Le Nonne

Le Nonne

The main reason I paint these days is for my own personal pleasure and not what many people like or want to buy for that matter. Come to think of if it, I haven't sold a painting since last November! It is however, nice to be able to be relaxed when painting and not worry about meeting any deadline or pleasing anybody I guess.

Although I have several different styles going at the moment, I still occasionally try something a bit different, suddenly and spontaneously changing the way I work. Often it doesn't work or I get stuck or fail to portray what is going on in my head. But just occasionally something clicks and I think "oh, that actually works" or then I think that I've done something that is obviously different and not sure if it has worked or not.

The painting "Le Nonne" is one such work, something quite different for me. Friends that have seen it say they like it, but you are never quite sure about what they are saying because a lot of folk don't want to offend you and will say something is good when they may really feel otherwise. Any way, this work is based on a black-and-white photo my daughter took when on holiday in Italy last year. As I knew nothing about what the true colours of the scene were, I decided that rather than do a black-and-white work, I could get some earthy colours going - you know something like Rembrandt would go for. The resultant limited palette turned out something like sepia tone.

Just on the off chance, I thought that I would submit this painting a bit further afield than our small, local events. I've done this a few times over the last year or two, but always been rejected. Imagine my amazement then, when I got an email saying my submission has been accepted! So now, from March 14th - May 4th 2015, this work will be on show at the Leicester and East Midlands Open Art Exhibition 2015 to be held at the Newarke House Museum. Wow, what a result!