Reviewing, reflecting and renewal

Well...... it's been a very busy year! Lots of challenges, lots achieved, lots of artwork created, and some very interesting people met through it all.......

This was the year that I finally found my niche in life - as an Erotic Artist, a painter of naked people and their subtle interactions. I've updated my website accordingly, promoted myself more, and started blogging about it. And through blogging I've met some incredibly interesting and diverse people, a couple of them even coming from the USA to meet me! This year I've sold paintings of animals, landscapes, erotic landscapes, and erotica! I've exhibited locally and sold paintings to other countries, hence making me an International Artist. I've joined the Guild of Erotic Artists, which has introduced me to like minded artists and raised my standing in the world of erotic art. I've shocked and enthralled the ladies of the WI with my tales of naked people and my life as an erotic artist. I've been asked to quote for a huge architectural commission which I possibly won't get, and it doesn't bother me if I don't, because my passion is painting the erotic, the inter-relationships and emotional connections between people. It's that, that inspires me. I've been to the interesting and exotic Erotica show in London, to promote myself more as an erotic artist. But best of all of this, I have become an artist, proper. I have the skills, talents, self belief and passion that make me so, and others recognise and acknowledge it also. I've been feted like a minor celebrity (very minor!), met a fascinating spiritual healer, had strangers email me out of the blue and offer their many varied services, had others just contact me to say how much my art or outlook on life has struck a chord with them, been asked to paint an aura, captured on paper the embodiment of a favoured pet, sold artwork on the basis of my surname (and talent, I hasten to add!), sold cards and paintings, contributed to local newspapers and local exhibitions, met a very talented erotic writer, inspired others to start blogging, met fellow bloggers and drawn them, invited other women to participate in very intimate and graphic portraits, been invited to sell my artwork as bespoke wall coverings, and had many strange and exciting conversations with all types of people. A good year then.

But what of the new year.......?. Before its even started, there's a lot to do already. Firstly I have an erotic landscape to paint. This one is going to be an interesting challenge and I shall enjoy doing it immensely. I also want to get back to the Fantasy Fanny collection of paintings, the idea of which excites and exhilarates me. I've had to put it on hold for the sake of the Christmas commissions, and can't wait to get started properly on this most exciting of female art projects. And as well as this, I want to get more involved with the Guild of Erotic Artists, meeting more of my fellow artists and exhibiting with them in new and varied locations. I have also been asked to illustrate the book my new spiritual healer friend has written, which will be the exciting multi-faceted and mystical sort of artwork I love doing. I also want to spend the new year concentrating on promoting the bespoke wall coverings of my artwork which I think will be another exciting outlet for my art. And then, maybe, I can get on to the other ideas I have for paintings and drawings, the half formed notions and visions that will make excellent paintings, when I get the chance to get paint to paper, oils to canvas, pencil to card............

And as an image for the end of the year, and beginning of the new year, I'll put up this unicorn. I used it as my Christmas card this year, (well, I could hardly use an erotic image for it, could I?!!) I'm very happy with it as an image of reflection on the old year and hopes and dreams of the new.................

Back to what I love best

Well....... Christmas is over. I find it an artificial time, for various reasons. But now its gone, I can get back what passes for normality in my life! So..... what would that be then? Oh, yes, I remember! .......... Naked women!! And better still, naked erotic women! So, I've done a new drawing. Something that is arty and erotic. But the thing I like about this drawing is the title that makes it so. The image is of a naked woman lying on her back, with artistically draped fabric arranged around and along her body. All very tasteful. The fabric is a nice contrast and the fact that its a different colour accentuates that contrast. Even when you see that the fabric is pulled between her slightly open legs. Yes, you think, that's arty and nice. Then the eye follows the fabric up along her body, and sees that her hands are clasping it quite tightly. And that her head is turned to the viewer, with her mouth slightly open. And you think, yeh, thats ok, its arty. Then you look at the title. And ...............smile. Because the title is "Exquisite friction" and you realise, that there is movement in the drawing. Not that you can see it, but because you can feeeeeeeeeel it. Because of the title............. you know .....exactly..... what she's doing!!!!

Clear heads

Due to a busy week and other things getting in the way I've not been able to do much work on the second dog commission this week and the Christmas deadline's looming..... And none of this helped by the fact that I've had a stinking cold this week and felt like shit!! But, part of the joy of being self employed is that jobs have to be done for deadlines no matter how you feel! So..... today I thought I ought to at least try and get some of the painting done even if it was something easy like a bit of the background, (cos in theory I shouldn't be able to cock that up, even if I did feel way under par). So, a cup of tea in one hand, and a paintbrush in the other, I stood and looked at the painting and realised virtually straight away that I'd been going wrong in the first place by thinking that I should use gouache paint! I'd chosen it as I needed to paint virtually every hair on a hairy dog, I needed to use a medium that could paint light on dark (unlike watercolours) so had opted for gouache to do the job, but didn't like the effect I had achieved so far (I couldn't have been THAT ill then, if I could tell that straight away!), so my only option then was to use acylics as a fast drying watercolour medium that would show the gouache under-painting clearly but give a better overall result. I quickly did a glazing wash over with the acrylics and instantly felt a whole load better about the painting, to the point that within a few hours it was completely finished! Wow! I certainly hadn't expected to finish it today. And that surprised me too. Because I started painting feeling bunged up, and full of cold and not thinking straight, and ended up still bunged up and full of cold, but with a totally clear head, aware of my creativity working properly and finishing the picture and even being very proud of the end result. So, another Wow!!! Perhaps my well-being just needs to be creative to get me feeling better!!



So... here it is - the finished painting. I'm not sure what sort of dog it is - a bit of everything I think. But I'm really pleased with the painting, and hopefully the recipient will like it too ...... I think I've captured the dog nicely especially the large soulful eyes....

Letting go

I've had two emails today from recent buyers of my artwork and its poignantly reminded me again of what it's like to create a piece of artwork - either as a commission or as an exhibition piece - and to sell it to someone. If its a commission I know what I'm painting as the client has specific ideas and I just have to find out what they want and create it for them. If its a painting for an exhibition I paint something that I hope may appeal to someone, as the idea has appealed to me somehow. But either way the painting is created and either short term for commissions, or sometimes long term for exhibition pieces, the painting will be stored somewhere where I see it regularly. And I get used to seeing it, and I like looking at it, and get pleasure from it. And then, suddenly, its sold. Its gone. I don't see the original anymore. I can see a copy of it but not the real thing.......

..... and then today I get an email from the buyer of the erotic landscape of New York, the painting I've entitled "Towering passions". He came to meet me and collect the painting at the weekend and he just wanted to say a big thank you for the painting and to say that he'll miss looking at it when it goes as a Christmas present to its intended recipient! And I realised that he was going through what I did - getting pleasure from the painting being in his view for a short space of time before it went to to hang on someone else's wall full time.

And then later on today I got another email from the USA - from a fellow blogger who has recently bought another of my paintings, and who received it this week, and wrote to say thank you and to tell me she is delighted with it. Which in turn delights me. I love it when one of my paintings goes to live where it will give pleasure to the people who now own it.

And the really nice thing too is that I'm meeting some lovely people through my art and the circle continues when my art brings people to me, to commission one of my paintings, or I advertise my art and the people come to me through that .... because it turned out that I know the buyer of the erotic landscape, although I had no idea who he was when he commissioned the piece. I had no idea who he was when he walked through my door at the weekend, it was only when he told me his connection with someone I know from years ago that I realised exactly who he was!! What a joy to meet him and say hi. What a powerful pull art is, to bring people to me, and for my art to be pulled to them through the images I depict.

Dog days

Almost finished my Christmas commissions - just one last one to do (unless someone rings me two days before Christmas with a request for a piece of artwork - and that wouldn't be the first time!). I'm pleased with my little pencil drawing of this female lakeland terrier and really enjoyed doing it (don't worry, I haven't left the world of erotica for long, just a brief sojourn into the land of Vanilla, I'll be back again shortly, I promise!!). Although I try to do a white crayon on black card erotic drawing most weeks, its not the same as a normal graphite pencil drawing on white background. I suppose the result of both is a simple tonal drawing showing lights and darks, shape and form, but my pencil drawings tend to have more detail in them and I'm building up from white to deepest darks, whereas the white on black drawings are picking out the pure light on the subject and leaving the rest to the imagination in the black of the background, and thereby giving more of a feeling of mystery to the picture. So a while since I've drawn in the way of this pencil drawing, and I enjoyed doing it very much, as a bit of light relief, I suppose. I've done so many of these that I don't need to put much depth of thought into it, I tend to work on it almost automatically - deciding on the composition, and what size, drawing out the outline, working out the background, and then I start filling the image with tone, building up from the lights to the darks, and creating texture within the image as I go. Using a hard 3H pencil for shiny surfaces, an HB or B for the main detail and soft pencils from a 2B, and 3B up to a deep 6B for darks and grainy texture, going over it with the 3H pencil again if I want REALLY deep darks with depth of tone, as the pencil covers the surface of the paper and covers the white. I can play some good drawing music, something with a good beat to it, that gets me moving, and on with the picture. Easy enough! And I must have got something right, as the woman who commissioned it was delighted with it and is talking about commissioning me for another painting in the new year! Yay!!

And so on to the second dog portrait..... this one in paint, not pencil.... so colour to consider in this one, which makes it more of a challenge...... mmmm......

Pleasing yourself

I did another drawing last night based on the pose I used last week, but I was far happier with the result this time. Instead of drawing the model from behind her head, I drew her from the side and was happy with the pose I had set her in and was just about to commence drawing when she commented that the spot-light was in her eye too much, and she momentarily put her forearm over her face to shield her eyes - and I exclaimed "That's it! a loads better pose, stay there, just like that!" so that's how I drew her, eyes hidden, and much prefer the outcome of it! The drawing is a nice body landscape showing feminine curves and plains, and is called "Pleasing yourself" which leaves no doubt at all as to what she's doing, unlike last week when I couldn't make my mind up if the drawing was fully erotic or not (and that's not usually a problem for me, I normally exactly know what's erotic!!). The model was happy with the pose and said she could quite happily go to sleep in this pose, so I agreed and said I'd find her some nice quiet music to listen to then. She was surprised as I normally like something with some *raunch* in it then burst out laffing when I put on AC/DC at full blast!!!!! We don't do quiet when I'm drawing!!!!

..............And I want to say at this point that I feel I have finally arrived as an artist. Sorry, I'll rephrase that - as an Artist. I love it when someone introduces me as "Jackie, the artist" - that use of the word "the" says so much!!! But I know I've worked very hard this year on my art, on promoting me and my artwork. I've built up my website, and started this blog, I've met some very interesting people both in real life and through my virtual internet life. I've talked locally to the WI and had in-depth conversations with people from different continents, I've sold artwork locally and to the USA, and joined the Guild of Erotic Artists which I know is going to open many other doors for me, through my connections with it and other artists. And during one of my recent conversations with a well established erotic artist, he said that people buy artwork for three reasons, and they are:- because you're an established name, and people buy your art as an investment; because they just like the painting; and because the artwork is decorative, but that's all it is. And I know I'm a long way past being "just decorative" and for some years now I've been painting and selling artwork because people have an empathy with a particular drawing or painting, but....... now.............. I feel I've arrived as an "Artist" - I'm just starting to become an established name. And how do I know this? Because I've sold quite a bit of artwork in the last few weeks, locally and abroad, and at no point has anyone quibbled over the price I've set. They tell me what they want, and if its a commission I explain how it will look, we discuss size and medium, whose framing it and any other pertinent details and then I give a price and they nod and pay me. Maybe they think they're getting a bargain and are relieved I wasn't as expensive as they first thought, maybe they just think it's a fair price. I know I'm not expensive as an artist, but neither am I cheap. But I also know I can paint things that many other artists can't. So I have a unique talent. I know my prices will rise as I get more established - its the way with the arts, whether you're a musician, writer, actor or artist. And, hopefully, my buyers will have an investment for the future........ I'm working on it, anyway!

Pleasing people

Last week when I did my talk for the WI, I wasn't sure of their reaction. I knew they knew I was an erotic artist before I went, and probably expected me to be a brazen hussy of some description (it goes with the territory!). But I went, and I talked to them for an hour or so about being an artist all my life, how I had started life-drawing and how that had evolved into erotic art. I defined erotic art for them. I showed them lots of artwork - landscapes, tigers, fairies, angels and unicorns, tango dancers, as well as numerous erotic drawings. I talked about drawing people, setting up compositions for drawing my models, about painting peoples fantasies of themselves. I told them funny anecdotes of the people I've met and their differing reactions to me as an erotic artist. And I offered to paint any of them who wanted me to and guaranteed confidentiality if they wanted to be painted as scarlet women! They politely clapped at the end, and I chatted with some of them afterwards. But I wasn't sure if it had been a success and I came away wondering how much I might have offended them........

Then this morning - I had an email ......

"Hi Jackie

Sorry for not contacting you sooner.

Your talk to our WI was fabulous.

All of our members were enthralled and fascinated with your erotic drawings and paintings.

A Tribute to your art.

Thank you"

.....Phew! So, they liked it!!!!!! Thank goodness for that! I might be persuaded to do it again then!

And to carry on with an upbeat theme. I've finished the erotic landscape of New York now, and emailed the finished images to the client, so that he could ok it or request any changes he might want, before it was collected. And this morning I got an email from him:

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Well done, I can't wait till the recipient sees it, I believe it will give her great enjoyment, a unique painting for a unique person, and I absolutely love the title!... and many thanks indeed for your extremely hard work."

So..... another happy customer. Great news. So................ I suppose you're going to want to see the painting now aren't you? Well...... here it is, the finished oil painting on a box canvas:

The painting is called "Towering passions" as I wanted in some way to incorporate the lights of where the twin towers once stood, as a hint of the title, and perhaps take away from the erotic couple a bit - a sort of play on words. And here's the detail of the erotic couple so you can see them clearly and how they look. They're nicely hidden in the main picture but clear enough if you know where to look. The fact they're muted has helped to hide them, and putting the lights over them has also helped to disguise them within the image. I've loved doing this painting as I love hiding images within images.

And just to make it a hat trick - I've just had another conversation with someone who has commissioned me to do the second dog portrait for a Christmas present. She showed me the photos of the dog and we discussed mediums, and size and whether I was getting the artwork framed, all the usual questions that I ask when someone commissions me. Originally she had thought she wanted a pencil drawing of the dog, but then mentioned in passing about a favourite painting she has of another pet dog and how much she loves it and would adore this commission done the same way...... but she wasn't sure of the medium it was painted in, but had always wanted to know. So I took a look at it........ and could tell her the answer to her long wondered question....... it was done, very cleverly, in gouache, the background being a pretty, scumbled wet effect and the dog itself painted in fine wet on dry detail with every hair shown and I said I could paint the new commission in the same way if she so wished. Oh yes!!! I'd made her day with that offer! So, I'm happy to help and glad I can be of service ....... and pleased that sometimes I can help make dreams come true.......

Filling a void

I haven't done any erotic drawing for weeks, for various reasons, but last night did one I'm reasonably (and only reasonably) happy with. Normally I do drawings with my model facing me, but last night I felt I wanted her with her back to me, facing away from the viewer, to draw an enigmatic and pensive pose. The model struggled with the pose, although I thought she'd find it easy enough, and so did she to start with. It didn't seem a difficult position to be in - just utilising the shape of her thighs as her hand lay loosely between the top of her legs. Is it an erotic pose or a life drawing one? I can't decide. I suppose it depends on what you consider her hand might be doing. Its an odd pose perhaps, the white of her legs making an "L" shape, and a large void to the right accentuating the darkness. Usually a title comes easily to me, but I can't think of one as yet - one will come in time. It usually does.

Show time!!

I had a nice day out yesterday. I went to London. Its years since I was last there and good to see the old familiar places - as well as some new ones. St. Pancras in particular is stunning!!! - what a wonderful piece of architecture, full of light and vision, colour and beauty. I loved it!! It was worth the trip just to be there!


And nice to go to London and be around the sort of people I feel right at home with.......... the sort who are happy to be dressed up in a pretty dress, high heels and make-up - and that's just the men! The sort who are happy to be dressed in leather and lace, rubber fetish gear, towering heels, to be lead around on a collar and chain, to be dressed as Victorian ladies in black hobble skirts with feathered fans and tiny pretty top hats adorned in a veil and pushed to a jaunty angle on their head, to be dressed head to foot in dominant masculine black leather, or a tight prettily coloured feminine corset tightly pulled in to reveal the womanly flesh in all its deliciously delightful decadent glory, to be dressed as a dark angel complete with feathered wings, to be dressed in just a bikini and high heels, to be dressed in military uniform, to be dressed or undressed in exactly the way you want to be, with no one batting an eyelid!!! Great stuff!! And the location of this wondrous place? It was Olympia. And the reason? It was the "Erotica 2007" event.

Its been a couple of years since I was last there, and as before, it's a great day out. Playtime and adult fun for free thinking grown ups!! Whatever you're in to - it was there. Whatever you like dressing up in, whatever new toy you want, whatever hedonistic lifestyle you're into, it was there. And also what was there, was one of my main reasons for going - as, as far as I was concerned, it was a work day. I was there to meet my fellow members of the Guild of Erotic Artists who have regularly exhibited there and some of the artist members also have their own stands selling erotic art to the discerning public. So, a good chance for me to meet some new colleagues and say hi to them, introduce myself and make my presence known. And what a friendly welcome I got from all of them, even though I met them all individually - seven members, seven friendly faces, seven conversations about erotic art, marketing and selling art, trade fairs, exhibiting erotic art, trying to make a living as an erotic artist, seven conversations showing interest in each other as artists, and as people. I was told by the majority that its one big happy family, where we support one another, we have the backing of the others to use as a power against other organisations to help us to get better facilities and promotion for our work, we help and assist, and where one person may not know the answer to a question, they will know of someone else who will! What a positive and upbeat reception I got! And feel like I've made some new friends already with them - and am looking forward to meeting them all again when I can next get to see them.

And my purchases for the day? ..................... Well, I found some gorgeous erotic art books, full of life and passion and inspiration for erotic art, and some back copies of "Jade" magazine, full of gorgeous black and white photos of glamorous models in suggestive poses, and I also bought............... well, I'll let you guess what else I bought.....................

Strange forays

Last night I did something very strange. I quite often do strange things, by various peoples standards, but last night was odd, even for me. I went to talk to a lot of vanilla people about a subject that wasn't vanilla! I went to talk to the WI about being an Erotic Artist. Its a strange thing, isn't it? That women who may be considered quiet and staid would want to listen to me talk. I'm not sure what they got out of my talk. Some reacted to me talking about naked people, and how I draw them. They liked the pictures I took along, the vanilla ones of tigers, French landscapes, and brightly coloured chickens! But some of them sat there with expressionless faces, watching me, and I only saw one looking totally bored, and only caught one other open mouthed yawning in the background. At least no one walked out!! And they listened. And some made comments, and asked questions and reacted to me with smiles and positive feed-back. So perhaps it was ok......

So, do I count it as a success ? - I'm not sure. Perhaps they were all totally enthralled - and loved every minute of it, and went home all fired up and full of passion. Or............ perhaps they didn't. Perhaps they went home and told their husbands they'd been in the company of a strange woman, one who likes showing them pictures of brazen hussies playing with themselves and giving blow-jobs!! I think the thing that I've learnt with this is, that I'm happier talking to spicy people about the non vanilla subjects. If it had been a group of gays I'd have had a far different reaction!

The best thing to come out of the talk last night was the decision I made towards the end of the talk that........perhaps..................tonight................wasn't the................best time...............to perhaps..................mention about....................the ................fantasy fannies collection I'm going to be working on soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rising prices

I went out for dinner to a friends house the other night. Its a house I go to regularly and always get pleasure from seeing the artwork on the walls there..... partly because one of the drawings is mine, and hangs prominently on the wall there. Its not an erotic one, just a vanilla one. And there was also another painting there, in the same room, done by an artist I've known for some years now and see occasionally. Its a lovely painting of his, with beautiful ethereal blues and hazy purples and I always take pleasure in seeing it again. And by coincidence I had been in his company the day before. He's a nice guy and we always have a how-are-you-what-are-you-doing-at-the-moment? type of chat. I had mentioned to him that I've finally found my niche in the artistic market, since I had last seen him, and was painting erotic artwork nowadays. He did the usual man thing of wanting to know my website address so he could view it!! Women generally go quiet and men generally ask for my website when I tell them I'm an erotic artist!! He also gave me a piece of very useful advice - about raising the prices considerably on my artwork - he said not to be scared of putting a high price on my artwork. He knows, as well as I do, that a higher price may put some people off and lose a sale, BUT it can also attract a different type of buyer. Someone who is looking for an investment, and knows the price will increase in value over time, as an artists profile is raised and the artist becomes more of a commodity. And later on, whilst eating dinner with my friends, who had no knowledge of this conversation I'd had with my artist friend, they jokingly made reference to them helping me to raise my profile, because they know that the picture they have on their wall will increase in value. Certainly, the price I charged them for it all those years ago when I did it, would certainly have a lot different price on it now if I did it. They know they have an investment already. That's good to know, that that's how they view it.

And on to what I'm painting this week - I've almost finished the first erotic landscape of New York and am delighted with how its going. It's been a slow process because it's been painted in oils, and I have to keep waiting for various areas to dry before I can do the next bit. I started off with an acrylic under-painting, then built up the colours of the sky, and the river before starting the detail of the skyscrapers. I realised soon after that that the sky needed to be darkened to make the skyscrapers stand out more, so I did that, and then put in the mid-tone underlighting of the buildings ready for the actual "lights" to be painted on top of. Then I was ready to put in the detail of the erotic couple, I knew that I would spend a lot of time getting them to look right, but they also needed to be subtly hidden within the buildings too. It was clear that the area they reside in had to be dulled down in colour and tone, so that the viewers eye wouldn't go immediately to it - so that's what I did. And ...... then........ the BIG and MOST important part of the painting - putting on the lights of New York! - they all had to go on in one painting session, so that they would look uniform in shape and colour and style. Deep breath....... and on with it............ and at the end the whole thing had that "WOW" factor - suddenly, the whole thing has come alive, and at the same time, the judicious use of lighting has simultaneously, hidden the erotic couple too!!!! Yay!!!! I'm really happy with it, and have almost finished it - just have to wait for this part to dry before I put the highlights on the water, and then spend time just looking at it and correcting any glaring imperfections, and it'll be done. Just got to think of a title now.......... I've got a few ideas already, I'm just mulling them over to see what feels right.......

Yep, I'm EROTIC!!

Incase you're wondering why I've been quiet in blog land this last week (and maybe the thought hadn't even crossed your mind, and you haven't missed me in the slightest!), I've been very busy and involved with many other things, a lot of them relating to art and my future in art........





Oh, and I've got some MEGA news.....................!!!!!





I wrote a few weeks ago about the businessman who offered to go into partnership with me for a large share of my profits. His offer came totally out of the blue and really made me consider my position and future and the way I want to focus on my art. I knew very quickly after hearing his offer that I wasn't going to go into partnership with him. Or give him half of my hard earned money. But what his offer made me realise, was that I'm a viable proposition, someone who is worth investing a lot of money in, someone who can turn a profit. And I listened to his advice - that I needed a gallery in a big city to showcase my work, for the people who like the sort of thing I do, to come and see my work, and hopefully like it enough to buy it. This made me think deeply. And consider my options, and the costs of finding such a place to showcase my work. My concern was that large amounts of money would be involved, as it would be a massive investment. And the worry is whether the large overheads would reap the sort of return I was looking for??? Mmmmmmmm. Big thoughts.........




So, after a shortish time, it came to me what I needed to do, and also how I should do it. I should look for a group of artists who do what I do, erotic art, and have their own established gallery with a strong client base, their own website, who promote themselves well and have a good following and are respected in the world of erotica. So, the very OBVIOUS place to start looking was....... the Guild of Erotic Artists. So, I looked into it and I applied.............



And last week I had a reply.



I've been accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



So, I'm now a member of the Guild of Erotic Artists! How wonderful is that??!! It means more people will see my art, better promotion of my work, that I will be able to work with other erotic artists, have a higher profile and that others will value my artwork more in future.



And today my details have been added to their list of artists...... here they are if you wanna take a peek................



And let me know what you think. Is this a good thing for me........ or....... should I just go back to doing the dog portraits!!!!!!!!!?????

I know my place

I know who I am. I know what I do. I've been building up my career as an erotic artist - sorry, I'll re-write that ....... as................................... "An Erotic Artist"!!! That's what I do. Everyone I meet at the moment is in no allusion whatsoever that that is what I do. I tell all I meet. I advertise the fact. Its clear if you look at my website. And people relate to it. They like it. They ask me questions about it. I am introduced to others with the title of it. Even the W.I. have asked me to go and talk to me on that very subject, because they are interested and intrigued at the title. They know they are going to be in the company of an Erotic Artist who will tell them titillating tales of the naughtiness I depict.

So........... tell me this then................. why is it, that the latest two, yes TWO, commissions I've got, are for...............................wait for it............ DOG PORTRAITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm delighted to get the commissions. I will do a good job. I will make good wholesome pictures for the owners to be happy with, and they will look upon their paintings with pride and pleasure, hopefully for years to come. But, hey, what is it with the dog pics?!!!

MMMMMmmmmmm.......... Maybe I'm going wrong somewhere. Perhaps I should forget all this erotic stuff. Whatdoyouthink? Should I? Should I turn my back on naked women, rampant men, horny couples, sexy lingerie, handcuffs and ropes, blindfolds and sexy boots, and just concentrate on ...................... the DOGS?????????????? Should I...............................???

Attraction of spirits

Well so far its been a very good year for meeting some absolutely fascinating and scintillating women (and they know exactly who they are, because they read this blog!) and this week has certainly been no exception!

My new friend the spiritual healer came to see me last night to discuss my illustrating the front cover and chapters for her new book on spiritual healing. We talked for several hours of unicorns and angels, signs, and our beliefs, and I think we spent all of ..... oooh....let me see.........five minutes.... actually discussing the book illustrations, although we quite quickly went off at a tangent talking about who our favourite artists are - and found that we have a few in common, particularly Josephine Wall and Salvadore Dali. But the rest of the visit was finding out about our mutual fascination with each other - always a joy with someone you feel an attraction to, on whatever level. And it turns out we're very similar in many ways. But the thing I find most thrilling and exciting about our connections with each other is the fact that her father and my mother actually dated each other many many years ago. And that got me thinking - what if our parents had actually married and had children - would that make us half sisters - or to take it that extra step forward - could she and I actually be two halves of one person?? Mmmm.......deep stuff, that. And added to the intrigue, not only are we the same zodiac sign, our birthdays are within a week of each other!

She's one of those people who I can sit and look at and never tire of looking at, or tire of listening to. She's full of interesting tales of interesting people. We certainly explored alot of our separate pasts, as women do, and looked for comparisons. Although the spiritual side of her which rules her is something I know little of, there seemed to be a lot of her viewpoints I was happy with, and interested to know more about. Equally, she was interested in my creativity and at looking at my artwork, and since we sat in my studio to chat, was interested in viewing the first stages of the erotic landscape I'm currently painting, and the first pussy portrait that is sitting awaiting completion. Infact I wondered why her eyes kept darting to something behind me as we chatted, and it was only when she asked hesitantly what the brightly coloured image was of - and laughed when I told her - that I realised what she had been looking at!! Fortunately she had read my blog so knew the background story, so I didn't have to explain too much about the whys and wherefores of why I was painting fannies!!!

As we talked, she got me questioning some of my beliefs, which is a good thing, if it can be channelled towards helping my creativity. And I know I questioned some of hers, because I feel the need to understand more than I currently do of some of her beliefs. My mind is open to her, and I feel I have a lot to learn on this subject. I'm looking forward to the next instalment of this tale.... I think it might be interesting...................

Why I don't watch much telly

I saw my hairdresser earlier today, we had the usual chat about what we'd both been doing recently and she went on to ask me if I'd seen various programmes on television. I smiled and said "No". I think she thought I must be a bit boring because I hadn't seen the latest blockbusters. But I went on to explain that I'm usually busy with art even at night when most people are sitting down to watch the soaps. Afterwards I thought about the jobs I've got on the go at the moment - and made a note that they are as follows:

1. New York erotic landscape oil painting to paint by Christmas.
2. Erotic landscape in oils to paint as soon as I can.
3. Dog pencil drawing to draw by Christmas.
4. I've got to write my talk for the forthcoming WI talk on being an erotic artist.
5. I've got my website to update at some point.
6. I've still got the Pussy Portraits to do, but they'll have to wait until the Christmas commissions are done.
7. I've got someone coming to see me, who wants to discuss illustrations for a book she's writing on spiritual healing.
8. I usually design and make my own Christmas cards, and haven't even started on a design yet, and its November tomorrow, which means time is ticking on.
9. Plus I'm in discussions with other people regarding other off-shoots off my artwork, and that needs to be updated on my website, when I get chance.

And that's just the main stuff. And only relates to art. But don't think that I'm moaning, because I'm certainly not! I love the fact that I'm so busy at the moment, and that I have a load of work to do, and will happily take on more commissions for Christmas if they're forthcoming. Because there's that adage that if you want a job doing, you ask a busy person, and I'll fit it in somewhere. ...........But ........if you ask me if I've seen the latest edition of your favourite soap, the answer will definitely be a resounding "NO"!!!!!!

Autumn colours

The other week Indigo mentioned that she was interested in having a tee shirt with my "rainbow girl" image on it, so after a bit of investigating for the best result, I had one printed for her. And I'm delighted that she's very pleased with it and wanting to show it off, so much so, that she's had a photograph taken to show her wearing it. And here it is for everyone to see. I had wanted the image on a black tee shirt but due to some problems at the print shop, that I didn't fully understand, they could only do it on white. A pity, but its bright and effective either way.

I love the autumnal colours at the moment - especially in the bright golden sunshine we've had recently. The trees really look their glorious best in their shades of warm and vibrant yellows, intense golds, bright oranges, scandalous scarlets, deep dark reds the colour of old blood and the delights of rusty burnt siennas. Its so inspiring to see the colours, and lifts the spirits when they have the backdrop of a rich blue sky behind them. I'm in the mood for painting them all!

A woman came to see me earlier today regarding a commission she wants doing of a dog for a Christmas present. Christmas already - and its only October! Its a simple drawing she wants, and I'm more than happy to do it for her, as I'll tackle virtually any subject, even if it is as vanilla as this is. She isn't aware that I'm an erotic artist, and I had no need to tell her. And as far as I'm concerned, it's not an important issue. I'm an artist. I paint pictures. If someone wants something painting, I'll do it. Whatever it is. If they want something erotic I'll enjoy doing it more. But either way, I'm just glad they come to me.

Tonight I'll be doing some erotic drawing. I need to get back into creating art again, and the best way to do it is to do some life drawing, except the way I do it, its erotic drawing! Then I can get on with my erotic landscapes properly because I'll be in the right mind set for erotic art. It's like a warm up for the jobs in hand. So.......... what poses shall I do? Mmmm....... I haven't decided yet, but I do know they won't be vanilla. Perhaps a prop or two will help. Shall I go for sexy lingerie, sexy footwear, a blindfold, handcuffs or a riding crop................. and maybe, I'll incorporate the autumnal shades I saw earlier - a hint of colour to lift the picture, yes, I think that will work nicely!

Reaching out

This week, I've had the initial design ok'd by dj kirkby for her erotic landscape, and now better understand the image she's looking for and how I'm going to create it. Normally when painting a picture, I have a clear idea as to what I'm doing, and how I'm going to do it, but with her erotic landscape, its actually two pictures in one - the erotic couple AND the landscape, plus her interpretation of it. Which makes it a bit more difficult, but not impossible, when I ask the right questions and listen to the answers. So, steps forward on that, which I'm pleased about.

Plus, I had an interesting phone call this week from a woman I met in the summer. When we first met a few months ago, and she found out I was an artist, she expressed interest in meeting me, and perhaps working together. This week, she was going to email me, had a look at my website and through it, read my blog post (the previous one to this), and felt a huge empathy with what I had written about opening the soul, when I paint. Because she's a spiritual healer, and is writing a book on the subject, and is interested in talking to me about illustrating it. So, my words really connected to her. She asked me if I was surprised, and I said no. I think she was surprised at my saying that, but I know of four other people, just this last six months, who have said the same thing to me. All for different reasons, they have had an urge to contact me, and wanted to meet me, because of my blog and website. And I suppose that's why I have them - to reach out to who ever reads them, and see what response I get. And just to follow on from that, there are people I know in real life, who just drop it into the conversation, that they regularly read my blog, but because they don't leave comments, I don't know that they do. Its a funny thing blogging - you write regular posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, reads them, and yet there's the surprise element when you find that some people actually do!!!

Work in progress

I'm making progress with my two erotic landscape paintings, after what seems an interminable age of nothing happening (to me, at least!). I now have a clearer idea of what dj kirkby wants for her erotic landscape, and separate to that I have now had the initial sketch ok'd of the other painting of the New York skyline so I'm ready to start painting it. And itching to get going on it!! The image has strong horizontal lines, broken up with strong vertical lines within the centre third of the painting. The viewers eye sees these strong geometric lines and is happy. But, hidden within the painting are the more rounded shapes of two lovers, she on top of him, he prone below her. It will be obvious, when you see them, as to what they are doing, and yet, it will take the eye a while to see them, as they will be painted in a subtle way, using the same colours as the buildings they are superimposed over. And whilst the contrast of the buildings will be stronger than the contrast in the couple, they will be hidden. This sketch is only a simple version, the finished painting will be brighter, with more depth of colour and contrasts in it. But it takes a while to find the couple, even so.

There's so much to do when starting a new painting - there's the initial idea, the thought process of how to convey that idea on paper, the thumbnail sketches to complete the thought process, choosing the right medium - whether watercolours will be better for their fluidity and movement, or whether oils or acylics would be better for the brighter and stronger colours and the ability to overpaint. Then the layout of the image on paper, making any final adjustments to that. THEN the actual applying of paint can start! (this is why I say that to produce a painting, nine tenths of it is the thinking part, and only a tenth is the actual painting, no matter how difficult it is to paint). And whilst I'm painting, I'm still thinking, still trying to work out if things could be better improved with the addition of something, or the deletion of something else, whether to change the colours, or add a dash of interest somewhere else. And I know when its actually finished when I look and look at my painting and can find absolutely nothing to improve upon. Then its done!

I was talking to an artist friend over the weekend, who I have not seen for a few months, and she was asking what projects I'm currently working on - so I told her about the two "erotic landscapes" and went into detail about how I was going to do them, and what was involved. She knows the two paintings are going to be a challenge to do, and made the comment that as an artist you're selling part of your soul. And I know what she means - we are producing part of what makes us artists, the creativity that is so deeply ingrained within us, that we have this need to create and produce artwork, and we advertise it for the world to see. Its like showing part of your inner self. And she asked me, where do you begin to put a price on that...................?

Being wicked

I've spent all this week thinking. Nothing wrong in that. I do it a lot! But I haven't been producing. And that's frustrating for me. I like to produce artwork on a constant level. It feeds the momentum of my creativity. But this week I've had to think....... deeply......about how I'm best going to do the erotic landscape responding to the request of dj kirkby. I knew it wasn't going to be easy when I accepted the offer, and also I haven't seen any other erotic art from any other artist elsewhere, to use as a starting point. There are some pieces, but not in the style that I want to use, or with a fully erotic couple as opposed to a couple kissing in the clouds or something equally tame. So, I'm having to start from scratch. I've started with looking at entwined erotic couples and trying to work out how to make them look like a landscape. And, so far, there seems to me to be three ways of doing it, any of which would work ok as a concept - I can either paint the couple in the shades of a landscape, so their bodies would be the greens of fields, and by adding a sky above, they would instantly look like a landscape, and the viewers eye would accept the deception quite happily. Or I could paint them using the details of a landscape as their features, for example utilising trees for hands, shrubs for hair, rocks for nipples, and I think that would work nicely too. Or I could paint a forest and in the foreground paint an old and twisted tree incorporating the entwined couple within the aged bark and hide them nicely there. All good ideas, and my quick drawings show me that they all would work in principal.... And I'm itching to get going on the designs now, and would ideally like to spend tomorrow working on it. But I put my name down a few weeks ago to attend an artists workshop. So I've got to attend that instead. Damn! And I'd forgotten what the workshop was about (as I go to a lot, to pick up new tips and learn new ways of painting). So, this morning I found the paperwork and after perusing it.............burst out laughing!!!!! The workshop is "Mountains and lakes in acrylic" - great!!! perfect!!! But the best bit is that the tutor "will be demonstrating how to use Acrylics as watercolour with emphasis on developing YOUR OWN skill and YOUR OWN individual painting style". Oh......... How wonderfully BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!

......So..........................whilst all the other workshop attendees will be busy working on their skies, trees and rocks, there will be me, working out how to incorporate a naked couple having vigorous sex within the structure of the painting!!!!! ......... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspiring others

Just in my short blogging life I've seen the birth of a few blogs. Its fun to see, how they burst forth upon the world and develop and evolve into a thing of beauty. I know mine has developed since I first started, and I like the change in it, and the people I've met through it - both in real life, and in blogland. And its been good to know that I've inspired two other people to start blogging in the first place - blog virgins! - who are both getting a lot out of it, and pleasure from the subjects they write about. The newest of whom is Racy Redhead - an exhibitionist submissive (what an exciting mix that is!) who already has made some exciting posts including some very interesting (to an erotic artist) photographs of herself in some compromising and sexy positions. I can see a lot of inspiration for more erotic drawings coming my way!! She's also the latest participant of the "Pussy Portraits" collection, and had a lot of fun taking the photos with her cameraman of choice!

So, just to let you know I haven't forgotten the Pussy Portraits at all - nor the Erotic landscapes which are taking priority over them, as they're for a deadline, and the others aren't, as yet. Plus, in the background, I've got other things happening which may well take me more into another offshoot of art................ I'll tell you about it when I've finished setting it up!

Vision versus Passion

I've been fortunate to see two shows within the last few days - both ones I've been looking forward to for some time as they were separately booked months ago. The first was Delirium, a Cirque du Soleil show, new to me, and I'm a big fan of Cirque. A spectacular surreal show with all the special effects they could muster, clever use of mammoth video screens, and a backdrop of constantly changing imagery. It should have been superb...... But it wasn't. There was no dramatic interest, no genuine human feeling in it, and the whole think just seemed utterly pointless, and spectacularly soulless. At the end of the show, I thought "Is that it??" and left the auditorium without the natural "high" that a good show gives.......

...... Then tonight, I went to see Tango Fire, an Argentinian dance troupe, all young and fizzing with energy and smouldering sexuality. And I sat mesmerised - and loved every minute of it! There were only a few dancers, and a simple accompanying band, but the passion was there, from the strong smouldering men to the long legged women, their nifty footwork showing the precise combination moves so particular of tango. I found the moves very erotic, partly because of the facial expressions of the dancers, it was almost like watching them have sex. And also by the movements, from the way a male dancer ran his hand seductively along the length of thigh of his female companion, or the manner in which they threw their woman into the air, and held her there, leaving her crotch tantalisingly close to his face, for a split second, before slowly releasing her down to the floor. You could almost smell the tantalising aroma of aroused woman hood. Such a joy to watch such toned and fit bodies, working themselves into a passionate sweat as the night progressed.

And I was struck by Ronjazz's comment on my last post - about being passionate about my art. I know I am. And I've learnt a lesson this week with the two shows I've seen - vision can be wonderful but if if doesn't touch a chord within the viewer, it doesn't matter how clever it is, it just won't work as a concept. However, passion can be created from simple tools, and doesn't need to be showy, because the audience will know that it comes from the heart, and will love it for it.

So, now I'm back to my erotic landscapes, and I'll try and work on the passion rather than the clever idea........

Making landscapes erotic

I've been busy this week with many things on various levels, but I've also been in separate discussions with two unconnected people who want totally different versions of the same thing! They both want me to do a painting for them, in oils, on a box canvas, and they both want an erotic landscape. Great fun! Just my sort of subject and very exciting to do! But they want different versions for their paintings - the first is of a city scape - like Boston or New York, the typical picture we all know so well of a horizontal landscape, split into three - clear sky, buildings on the land, water in the foreground. But hidden somewhere within that picture, I have to introduce an erotic couple. To me, there is only ONE place they can go, because the whole point of this painting is the hidden part of it - so the couple can't be in the sky, or the water, they have to be hidden within the buildings themselves. This will be a bit difficult, as the couple will need to be horizontal, whilst skyscrapers, by definition, are vertical! I had considered putting the couple in one or two of the skyscrapers but I think they might look "trapped" there, and not as well hidden as if they were horizontal. The painting will probably be at twilight/dawn so there will be colour in the sky and water but the buildings will be dark except for lit windows, which will make the painting very dramatic and interesting even before I add the couple. MMmmm..... interesting idea for a painting, and I shall enjoy very much doing it. I know exactly how I shall do it, once I've found a suitable erotic couple for the focal point.

The second painting is also of an erotic landscape, but totally different to the one described above. This one will require more thought, as the couple will BE the landscape, and the landscape will be them. At first glance, this painting will be a rural landscape,with trees and grass, plants and shrubs. To innocent eyes it will be a nice and pleasant landscape, it will only be on further investigation that it will become clear that there is a couple entwined within the picture, hidden somehow between the hills and hollows, valleys and peaks....... I think..... or maybe I won't do it that way, maybe the couple will be trees entwined around each other, their limbs merging and becoming one........... or perhaps the couple will be outcrops of rocks and craggy mountains. There's a lot of thought I need to do for this painting. It also will have water in the foreground, and maybe a mystical feel to it.

So....... that's what I'm doing this weekend...... thinking around the eroticness of a landscape..... and hopefully producing some drawings to show how each painting will look, so other people have an idea of what I'm considering before I sit down and start painting properly. They will both be subtle and clever, both with a secret, both fun to do, and I hope, fun to look at!!

The pull of art

Like the other bloggers, I was touched that Cherrie and Hardin could find time to see me during their short stop-over in England, but I have known for some time that they admire my artwork on many levels, and wanted to see my paintings for real rather than just on the internet, and ask various pertinent questions regarding the creative process and see some of the end results. Plus, what a wonderful opportunity for Cherrie to sit for me, so that I could draw her!

They patiently listened whilst I showed them my vanilla artwork, the landscapes and tigers, surreal and fantasy paintings and I was amazed at how easily they understood some of the concepts I had for some of my more surreal paintings, and could relate to the ideas behind them. They liked the different art techniques I utilise and listened to me explaining how I had created my paintings. After that, and since I still had their interest, we moved on to the erotic artwork, and went through my many varied drawings on that subject, Cherrie in particular making comments relating to some of the poses I had done, and what other ideas I could draw in the future. I'm always interested in other peoples ideas, especially when they are so helpful.

After a short break, Cherrie said she was ready to pose for me. And, what a delightful subject she is to paint, too! Since any readers of her blog will know that she loves to pose for the camera and even though I had a basic idea for the image, I didn't need her to ask how she should arrange herself, she just went naturally into the pose, and all I had to do was sit and draw her! Such an easy model. Obviously, she needs to keep her facial features a secret, so the painting I have done is not a portrait of her as such, but the arched eyebrow and wide smiling mouth are the essence of her, and sufficient to depict her. I knew I wanted to paint such a voluptuous woman in something equally voluptuous, so asked if she'd be happy wearing a fur coat, with a pair of fishnet stockings and black suspenders on underneath, as any other clothes were deemed unnecessary. The fur coat opened beautifully to show her many feminine assets as she lay back in the pose. She was happy with the idea (and before anyone complains, the coat is old, and not real fur, so no fluffy animals were hurt in the making of this blog). I decided to paint her in watercolour as it gave me instant colour which is what I felt I needed for this picture. So after drawing out the outline, I opted for a lovely gold and scarlet background which seemed apt for the subject matter. The use of splatter in the paint adds movement to the figure, and the lovely golden browns of the fur beautifully framed the paler feminine skin beneath it. The fishnet stockings were always going to be difficult to paint, and if I had drawn in each line the picture would have looked heavy and overworked, so I quickly and lightly drew in the black lines with a fine nibbed pen, making sure I left the viewers eye to fill in where the lines don't quite cross over, making the painting far more interesting for it. The burnt sienna I used for her hair also mirrored the colours of the coat and the slash of bright red lipstick at the mouth makes the viewer instantly aware of the woman being confident and alluring and offering an invitation to the viewer. I couldn't help but laugh at the title I have for this painting, as it was so very, deliciously apt!! Its called "Fur coat and no knickers" which is obviously a very English phrase as I had to explain it to the blank look of the American visitors! - it basically refers to a woman with airs and graces, but no real class. Its certainly a sexy picture, and I am delighted with it, but then I had a good model!

We talked also of the Pussy portraits set of paintings that I'm planning on doing, and still in the first stages of working on. Cherrie and Hardin were most interested in the idea. They viewed the first one that I am still currently working on, and still mentally working through the concept of, admiring the strong layout of design and the bright colours I have chosen for this particular painting, so far. They hope that I could get the exhibition to show in the US as well as in England - a wonderful idea, when I've got my collection of them all together.

So, all in all, a very artistically productive visit, and I hope they enjoyed their visit to England to get a glimpse of the English way of life.

People watching

When I'm out and about I tend to look at people with an artists eye - thinking how I'd love paint them if they're exceptional in anyway. The other night in the local take-away there was a stunning looking blonde girl who'd come to collect her order, and I could hardly take my eyes off her - she was gorgeous, with blonde shoulder length hair, neat features, snub nose, large dark brown eyes and very slim petite body. I just wanted to paint her, she was so lovely. Fortunately she didn't catch me staring at her, although the way she looked, I bet she was used to everyone looking!

A day or so after that, I was doing my supermarket shopping, when I noticed an electrician sitting perched on top of one of the tall fridge units, intently looking at something out of sight above the shoppers. He was drop dead gorgeous too, so I couldn't help but stare at him. Dark hair, good looking with a cheeky grin, dark eyes and an athletic body. Sigh. Very nice. He was busy doing something I couldn't see, but as it seemed so incongruous that he was being ignored by everyone, I felt I should speak to him, caught his eye, and asked if he was for sale too? His eyes twinkled, he smiled, and said he could be. Gulp (wishes do come true!) and said it was a pity he didn't have a twin because then I could have two for the price of one! Temptation indeed. That made me laugh!! What I could do with twins!

I've got a half finished painting of a nude woman in my studio, and have been looking at it for the last couple of years, wondering if I should finish her off (in a painterly sort of way, I mean!) and what I should do to do that. I'm not fully happy with the painting, as there are aspects of it that need more detail putting in. I like the idea of the subject matter - the back view of a woman, with her breast in silhouette, her full buttocks resting on her feet, as she suggestively runs her fingers through her hair. The painting is called "Without a care" - technically, its all done, but there's just something making me think I can do more to improve on it. So, I'll leave it on show, until I get a brainwave. I tend to leave paintings lying about my studio as a reminder of things to do, but just occasionally, I think I need to have a tidy up and put things away.

I'm also half way through the first pussy portrait which I am itching to get on with and finish off, and get on to the next ones. I want them to have a connecting theme, and that works best when they are all painted chronologically close together. If I struggle too much with this first painting I'll end up doing it again once I've got going on the other ones, and got into momentum with them. So..... I'm off to do some painting.........

Hiding naughtiness

I've always loved clever paintings, the sort where something is hidden within the image and at first glance it seems like an innocuous painting, but then you realise there's actually a clever depiction of something which puts a whole new twist on what you're looking at. And it's even better if some people see it, and others don't. It makes it more fun, and amuses and entertains the one's who do see it. I suppose you'd call the images surreal - that half reality, half dream like state of putting diverse subjects together that normally wouldn't be.

I also like painting landscapes and hiding something within the contours of the painting. I did this oil painting for myself a few years ago, and still get a lot of pleasure looking at it - the dramatic moon lit sky, the parting clouds, crashing waves, sandy beach and rocky headland........ Oh, and the naked woman!

Recently, I've been asked if I'd be able to paint a landscape with an underlying erotic theme - the sort where adults would see the erotica, but young children wouldn't. It's an interesting proposition for me - the sort of thing I adore painting. But..... how to hide the erotica is the tricky part - whether to use the entwined bodies as the landscape itself, making the hills and valleys with the odd bush sprouting up in prominent places! Or just to paint the landscape but have the erotic couples hidden amongst the writhing trunks of gnarled tree trunks, or secreted amongst the fast flowing waters of a stream, lovers entwined together in the craggy crevices of rocks and lichen covered rocky outcrops or just hinted at amongst the greenery of shrubs and foliage. The ideas are endless...... and exciting!

I know I'd get great satisfaction out of doing it - and hope that others would out of seeing it.

What do you call a collection of pussies?

The fantasy fanny collection seems to have got properly off the ground now - which I am delighted about! Todate, I have ...........wait for it...............ten ........participants! Yay!! Which makes a good set of paintings, and bodes well for the start of an interesting collection. My plan is for them to be exhibited somewhere - hopefully a gallery will be interested in them, as I would love to see them all shown together. Since this is a celebration of womanhood and the desirability of women, it should be big, bright and beautiful. And I have to make the paintings slightly abstract with a surreal twist otherwise the collection will look something like a gynaecologists convention!


But..... what to call the paintings - I've been thinking about it ever since the idea was first discussed. I've been referring to it as "Pussy portraits" or "Fanny fantasies" but I knew that wouldn't be the finished title as I didn't want the local cat lovers group arriving and being shocked that it wasn't a set of paintings featuring fluffy kittens playing with balls of string. And since the word fanny means something totally different to the English than to Americans, neither did I want an Americans thinking it was of bums! Plus I didn't want the title to particularly have the normal swear words in it, as that would make it seem derogatory - and that is CERTAINLY not my intention. So........ on to other words....... but then there were words that have differing meanings - slits, snatches etc. and I wasn't happy with them either. So - a bit of further investigation has come up with much better words, and included in them is what I consider to be the perfect word - one that is suitably apt for what I am doing........ I love the old words for pussy like coint, coynte, quaint, qwaynt but my favourite of them all is queynte. Queynte is an old English word that is apparently a pun on the word "cunt" and its also from where the word "quim" is derived, and it means "many layered in-folded mystery". How perfect is that????!!!! So the paintings will be anonymous as to the identity of the owner and will be very simply called:"Queynte 1", "Queynte 2", "Queynte 3" etc.


And it's particularly apt regarding the many layered mystery as the point of the paintings is an affirmation of the desirability of women, especially the part that a lot of women may not be wholly comfortable with, and which is normally hidden from the world. I like the idea of calling the whole collection "Shameless" as they will be without shame about their beauty and their power. They know they are desirable, that their lovers want to be there, it's where they accept lovers, and where life starts. And in particular to this, I want the identities of the women to be a secret, so that whilst they are happy to have their pussies on show, the normal recognition of their identities and faces will be the part that's hidden. Regarding the participants, each persons identity will remain a secret unless they wish to tell other people that they have participated, and which one is theirs.

I want to do them as a set of largish paintings of close-ups of fannies. I want them to appear to be abstract paintings, that could hang on a wall and anyone looking at them would think that it’s a nice contemporary painting but then they might think it looks just like a fanny before they get a jolt when they realize that actually it IS close-up of a fanny! I want the images to be brightly coloured, with bold shapes and lines, and they will probably be slightly abstract, and each one will have the surreal twist of the hint of a naked woman drawn amongst the folds. The hidden woman is the reference to everyone having secrets, deep within them, and a reminder of the essence of what I am actually depicting within the painting, even if it does looks abstract.

The finished paintings will be 20 inches by 16 inches, so I’ll need as much detail as possible from the photographs that I will be working from, so that I can fill the painting. And since I have more to paint than I first considered, I will also have to paint them in different colours, or else it'll look too uniform and boring when they are all exhibited together.

Oh, and I have been asked a question today - well , THE QUESTION, actually, the one that I have been expecting form someone at some point. The "Are you going to participate in this, too, Jackie?" question. And my answer? It has to be "Yes". I have to be part of this if its going to be a celebration of women - because how can I not be part of it? But, mine, like the others, will be a secret as to which it is.



So......... now I need to find someone to take some photos for me............... Now, who shall I ask.......???

Pussies Galore

I've got two pussies to paint today - and both so exquisitely .......... DIFFERENT!!! The first is of a fluffy feline moggy, the sort you'd be happy to have purring contentedly on your lap. The second is most definitely not like that at all, although a lot of people might get it purring after they'd been lapping contentedly at it! And of the two paintings, although I shall enjoy doing the first, I shall REALLY enjoy doing the second! I have been thinking for a couple of weeks how I'm going to do the fantasy fanny paintings (and what I'm eventually going to call them, as a collection, too) and I know I want to make them look like contemporary abstracts, with the hint of a naked woman hidden in there somewhere, and lots of bright colours and strong shapes to make the design work. For a design to look good in a painting, it has to work as well in simple black and white, as much as in colour, and doing a thumbnail sketch is the usual way that an artist works out whether a painting will work as a finished composition. So, to this end, I sat down last night with a pencil and a small sheet of paper and I just started drawing in the lines, and then the shading, and it became apparent very early on that the image is going to work well for this painting, there were lots of interesting darks and lights, shapes merging into each other, and textures to play with, before I even think about the colour aspect. So, I'm all raring to go.......... the minute I've done the watercolour of the fluffy mog!

Whilst we're on the subject of pussies, I've got some lovely new images on my website - most of which have appeared here first, but not in as much detail as my website, plus they all look so much better when seen together in a gallery, with the explanatory text. Lots of lovely erotic images to peruse........ I'll be hopefully updating the more vanilla stuff in the next week or so, but the erotic images always take priority! To view them click here: www.jackieadshead.co.uk/gallery/erotic

I saw my friend Lucy Felthouse this week too (are we still on the pussy theme?) and had our usual delightful time together. We talk for hours, laugh a lot, and compare notes on working in the land of Erotica, and although she's a writer and I'm an artist, we are very similar in our approaches to our work, and the people we work with. It was a very productive night, and with Lucy's help I feel I've leapt forward on my ever growing things to do list!

Just whilst I'm updating the week, I have been booked to appear later on in the year with the WI to go and talk to them about being an Erotic Artist (and boy, am I looking forward to THAT night!!!!!!). Whilst in the pub last week, two separate women I know, who are not in the WI, told me that they are coming to hear me talk that night! So, they're expecting to be entertained and have a good laugh, which is great, and I hope I manage to give them both!

Now...... back to pussy paintings....

Whats in a title?

I visited one of my favourite galleries yesterday, always a joy, and lovely to see their latest batch of paintings. Some I really liked, some were mediocre, a lot of them were tastefully arranged young women with only the hint of nipple on show - any bums, crotches and full breasts were covered artistically (and disappointingly) with a cloth (unlike my drawings!). But what I was struck by was the naff titles of the paintings - they were something along the line of "garden", "beach at sunset", "picking flowers". And didn't, for me, involve any emotion in the painting, as they were actually of a beautiful girl, or a couple of pretty girls, within the garden or beach setting - so, if they had been something along the lines of - "Julia in the garden", then I'd have instantly had an affinity with "Julia", or if they had been less personalised but perhaps invoking an emotion - like "picking flowers for mum" or "Sunset thoughts of my lover" then I'd have been happier with the painting. But, I suppose for a lot of people, once they've bought a painting and hung it on the wall, what does it matter what the painting is called?


I can agonise for days over the title of a painting, sometimes taking longer to think of it than it actually took to paint it! And on the whole I like my titles (I'm not saying they're the best in the world, because they're not, but hopefully they convey something into the painting through them). Although the fanny paintings that I'm currently working on will be called something along the lines of "fanny 1", "fanny 2", "fanny 3" etc that is ONLY to protect the identity of the person behind the painting, and not because of any inability to think of a title on my part.


I have painted lots of watercolour paintings of tigers. I love tigers. I love their bright dramatic colouring, their stripes, their menace, and the whole cat thing about them. So the first tiger painting I did was quite naturally called "Burning Bright". The next one I did was called "Tiger bright" then followed "Spitting mad" since the tiger was all teeth and fury. After that followed "The tiger within" since the tiger looked like it was looking though a wall of water at the viewer. Then came "Cool regard" as the tiger was looking quietly at the viewer, and then came the jokey one which I called "Tiger spotted" since there were two tigers in the painting, one all regal and majestic in the foreground, and the other was approaching from a distance, having spotted him, and it amused me to call it that, as tigers aren't spotted, they're striped (as well you know). So, all tiger paintings, all with titles I was happy with. Then came the painting I did of a tiger swimming. I was really pleased with the painting, it had gone beautifully, looked good, and was technically well done, showing the body of the tiger submerged beneath the green waters. But what to call it? I went though all the titles I could think of ....... tiger swimming, tiger in water, water tiger, swimming tiger...... none of them worked.......... so in the end I called it "Sea for cat" being a pun on the phrase "C for cat" and it amused me to call it that. But I had chickened out of the title I SHOULD have gone for...........it was so obvious, so deliciously apt, so totally RIGHT, and yet I didn't use it!! So, now you're wondering what it is, what I should have called this painting of a swimming tiger?



Yep, its........................................ "Wet pussy"!!!!!!

Capturing stray pussies

Further to my posting "Dare to bare - pussy wanted" on 17th August I'm delighted at the response that (so far) six ladies have volunteered to keep their faces (and to an extent, their identities) hidden but their fannies on show - well, technically, its six but the last one has been volunteered by someone else and they have suggested I send her an email to ask for her details. Now that was an interesting email to send as she isn't a blogger I know as well as the others, only as someone on the peripheries of other people's blogs....... so the wording had to be........er...........tactful! Something along the lines of "Hello, you don't know me, but your mate has volunteered you to pose intimately for me, so if you're willing, can you send me some close-up photos of your fanny?" ...... and since I've sent the email I've not heard anything, so she's either cowering in a dark corner petrified at the thought, or laughing her head off and trying to work out HOW to take the photos. Cos it's not easy, at all. I've already had some photos sent to me, and had to direct the angle/lighting/focus and composition by email and words. It would be far easier to take the photos myself since I know exactly what I want, to be able to work from, to produce some detailed paintings, but of course that's not possible to do. The one thing that all the ladies concerned have expressed is the difficultly in getting the photos taken. And I'm sure all the guys out there would jump at the chance to take the photos for them.........!

But............ when I get my collection of photos together I will be able to start painting, and since this little.............er................exhibition.... was mooted, I've had chance to talk to the volunteers and think about what they want and what I want to express in my painting. I did a practice drawing the other week and wasn't at all happy with the outcome. I ended up with something that could be taken as a gynecological technical drawing, or in certain lights, maybe a botanical drawing of a rare and exotic orchid. And that isn't what this is about, not for me. Its a celebration of womanhood, an affirmation of the beauty and desirability of females. And because of that, the images should be bright, with strong shapes, and very colourful, probably slightly abstract or maybe a touch surreal, as I fancy introducing the hint of a naked woman amongst the folds, and think that that as an idea will work well. I want to use bright pinks, reds, oranges and golds, and maybe purples, blues and blacks for the hidden depths. I want the paintings to be hung on a wall for people to see, and think they're looking at some abstract design until they realise with gut-wrenching shock that they're actually looking at close-ups of womanhood - open, and on view, for all the world to see, and admire, like some erotic flower.

A bit of French

I'm just back from a few days in southern France and after the misery of this years cold and depressingly wet English summer, it was a joy to be in hot sunshine again! Everything looks so much better in bright sunshine, the natural colours shine and purple shadows dress the landscape. Its rare for me to like a landscape that isn't bathed in sunlight. And of course French rural landscapes are full of ancient limestone buildings half forgotten in their bucolic decay.... their aged weathered doors just clinging on to the last remnants of faded paint, worn steps lead up to flowerfilled doorways, shuttered windows look out upon the day, and cobbled paths lead up to interesting hidden shadowy passageways, I just had to go and investigate! I was in artist heaven!! Ok, so it wasn't erotic art, but it was full of inspiration for me - and I took enough photos to keep me busy with a hundred future paintings! (and that is NOT an exaggeration!). But....... even though I was full of inspiration for old French tumble-down buildings, I was greatly amused to see that others think of erotica quite often too......... Whilst visiting the famous wine village of Chateauneuf du Pape, and clambering up the hill to look at the remains of the papal chateau, I stood admiring the grandeur of the old building, which is basically a couple of tall castle walls, some old stonework, an archway, a few windows, and a large piece stone flooring, I was much amused to glance down and opened my eyes in wonder to see ......an extremely large and very erect phallus drawn out in the dust of the stone floor, seen in ignorance by the majority of visitors there, but to an erotic artist it was MUCH evident, and caused me a few minutes of wicked mirth to see what someone else had thought of, and most had overlooked or walked over in total ignorance!

So.......... back to painting again........ now........what shall I do? French landscapes versus erotica.......MMmmmmmm.............. tough decision!!!!!!