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!!!!

Here she is!

Here it is - the unveiling, at long last! You've waited a long time to see her, but I wanted her to be right before I showed her to you.

As I said recently, I wasn't happy with the original acrylic painting that I did a couple of years ago. It just wasn't "right" somehow although I couldn't work out the reason why until only a few weeks ago, it was just an undefined feeling about it. So, I decided I had to change it because I couldn't live with it in the state it was in! The decision was made - it needed to be overpainted in oils. Big decision, but certainly the RIGHT one, because as you can see in the new painting, it is SOOOOOOOO much better for that change! I've put both paintings here so that you can see the difference, and even I am amazed at the difference in the two paintings of the same subject matter. Whereas the acrylic painting is harsh and has sharp colours and tones, the oil painting is just so much softer both in colour and tone, and in blending the paint. The woman blends into the background better, and is so more softly sensual for being in oils. She oozes sensuality for me now. Her skin colour and tone is far more realistic. Her breast has more weight and shape to it, the nipple is more the focal point and is aching to be caressed, I love the line down her spine and particularly I love the soft shadow at the top of the crack of her bum. Her buttocks are round and inviting, and I ADORE the lost and found edges of her right arm, the way it merges in the soft light of the background and disappears behind that gorgeous curve of her back. I much prefer her hair in this picture, its more realistic, and the way you can JUST see her fingers under the hair as she runs her fingers appealingly through it. And you probably can't see from this photo but there are subtle fine splatters of white paint around her bum, her hair, and her right arm, so the viewer is aware that there is a little movement there, she's just shifting slightly on her legs which has moved her bum abit, so then you think well what's that right hand doing, the one you can't see fully. What's she up to? And is that why she's moved her bum, shifting her weight on her folded legs. Is that ........why................?

And that is one of the reasons I've renamed the painting too. It was originally called "Without a care" because the thought was the woman in the painting was "carefree" but now it's not enough of a title. I wanted a different one, a better one, one that summed up her voluptuous temptress pose and after a while I came up with the new title - it's "Naked desire" and I much prefer it as it's far more ambiguous!

Well, I for one think she's gorgeous (but then I'm biased!!) ........what do you think?

Wall to wall

It's looking for opportunities when they occur and leaping in when you get the chance that's something I keep an eye out for. The other week I was at the dentist and noticed that the waiting room had been re-decorated since my last visit. And there in front of me was a large and very B A R E patch of wall..... and I just have this big urge to FILL it with a painting when I see one of those! And I could envisage a nice painting there, oh yes, with my name in the bottom right hand corner, of course! But a painting of what, for a dentist? Ah, yes, I know, big cheesy smiles! Excellent choice! They would keep the nervous patients happy, and be a good advert for good teeth at the same time! I mentioned to my dentist that I was interested in painting a picture for the reception, but so far haven't heard anything. And I bet when I next go back, they've ignored my idea and put something boring up like a local landscape.... Sigh. That's not very toothy is it??!

And this last week I found that there's an excellent farm shop opened locally, so I went along at the weekend to check it out and was delighted with the excellent quality of the food and the reasonable prices. I made some purchases and had a quick chat with the owner about the cafe they have there with lots of empty wall space and said that I lived locally, was an artist and wondered if she'd be interested in putting my paintings on the walls. She said they'd been looking for an artist since they'd opened a year ago and would be interested in seeing my artwork. We made an arrangement for me to go to see her today and she said she'd prefer "landscapes" to anything else for her walls. (And before you ask, funnily enough I didn't mention the erotic landscapes I do - I didn't want her clientele choking on their tea-cakes when they saw some of the more raunchy stuff I paint!).

So, I went along this morning and took with me nine of my paintings to show her a selection of my artwork. She wasn't interested in the tigers (but then they're not very local to this area!) but went a real WOW over a painting I did some time ago of a cockerel and hen. It's here for you to look at and is called "Birds of a feather". She adored the bright colours and farmyard theme of it, understandably, if she's running a farm shop! So I'll choose that one along with some similar ones. We've agreed a "sale or return basis", which means she gets the paintings to hang on the walls and doesn't pay me for them. They stay in my ownership. But if she sells any, she'll take a percentage and I'll have the bulk of the selling price. Its a good arrangement for all concerned - the visitors to her cafe will have paintings to look at, changed regularly, and the opportunity to buy them; the owner of the cafe gets free artwork and an opportunity to make a bit of money if the paintings sell; the artist gets a wall to hang pictures on, and since it's a cafe the visitors are a captive audience and tend to sit and look at the art rather than miss it all together, and maybe they'll buy something. If the pictures don't sell, they come back to the artist.

And the best bit of this conversation was the farm shop owner said they'd been looking for a while for an artist to put some pictures on their walls, and they hadn't found one they liked until they saw my artwork. Yay!!! And the best bit is she wants TEN pictures on the wall!!! Hey, another YAY!!!! And she might commission me to do some other artwork for the rest of the shop, which they'll pay me for!!!! Wow!!! Triple YAY!!!!