HOLIDAY

ON HOLIDAY...BACK 5TH JUNE. PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE YOU.

Spill Kill

6x6 ins Oil on board

This ended up scrambled with other bits into rice with chicken strips...thought I'd keep it in the family.

The liquid transparency of it all caught my eye and a stay of execution was granted until it was painted.

It was originally slopped into a white dish before ending up in a red one...I wanted  to transfer it yet again into a blue and then a yellow dish, but I didn't have either.

Saved

6x6 ins. Oil on board

I rarely paint still life and the reason I've  fallen foul is because I broke an egg then slopped it from a white dish to a red one.  This is the white one...with very little white on show.

I now know why I shy away from still life... I think I'll finish my red one then leave them until I have another accident in the kitchen.

Yes, I did eat it later.

Chateau Josselin

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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This view is only possible by bending on one knee on the bridge crossing the river. The bridge is always crammed with colour this time of the year and it was a shame not to show it against an equally magnificent backdrop.
This is a palette knife study and I really enjoyed plastering it on.

Hot Underfoot

6x6 ins. oil on board $65 (about £40)
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Thought I'd warm the sand up a little. The good thing about being an artist is that you can do what you want whenever you want and however you want.

Emerald Gem

6x6 ins Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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Continuing with my seaside project is this emerald gem. It's amazing how many colours are reflected in the sea and it's no wonder it continually fascinates and holds my attention. 

On A Roll

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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As I was still ill last week and unable to complete my week at the seaside project, I decided to carry on with it today. I just love the wind whipping the wave tops. My challenge was not to use any blue.

Windswept

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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Continuing with a week at the seaside is today's offering. I was captivated with the way the crests of the breakers were being whipped by the fresh breeze. I think I'd like to paint some of these much larger...perhaps 3'x3'.

Curl

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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The same wave as yesterday's painting...just before crashing. I love the way the sand is churned up when each wave arrives.

Wave Length

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)
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This was an early visit to Vane Tempest a few weeks ago when the sea,wind and sun combined to lift my soul. Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside:)

Staithes

6x6 ins. Oil on board. $65 (about £40)

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I'm still ill, but have included this rough sketch from a week or so ago which never made it to my DPW gallery. It should now be automatically picked up by the site tomorrow. With luck, I should be painting again before too long.  It's funny...I can't paint while I'm ill, but I can do other things.

Keith & Suzi's Little Rat

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (About £40)
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The little rat...according to my son (his in-laws own it).

It's cute!

Patchings

I'm at Patchings Festival this year painting live and promoting daily painting and the DailyPaintworks website. It will be the only time you will see me in public and it will coincide with the publication of my first book of paintings.

If you are attending the festival, please note that although I'll be in attendance on the last day (Sunday), I will not be working on the stand.

More details to follow.

Breakers Revisited

6x6 ins. oil on board. $65 (about £40)

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Yes, I've strengthened the colours for this Vane Tempest beach study. The sun came out in my brain:)

Repainted to capture the hazy feeling.

 Repainted to the point of satisfaction.

 New oil sketch

Swell

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40)

SOLD

I thought the colours best suited the mood of the moment. As you can tell, I love the sea. As a kid, I would spend hours watching the waves crash and often wondering if I shouldn't be making a move to get home.

Outward Bound

6x6 ins. Oil on board. $65 (About £40)

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My daughter was stooping to inspect the pebbles but I felt it was too difficult a task to include her this time round. She always was difficult:)

Well what do you know?

My name is Ken Devine and yes, I have a real problem. As hard as I try to resist, it always seems to get me in the end. The problem is that after a few days I begin to see what it was that I was trying to capture and feel that I can put it right in a jiffy. At least this time you don't get to see which paintings I've fiddled around with until I'm finally satisfied with them. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is not to post until I'm absolutely sure. Painting is a funny game.

Just You And Me

6x6 ins. Oil on board. $65 (About £40)
SOLD

Fewer things can be more satisfying than a stroll along the beach at the end of a perfect day.

Rock Pools

6x6 ins. Oil on board $65 (about £40).
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I decided to re-do this painting from September of last year and give it more vitality and strength. Initially, I wanted to paint the figure standing on the rock, but decided against it yet again.

I've also freshened this one up considerably from December's effort.

High At Noon

6x6 ins. Oil on board. $65 (About £40)

SOLD

I felt guilty sitting here in Staithes while most everyone else was at work. The guilt lasted less than a minute and the high lasted the entire morning. I'm not a painter of buildings, so this was a real challenge. Within an hour the rain came, but I'm grateful I shared a few minutes alone with the sun and the noises of tranquility.

Sea Horses

6x6 ins. Oil on board. $65 (about £40)

SOLD

The continuation of the wave theme by popular demand.

Palm Pilot

6x6 inches. Oil on board. $40 (around £25).
Click here to bid

Margaret Elizabeth of Kirkcaldy in Staithes

6x6 inches. Oil on board.

I'm afraid I have overpainted this one as I was not altogether happy with it.

Available at Trent Galleries

Trent Galleries.  3 Chain Lane Newark Nottinghamshire NG24 1AU Tel: +44 (0) 1636 646 426 sales@trentgalleries.co.uk.

 Golden

16x16 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

  In Shade

16x16 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

 Dapple

12x12 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

 Irish Rock Pool 1.

12x12 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

Irish Rock Pool 2.

12x12 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

Portsmouth Farewell

16x16 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

Les Bois De Chailloux Light

Morning Light In Yvon's Woods

16x16 Oil on Deep Box Canvas

Josselin

Irish Reflection

24x24 Oil on Board

Flora Jane

Flora Jane

6x6 ins. Oil on board

Withdrawn from sale...still not right I'm afraid.

I have mixed feelings about my first plein air outing. It was glorious sitting on that bench overlooking the boats at low tide, but it suddenly dawned on me that I was there to paint...I was there to work. I found it difficult to cut everything out and focus on what I needed to include. The breeze, calls of the seagulls, the wayward flying insect, the splashing dogs playing whilst ignoring their owner's calls to keep up, the thoughts of how I'd manage to get all my gear up the hill and should I take a stroll to check a lunch venue out...all these things made the task at hand difficult. I needed to be disciplined and I'm not used to that.

I had previously chanced upon  a celebrated artist while checking out submission dates for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and noticed a delightful painting of Staithes...and that is what motivated me to come here and to re-capture the feelings I had from my previous visit some years ago as we passed through.

So here I was, struggling to transfer what I saw onto canvas so to speak, when a fellow painter paused to say hello and pass comment. It was none other than the celebrated David Curtis...the artist whose work I'd seen from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters!!  How cool was that? I had no idea that he lived here.

I knew no one would believe me, so before the moment passed, I asked  him to pose for a photograph...cheeky I know, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wasn't going to let it go. I even persuaded him to include his oil sketch in the shot.

My painting area...

Viewed from above.  I'm just to the left of the foot bridge...

Unfortunately, rain stopped play by lunchtime and I had to lug that heavy case up the steep hill and begin my almost three hour drive back to Newark.

That was the first and last time I'll use the case...it's a much lighter backpack that will accompany me in future.

Special thanks to the friendly, accommodating, kind and incredibly talented David Curtis for taking time to say hello to a struggling and, at that time or soon after, a starving artist.

Also thanks to the couple who rescued my hat as it blew off at the edge of the harbour.

I'd recommend painting outdoors and the rain won't dampen my resolve to get out there again. 

Capital One

12"x12" deep box canvas.

I was at Capital One's headquarters in Nottingham today promoting my blog, my art and DailyPaintWorks. It was a good experience which even resulted in sales. 

Grounded

My first plein air outing to Staithes. YouTube to follow...hopefully!
I painted a few on the day, neither of which is the finished article. I found the experience enjoyable but difficult as there is a great deal happening around you which is impossible to block out, making it hard to focus.

Evening Light

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Possibly the final lake study for now. The light was so special and it was total joy to walk around. Ice and snow is already a distant memory here in little old Newark but the memory of that walk will continue to warm me.

Escape

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No ice around the island but plenty around the little pockets where the ducks have escaped.

My DIY Plein Air Easel

I gave myself a brief not to spend a single penny, not to have any wing-nuts, to have a facility to protect the painted boards until I got home and for it to be quick and easy to erect and dismantle.

 David & Eileen Flinn gave me the perspex last week. The backing board was salvaged from the summer house. The stand was a laser spirit level setup that David & Eileen gave as a birthday present about a hundred years ago...I used the laser to get the footings right while building our extension...I never used the stand but always felt I would in the future. The palette mixing tray was made from an old drawing board I've had kicking around for longer than I care to remember. The edging strips are left over from a job I did a number of years ago.The black paint I've had for about ten years and I'm surprised it's still okay. The white primer undercoat paint was bought about six years ago. Total cost including tacks and glue = zero.

Step one...slot the tray onto the stand...

 Not to forget the perspex mixing area and backing board easel bit...

 Ah yes! The parasol finishes it off quite nicely. It belongs to my Mother in Law who doesn't yet know she's donated it.

 The backing board, which can hold a 6x6 or 10x8 at the very least, is held in place with the only screw fitting in the centre, directly to the easel behind. The paintings are on ledges and also have a bit of blu-tak on the back so that the painting doesn't flop forward as the whole thing fits snuggly on top of the mixing tray and is clipped together for safe transportation.  I found the clips in my studio a few weeks ago while tidying up.

I also plan...again without cost, to add a bar to the right of the mixing tray with two containers to hold thinners etc! Holes will be drilled at the base of the apple and spoon to slip my brushes into (it's a stand alone piece of wood) and tubes of paint will rest in the black areas at the back of the mixing tray either side of the brushes.

I'll need a trolly to carry it all in, but I have my eye on the one my Mother in Law uses...I think she really needs a new one:)

I'm well pleased and up for the challenge of my first plein air experience on Monday to Staithes.

I was wrong about the cost...my jig-saw blew up while I was cutting the slotting shapes and my Mother in Law doesn't have one:) I'll have to buy one eventually, but for now I borrowed one from next door.