Empowered

I had a chat with Stuart earlier, he wanted me to know that he's written an article about his experience of being drawn by me, for the local paper. Although they have accepted some articles he's written, they aren't so sure they'll publish the one about me drawing him in the nude....... I can understand that, in a local daily paper..... LOL. But he says he'll send me a copy of what he's sent them, so that I know what he's written. That's kind of him. He says he'll use it as the basis of his talk that we're both doing for his writers group in a few weeks time. So reading his words will help me formulate what I'm going to say for my talk! I've got a basic idea at the moment, but wasn't going to think too deeply about it until a little nearer the time. Looks like that's now then........!!! :)

Stuart and I also talked of general things, and amongst all the babble, he said a really lovely thing - about how much more self confidence he has since I drew him. That's REALLY good to know, and I was touched that he experienced that positive self worth, and delighted that he wanted to tell me. Perhaps I'm good therapy for him! I hope so, and for others who choose to be drawn naked by me.....

Northern lights and frozen fingers

I feel refreshed. And hopefully, refreshing! :)

The reason? The weather, in part, and the stunning sights of North Yorkshire, the other part!

Bloody hell, its been windy this past week in Yorkshire. Windy enough to blow ALL the cobwebs away, for the seabirds to be flying backwards and for a short walk along the beach to be considered a daring feat that takes you 20 minutes to walk in one direction and five minutes to walk back, with the wind pushing you! It's been what I call a lazy wind - too lazy to go around you, it goes straight through!!!! Even with many layers, thick padded jacket, scarf and gloves!!!! But.... it was sunny too, so that was a real bonus, and meant that I could get some excellent photos. Because photos don't show the cold, just the scene.

I've been to Yorkshire before, but not the North Yorkshire coast, so was enthralled with the thought of going. Because, I know sooooooo many artists who have been to a certain part of it.... and stood in a certain place.... and taken photos of what they can see.............. and produced some stunning paintings of it........... and I wanted to go too!!!! I wanted to see what they had seen. And fulfil myself as an artist, so that the next time someone showed me a painting they had done of that place, I could nod and say "Yes, I've been there too!". And I think as an artist, that's important. I don't take holidays that entail lying on a beach gaining a suntan and reading a good book, I count my "holidays" as working breaks, going to places that I can learn some more to help me expand as an artist. Whether its to see artistic sights, or going to a place of learning with lots of good art galleries. And Yorkshire was no exception..............

Achingly beautiful countryside, very pretty in the early spring light, spring lambs frolicking around their mothers, short dull green grass, dry stone walls, bright yellow daffodils nodding gently in the breeze (or wind!) watery sunlight on bare bark, the branches of winter trees silhouetted against the deep blue of a clear sky, chocolate box stone cottages with finely manicured gardens, the purple of aubretia a blaze of colour against the walls, achingly beautiful village streams shining in the bright sunshine, as they flow continuously next to the main street, the hills rolling on, the barren moors awesome in their majestic beauty, the purple clouds high above, the heather a dead dull brown at this time of year, the gorse a blaze of yellow against the far hills, the deep valleys in shadow, and in the distance the blue of the sea stretching out to the horizon, as you draw closer and follow the rise and fall of the land, from cliff to perfectly flat sandy beach, rocks and rockpools of fossilised stone, and the sea full of white caps from the wind, the white foam pouring endlessly onto the beach, as the wind catches the ripples it makes and textures it in frantic pattern, and the golden sand whips along the flat beach in ghostly patterns of swirl as it rips past on its way to the sea................

You can tell, I was very taken with it!!!

But, every scene was one I could have painted. Endlessly! So many subjects to paint, so much to take in. And that's why I took a camera. To record it all. To capture the sights, so that I can capture the image at some point in a painting..... So many paintings I could paint.........

Here are a few of the views, so you can see what I'm talking about....

And the scene that all the artists I know have stood and seen? Its here.... in Staithes...... I had to climb up high to find it, but its all there, the quaint red tiled and blue slate roofs of the fishermen's cottages, the boats, the beck as it flows to the sea, the soaring cliffs and the bright blue sea in the distance, incredibly picturesque, isn't it? And thank goodness the sun was shining on it..... even if I did have to wear my thermals to get to see it!!!!! :)

Big scary tiger!

Sometimes the world doesn't take you to where you're expecting to go.

I went to an art workshop today, to a place I know very well, along with people I know very well. And I expected the day to go the way it normally does. The world has a pattern I am familiar with, and I tend to follow my own template within that pattern. Its what I expect. From previous experience, long since followed and understood. And so, I expected the same today.....

It wasn't difficult. The workshop was entitled "Animal in pastel" and the woman running it does beautiful pastels of dogs, cats and horses mostly. She also had brought along a stunning pastel of a hare, along with some landscapes, and some portraits. She mostly works on commissions of people and their pets. Particularly pets. I knew all this before I went. I knew she did pastels. I CAN do pastels, but am never as happy with them as I am working in oils, acrylics or watercolours, because I prefer a brush or pencil in my hand. I like the fine point you get with those tools. With pastel I can never seem to get the fine detail that other artists do, some very beautifully. So, I have a huge chunk of pastel in my hand and don't achieve the fine detail that I like, even as a loose painter. I don't mind getting dirty, as you always do with pastels. Its just the end result I don't seem to get. But still, that's all background information. I go to the workshops regardless of the subject matter because I ALWAYS learn from them regardless of the subject matter and the medium. EEEEEEVVVVVEN if it's a still-life in pastel - which would probably be my least favourite choice of art workshop!!! :)

Anyway, on to to-day. Last night I sorted out all the stuff I would need for today - art bag, pastels, pastel paper, kitchen roll, sketching paper, pencils, old shirt to wear, old towels, newspaper to catch the pastel dust, and the photos of the subject matter. I knew I wouldn't be drawing a domestic dog, although wouldn't have minded a fox or a wolf, maybe, for the interesting colours and tones. Nah, I much prefer cats. Any cats really. Big cats, domestic cats, lions, tigers, leopards, panther, any of those. That's what I do. Cats. Ok, I found a good selection of photos of big cats, and tigers in particular, and went along to the workshop armed with them. Sorted!!

But the day didn't go to plan. Not at all. The pattern didn't follow the normal way of things. It wasn't because there were only four people on the course instead of the expected 18 or so. It wasn't anything to do with the weather even, that was unseasonably warm and sunny for the time of year. No, none of those things. It may have been down to the tutor, who chose to do a beautiful Alsatian dog for her demonstration. That MAY have had something to do with it. But I still can't account for the fact that my big scary tiger, the one with black and white stripes, the one with huge amounts of burnt sienna, and staring yellow eyes, turned out like it did. I just can't understand what went wrong!!!!! How can it have happened? How COULD I have produced this painting from my carefully collected photos????! What went so terribly wrong??!

MMMmm........ I can only put it down to the fact that the photo was very appealing. And the fact that I REALLY enjoyed the drawing the subject matter, and really enjoyed doing the pastel. REALLY! And I am incredibly pleased with the result. And I don't normally like pastels!!!! And I don't do cute!!!

(The painting isn't signed because I haven't cropped it for a frame yet, but other than that is is all but finished).

Its all very worrying, this. I'm SUPPOSED to be an Erotic Artist! I think I need to re-consider.................................... LOL !!!!!

Fantasy Willies

Well I thought the time would arrive at some point. There was no doubt there. It makes sense, doesn't it? If you're doing a project called "Fantasy Fannies" it makes sense to do the "Fantasy Willies" too! A whole new ball game, so to speak............! And Fitzy has decided he wants to be the first member (anther pun?) of this project. I'm delighted! But this has got me thinking.......... about the comparisons between the fantasy fannies and the fantasy willies. The shapes of fannies are abstract to start with - when I look at the photos I'm working from, I can see abstract shapes, so I'm beginning with an abstract before I even start to draw. But, a willie has a more recognisable shape to start with, and the point of these paintings is that the image is half recognisable, half hidden. That's the point of the "joke" hidden within the painting. So, I have to now think how I'm going to hide the willie image within the painting. Its possible. Of course its possible. But to what degree do I want to do it? I'll have to sit down and work it out on paper. It'll be fun to play with shapes and the composition to do that.

BUT

I have another problem.

A ......... more recognisable problem.

To consider.........

Do I do them in an erect state or a more comatose state?

What do you think?

To be or not to be............................THAT is the question!!!! LOL

Snakes an all

It was another lovely sunny Event day for the Guild of Erotic Artists, so when I arrived a few people were already sitting outside enjoying the warmth of the sunshine.

As I walked in the Guild Secretary was busy taking membership fees for the new year, so after sorting mine out, I decided to place my order for a bacon butty and a cup of tea before the rush. The bacon butty arrived very quickly and I had a chat with a guy who always greets me warmly and asked how I’d got on at Erotica, since that was when I last saw him.

Chris whose seminar I'd been on last September was enjoying his lunch too so I sat with him as we ate and I told him about the latest artwork I’ve done, selling paintings to Canada and USA recently. He was interested to hear about the paintings, and we talked about selling art and the all important artist/customer relationship. Another artist joined us - I always enjoy his quiet unassuming but dryly amusing sense of humour.

Not as many people were there as last time, but that might have been partly due to one of the founder members having an open house over the weekend to sell his body casts, so maybe a lot of clients were there instead!

I spied a photographer I know and went over to have a chat with him; he was carrying his latest set of beautiful photographs, and I was delighted to be offered a look at them. I liked them all, especially the black and white ones that are similar in style to the “white on black” drawings that I do too. He and I had a long chat about contacting galleries regarding selling art and the subject of creativity. We decided that its possibly better having a day job as well as being creative as a photographer or artist, because then you have the luxury of having money in your life for the things you want and also the joy of being creative without being desperate to sell art to makes ends meet. There's no doubt it's a big decision a lot of artists have to make!!

Because the person who was due to do the demo had dropped out there was a quieter atmosphere at the Event day, and instead a striking blonde model dressed prettily in a 1940s style pink and turquoise floral summer dress sat in a chair whilst a few people sat around drawing her. Prior to this, a pretty Asian model had sat for a photo shoot in the same place.

In the corner the artist with the lovely sense of humour was starting to paint a models boobs with a beautiful large blue butterfly – I understand she was talked into modelling for the day for the price of a cup of tea, which sounds like a good swap to me!

I went outside for a bit to enjoy the sunshine too and had a brief chat with the Guild secretary about his plans for the Guild gallery now that it will be open six days a week. This reminded him that he hadn’t yet done his speech to the group, and he decided to go inside and do it then, spending time with the microphone making sure it was working, as he walked towards the stage his brother took the microphone off him and started to croon whilst the assembled crowd listened good naturedly. The Guild secretary was *eventually* given the microphone back and he was able to do his speech. As always it was upbeat and positive, thanking various people for their help and assistance in various things, and helping to pull us all together as a group.

I then started chatting to a man and woman who I’d seen before but didn’t know, and another guy overhead our conversation and joined us. After a while, I thought I ought to ask names, the American chap shook my hand and said he was called “Bob”, I turned to the English guy and he smiled and said “Bob” – so I turned to the woman with him and said “You’re not called Bob as well are you?” much to her amusement. No, she wasn’t, she was Sandra. We had a long chat about buying art, about posing as a life model, about people in your life who don’t know that you have erotic art hanging on your walls at home, and amongst other things, posing naked with poisonous snakes and the problems THAT can cause! The American Bob had come over from San Francisco to see the Guild, as well as a chap from South Carolina, although I didn’t know about him until he had left. The American Bob was just leaving when he was told that there wasn’t anyone to do a full demo and said that he’d have been more than happy to pose naked for the group if he had known! Maybe the next time he’s in England.

My photographer friend was there for about the same time as I was, but neither of us found time to chat with each other as we were busy talking to various others. When she was going, she came for a hug with me and said “I’m BOOKING a chat with you for NEXT time!” “Ok!” I laughed, and will look forward to it!

Just before I left, I had a quick chat with a couple of the guys who were busy discussing the next Guild DVD, which I will be featured in along with the others, as I was filmed on my stand with my Fantasy Fannies at Erotica last November. I look forward to seeing the finished item when it’s been edited.

Time to go, last hugs and kisses and I came away looking at a gorgeous bright red sky filling the horizon. I thought that it bode well, as I drove off into the sunset!!!

Queynte 15

Phew, at last... the unveiling of the next Fantasy Fanny! This is .......Number 15.

I still find them fascinating, as I never actually know what they're going to look like until I finish them. I'll paint it in pieces, a scarlet here, a magenta there, orange, lime green and lemon yellow, building it up like a jigsaw. Then when I'm near the end I'll stand back from it and judge whether a colour should be darkened, or if black would enhance various areas. Then, when I'm happy with the colours, I add the white, and somehow that makes it gleam more. The white adds high-lights and interest to the bright colours. And I think the white adds more than that to the painting, as the white is where the light catches it, where it glistens...............

Laughing in all the right places

I had an assignation with my new friend Stuart today. And I even recognised him with his clothes on! :)

We met for a coffee and chat, it was good to see him again and catch up with him and his news. But there was a reason for the meeting, we had *plans* to discuss! He's a member of a local writers group, and is going to give a talk to them in a few months time, about his experience of being drawn my me in December. He likes to tell amusing anecdotes, and I think his experience with me has fueled an interesting one for him! He likes to tell his friends and acquaintances about this episode in his life, so telling his writers group is the next step along this path! But the thing is................... he thinks it would be fun if I go along to this writers group too....... on the day he does his talk..................... and he thinks it would be good if I spoke too. But, and this is the bit I really like............. he's suggesting that he doesn't tell the audience of about 40 people that its me who he is talking about. And I think that is going to be.......................FUN!......... In that he will start telling them about being naked in the company of a woman who he had only met for the first time an hour previously, and then explain the reasons leading up to it, and the experience of it. And even produce the drawings in question. And I'm sure he'll add his embellishments that will make the story funny, and naughtily humorous, and I'm sure that his audience will laugh in all the right places, and be a little shocked at what he's done, and said. And as the laughter dies down, he will turn to me in the audience and introduce me as the erotic artist in question..................... and then it'll be MY turn to talk to them! I've got to think what I'm going to say, about me as and Erotic Artist, and painter of more vanilla subjects, and I want to make it amusing too, and want them to enjoy my talk as much as they'll enjoy Stuarts!

Not much pressure then!!!!! :)

Happy second birthday blog

I was going to say "Happy second blog birthday", but I've only got one blog, and "happy blog" sounds a bit overly joyful, so its "happy second birthday blog", whatever a happy second is - well, one way or another, you've got the drift - I've been writing my blog for two years now! Yay!!!


And I do love writing the blog, and receiving the feedback I get from it, either on the blog itself or in real life. And I love the friends I've made through it - I'm thinking of one in particular, and he knows who he is, on another continent, but who is very helpful and supportive of my art and what I do. And this week I've had a chat in real life with Fitzy who has been been supportive of my blog and art too - it was good to have a long chat with him and discuss the artwork he wants to commission from me, and I'm looking forward to meeting him at some point in the future, when we can sort out the logistics.


Other than than, I've started to draw out another Queynte, with a view to starting to paint it soon, so that's also exciting - as I'm never quite sure what they're going to turn out like until they're finished, which is odd for me, normally I know exactly what the painting is going to look like, but not with these fantasy fanny abstracts, which makes it more fun, and a bit more difficult for me, but they always seem to look alright in the end, so they work however they're created!


And my good mate Lucy Felthouse sent me a link this week for an article she wrote about her visit to Erotica in November - its here if you'd like to read her article.

So, what do you do when its your blog birthday - bake it a virtual cake and blow out the two candles? Ok....... I'll do that then! :)

Whose fanny is THAT?

Its not often that I talk about actual sales of paintings, I talk about painting them, I talk about commissions, and I talk about exhibitions. And whereas I love painting, I also love selling my work too. And, is often the way with art and being an artist, you never actually know where a sale is going to come from, or when, or how or who with. And there can be large gaps in between, and then, there is what I refer to as the "batch theory" - in that there will be a batch of nothing happening, followed by a batch of lots of things happening altogether. This has indeed been the case recently - Sweat shop sissy wanted to commission a fanny painting, that became Queynte 14, but as well as that someone else wanted to buy her Queynte - I'm not going to say who it is, or which number Queynte it is, as the whole point of them is their anonymity. So, it was the case that I found myself wrapping two Queyntes this week to be posted off to their respective buyers. And that made me VERY VERY wary. Because............ I am careful to keep a note of who has contacted me to say they want their fanny painting, and then some of them will send me photos (some still haven't done yet - but are planning on doing at some point), some of the Queyntes have been painted and some haven't yet, and some of the women who have participated I only know by their blogger name, not their real name, but some I know by their real name too! So, whilst checking on the Queyntes in question that I'm posting out this week, I knew which one belonged to Sweat shop sissy, because I've only finished it this week, but the other one, I double checked and checked again, that the name of the real person who had contacted me matched the blogger name that matched the Queynte number before I wrapped it. Because I don't write the name of the person on the back of the painting, only the number. And I made DAMN sure that I DIDN'T wrap the two Queyntes together, then write the addresses on them - as one was going to Canada, and the other to an address in this country, as................can you imagine it...............picture the scene....................... Two women........in totally separate countries...................divided by a large Atlantic ocean................arrive home................ to find the post man has been........................ has delivered the exciting artwork that they've been waiting for................ as they smile to themselves..................... and reach for a pair of scissors...................... as they cut open the paper..................... as they open the package................. as they reveal................. the painting...............and hold it up infront of them............ and look at it for a long minute.................................... before saying.................................. WHO THE FUCKS FANNY IS THAT??? COS IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T MINNNNNNNNNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OOOHHH.... NO. I can't have that happening, can I ??????????????????!!!!!!!!!! LMAO

Queynte 14

Well I've been fannying around again this week - up to my elbows in fanny... :) Well, actually, one in particular! This one! Its taken me awhile to get around to doing it, but well worth the wait I think! Its been specially requested by Sweat shop sissy, and I had a request for the colours of it to fit in with the decor of the bedroom that it's going to hang in, in pride of place, over the bed, and I was delighted to adhere to that request as basic colours but added other complementary colours adding high-lights and contrasts. It also helped that the recipient had emailed me a couple of photos of her bedroom, so I could see the colour of the bedroom furniture and incorporate that into the colours for the Queynte too. I emailed her the finished image last week and was told she did the happy dance when she saw it! That's good to hear then!!! :) She likes it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its featured here on Sweat shop sissys blog.

And I was also delighted when I found out the country that its going to - its not one I've sold a painting to before, so that's a first for me! Yay!!




Well, here it is......Whaddduuyyyathink?