Magnificent March!

What started out as a Georgian January page, became a fabulous Baroque February and now a magnificent March page!

Here we are, got the fabulous Memmelsdorfer gateway from Schloss Seehof in and a couple of  Rococo details from some of the statuary and what is that behind the sketch? Ahhhh, that is a piece from my art school days! 

A testimony to my obsession with the Baroque/Rococo found in my attic this week. While rummaging around looking for something completely different this fell into my hands. 35 years old, dragged around various design studios  and exhibited  in London, Edinburgh, Milan and Glasgow; stored in damp cellars, dusty attics and under various beds, I would say it has stood the test of time. Inspired by a stomacher brooch, it was part of a series of textile designs for wallpaper and interiors, a real flash from the past! 

Believe me I'm not a fan of sending budding artists out to buy the most expensive art supplies but this design done in gouache, really speaks for buying good quality products if you can. The colours haven’t faded, cracked or disintegrated and as I mentioned they have put up with a lot of mistreatment. So if you are starting out regardless of whether in oils, gouache or pastel (and you can spend a fortune on pastels) try buying less and going for quality.

 In pastels the difference in quality is considerable, cheaper brands often appear ''chalky'' because pure pigments are expensive so cheaper brands use fillers, giving unsatisfying results. Lightfastness is another problem in particular, I was gifted some cheaper pastel sticks that had amazing zingy hues (neon pink for example) which I then used, left the painting for a couple of weeks while I was on holiday, on return the neon pink had virtually disappeared to virtually white. Very frustrating! 

I don’t really pride myself on thinking that people will be looking at my work in 300 years like I look at the fabulous creations produced in the Rococo but using media of archival quality certainly increases the chances!