And the winner is.....

Congratulations to Eileen, the Dream, who sadly blogs no more but is the winner of my competition and of the French Fancy painting. I'll be in touch regarding delivery Ei... and thank you to everyone else who kindly entered their names into the draw: better luck next time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you can see I'm not blogging much these days (hands full with a sick husband) but I am still hopeful, and full of good intentions to get round to you all very soon.
A big shout out to all my dear blogging friends, known and unknown... Happy Surfing!

A SPECIAL CELEBRATION! - Free Prize Draw

On the 29th June 2008 my website

 www.elizabeth-freeman.co.uk will be 2 years old!  

To celebrate this special anniversary I am running a competition...

"French Fancies" 

 approx. 12" x 12".  Oils on canvas

The prize is this original still life of "French Fancies", painted by me, and to be posted to the winner where ever they are in the world.  

To enter the competition, simply send an email to me at:   lizzi.freeman@btopenworld.com with your own email address and you will be entered into the prize draw.  

 

Entry is absolutely free!  Only one entry per person.

The winner will be the first person whose name is drawn out of a hat on 29th June at 12 o'clock midday (GMT).  You will be notified by email if you are the lucky winner.

Tell your family and friends so that they can enter too!

Good Luck Everyone!

Buona Fortuna

Bonne chance

Viel Glueck

Buena Suerte

祝好运

Хорошее Везение

All entrants to the prize draw will also have their email address added to my mailing list, unless you specify that you do NOT wish this to be the case.  

My mailing list, and all personal information therein, is held in the strictest confidence and never shared with a third party.  By adding your email address to my mailing list you thus agree to occasionally receive notice of any special events and exclusive offers relating to my artwork.  You can unsubscribe from these emails at any time.  Thank you.  :-)

The Headteacher would like to see you...

SCHOOL ~


Hound Tor, Dartmoor, Devonshire

I have been feeling weary, oh so weary lately: mostly in body, a little bit in spirit. However a nice thing happened today that lifted my spirits.

Collecting Son from school today I was informed that "The Headteacher would like to see you...". Oh dear!! Thankfully and to my relief it was not regarding our son but regarding yours truly! In short:-
One set of school inspectors have just left (their inspection of the school was in the same week that the children had their SAT tests, for goodness sake!!) and now another set are due. Volunteers are required to answer questions from the Inspectors, giving honest opinions about the school and how it is run... would I be interested? She said that, quote: " We thought of you because you are so positive, honest and kind". How's that to cheer a person up!

It is a long time since I was told that the Headteacher wanted to see me... If only it had been for such a nice comment back then too :-)


DARTMOOR ~


View from Hound Tor, Dartmoor, Devonshire

The last few days I have been racking my brain for a half decent post. Lots of things have been happening but they are either not suitable for, or would take too long to post, here.


From Hound Tor looking Towards Haytor, Dartmoor, Devonshire

Then yesterday, while skipping over to Becca & Bella to look for some favourite garden photos (more on gardens in my next post), I discovered a lovely poem by RS Thomas entitled "The Moor"... it is perfect to accompany these photographs that I took whilst up on our local moorland - 'Dartmoor National Park' - a few weeks ago. Perfect, thank you!


Dartmmor, Devonshire

"It was like a church to me.
I entered it on soft foot,
Breath held like a cap in the hand.
It was quiet.
What God was there made himself felt.
Not listened to, in clean colours
That brought a moistening of the eye,
In movement of the wind over grass."

"There were no prayers said.
But stillness of the heart's passions - that was praise
Enough; and the minds cession
Of its kingdom.
I walked on, simple and poor, while the air crumbled
And broke on me generously as bread."


Towards Widdicombe, Dartmoor, Devon.

GIANTS ~

Sssshhhhh!! Can you keep a BIG secret...??
Our son told me and I promised not to tell..... Ooopppssss.

Dartmoor is also home to giants and dinosaurs.

See, here are the giants' footprints...


'Footprints' at Hound Tor, Dartmoor.

And close up....



Plus giant dinosuar poo, apparently...!


Don't you just love 6 year old boys! ;-)

(All images, text and content copyright of E Freeman. )

DEATH IN VENICE

When we were sailing down the Grand Canal in Venice a few months ago (I love saying that ;-) ) the boat turned a corner and I was confronted with this looming out of the mist:




A enormous metal skull made from kitchen pots and pans, sitting outside the Pinault Collection, overlooking the Grand Canal at the Palazzo Grassi.

We christened it 'Death In Venice'.

I felt sure that this work of art was probably by Damien Hirst, considering it was a skull, but I wasn't completely sure: why? Because I actually liked this piece :-)
Also it had a sense of humour about itself. When you get closer you can see that the stainless steel kitchen pots and pans which it is made from are rusting already; the whole piece will decay fairly quickly, very apt in this location!

When I got home I did a bit of research and quickly discovered, via Google, that in fact the artist is called Subodh Gupta, nicknamed "The Damien Hirst of Delhi" . Read more about Subodh Gupta here or via Google.

Sadly we didn't have time to visit any of the excellent museums or art galleries, choosing to focus instead on the artwork and paintings that were still in their original locations (Rubens, Caravaggio, Titian to name a few), visit the churches, admire the canals and buildings (perhaps the odd shop or two!) and soak up the generally ambiance of Venice this trip. A shame, but that probably means that we will have to go back again..... sigh! It's a hard life!! ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A note on life here at the moment: slowly emerging from the deluge and inching my way out of my shell. Thanks for your emails and kind wishes: I hope to come visiting soon.

Give the Girl a Cheer!

Hello everyone!
Despite still not quite being fully back to blogland quite yet, I am popping in for a quick shout-out to...

LILY FAYE CRAFTS


image courtesy of Lily Faye Crafts

One of the other Mums at my son's school has just started her own blog (with a teeny, weeny bit of encouragement ;-)) ). Claire, who has called her new blog 'Lily Faye Crafts', is very creative and talented - she makes a huge range of craft items, cakes and paintings...the list goes on. All of the things that she makes are just lovely and have that real 'cute' factor!

May I ask you dear bloggers to pop by her brand new blog and give the girl a cheer for setting up the blog? I know first hand how wonderful your encouragement and messages of good cheer are to receive! Thank you.


PETER DOIG AT TATE BRITAIN


Blotter by Pete Doig - currently on show at Tate Britain

Meanwhile I finally started some art work/play this week and am feeling a bit more cheery. Still a fair few 'life-wrinkles' to iron out but it is getting sorted, slowly... fingers crossed.

The image above is of a painting by Peter Doig: long an admirer of his work, I finally went to see an exhibition of his huge paintings at Tate Britain last week. What a treat! They are the sort of paintings that are even better in person.... more on the exhibition, plus the other work I saw, here soon.

Missing you all & sending a massive BIG helloooooo.

E.

I WILL be back....

We are very busy with family commitments, and no artwork is being made at the moment, but I will be back here blogging eventually!
'Hello' and 'Thank you' to everyone who has checked in or stopped by:-
Happy Spring!
Elizabeth

Extended Intermission

Our neighbour's Magnolia tree, peeping through the branches of our Olive trees.

Hello! Thank you for stopping by, I am very pleased you do! :-)

Whilst Spring is arriving and the Magnolias are blossoming, our Son has been poorly, life is demanding and I am just too tired to even think straight. Please accept my apologies for the extended absence, both here and visiting your blogs: I will return as soon as I can. I miss you all.

I hope you are well, happy, and having a wonderful weekend.
Love from, E.

URGENT NOTICE TO MY FEEDBLITZ SUBSCRIBERS

I have just discovered that FeedBlitz have deleted my Subscription Newsletter that you receive by email!!!

They also deleted all of your email addresses, so I now have no way of knowing who you are or how to contact you!!!!!

Please accept my most sincere apologies.

I have contacted Feedblitz to try to sort this out, and hope it can be retrieved. I am skeptical.

If FeedBlitz cannot retrieve my lost subscribers list, I shall have to start all over again :-(
I will keep you posted here on the blog.

If you would like to go back on my subscription list, please email me at: lizzi.freeman@btinternet.com and I will ensure you are reinstated as soon as it is up and running again.

Thank you and again, apologies.
Elizabeth

(Feedblitz also stopped all of my subscriptions to other peoples blogs, without my knowledge, happily that it now rectified - so I can now read your lovely blogs straight from my inbox again. YEAY!)

I WON AN AWARD!!

Karen has kindly awarded me a lovely gem of an award, a "You Make My Day Award"! This makes me very happy :-) Thank you Karen.

Part of the 'rules' say I should pass this award along to 10 people who make my day, and let them know by leaving a message on their blogs. I will do this in the next day or so, as Half Term is still with us (school holiday for Son lasting 10 days, and leaving me no time for blogging or very much painting).


ON A SIDE NOTE -



Our Son has been following the International Rugby with great interest for a little while now, even more so since starting Rugby club a few weeks ago. Supporting England and Italy he could not bear to see Italy defeated by Wales this afternoon and had to turn the TV over ;-)

This evening England are playing France in the Six Nations Rugby, 16 mins in we (England)
are 10 - 0 in the lead. Let's hope this good start continues...
Go England! (Sorry Andrea!)

Acrylics v. Oils - Ramblings from the studio.

ACRYLIC PAINTS

Hello again! I hope you are well? Since I cannot post often at the moment (it's half term), I am filling as much of my current artistic struggles/adventures into this one post as I can. They should keep you going for a while! ;-)

After my last post many of you left lovely comments, thank you! Thank you also to those of you who read and don't comment too, I like that you stop by :-)

The lovely, talented Karen stopped by and wrote this -

"Have you even tried working with the transparent acrylics that Golden makes? I love the quinacridones and transparent pyrrole orange and so on."

How did I manage to forget about Golden paints? Having first discovered Golden acrylics via Sir Terry Frost (more on Sir Terry another day), I have 2 precious tubes of their acrylic paint mixed up in my box of Liquitex and Daler-Rowney acrylics. I love the totally fantastic pigment quality and superb handling that you get from Golden paints, but you do only get what you pay for....

Following Karen's recommendation I decided to go to Totnes, to my favourite art shop and explore. Needless to say I was tempted and splashed out on these...



...and I really do mean 'splashed out'! This little lot, together with 3 small sable brushes, cost over £100! Ouch! (Predictably Cadmium Red is as expensive as ever). I'll let you know how they work out...


OIL PAINTS (Water Soluable)

Meanwhile I am soldering on with the Water Soluable Oil Paints and have progressed 2 paintings a bit further.

'December Daybreak seen from San Marco' now looks like this...



I am going to work on the water and gondolas next.

'Foggy Morning on the Grand Canal' now looks like this:
(well almost, the lighting is bad in the photo) ...



There is still a LOT of work to do on this painting, arrrggghhhh! My painterly aim is for a cross between J M W Turner, Luc Tuymans and Navarro Vives (see below).

The boats and people have been painted out and 'rightness' eludes me for now: I am frustrated.

EXPERIMENTING

In this painting I am trying out some new techniques and developing my current style of painting. I have been inspired by the work of a Spanish artist I discovered whilst in Venice - His name is Jose Navarro Vives, his work was on display at the Galleria d'Arte Contini.


José Navarro Vives
Atmosfera
2005
Galleria d'Arte Contini

Impressed by the artist's use of subtle colour and indefinite shapes, I am quickly discovering that these apparently simple paintings are EXTREMELY difficult to emulate.


José Navarro Vives
Atmosfera
2006
Galleria d'Arte Contini


THIS beautiful image is the first one to cath my eye as we strolled through those wonderful Venetian alleyways. The colour was arresting, the whole effect etherial. WOW.



José Navarro Vives
Atmosfera (06-003)
2006
Galleria d'Arte Contini


LUC TUYMANS


Luc Tuymans - Nuclear Plant, 2006

Luc Tuymans' paintings fascinate me - I just haven't worked out why yet! It might be the colours (or lack of), the carefully restricted tonal range, the elusive feeling, or the varied subject matter.


The Architect by Luc Tuymans

I don't understand all the contemporary, intellectual 'Art Bollocks' that gets written about these paintings, and Tuymans offers us few clues (thankfully), I just REALLY LIKE THEM.


The Perfect Table Setting by Luc Tuymans

Do you have to 'understand' art to appreciate it?

Kind and generous people.

Thank you for everyone's kind comments on my last post, much needed as I am more than just a giant bit cheesed off at the moment - one tax bill, two leaks in the kitchen, three really rude, BAD drivers on the road during the school run this morning,  four calling birds, five gold rings (no, no wrong list!) and a chimney that need repointing, to name but a few things.  

The general consensus seems to be that I need to be gentle with myself art-wise, which works well as general advice too of course,  and to NOT fiddle!   I am impatient, I want to get 'there' NOW - well to be honest the DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY!   ;-)

As promised, here are details of the other pictures I have been working on:

The red and green painting (bottom left of photo) was to be a long, tall picture of two brown trout swimming up stream with an experimental bit of gold leaf added too. 

 

However when I discovered a slightly similar picture had already been painted (minus the gold leaf) by another 'fish artist' I changed my plans.  The red and green picture was turned sideways and is now becoming a long, thin seascape:

I will probably pursue the fish swimming upstream idea (with gold leaf) at a later date and in a different form.

A comment left on my last post by the VERY talented artist and author Jackie Morris, via her delightful Three Ginger Cats,  reminded me of another painting I have been working on.  Jackie did this AMAZING picture of three hares with gold leaf as the background. 

  

WOW!  Have a look at her website and the new online gallery with works for sale!!

Jackie's 3 hares gave me an idea.  Last year I was asked to enter a competition to design a logo for one of our local fishing associations (mine was not the winning entry alas). 

 

My design was based on the fact that 3 types of game fish are caught in the Upper Teign - Brown Trout, Sea Trout (Sewen) and Salmon - so I drew them swimming in a circle like this:

and then did a sketch of them in watercolours,  plus LOTS of other versions, including this one with just 3 brown trout:

A few weeks ago, inspired by Jackie and with generous amounts of her advice and help, I started adding gold leaf to the same fish design, on canvas:

(It was only later that I realised Jackie was in the middle of a book tour around America while I emailing my questions.   A very BIG thank you Jackie!!!)

Disheartened with my efforts, I left it to languish on the shelf for a few weeks - maybe I shall try again, or paint it onto paper instead....

The Trials and Tribulations of Painting

'Isola Di San Giorgio Maggiore' from San Marco - Dec 2007

Would you like to see what I am working on at the moment?

I used to be allergic to oil paints (they aggrevated my C.F.S.) so I tried using water soluable oil paints instead - a new invention at the time. I had tried acrylics and they were great, the colours are very vibrant, but they can be very 'hard edged' and rather flat looking: I thought water soluable oil paints might be a good compromise. Generally though I did not find these 'new' oil paints be as good as the 'real thing', either in their consistency, pigment quality or handling abilities, but I did keep trying!

It has been a while since I last used them, so I thought I'd try again, in case things had improved....

The first painting is inspired by our view of the Isola Di San Giorgio Maggiore at sunrise (in December 2007, approx 6.30am ) from San Marco.

In its earlier stages the painting started out like this:



and now it looks like this:



I am definItely NOT AT ALL HAPPY with this picture so it will change again soon, or it may go in the bin - I'll see. Personally I prefer the first draft.

Then there is the second painting, a subtle blend of pale colours and suggested shape. It was inspired by a foggy morning on the grand canal:



I tried to build up many thin layers of these water-based oil paints, hoping for glowing depths of colour; but still I find the colour pigment dull and the paint sluggish. It has been hard work!!

Last night I finally finished this delicate painting, and I was happy with it. HOWEVER... I did that dreadful thing... I fiddled! First with the people ... and then with the boat ... and then... it was ruined. :-(
I spent much time trying to fix my fiddling, but it only made matters worse! So now this painting is all gone and a new layer of paint has covered it over. Will I ever learn NOT TO FIDDLE ONCE A PAINTING IS FINISHED?! sigh.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Concurrently I am working on a large painting, approx. 36" square on gallery wrap canvas.
It is painted with acrylic paints and YES, the colour is FLAT and the edges are HARD but it is a LOT less hassle!

Based on a mixture of viewed landscape and my imagination/memory, this is how it looks after only 2 coats of paint....



In the bottom right of the photo you will see another painting I began recently (red background with green); more on this one another day ;-)

Happy New Year (again)!

Happy New Chinese Year to you all.





It is now the year of the Rat.



Right on cue one of the rose bushes in the garden presented this beautiful gift today



while we marked the occasion with a few candles



Talking of rodents, we have two sweet little mice living with us this week



Son is thrilled and has named them Charlie and Tau (even though they are girls :-))
Here's Charlie getting some exercise...



...probably what I should be getting more of, after husband made me this last night - just to aide the creative process of course ;-)



I have been away from blogland for a while, as I cannot blog and create. Blogging is very time consuming and there are just not enough hours in the day, nor enough energy in my body :-(
Lately painting has won: have a peek at my next post to see what I am working on at the moment.

Happpppppyyyyy New Year Everyone!
Peace, Health, Wealth, Good Fortune and Love to you all in the year ahead.

Finished! First New Painting of 2008

Hello! Welcome to February (already!) and to my newly updated online gallery.
Elizabeth Freeman's Online Shop

The Shop has many new pages ... as well as my first new painting of 2008.



After much time spent studying winter sunrise in the freezing cold, followed by many subtle layers of 'glazing' , my latest 'blue' painting (which you may have seen gestating on these blog pages from time to time) is now finished.

It is called "Morning Lights" - How many different light sources can YOU see in the picture? :-)

The online shop still a 'gallery' and not a proper 'shop' yet, as I am having a wee bit of a technical hitch... This will hopefully be sorted out soon, thus allowing everyone to click away to their heart's content, filling a virtual shopping basket with lots of goodies painted by yours truly. Meanwhile it will have to be done the old fashioned way for a little while longer - email me if you see anything you fancy :-)

For those of you who have been unable to partake in my January Sale, never fear! There will be items available in my new 'Sale Shop' from time to time, so keep looking out for those special online bargains.

Coming Next - the Venice Series... I am very excited!!!!

Happy Creating, whatever form that takes for you.
Love E.

Last Few Days of Sale

A small selection from my SALE:


£75

After an amazingly successful 2007, I am now working on a new series of paintings. I need space in my studio... so I am having a sale (in case you haven't heard already!).

£95 (framed)

Here is your opportunity to invest in an artist who is going places, at very low prices...


£75

It is the last few days of my sale...


£55

The prices on ALL OF MY WORK will be going up on FRIDAY 1st Febuary 2008, so grab yourself a FANTASTICALLY GREAT, super-duper, amazingly low priced, NOT-TO-BE-REPEATED BARGAIN while you still can...


£145


£145

Have you had a look in my online gallery?
It will be converted into an online shop at the end of this week, so keep looking.


£75


£85


£85


£95 (framed)

Email me to reserve yourself a painting asap at:

lizzi.freeman@btopenworld.com


£65


£75

A Few More Sale items...

Hello dear blogging friends. I apologize for my absence and for neglecting you all. Things are very busy here but I will be back again soon, and stopping by everyone's LOVELY blogs... I miss you all very much!

The sale is still on for a little while longer - 'everything must go' as they say :-)

I'd like to say 'Thank You!" to everyone who has written such delightful things about my work. Also a HUGE thank you to those exquisite people who have purchased something - may your new paintings light up a corner of your life and provide pleasure for years to come.
For those of you still undecided here are a few more paintings, just being added to the sale, to tempt you...

* Higher resolution images are available upon request.
* I accept Paypal, Bank Transfers, and Personal Cheques (all in Pounds Sterling please).
* P&P charges vary from country to country so please email me for a quote.
* All these paintings below are on 'Gallery Wrap Canvas', so no need to frame them! :-)

Thank you and happy browsing! Have a wonderful day :-)


"ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER..."




Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
14" x 10" x 1.5"

£75.00 +P&P



MOON OVER DARTMOOR


Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
12" x 12" x 1.5"

£75.00



ABSTRACT SUNRISE




Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
12" x 9" x 1.5"

£65.00


SOUTH DEVON COASTLINE
(Long Quarry from Above Anstey's Cove)




Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
16" x 12" x 1.5"

£75.00


MOONLIGHT


Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
9.5" x 7" x 1.5"

£55.00

I'm Having A SALE!

Yesterday I finally began work on a new series of paintings for 2008, all inspired by our recent trip to Venice. Last night I started work on 3 paintings, a record for me as I usually work on one at a time: the ideas are spilling over themselves and are demanding to be let out lest I forget them!

Grab yourself a bargain!
This flurry of activity has made me have a tidy up in the studio, taking stock of the paintings I have left, and make some more space. Consequently I have decided some of these paintings need to go out into the world and find their rightful homes... is it your home?
I am selling these at super low prices too. My SALE runs until the end of this month. MAKE ME AN OFFER>>>>!!!

ABSTRACTS - £85 each (+P&P)

Purple, Red and Yellow Stripes
24" x 24"


St. Ives Stripes
12" x 39"

Painting Practice Series - £38.00 +(P&P)
Oils on Canvas

Pomegranate
5" x 7"


3 plums
5" x 7"


Mince Pie
5" x 7"


Mince Pie Half
5" x 7"


Chocolate Flake Cake
5" x 7"


Fig Dissected
5" x 7"


Lemon
5" x 7"


Solstice Candle
5" x 7"


3 French Fancies
9" x 9"


single plum
5" x 7"


Christmas Cake
5" x 7"


Nocturne No. 1
5" x 7"

Winter Sunrise over The Bay

Quite a while ago I posted photos of a painting in progress, it featured the view across our bay around sunrise. Back from Italy and freshly inspired with a wealth of ideas, I am keen for this painting to be completed... but, as usual, paintings cannot be rushed. This is how it did look: