Exciting News x 2

Hi there, lots have been happening in the world of Jessie Lilac this week. It's funny how there's a lull and then things happen all at once isn't it?
First of all I want to tell you about a gallery near Bristol called Tinca Gallery that contacted me about my paintings. I went to visit them and it was the sort of gallery I love, the rooms were interesting shapes and very light and spacious, the work displayed was gorgeous and I was very thrilled when the lovely owners asked to have my paintings there!
It's been a few months since I've been in an exhibition so some of the paintings that they liked were still on Etsy. I've taken them off there now and I've decided that my Etsy shop will be for my smaller works and my watercolours from now on. :)

My other piece of exciting news is that I've been featured on the blog of Judy Darley, a local writer. She's written a lovely article about my work and I'm so happy that I was asked. Please click here to read it! :)

Thankyou for coming here today and for allowing me to share my happy news with you. I hope you're having a lovely summer. xx

The Dream Catcher and a Giveaway Winner.

 

(crop)

I love paintings about dreams but like a lot of people I tend to forget them not long after waking. But don't you find that often the feelings and atmosphere stay but the actual events remain...

...just out of reach?

The painting I've just finished is called 'Dream Catcher.'

I quickly sketched out my idea but I didn't spend much time on the sketches because what usually happens is that the sketches are better than the finished piece!

While I was trying to draw the lines on the dreamcatcher I thought I could really have done with my old set of Spirograph! Do you remember those? :)   Hmm..maybe it's good that I didn't because I quite like the free lines of drawing rather than an accurate technical line in my drawings!

So here's the finished piece:

Like the previous watercolours I've been painting, it measures 11 x 8 inches (30 x 21cm) and is now listed in my Etsy shop. :)

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This time last Friday I held a giveaway of my Foxy Painting and now I'm here to reveal the winner. It's Elizabeth Sheehy! Congratulations Elizabeth and thankyou to everyone who entered.

Your comments here and on Facebook warmed my heart. Thankyou so much. x x

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And before I go, I want to wish all my American friends a VERY HAPPY 4th July!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

Illustration Friday, Beard.

I haven't done the Illustration Friday challenge for a while and when I saw this week's subject 'Beard' I thought it's too far out my comfort zone to tackle! As you probably know, my painting subjects tend to be female and so it won't surprise you to know that this is the first beard I've ever painted. I came back to it today and with only one day left to submit, I thought why not?!

He looks quite thoughtful doesn't he? Maybe he knows his beard has got out of hand and needs trim? :)

Poppies, Sun and a Pony and a Giveaway Fox.

Thankyou so much for your kind comments in my last post! I've had quite a busy few days and not much time to keep up with posting so this one will hop from one subject to another as I show you what I've been doing. :)
You might have noticed the top picture of the gorgeous poppies? Well a lovely friend of mine Peri Taylor had already discovered this beautiful field and as it wasn't very far from where we live, a trip there was needed as soon as possible before the blooms had gone!

Let me share their dazzlement with you.

There's always one! ;)

So different to all the others but equally as beautiful.

Aren't they lovely? I've never seen so many up close like this before, it was a rare treat.

art journal page

The summer Solstice is a time when we go for an evening walk somewhere special (but not too far away) with my brother. This year we went to place called Coaley Peak. The weather was perfect and after both of us getting lost en route (!) (even though we were coming from different locations!) we finally arrived in time to watch the sun go down on the longest day.

Before I go, I want to show you the painting I've recently finished called 'Dip-dye Pony'.

If I was younger I'd like my hair to be like this. :) The beauty of being an artist is that I can still create the effect without actually doing it to my own hair!   #perksofbeinganartist ;)

This painting is watercolour and measures 11 x 8 inches (30 x 21cm) and is now available in my Etsy shop!

So onto the GIVE AWAY!

I've recently finished painting this watercolour painting and I thought it would be a nice idea to hold a giveaway with this as your prize! :)

There are 2 ways you can enter:

1. Put a link to this post on your sidebar of your blog or in a blogpost, leave a comment below telling me that you have. :)

or/and... 

2. Click HERE to enter on Facebook.

(You can of course do both for an extra chance of winning.) I'll be having the draw this coming Friday 4th July.

Thankyou for coming here to read my blog and for your wonderful supportive messages, I appreciate every one. xx

Verbena Delight

 

Hello! It's a very sunny day again today and I've had a busy family filled couple of days. It's lovely to be able to sit in the garden and enjoy the flowers that are springing up everywhere. One of the pots of flowers that have caught my eye lately is the one with verbena growing in it. I love the way the flowers grow in clusters together.

I like it so much I was inspired to paint my next painting featuring them.
Here it is:

It was fun drawing all those little flowerheads! I've listed this in my Etsy shop if you'd like to have a look. :)

Sitting in the garden took a different turn yesterday because I had a bit of an accident with the deckchair...!

OOPS!

I couldn't move for ages because I was laughing so much. Enough time for my children to take a picture!

Have a lovely weekend and I hope it's sunny where you are too. I won't be sitting in a deckchair any time soon! x x

Foxes in my Dreams

A little while ago I had a very vivid dream of a brightly coloured fox running through the woods. It was very close to me and I was overwhelmed with it's bright coat. I wanted to recreate the feeling of the dream but as I was painting, it changed to a memory I have.
While walking along the river one day in Totnes, in the distance a fox ran across the fields by edge of the trees. Its coat was so orangey bright that it shone against the landscape. Compared to the urban foxes that live around here, it looked so healthy. We have a lot of foxes near where we live, in fact there's been a den at the bottom of the garden for a few years. It's actually the other side of the fence so I haven't actually seen it but have I heard them????! They've been really noisy the last few nights!

I've only ever drawn a fox a couple of times before so I did a few sketches to get to know the shapes.

Here's an old painting I did about 5 years ago. The fox isn't at all well as you can see!

I painted a fox again a year or two later...

Alive and well and wearing a rather nice blue coat!

Here's my very latest painting...

'Daydream'

It's interesting to me how my watercolour style has changed from the previous fox paintings to this one.

I wonder which one you prefer?

(close-up of 'Daydream')

Daydream is now in my Etsy shop. It measures approximately 11 x 8 inches (30 x 21cm) and I've used good quality 300gsm watercolour paper and Scmincke watercolours paints - (my favourite!) To see more details please click here.

:) x x

Feathers

At the end of my last post I gave you a little taster of what I was going to be working on next. It's a bit different to the sketch but the composition's still quite similar. 

It had a bit of a disaster towards the end of the painting because I had the bright idea of adding more detail to the background. I wanted to save the areas where I'd painted the feathers and the girl's face so I coated them in masking fluid so that they wouldn't get splashed with paint.

Big mistake!

When I tried to remove the masking, half the girl's face came off and so did one of the feathers! Luckily I was painting on very thick 300gsm watercolour paper so after my initial panic I discovered that it was tough enough to lose a thin top layer in a few places! 

It's all fine and dandy now because I repainted them and here below you can see the final piece.

She's now sitting in my Etsy shop waiting and ready to go to a new home. :) Please click here to see. xx

Beatrice and Her Bees

 Hi there, Do you remember at the end of my last post I was showing you my sketches of bees and told of my plans to make a painting about them?

I've finished the painting and here it is in the very place of the garden where my inspiration came from!

I'm calling it 'Beatrice and Her Bees' and it's now listed in my Etsy shop. :)

I enjoyed drawing the little bees and the details on the basketware. I could have gone on adding details for ever but something told me it was time to stop and to move on to a new painting. :)

The new painting will have feathers.

It'll be a bit like this sketch.

I'll see you soon with an update! xx