Gatwick commission

Walkway to the skies

Things are once again busy for me, which is great.
I had a phone call out of the blue about a month ago from a gentleman who wanted to commission me two large paintings for a new Wetherspoons pub based in the South Terminal at Gatwick airport. I obviously jumped at the chance! The only downside was that they had to be completed in 3 weeks! That was pushing it, but I knew I could just about manage it...with a few late nights involved!
He wanted the paintings in my Fractured style, something, he said, that was exactly what he was looking for! The pub, was to be called The Beehive. Based on one of the first ever departure terminal buildings in the UK. It is very Art Deco in style, and wonderful building.
This is what The Beehive building looks like now.

I was sent numerous photos, style boards and plans from the buildings architects, and from that began to sketch out ideas for the painting.
Both paintings are 1.1m x 1m and 1.2m x 90cm respectively. And varnished for protection.

'Fracturing the Beehive'
The pub is opening on the 30th August, on landside. I'm due to go in September so will hopefully see them up then!!

Results are in!

It's that time of year now, where results from the competitions I have entered start to dribble in!
I was unsuccessful in the deckchair competition and the Battle Contemporary art fair this time, however I was pleased to find out that 2 of my coloured pencil drawings were accepted into this years UKCPS exhibition which is being held in Westminster. The Millennium Wheel and The Gherkin (topical, yes) were chosen. I painted these in Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on Fabriano Artistico paper. That paper I find to be very resilient to layers of pencil, and it's also very smooth, which is what I am after.

Millennium Wheel

The Gherkin

These will be hung and I will also be able to sell some greeting cards. I will be attending the show (dates to be confirmed) where I will be demoing this style of work. It'll be great to see everything hung altogether!

I am still waiting for results of the Hahnemule Calender watercolour competition, but there were ALOT of entries, so I don't think I'll be in the running. This is the painting I submitted.

I tried to make it stand out and as bright and colourful as I could!!

Now, I am a bit of a cricket nut. I used to play until I fell pregnant. (not a good idea to run around chasing after a very hard ball if you are) but I was bitten by the bug and watch all the England games I can.
This is my homage to Jonathon Trott, one of our finest batsman at present. I tried to evoke the movement of the bat and swing which I think works quite well with my Fractured technique. I hope you like it! I completed it in Derwent chalk pastels on black pastel paper.

Jonathon Trott playing in a one day International.

One last thing. I have a wonderful client who keeps coming back for more paintings for her lovely house. She is a fan of my floral collage paintings and she commissioned me to paint a pink tulip to co ordinate with her armchairs. This is the painting in situ, and it looks great!! It was completed in acrylic with tissue paper collage in the background, and is 80cm square on a chunky canvas.

I am now undertaking a very big commission, which I cannot say too much about until next week! It's certainly keeping me busy.