Jessie Lilac Blog

'Edge of the Forest',  mixed media on canvas.  This week I've been working on another landscape painting, this one's on canvas and believe it or not started out its life with a big boat in the foreground covered in roses. I thought I'd taken a photo of it at that stage but I've looked through all my pictures and it doesn't look like I have. I'm afraid you're just going to have to imagine what that looked like, sorry! This one was worked on in the same way as before, building up layers of paint and collage paper, aiming all the while for a balance of shapes and colours. I finally came to a point where I decided that the cottage needed a doorway.  Here's a close-up (above) of how the cottage looked at this stage, I liked it like this but I felt it needed a door. So here it is with a door and with the walls painted a brighter shade of peachy orange and the green tree to the left a little more finished. I'd changed the f...

Every year at the time of the Summer Solstice it's a family tradition to go for a walk somewhere high up, with a good view of the sunset. When my brother lived in Swindon we'd go to Barbury Castle but now he's moved to another area, this year we thought we'd go to a different place that's closer to where he now lives. I blogged about our Barbury Castle walks in 2011  here  and in 2010   here . :) This year we went to  May Hill !  They say you can see 12 counties from here. The view was spectacular even though it was getting dark and a little cloudy. We could clearly see the Brecon Beacons, the Mendips and the River Severn to name but a few. I'd love to come back again one sunny day during daylight hours, it really was an incredible view. My photos don't do it justice at all but I think you get the idea! What a perfect place to watch the sun go down on the longest day of the year. ******** Do you reme...

What is this 'painting' thing that we do, where we lay down colours that please our eyes? And add images we like, a cottage, a tree, then lose them in more shapes and colours, stamping and stencilling, splashing and dripping? When there seems to be no end in sight as the cottage comes and goes, layer after layer? Where we relish and enjoy the thick gold paint as it twinkles on the canvas, adding more, then taking more away? Until finally... A new painting is born. Thankyou for visiting here today! This new painting is called ' Sunlit Cottage ' and is now available to buy in my Etsy shop.  This painting has now sold -thankyou! ♥ Prints are now available to buy here . xx

Spring crept up behind me and pounced. While the earth stirred into new life, already the colours of Spring flowers were fading. A remembered bluebell walk had now transformed into green. I love to walk in the woods, each time of year has something new to show. I love how the light from the sky shines through the trees and this was my inspiration for this painting. I call it ' Green Glade '.  (crop)  (crop) It measures 16 x 16 inches (40 x 40cm) and is painted with mixed media on deep box style canvas. Please click  here  to see more details. :)   Still inspired from my time in the woods, here's another new painting on canvas, it's called ' The Tree of Life '. This one measures 20 x 16 inches (50 x 40cm)  and as I do with all my paintings on canvas, I've attached brass hooks and wire on the back so it's ready to hang. Please click here  if you'd like to see all the details.  (crop) ...

As you can see from my photo above and the title of the post,  this is going to be all about my love of pretty cottages! I took this one above of Rose Cottage at Cockington Village near Torquay, I love the thatched porch don't you? Here's another from the same area, with a gorgeous garden too...  This next one that I took is in Lacock in Wiltshire. I can feel my heart beating faster just looking at the little leaded windows and the beautiful old stonework! If you've been to St Ives then you might recognise Norway House. (above) How sweet is that fenced garden with the tall hollyhocks?! Helford Village in Cornwall is such an idyllic place with thatched cottages nestled around the creek. It's the same area where the novel 'Frenchman's Creek' by Daphne du Maurier is written. I took this photo while on holiday in Cornwall last summer and I was reading that novel at the time so it made it even more enjoyable for me to see. ...