'Keane' Pastel of retired Police Dog. Work in Progress.

Start of a large pastel of 'Keane' a retired Police Dog. As this pastel was to be a surprise for his owner I have had to delay posting it on here. The above sketch was worked lightly with pencil and then vandyke brown pastel pencil on top so that it showed up on the photo. Proportions had to be exact at the first stage as corrections are not easy to do in pastel.

'Young Bengal Tiger' - Graphite on Mellotex

Time to work has been in very short supply these last months due to urgent family commitments but here is an 8" x 6" study done for a late Christmas present. Snow on both sides of the ocean held up delivery so much I feared it was lost in transit but it finally arrived just in time for the New Year. Hopefully this Tiger will soon join the others already on the recipient's wall.

This was the first experiment with Mellotex and I found it very good to use, it accepted the graphite readily for a great depth of black in places and a soft kneaded putty rubber lifted it off for the lighter hairs without damaging the surface. I am looking forward to working with it again.

'Spirit of the Desert'

'Spirit of the Desert' Another black Arabian stallion. I just love painting blacks with all their shine and deep colours in the coat. This was a pastel portrait of 'Ali Bey' a beautiful stallion owned at one time by a friend in Cornwall.

At the moment work is progressing on the large commission for a private client and it is killing me not being able to post new stuff... but hopefully in the future :)

Desert Born - Oil on canvas

An Arabian, at last! Well not a really new one but I thought folks would think I never paint them as it has been a while since one of this beautiful breed has appeared on the blog. (I am still working on the large private project so work to post here has been thin on the ground for some time.) I have a soft spot for this painting as he was here on the wall for a while before he was sold to a client in Staffordshire in the UK.

With two poorly menfolk at home it is difficult to fit everything in, an elderly Father and my husband who appears to be having gallbladder colic - ouch! Yet another scan due soon and maybe then we will see what is going to be done to relieve his pain.

Meanwhile I am working on as much as possible and would like to send thanks to my very patient followers.

Magnolia Stellata

Spring has finally arrived, despite the cold easterly wind. The pink Magnolia Stellata is blooming at the front of the house to welcome all that arrive. Difficult to get a good photo with that wind blowing the delicate petals around. If the wind drops I will try again. This is one of my favourite shrubs, it holds on to its buds all through the snow and ice of winter and then unfolds them when milder weather arrives. Every spring I make a resolution to paint it, if only there were more hours in the day.

Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill Removed

Thankfully, during the committee stage and third reading of the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Commons yesterday Clause 43 was removed from the Bill. There had been a lot of opposition to this clause and on this occasion common sense prevailed.

For further details go to this site

Digital Economy Bill- removing the rights of creators.

Alarm bell are ringing amongst Artists and Photographers regarding the above Bill.

Clause 43 of this Bill is undefined and unclear, and appears to be based on consultation (which the Government can ignore.)

Extended Collective Licensing is also introduced by Clause 43. This means that someone finding an image, even if they can trace it back to you, does not have to contact you for permission to use it! They can go to a Government appointed 'collecting society' who will charge them a fee so they can do whatever they like with YOUR image.

This exploitation of creative works must be stopped now. Use this link to identify your MP (if you do not know him/her) and register your disagreement. Many thanks to Tracy Hall a fellow artist and blogger for the 'heads up' on this.