A bed of roses......

Before I forget how to use blogger completely, I thought I`d better write a post asap.  So sorry to all those who follow me here,  but life is so busy and these days I generally use Facebook and now Twitter for most of my social media networking, etc.  If only I could afford an agent to do all that for me, lol!  Then maybe I would have more time to actually paint!!

Well, to get straight to the point, I don`t know if any of you read my post a while back about entering competitions, but for me, 2016 got off to a great start.  One of my pieces got accepted for the Royal Watercolour Society`s Contemporary Watercolour Competition!!  Even though it is one of my favourite waterbased media pieces I`ve done so far, I was actually a little shocked that it got through.  It`s a pretty high profile art show and the competition is huge.  For many, open entries are a bit of a taboo subject. Usually there is an entry fee, and if you live across the water like I do, or even further afield, delivery of artwork can cost a small fortune.  Fingers crossed Rosa (below) sells!! As much as I love her, I hope I don`t ever see her again (except for the opening night on the 3rd March, which I`m really hoping I`ll be able to attend, even though that`ll be even more expense :/ )
For the last few years now, since I started to work in watercolour, I have been in awe of many of the society`s members, bought a few of their painting videos and books, while finding my own path on this watercolour journey.  It`d be awesome to meet some of them in person!

 

Saying goodbye to Rosa before she heads off to The Bankside Gallery in London. Please excuse the reflections in the glass, the big white label stuck on the front,and the rather bad model! but you get a better idea of the size of the painting this way.

But whatever your opinion, the fact remains that getting through to these events can only be positive in an artist`s career.  You never know what doors it might open, and it feels nice to have some kind of formal recognition of your work.  That said, rejection is part of life, and on the flipside when your email reads "unfortunately, on this occasion..." you need to get past that too. I entered three into the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) in Dublin.   It was my first time, and none of them got accepted. Should I feel disheartened? I probably wouldn`t be human if I didn`t a bit.  Should I feel envious of those who did get accepted, or as so many artists sadly do, praise them to their faces and then stick a knife in their back later: gossip about how on earth they got in when your work is so much better? No, I shouldn`t.  Maybe their work is better, maybe it`s just different.  Maybe....
Beauty, and talent, are often in the eye of the beholder, nowhere more so perhaps than in the visual arts. 

As I grow, and grow older, as a human being and an artist, life has taught me that being happy for others`successes can be every bit as gratifying as enjoying one`s own.  I often feel like life is in fact a bed of roses.....there`s so much beauty to be had, but thornpricks are inevitable.  I suppose it`s how we deal with our triumphs as well as our defeats, that make the difference.

It seems I have had quite a thing about roses lately: a few of my pieces using the iconic flower, all of which were initially inspired by an old porcelain jug with a pattern of pink roses on a black background, which I found on Ebay.

Yours truly working on The Housekeeper, now SOLD

 Rose In The Night Garden, oils on canvas, SOLD

Rose And The Magpie

coloured pencils

available