If you want to see more of my art ...

On the off chance that you've been checking in here to see more of my paintings, you might want to head over to http://karenmcswansilsby.blogspot.com.au/ , my dedicated art blog.

blooming true

Named for the course I mentioned in the previous post, as well as the flowers in the painting, this is the second canvas I completed during Flora Bowley's Bloom True e-course.

blooming true.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 30 x 30 inches. $AU400.00.

Some details from the finished painting:

I'll come back when I get a chance and write some more about the process this one went through.

between darkness and light

This is one of the two paintings I completed during a recent 5-week e-course in which I was fortunate to win a place recently. I highly recommend the course - Flora Bowley's Bloom True . If nothing else, go watch the video in the link - it's less than three minutes, and gives you a good idea of what it's all about.

between darkness and light.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 30 x 30 inches. $AU400.00.

Details from the finished painting:

I'll come back and write more about the process later :)

sometimes, impossible things - SOLD

sometimes, impossible things.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 30 x 24 inches. $AU350.00. [SOLD]

time like a river

time like a river.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 30 x 15 inches. $AU240.00.

starlight, north coast

It's interesting how things find their way into these paintings. I liked the initial soft background for this one (see the progress shots below), but I was sick and on dosing up on codeine-containing cold tablets, fingerpainting seemed like a good idea. But I hated what I did to it. Fortunately, there are no mistakes in this style of painting - it's all just steps on the way, and sometimes things that feel wrong lead you on to something that feels very very right in the end.

I liked the 'ice flower' stage (the third progress photo), but it wasn't finished, and I didn't know where to go from there. And then the phone call came that my uncle had died suddenly, and quick plans were made to get my parents to the north coast for the funeral. This was complicated by health issues, including mum having had a shoulder replacement just days before, so I volunteered to help with the driving.

The stars in the country are so much more significant, without the light pollution of urban development, and it's cane fire season up north (my uncle was a sugar cane farmer), and on my return, both these elements made their way into the painting, together with the stark skeletons of trees left from bushfires - a familiar sight along Australian roads.

starlight, north coast.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 30 x 15 inches. $AU240.00.

lines of communication

Some time ago I bought three 12 x 12" canvases, with the idea that restarting painting would be easier on a small scale. I was wrong, and I find it much more inspiring to work on a larger surface. But I don't like to waste materials, and a friend suggested I put the canvases together to work on them. This is where it led ...

lines of communication.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, varnished, unframed. 3 panels, each 12 x 12 inches. $AU350.00.