Hello Friends,

Happy August!

The recent warm weather has been lovely and spurred me into action to start tackling the garden again - even if it’s just with the pressure washer and lawn mower for now!

What’s on my easel

Exciting happenings on the easel at the moment - the long-awaited next in the UK series of shadow paintings - SCOTLAND is in progess :) 

Following on from my popular Dragon Daffodil painting, I’m in the middle of painting a Scottish version - complete with the Unicorn and Thistle national emblems. The plan is to create 100 limited edition prints of this design, and of course sell the original painting too! There are still a few Limited Edition prints of the Dragon Daffodil painting remaining - I’ll be offering a bundle deal for the Scottish and Welsh ones when the Scottish one is released, and you’ll be the first to hear about it here. Once the Scottish one is done, there’ll be an Irish and English one to follow to complete the set.

What’s on my mind

I’m curious if any of you are fans of my ‘Freedom’ painting that I did a while ago. It’s a bit of a detour from my usual style, and a much looser way of painting. Loosening up is one way of being able to work faster, and the time constraints of working full time, raising a family, running a household, running an art business and studying are taking their toll. With this in mind I thought I’d try another painting in that style - also with an animal. Should I do another horse? A cat? Something completely different? I will also be soon offering prints of the Freedom painting, but will send you more details of that when available.

What’s next

August always sees me juggling childcare and painting but I’m fortunate to be doing a bit of travelling too. I’m lucky enough to be spending some time in Crete (hence the photo at the top of this email) and I’ve packed a tiny but comprehensive art kit with me, in the hope that I’ll have a chance to sketch or paint while I’m away.

Here’s what my kit looks like:

Yes, its quite a limited amount of supplies (paintbrushes not pictured) and yes - that sketchbook is only 2 inches square! It should be a fun challenge. Look out for the results of my tiny studio in my next newsletter. :)

Until then,

Gemma