A lovely part of my work as an animal portrait painter is when a client gets in touch regarding a memorial portrait. It’s such an honour to be asked to produce an artwork of an owner’s much missed pet and this latest portrait is of a beautiful Border Collie called Jack, whose eyes just melted my heart.
I’m pleased to say that Jack’s owner and family were very happy with his portrait and hopefully it will bring a bit of comfort to them.
This old English nursery rhyme mentions several churches dotted around London, so it’s probably fitting that my two paintings ‘Oranges’ and ‘Lemons’ will be taking part in a Summer Exhibition run by Ludlow Art Society and it will be held in….. St Laurence’s Church in Ludlow, Shropshire.
Running from Saturday 19th to Monday 28th August in the middle of this beautiful market town, there will be lots of wonderful artworks on display so hopefully we will have lots of lovely visitors popping in to have a mooch.
You never know, you may hear the peal (or peel!) of the church’s bells too!
This small 8″ x 8″ painting has been chopped and changed a few times and I eventually ended up with a portrait of a young black bull, a steer if you will, which has proved quite popular. He’s just sold through my Artfinder store within a few days of adding him and I was sort of sorry to package him up and send him off to his new home. You never know how your work is going to be received – one person’s meat is another person’s poison!
I’ve been doing a few paintings on small 5” x 7” canvasses recently and enjoying scaling down – the longest side is about the length of a standard pencil. A good excuse to dust off my tiny ‘000’ brushes. The new smaller sizes mean I can offer a lower price for commissions and sales, yay! That is, as long as the subject will fit on a postcard size format! Here’s a couple of recent examples…
I can’t believe it’s been almost 12 months since I last posted on my blog, but it has been a busy period! Since last December, we have sold our home in Scotland and moved 200 miles south to our new home in Herefordshire. Moving during a pandemic has been… well, challenging shall we say, but we are now settled in a lovely village with a friendly community.
Although I miss my pals up north, it has meant that we are now closer to family and will see more of them.
Fresh fields mean new opportunities and I’ve now got my studio set up and cracking on with commissions and other work, meeting new people and getting involved in art societies as well as village life.
I’ll be posting much more regularly than in the past year, so watch this space!
In the meantime, here are a few recent works which have been produced in my new space.
The Tolbooth in Lanark, Scotland is an amazing venue used for various events by the local community including a Christmas Shop by the Tolbooth Artists group.
This year we had a bit of a hiccup with a lockdown brought into force a few days after the start of the Christmas Shop but we are now about to re open on Friday 11 December at 10am – yay!
Here are a couple of my paintings for sale at the Christmas Shop – these were 2 Swaledale rams at the Highland Show in Edinburgh last year who knew how to strike a pose! I really missed visiting the Highland Show this year, but hopefully it will be on again in 2021.
Anyway – I’ll finish by wishing you all a Happy Christmas and much improved New Year – stay safe xx
I think this young Border Collie has become something of a muse – I have painted this lovely face several times, because of the expression and those wonderful orange eyes. The reference photo came out nice and sharp and the colours were bright – always a bonus.
‘Good Lass’ was painted with a neutral pale brown/dark sand colour to complement her eyes and it was also a good background for a black and white coat.
Hot off the easel and straight into my Artfinder store!
Well it’s been a wee while since my last blog and it’s not as if I haven’t had spare time to write one… thank you Covid 19! So here is something a bit different to my usual animal portraits.
Lanark is a market town close to where I live in Scotland and in the town there is a beautiful old building called the Tolbooth, which is used for various events including art exhibitions.
I am proud to be part of the Tolbooth Artists group and our summer exhibition which closes on 12 September has a theme of Coasts and Rivers. The pieces of work displayed by local artists have been wonderful, giving visitors plenty to enjoy in a Covid-safe environment.
I was delighted to find out that both of my paintings submitted, have been sold. A large acrylic on canvas of the setting sun on Arran (just off the west coast of Scotland) and a small pastel painting of moonlit waves – two coastal scenes but different in size, subject and medium used. Both fun to do and both now in new homes.
Coast to coast!
Setting Sun On Arran
Moonlit Waves
This year’s Twitter Art Exhibition is taking place 3-15 April in Myrtle Beach, California in aid of Horry County Disabilities and Special Needs. I’ve taken part in TAE for the last few years as I think it’s a great way of raising money for the chosen charities. Artists connect with others via Twitter, the charity raises funds and the buyers at the art exhibition buy very affordable mini artworks – it’s a win win situation!
If you live near Myrtle Beach, why not check it out?
Here’s my donation to this year’s exhibition – ‘Leo’ acrylic on card.
Leo – acrylic
This was a recent commission for a client in Germany who contacted me via a friend. They had recently had to say goodbye to their beautiful golden retriever and I was honoured to be asked to create a portrait of her with one of her favourite toys. Hopefully the painting will give a little comfort to the family at a very sad time. RIP Tessa.
Rosie Mark Artwork 