couple of dramatic lines dashed across the canvas with a loaded brush and the painting is done - or is it?

Is it really so simple? 

Acrylic study for Grey, Silver Black & Pink

The reality is somewhat removed from that simplistic assumption. Start flashing a brush around and see what happens - usually the canvas turns into an uncontrollable mess. Try flicking just one splash of colour on to a monochromatic painting and disaster lurks. The consistency of the paint is crucial. 

If there’s too much turps in the mix, when it’s splashed over thicker, more oily paint that layer will crack when it dries . If there’s too much oil in the mix, the paint will take forever to dry. While the paint is drying the beautiful spots can turn a into ugly wrinkles. Then one understands exactly why Kline continued to use house paint instead of artists paint which his dealer wanted him to use. The viscosity of industrial paint is perfect for splashes and dribbles. This video gives some insight to his process

I started by doing a number of acrylic studies in my sketchbook.

Acrylic study for Grey, Silver black & pink

Once the right image was decided upon I worked directly on the primed canvas. I started with  shades of grey and white in large areas, applying the paint with brush and palette knife to add surface tension to the canvas. I have added a few detail photos at the end of this post to try to show this.

Once this layer was dry I painted the black lines with fast broad strokes. 

Black lines are added and other areas have been simplified.Then, with fingers crossed, because I’m not really a splashy kind of painter, a few splashes of shocking pink added the colour. The silver leaf was the final touch - and difficult to photograph well as the silver leaf simply looks white.

The initial sketches have a rawness and vitality that is hard to translate to a large canvas. The sheer size tends to make one more careful. However, I am pleased with the way the surface of the canvas has become more complex, adding substance and vitality to what was a casual sketch. 

 Grey, black, silver & pink - oil on canvas 1000mm x 1000mm

Carol Lee Beckx  © 2012 Collection Transform Hair

Detail

 Detail

Detail

Art classes - a leap of faith

Strelitzia pod - charcoal on paper

Sometimes in life on has to be proactive make things happen. Part of my plan when coming here to Australia was to teach - to fulfill my training and vocation as an Art teacher.
If you’ve always wanted to learn to draw and paint and you live in Brisbane here’s your opportunity.

It doesn't matter if you are an absolute beginner or are more advanced - you will enjoy this time to discover your creativity. I believe that anyone can learn to draw so be brave and come along and have fun.

   

I can be contacted on carolbeckx@bigpond.com