Permanent Rose #762

Daily painting #762 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

I have been working on many large paintings lately. I am not sharing all of them online as I am working towards an exhibition in October and I have also not been doing as many little postcard size studies as I would like to have. I really miss doing them. The time spent doing these little studies is quiet, intimate and meditative. They are good for my soul and besides, any time spent closely  observing, is good for any artist. 

So after all the flowers this week...a rose of a different kind...a Permanent Rose. The oil paint pigment Permanent Rose by Winsor and Newton. The irony is that  although I paint numerous roses and other flowers, this colour is never used! Hence the fact that the still plump, full tube of paint is rather bent and buckled from lying around for a rather long time! So a little rose for you today...but not of the floral variety!

If you have missed any of my social media posts lately and would like to see some of the large florals that I did share, here is a little peep...

You can stay in touch with some more little studio shares by finding me on Facebook at Paintings in the post and on Instagram @heidishedlock

Have a wonderful weekend...its back to the studio for me before its time to pick up my kids from school! 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Bakers Choc-o biscuits #761

Daily painting #761 5"x7" oil on primed panel (unframed)

April is a month of celebrations! We have four family birthdays in April, two of which are both my children. Yip...bad planning from this mum! April is thus a busy (and expensive) month, but a happy one too! It's a month of celebrations, parties, entertaining, family get-togethers and way too much yummy food. 

Needless to say in April (like December) we kind of fall off the sugar-free wagon a little, if I have to be honest. I am fine with that though as life happens and it's not worth stressing over, so although way too much sugar has crept back into our eating of late, the important thing is getting back into eating as sugar-free as possible again. It is easy in that I just don't purchase or keep anything containing any form of sugar in our house. But it is SO darn hard to give it up, that we are reminded about how damn addictive the stuff is and how quickly your taste buds change. The motivating factor though is that we all feel so much better when we illuminate any kind of sugar and it makes me jump for joy when I hear my teenage children say they can't wait to detox from the sugar again because it effects so many things like sleep, bloating, skin, concentration...to name a few.

So it's time to say cheeri-o to choc-o's or any of the remaining party food in the house. The problem is that I love to paint all the things that we shouldn't eat! They are always so colourful and interesting to paint (although I regularly paint the beautiful colours of natural food too). Perhaps that's a good thing... to obsess over painting the food that we obsess over, rather than eating it. I obsess over the juicy paint and mark-making (don't worry I don't plan on eating any paint) and somehow I always forget about what it is that I am painting anyway...it is always about the paint! So although we won't be eating any of the sugary treats for a while, I can't promise that I won't be painting them! 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the link to view gallery of available little paintings)

Plum talk #760

Daily painting #760 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

This Saturday I was fortunate enough to be invited to chat and do a painting demo for a group of local artists at the Highway Art Group. I painted these vibrant plums for them, but the talk had very little to do with plums! 

We spoke about daily rituals, habits, painting for the love of painting, our painting egos and of course about our inner critics. It was a wonderful morning of sharing, meeting new people and inspiring one another in our creative journeys. I feel privileged to have been able to share my story and my Paintings in the post journey with them. Speaking of inner critics...try painting in front of a room full of people while you chat about your process which in contrast is actually a very solitary, meditative process...a huge contrast to painting while your heart pounds with people watching you and asking questions all while your inner critic is doubting that you will ever get this done because talking, chatting and not concentrating is definitely NOT how you would normally paint! That being said it was a wonderful morning and perhaps a true example of how to shut your inner critic up and paint anyway for no other reason other than because you love to paint! I was pretty happy with how the plums turned out...big kick up the butt for my inner critic (HA!) Thank you Highway Art group for inviting me to your meeting, I thoroughly enjoyed my morning!

Another weekend happening that makes me want to sing and dance and jump for joy, is that my parents finally moved! What an upheaval to leave your home of almost 30 years! But it is done...we are all exhausted but happy! I just can't believe that the little cottage they are living in was once my messy, crazy, busy studio space! It cleaned up pretty well...

Now to get back to some serious uninterrupted studio time again. Time for me to focus...on painting!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art