Digesting and regurgitating

Sometimes, (no, I'll change that to most of the time!) being an artist isn't about being an artist. Its also about being an administrator, an advertising hording, a listener, a chaser of information, and being able to digest the information I glean from other places, sift through it, and put it into other more practical uses for me as an artist. So when others talk of artwork they've produced, I listen, and when they talk of the response it gets, I listen. When other artists talk of a painting they've created, I listen. When someone gives me a book to read about selling art I read it. When I ask for advice, from someone whose opinion I value, I listen. And when I've got as much information as I think I need, I'll act on it. When I think the time is right. It may not be now. It may be some time in the near, or far, future. But I will use it, somehow........................

And part of that information has been updating my website this week. Nine new images. One new gallery - for "Tarses" - I do LOVE that word!!!!! Even though there is only ONE tarse in that gallery, it is a start. The start of many tarses, I think! MANY!!!!!!! :)

So, if you want to take a look........you'll see....................... www.jackieadshead.co.uk

More fannies to come

The art demonstration on my website has been updated now and shows the different stages of the watercolour landscape painting "Joyeuse S and M" that I've been telling you about, from start to finish. Stage one, pick up pencil, stage two start drawing.... No, actually, its not that bad!!! LOL I think its quite interesting, seeing the original photo, seeing how the image starts and progresses bit by bit to the finished painting..................have a look at it and tell me if you agree.............

And whilst I'm having a sort out of things to do (an endless list that seems to grow longer each day even when I'm knocking a few things off the list daily!) I've found something that I've over looked. I know WHY I've overlooked it - because when I have a commission to do, that takes priority over the other "general" art - the stuff that I want to paint and I think will look good as a painting for an exhibition at some point. So now I've had chance to catch up on those sort of paintings, and I've realised what I've not done. I've not painted all the "fantasy fannies" yet. I still have some photos I've not produced paintings from.........................some from across the oceans in a land far far away......................

So... guess what I'll be doing as my next paintings......................more fannies! Followed, probably, by some fantasy willies, followed probably by an erotic couple in the living flame style..........well, that's the plan! And plans have a habit of being interrupted..............................! :)

What on earth do you look like?

Does it matter what I look like? Is it important? Does it matter what sort of person I am and how I appeal to people?

I'm beginning to think it might.......................

Last week I had quite a bit of correspondence going back and forth between me and the library where I am hoping to exhibit next year. I'd met the woman I'm corresponding with at Stuarts Writers group, as she is part of it, and she also works for the library and thinks my erotic art would be fabulous at her library. Great!!! Very exciting, and a delight that she was so enthusiastic and positive about my art, and about me too. BUT, she and I both knew that I do erotic art, and some people struggle with it, and they might struggle a lot with it in a public library, if they are of a sensitive nature - or, of course, children. Some of my art is not at all suitable for children to view. I understand that. So, for that reason, I was asked to send some erotic images to my new friend at the library for her to check with her colleagues that it was "acceptable". No problem. I sent 30 of my more "acceptable" ones, 29 of which only had a single woman in the picture, so there was nothing sexual going on between two people in any of the pictures. The answer came back that whilst all the work was considered good and accomplished, some of it was deemed to be a little risque for the library, but if I would like to get together a collection of my other art, and put in some of the tamer erotic stuff, then that was fine by them, and I could ring up to book a date for next year. So, I rang to make the arrangement, and had another positive and upbeat conversation with my contact there. She made me smile when she said that some of the little old ladies might complain about some of my art and yet they took out "Mills and Boon" books by the dozens, and those books in particular are FULL of erotic goings on on EVERY page!!! I'm imagining all these fevered old ladies now getting all hot and bothered by the muscular thighs, square shoulders, tight buttocks, chiselled jaws but sensitive hands of Peregrine or whatever the hero's are called as they rip the clothes off the heroines in a frenzied and heated passionate embrace!

But, there was something else she said, that made me think. She said that she had shown my website to her female colleagues for them to see what sort of work I do. And whereas the art was considered acceptable as most of these women in their 50's and 60's had "seen it all before" there was one burning question they were intrigued about...............

They wanted to know........................... what I looked like. Was I young or old? Was I a punk with spiky hair? What was I like as a person? It REALLY mattered to them.

And that's got me thinking. Because last week I went to the annual art festival at Patchings and had a lovely day there looking around the arts and crafts being sold there, buying a few art materials, and chatting with the artist friends I bumped into whilst I was there. But there was one artist whose work bowled me over, it was stupendous. It was stunning (I'm not chosing these words lightly, I truly was *stunned* by them to the point of losing my words to start with, then after having a long and very positive chat with the artist in question, I had a strong feeling of the other art there being of a far lesser quality, and therefore not so important for me to spend my time looking at it afterwards!). But when I told other people about her, I said "The artwork was stupendous, the technical ability was fabulous, the way it was painted really spoke to me, the choice of composition called me, and the artist was a really nice person, she was lovely to talk to, and look at, and I really liked her!"

So. Have I answered my own question. Should I put more about myself on my website? Should I put a photo of myself on it? Would it make a difference to the people who like my art? Could they relate to me better because of it?

I've always presumed that I don't need to put more personal details on my site, because "the art talks for itself". But does it say enough?

And as a post-script: One of the reasons I haven't put my photo on my website is because I do erotic art. And I'm a woman. So, if I put my photo on my website, am I going to get aggravation from it?

What do you think? And I know some of you know me in real life, and some of you don't have a clue what I look like.

Does it matter?

Fannying around

Well, the Fantasy Fanny project is certainly taking off - and I've got the Queyntes featured properly on my website now too - in their own gallery, because they shine like jewels there and I didn't want them to be rubbing up against (so to speak!!!) other paintings as I think they should be viewed alone as a collection, and the way things are going, the collection is certainly growing on a global level!

The next batch (what is the collective term for a group of fannies? - A "snatch" maybe???!!) of photos are coming in now, and to my delight some of them feature piercings. How exciting! And something that I want to incorporate if the owner of the piercing is happy for me to do so. I think that it all adds to the project in that most piercings aren't normally seen, and a lot of people wonder "where exactly?" the piercings ARE, so the paintings with the piercings will explain that, certainly! Plus, I love to see how the jewellery adds to the beauty of the area they are enhancing, and I can show that in the paintings themselves. It will also personalise the area, which is no doubt one of the reasons the owner has it done in the first place.

And the feedback for the paintings has been interesting in "real life" too - I had the chance to talk to a woman doctor last week, and told her about my new project, which interested her greatly. She said that she'd seen enough fannies to last her a life-time! (which amused me greatly!!!) but it wasn't a part of the body she found particularly attractive, and yet after she'd viewed my paintings she said how lovely the paintings were, and how wonderful the colours, and she felt it was the best art of mine she had seen, which compared to the lack of her interest in the subject matter was doubly astonishing, she felt!!!! Wow!

I also saw some friends over the weekend and was interested in showing them the paintings, as she is a psychologist and he an architect, so the feedback from them was going to be of great interest to me as it would relate to people and art. And interestingly enough, she *loved* them, and he *liked them alot* but found the colours a bit too vibrant for his tastes. They were both very interested in the art for women aspect of them, and both very very positive about them. The psychologist said that a lot of women who she sees have "dark feelings" about their vaginas, so she particularly loved the "energy" within my bright paintings.

And I'm also finding it interesting who is "not interested" in this subject too - whether its because of personal choice such as the "Thank you Jackie, but we don't feel your artwork is appropriate for what we do" type of comments. Or the, "Well I think the art is wonderful but I don't think the school where I work is the right place to exhibit it!" type of comments! Its showing me that I have a "niche market" - I just have to find the right niche to exhibit it in!!!! :)

I think that I'm starting to find the pattern of this collection of paintings too -that women "love" them, and men are left feeling a little bemused, I think.

And thankyou to the bloggers who have linked to me because of their support in this project, I really appreciate it, especially as they've all been done because you've wanted to do it, not because I've asked you to, that makes it even more special!

Unexpected responses

I attended a workshop at the weekend, one of many that I go to throughout the year. This time we were painting a Cornish harbour scene in watercolours by one of those step by step demonstrations that I dislike so much as they leave no room for your own artistic input. Not that they're made for anything but learning the technique of the artist who's teaching, so they don't expect you to use your own creativity much! This particular artist knew that the group was of a high standard so he'd brought a challenging painting for us to do. Which was fine by me. We had to draw the boats, sea, harbour wall, cottages on the hillside in the middle distance and sky above. Then he showed us how to paint the sky and hillside, followed by the middle distance, the sea and reflections and boats (boats are always a difficult subject, not that water and reflections are much easier either!!!). The tutor walked around the room, scanning everyones work and adding bits of advice as he went. Of course he didn't know any of us so he didn't know the standard of artists he was dealing with. Any one of us could have been the sort who ask "How do you make purple?". So he flitted around the room, looking at our work and adding his tutorly advice. And the bit I liked was when I could see in his eyes that he knew that I knew how to paint, even when my painting was only a quarter into the painting process, he could tell. And I liked that. Very much. I liked the respect I could see. As the day progressed, my painting progressed, and he could see I was enjoying doing it (and I was, even though it was a step-by-step painting, because it was such a challenging subject). And he brightly said "I can see you'll be doing this sort of painting again, won't you?" And I smiled. He must have been aware at that point by the muffled sniggers in the background, that he'd said something amusing. But he wasn't quite sure what. And I said, grinning, that I didn't normally paint this subject matter. And because he was a polite and interested guy he enquired "So, what do you usually paint?" and I smiled in a friendly and outgoing way and loftily said "I'll tell you at the end of the session!". He was intrigued. And five minutes later he was back again and said authoritatively "Tell me what you paint" and I replied, firmly, but again with a smile, that I would tell him at the end......

We carried on painting trying to finish the paintings in the alloted time, and at the end of the session, we all sat around in a group and each painting was put up infront of everyone else and comments were made on it, each person said what they had got out of the session and the tutor added any comments he felt were necessary. When he got to me he asked me my first name "Jackie" I said, and he took my painting off me to put it up for the others to see. He asked me what I had got out of the day, and I said how much I had enjoyed it even though I don't like step-by-step workshops and it had been a challenging subject which had suited me admirably and I was very pleased with the end result of my painting. He added a few comments about my painting, then, infront of everyone, said again, very authortively "Now, tell me what you do!" So I smiled and said "I'm an erotic artist, and if I was painting this picture myself I would incorporate a pair of lovers in one of the boats in the harbour, or hide them within the painting, perhaps making the distant hills the silhouette of a naked woman". And smiled as one of the women who knows me reasonably well quipped, "The couple are in the upstairs bedroom of the cottage second from the left!" His response was "Do you have a website?" and I smiled and said yes I had and would give him the details of it. And then a couple more people there asked me for my website address too - including the elderly woman sitting next to me, who I don't know particularly other than a smiling and pleasant woman who looks like she might bake cakes for the local WI or be a keen gardener. She was certainly the last person in that room who I expected to ask me for my erotic website address!!

And people do still surprise me by their response to my artwork. I was in the pub over the weekend and saw someone I've not seen for very many years. She's in her late twenties now and I've known her very well since she was eight. I know her family very well too and it was a delight to bump into her as I've not seen her for probably ten years or so. We hugged in delighted greeting, and she asked me what I was doing now and I said "Well, I still paint but I've changed what I do now" and she asked me what I do and I said "I'm an erotic artist" and her eyes widened in that way it does with people when they're not expecting the answer they've got and she said "Oh yes, tell me more!" and we had a really interesting conversation for the rest of the night about erotic art, art in general and erotic things, and I loved every minute of it! We also talked about our mutual travel experiences and the sex hotspots of the world we'd both visited and compared notes, but that's another story!!!!

Filling the wall

I've spent the last few days updating and twiddling with my website and am delighted with the way it's looking now! Have a look and tell me what you think. I've put on the latest new images including the two erotic landscapes, some non erotic landscapes and some erotic images. (It's just struck me that my life would be a whole lot easier if I just painted one subject matter along the lines of a tiger-and-naked-woman-in-a-fantasy-erotic-landscape-scenario.....MMMmm... yes, but then I'd get bored, so I'll continue to do the landscapes, erotic landscapes, erotic, tigers, women, fantasy, mythical creatures and amalgamations of them all and that'll keep me amused, and hopefully amuse you too!).

And I'm also delighted to announce that I'm working in conjunction with a company called blanc wall® and we can now offer one of my artworks as a whole wall of art. So instead of hanging a painting on the wall, you can decorate the whole wall instead! How good is that!!? So, if you fancy a tiger in the bedroom (and let's face it, don't we all!) a mermaid in the bathroom (now, there's an idea!), a naughty landscape in the lounge or a naked woman in the kitchen, now's your chance! blanc wall® can scan my original artwork, picking up all the fine details, and transfer them to a wallcovering to fit any size wall. The future of interior design, blanc wall® produces bespoke wallpaper for living and working environments using an innovative 3D scanning technique which enables reproductions of original fine art. blanc wall® has been created by combining some of the most innovative print technology of the decade with the visions of some of the most experienced artists and interior designers around. They use advanced 3D scanning techniques that capture every true detail both in terms of accurate colour and texture. Their unique system allows the image to be re-sized without the loss of detail, and visually the reproduction appears 3-dimensional.

I am delighted to work in conjunction with blanc wall® and offer this bespoke service to you.
So, if you're interested, contact me, and I'll happily discuss it with you. I will also happily consider any commissions for the wallcovering too. So, if you've got an idea (wicked or otherwise!) and you want me to paint it for you, email me!

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....

It gets better

The positive emails continue to come in regarding my website so I'm still a happy bunny. Claire from the erotic woman said "I've just spent an hour or so browsing your site and magnificent paintings...I am incredibly impressed with your new layout and design, it is a big step up in professionalism, usability and look. Great job!!". She also thinks I have a "sublime talent married with artistic inspiration" which makes me feel very humble (but not that much that I won't mention it!). I love the way people are responding to what I do, and how I do it, because that's what art is all about.

And just to add even more excitment to the day hornymaleuk has contacted me regarding me painting him. Now that's an interesting proposition....... cos I don't suppose its his face he'll want me to paint.....

Success!

I've spent most of the day informing people that my new website's live now, in my virtual social life, and the responses are starting to come back - all very positive and favourable so far, which is good to know!

It was a delight to hear from Sage Vivant at Custom Erotica Source again, who liked my website so much she felt the need to mention it in her blog, which touched me. Everytime I have any communication from her I get the feeling that she's a genuinely nice person, and always feel my day has been improved by her presence.

My model's coming over later to pose. She loved the drawing I did of her last week, but I haven't decided yet what pose I want to do for tonight. Sometimes the ideas just click into place, sometimes I have to work at them. One way or another - its not going to be vanilla tonight!

Alive and Kicking!

At last! The new website is live! It seemed ages ago that I started work on it, and its only the intolerable delay of the internet problems that have dragged it out - otherwise it would have been three weeks ago that it was launched. Still, we're here now, and at least I've been able to write up my blog as I've gone along. So, now I can inform everyone I know about it, as I've had lots of interest and enquiries regarding the new site, and was getting fed up with the pathetic excuse of the internet problems being the cause of the delay.

I'm pleased with the way the new site looks, its so much better than my last website, with lots more information, bigger and clearer images, and now half of the artwork is erotic, which is causing more interest already in a short space of time than the animals and landscapes have ever done in the past!

Back in the world

I cannot begin to describe the feeling of euphoria now that the internet problems that I've been experiencing for the last three weeks are seemingly over! I've been totally and utterly frustrated that I've not been able to launch or view my new website (which I've worked so hard on to produce), view anything on the internet, receive or send emails properly, or communicate fully with the world! So, now that that is behind me, I can get on again and achieve positive things again instead of battle powerlessly against other peoples negativity!

Metamorphosis

It's been an exciting week setting up my new website, especially as there will now be more emphasis on the erotic stuff, and now it's official, I've had far more interesting reactions from the people in my life - particularly the men - when I state I'm a Erotic Artist rather than just saying I'm an artist who paints figures. There's that widening of the eyes and automatic grin followed by the "Oh really? Tell me more!" reactions. Then I find they start telling me about their sex lives and secret desires and somehow they feel more at ease in my company. My good friend Peter, who has known me well enough for many years, and shown only a polite vague interest in my artwork, has suddenly, today, requested to come and see my erotic artwork! And he made the comment about getting older and perhaps not so happy about his body shape than when he was younger (so what chance do we women have if MEN think that!) and I said that was the whole point of an artist who's used to looking at naked bodies - I can add to the bits you're happy with and take from the bits you're not (thighs and bums, usually!) and produce the fantasy figure you wish you were and you can hang it on your wall and your friends can admire it for ever more - and no-one knows its not the real you with the lumpy bits underneath! Beats being vanilla, anyday!