My Year in Paintings, 2013.....100 plus works!

As the year comes to an end I thought it might be good to look back over the year to remind myself what I've been up to all year .....a bit of an end of year  'stock take'.  It feels slightly self indulgent but it's not intended to be, it's more of a comment on how painting always returns after lean periods....painting really is the constant!

All-in-all it's been a better year for painting than the previous one, 2012 was a tricky year with not a lot of painting and it took some time to readjust and get back into the swing of things after lots of upheaval. I missed most of the annual shows in 2013 year and made a bit of a bad job of the ones that I did do.... but life settled down and I managed to get back into work. This blog post is a summary  of some of the work completed in 2013, some of which is ongoing.

30 small works. Natural objects from the 30 day Challenge

There's no chronological order here, instead I've started with the most significant and enjoyable little project, which was purely for fun!. It was the 30 Day Challenge, which I undertook in late September. It was a spur of the moment idea, which was triggered by a visit to Norfolk and some old and new found natural objects and it felt like a good idea to kick starting the painting. I've tried 30 day Challenges before but never quite finished them - this one was different because lots of other artists joined in, and it was a broader subject area. It was so encouraging and inspiring to see such enthusiasm! It didn't matter whether everybody did all 30, the important part was the sense of community from people with a shared interest who are brought together from all over the world.

I also completed 6 paintings for the RHS show at Malvern in May. I forgot to photograph them so there's only this one as a record  because I've since lost all 6 paintings! 

Bleeding Heart Reproductive mechanism, and oversized painting ( x 4). One of 6 dissection paintings of reproductive mechanisms.

Other work has included some Collections pieces and even more rosehips, completed during October and November. Collections paintings are ongoing when I can find the time.

Some paintings of collections of Autumn finds

large Collection work in progress....on hold

........and some paintings on vellum

Paintings of Autumn finds on kelmscott and natural vellum

some miniatures vellum set into jewellery

Miniatures on vellum

Some miscellaneous paintings, lots of pinks and purples

Bits and pieces in pinks and purples

And lots and lots of fish, starting early 2013 with seahorses and most recently in November 30 fish. Here's a small selection of over 40 images of sealife completed this year.

Some of the 45  sealife illustrations

To round the year off and into 2014, I'm working on a range of illustrations for an new range of organic food products. Three down and 27 to go!  Can't share these yet but here are small snippets from the roughs.

Food illustrations completed last week of December

I estimate that's in excess of 100 works, so if you think you haven't achieved during the year it's worth a look back in time to see what you have actually done. Admittedly some of mine were pretty small efforts but they all count. The main thing to keep in mind if you're struggling to get going or in a lull is do something small and try to paint or draw on every available day.....even if it's just a doodle.  

That's about it for my year! Hopefully I'll paint some larger works next year.