Remember

It's been a frantic day today! Rushing from home to gallery to framers, I was asked a few times "how are you today?" and I can honestly say fantastic! My new children's book that I've written and illustrated should be finished and with me by early next week, I have two galleries to supply paintings with by wednesday and paintings are in progress for charity ventures that I love......this and juggling being a busy mum, why do I feel so great?

It's because I'm doing something that I love!

After painting the poppies in remembrance of our brave servicemen lost to war and sitting back looking at it, taking time to reflect, I would like to say that I really appreciate the fact that I am able to do something that I love. My hearts go out to the families of our lost ones.

We will never forget x

http://www.kayeparmenter.co.uk/

Milk time!

Firstly I'd like to offer a warm welcome to those visiting my blog, I am thoroughly enjoying sharing news with you and I hope that you like my posts.

I wonder if any fellow artists feel the same as me - sometimes I feel that my best work is produced when I feel an emotional connection to the subject.

I definitely felt emotional watching the "Elephant Diaries" on television and indeed some members of our family found it too disturbing and sad to watch. The program is about orphaned baby elephants where, often its mother and family have been gunned down to serve the Ivory trade. In Nairobi, Kenya, a tiny Elephant Nursery, under the auspices of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, offers hope for any orphaned elephant fortunate enough to be found alive.

Having painted the above baby elephant, who is being fed a bottle of special milk by a keeper, I emailed a photo of the painting to the Trust. Angela Sheldrick replied and asked if I would mind if my painting was sent as a gift as one of the monthly paintings sent to the foster parents of the elephants. Angela is an artist too and I was delighted to be able to help.

It's a truly amazing organisation and their website is wonderful:

http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/index.asp

The Evening Post!

"Harmony"

Painted in 2009 as part of a Charity Auction.

I saw a television program today, explaining that spending time on your computer late at night, may stop you sleeping - I'm laughing now as it's late and I shouldn't be here! As this is the only spare time I have, I may have to stay up just a little later before feeling sleepy!

My time recently has been spent with family holidays and birthday celebrations but in amongst the chaos, I was keen to find the time to return to a place dear to me. In 2009, two very special people successfully bid on a pet portrait commission (pictured above) that I had offered to help raise money for their village hall.

At the auction, I was made to feel so welcome and I have since been touched by the support this couple have given by travelling some distance to see all my subsequent exhibitions. I was keen to reciprocate and a couple of weeks ago, inbetween the busy times at home, I took some of my paintings to their local art show, one of which was inspired by our recent holiday to Cornwall. I was honoured to be advised this had been elected "Best in Show".

I feel that there are so many directions that your art journey can take. This road started with a risk - doing something that I wasn't sure about. There's nothing quite like sitting within an audience in an auction where your painting is the next lot!!! I took the risk and the rewards have been to meet some wonderful people - a great experience.

Thank you so much!!

http://www.kayeparmenter.co.uk/

Risks

After a long walk in the Lake District and a much needed ice-cream at the Honister Mines, Alan mentioned to me that the owner of the mines, Mark Weir, had sadly lost his life in a helicopter crash earlier this year. The lady sitting next to us joined in our conversation and it soon became clear to me that he was a character who lived life to the full. On leaving the tea room, I noticed the engraved slate photographed below.

I dedicate this to my family who believe in me:

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk being sentimental.

To reach out to others is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.

To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair, to try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.

Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has forfeited his freedom.

Only the person who risks is truly free.

Having now had a look on the internet and read about Mark, I can indeed see that he must have taken risks in his life and indeed lived it to the full. I am very sorry for his wife and children that he has left behind.

I like the dedication and find it very thought-provoking.....

www.honister-slate-mine.co.uk

Fun in five minutes!

Either at the beginning of a painting session, or at the end, I think it is a great idea to have fun with a watercolour sketch that should take you no longer than five minutes to complete.

Take any subject and a small piece of paper and simply paint, fast and loose!

Try not to make the sketch perfect, don’t get fiddly. Look at dark areas, look at light areas and decide before you pick up the brush where you are going to start.

With this ballerina, I wet the tutu area before starting. I wanted this to be diffused and “fuzzy” looking.

Mixing up a grey, I painted the bodice onto the dry paper, allowing the grey to mix into the water on the tutu. With the surplus grey on the brush, I stroked it into the tutu to suggest folds.

I then applied burnt sienna onto dry paper on the hair. Quickly mixing up a skin colour with raw sienna and alizarin crimson, I painted the neck and arms, allowing the paints to mix. As the paint was quite bold in colour, I added a brush clean water to the paper above the arm and allowed it to run down through the skin and bodice.

With mixes of alizarin crimson and Ultramarine blue I painted shadows on the legs and minimal shadows detail on the shoes just to indicate leg position.

PUT BRUSH DOWN!!!!

Fun and only five minutes MAX!!

www.kayeparmenter.co.uk

Look on the bright side!

Having sat for an hour in the garden of a Holiday Cottage in the Lake District last year at midnight, watching a lone peanut butter sandwich on the grass in front of me waiting for the badger rustling in the bushes to appear, I was not down-hearted. I grabbed a glass of wine and stared up into the sky where, with the lack of light-pollution, the view of the stars was unbelievably beautiful.

The badger didn't appear but I still saw nature at it's best.

There's always a bright side :-)

Have fun tomorrow everyone.

www.kayeparmenter.co.uk

Going Quackers!

Thank you to everyone who is following my blog, I am really enjoying the extra time that I have to paint now that my exhibition has finished. But as ever, there is always something around the next corner! I'm enjoying painting for the 303 Gallery Summer Exhibition, titled "Splash" - I expect to finish these tomorrow. Then I'm looking forward to preparing for my next workshop and painting commissions.

We are planning a small family break soon, again it is to another lovely part of the country - I surely won't be able to leave my brushes at home, lol!!!

www.kayeparmenter.co.uk