The china series

Every now and then I get in the mood to do a series. Here's a series of very small paintings I did a few years ago based loosely on my grandmother's wedding tea set. I love china, and collecting antique china is one of my passions. My granny's very delicate china set, is one of the
few things I have left to remember her by. But I also think
my love of china is comical, and that's why the pieces are set against
the bright background colours I love so much, and have
stylized shadows in bright contrasting colours. I started each
painting with the background colour, drew the cups and the jug
with a black marker, then painted them in and gilded the gold
with real gold leaf. I can't erase the marker line, so it
lends an insistent quality to the otherwise detailed paintings.

The photo doesn't do the work justice.

Have a collectible day.

The art of distraction

Today in between bouts of marking exams, I
decided to make a little drawing I did a couple of years ago into a painting.

The drawing was done in indelible ink on plain bond paper. I cut it out
at the time, and could never bring myself
to throw it away. My portrait paintings are
usually more in-depth, but for something lighter
I started painting little canvasses of my china.



I love antique china, and over the years my
friends and family have given me beautiful
pieces. The little coffee pot the painting
depicts is part of a set my friend Jennifer
gave me. Today I followed these steps to
get it on canvas.








1. I coated a canvas I'd painted a while ago
in turquoise, with a thick layer of acrylic gloss gel medium.
2. I stuck the little drawing on the canvas.
3. After the gel medium was almost dry
I painted the image with acrylic paint
and roughly gilded the gold parts with
24 karat gold leaf.

4. I waited for the gloss gel medium to dry more
before refining the gold leaf, scraping off the extra
with an exacto knife.

Tomorrow I'll touch up the painting, adding colour
and shadow where needed, and perhaps more real
gold. Then I'll add at least one more coat of gloss gel
medium and I'll let you see the final product in a
couple of days. My china paintings poke fun at
my addiction. I used to be a bit more insane about
my china, but we have more than we can ever use,
and I have to admit I may be obsessive about it.

Now back to marking.

Have a glossy evening.