Art Mural Painting Begins

For the past eight months I have been working on a massive art mural project. It involves painting a 23m x 7m wall of a church building which faces a large open-air car park. As this was to be a community art project, I had to think of a design that could involve a large and diverse group of people including children. My design was inspired by the biblical parable of a seed that grew into a large tree which gave food and shelter to the birds. In the local West Australian context, the tree that came to my mind was the fascinating Boab. I had a vision of a community of people under a giant boab tree. I used silhouettes, which were taken from photographs of real people who volunteered to pose for the images. We took photographs of well over a hundred people, and the final design contains nearly a hundred silhouettes.

I am getting really excited now, as we have reached the final phase which is the actual painting of the mural! Tomorrow I get to go up a cherry picker, for the very first time in more than half a century!

Here I was, a few days ago, placing the first important line on the wall, now washed and ready for painting. I hope to document the progress of the mural in the coming days. Countdown begins!

Still Life: White Jug & Radishes

The Still Life set up

Starting with the radishes...

White Jug & Radishes
Watercolour on paper by Artist Bee


I spent yesterday morning doing a water-colour workshop and this was a still life demonstration which I did for the group. My way of working is first to do a thumbnail sketch to determine the composition and values. To simplify things, categorise values as darkest, lightest and intermediate. It helps to squint while looking to lose colour information which can be confusing, and that way it is much easier to see the darkest and lightest values. Once I have a thumbnail done, I get to work on my paper with a very loose sketch. I like to start with the main subject first. Like a drama, a painting has a cast of main actor, supporting actor or actors and the background extras. I have chosen to highlight the radishes which are succulent and vibrant. The beautiful white jug sits elegantly behind, lending support and visual interest but not competing for attention.

Frame it, Display it, Don't hide it

We are nearing the end of my 8 week watercolour course, with one more week to go. The time seemed to have flown by because we were doing something we loved to do. Time always passes quickly that way. 

I encourage my students to display their work. "Looking time" should exceed "painting time" before, during and after the painting process. Observation is the key to making better art. 

I used to tear up the pieces I was unhappy with when I was a beginner learning to paint, or else I would hide them in a drawer somewhere, never to be looked at again. My teacher Mr Tong used to encourage us to put our finished painting in a frame and put it on display. Now I encourage my own students to do the same. 

A well framed painting is a like a well dressed person. By framing and displaying the finished work, the student will feel encouraged as the work will look good. At the same time, prolonged observation will reveal where a flaw might be and improvements can be made. 

For instance, the work on the left in the photo below shows an excellent attempt to do a still life of radishes and carrots. One improvement that can be made would be to include some cast shadows presently missing in the white radishes in the middle of the painting.  

Student's works

Class in deep concentration

Painting Radishes & Carrots

The Subject

I love going to market. Last Saturday I spied these beautiful vegetables at the market and instantly thought of getting them as still life subjects for my students in class the next day. Here is the result of my demonstration in class on painting radishes and carrots. 

Radishes & Carrots by Artist Bee
Copyright www.artistbee.com. 2012

When words fail

There was a time in my life when words flowed easily. In the last ten years, I have found it increasingly difficult to put my feelings into words. Coincidentally or perhaps consequently, it was also in the last ten years that I began to express myself more with art forms. At times I work intentionally, many other times just intuitively. Paritcularly when my work is entirely intuitive, I cannot find words to describe or explain the result. This is one such work, still in progress: 

Frog comes home

My frog has been glazed and fired! Today I brought him home. He has turned out a lovely green, perched happily on his leaf. I made him for my blue cistern, with visions of water spouting from his mouth. Will he work as a froggy fountain? We shall see...

Summer Hat and flowers

Summer Hat & Flowers by Artist Bee
Copyright 2012 www.artistbee.com

This was the result of another demonstration in my Watercolour class yesterday. Due to time constraints, this was a very quick piece, but sometimes less is more, and often too much available time results in overworking a painting. So, I am rather pleased with the result, and I will not have chance to fiddle with it since the painting has been taken home for reference by one of the ladies.