Why I Have No New Paintings.

It's been so long, I can't bear to look at the date of my last picture. I have said, again and again, that I would manage both the call of writing and painting. Turns out the writing totally took over. I do think of painting subjects and make a note for when I'm ready again, but, right now, that's a fairly distant objective.  If you're at all interested in what I've been doing instead, and why all my paints are dried out, by the way, I've included my novels at the link below. 

My Current Novels

As I'm well into my fifth novel, "A Kind of Winnowing", there won't be much art news for a while, at  least until I'm designing the cover!

Until next time....

No Painting For Ages --- Launching New Novel.

 So, I have an excuse for not posting any art gossip lately. I've completed my latest novel, Summer Must End, and it should be available in  both paperback and eBook in ten days. It's been a long haul. Not the writing. I rarely have difficulty with that...it takes over my days and a lot of my nights. But the Indie side of things, the determination to self-publish properly -- that's where it gets tough. I have become a print formatting expert, although, in another six months (another book on the horizon), it will be just as complicated as it was at the start of this project. Word is very difficult -- at least, for me.

Anyway, here is the result. You can comment here or on my writing page. It would be so nice to hear from you.

"Summer Must End" 

A womanly suspense story set in country Canada. 

"Jack's Pub" and "Tally Ho! Fox Hunting!" Latest paintings.

Last post for January. 

Two new paintings and another almost finished. Mr Fox was 

sold within two days of listing him. That's always a good sign.

"Jack's Pub"
8 x 10 inches

A small piece of Colonial-style art. Naive, impressionist, and country-decorative.

"Tally Ho! Fox Hunting!"
20 x 24 inches

Mr Fox hasn't acknowledged that they banned hunting in the UK a couple of years ago. He knows the ban has so many loopholes that you can hardly tell the difference. That look in his eye says he has some ideas of his own. And he's doing it without a hound or a horse in sight.

See you in February.

Final Stage Seascape Work-in-Progress "Just Looking"

Here's the final painting,"Just Looking", because it's way too wild to paddle in the sea today. 

Let me know what you think. 

"Just Looking" 20 x 24 inches

Talk soon.  Oh, and apparently my comments link is still not working. I think I've finally given up on it.

Work-in-Progress Seascape Stage Three

Scroll down to see the painting with both blocked-in figures and detailed figures. In fact, I quite liked the sepia figures...might use something like this in a future painting - looks rather intriguing - but with this one I really wanted to show the family in detail.

Stage Three

Blocked in Figures

Figures with detail

Still more detail needed, primping and fussing, but almost there. Is it what you expected?

Last stage tomorrow.

Totally off topic, but I have a lot of followers, most have been with me for years, but I have this silly problem...I haven't had a comment in over 18 months. 

Upon investigation, and something to do with Google (after all, what isn't?), I discovered my settings were excluding everyone. I have since fixed, I believe, these settings. Comments are open to everyone, no exceptions. But the only way I'll know if they are working is if you respond. 

So please, if you have a moment, leave something in Comments for me. It's important for me to know that we are fully connected. I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Until tomorrow, when the painting should be complete. 

Work-in-Progress Seascape Stage Two

Here's the second stage of my seascape painting. More detailed sky, surf, and the addition of grasses.

Stage One

Stage Two

Stage Three by tomorrow, I think.

Happy New Year! Presenting My latest Colonial-Style Portrait and a Seascape Work-in-Progress

I hope you're all recovered from the year-end celebrations. I had nothing to recover from, of course. Very quiet life these days.

In a fit of nostalgia, because it's so long since I painted a Colonial Gentlemen, I produced this one, "The Young Dandy". Fussy clothes and coiffure, somewhat superior attitude evident, but he is just how I imagined a comfortably-off young man would have been in the 19th Century. I know the lady portraits are more popular, but there's nothing quite like a historical male figure to soften a room, particularly if it's a modern interior.

Hope you like him.

"The Young Dandy" 20 x 24 inches

Below is another 20 x 24 inch painting I've just started - only a preliminary background at this stage.with lots of work to be done. I'll post more views as I proceed. I usually don't show work-in-progress, but decided I'd like to with this one. There will figures, but you'll have to wait to see who they are.

Will post again in a couple of days. Best wishes to all of you.

Some New Paintings To Round Out 2019

And what a year it's been. So very happy to see the back of it. My mood has been improving the closer we get to 2020. Not that 2020 will be particularly kind to me...but it will be fair. This is the year of a Very Big Birthday. I'll leave it to you to guess which one. As young as you feel, yes? Well, I felt around 90 for most of 2019. Today I'm back to being my forever-and-ever 38, which is a nice age - youthful enough to still enjoy everything. Wise enough not to try.

These paintings were just little asides. I wanted to paint a floral picture, but I wanted to do a vintage-style folk picture, and I really wanted to do a wild seascape. So I painted them more or less at the same time. I mentioned them to you in my last blog. Don't try this at home unless you're a very patient person.

"Early Bird"

"The Shepherdess"

"Can You See Me?"

I intend to lie low for the next 7 days. No visitors to speak of, just family. And the heat has let up, which is wonderful. Enjoy your holidays. See you in the New Year.

My Actual Paintings Are So Much Nicer Than the Photographs On My Website. (Or so I've been told.)

I know how long it's been. I used to post two or three times a week. I have no idea how I did that. I guess it was the novelty of a new blog page. Again, I apologize to those who almost have given up on me. I am still painting, but not as much.

Below is a picture of my latest painting. It's only the second time I've completed one this big (48 x 36 inches). You don't just sit in one place with this size, but need to move around the table (forget the easel - wouldn't support it) to reach the whole surface.

Hope you like it. Really don't know how I feel about it yet. Still tempted to add one of my little houses. You know I'm a little house freak. My photograph doesn't do it justice. I really am the worst photographer. It means you need to use your imagination a lot when studying my pictures. I know that often the first thing customers say when they receive their art is that the painting is so much nicer than on the website. Well, I knew that.

I called this one "Big Sky" and it's available on my site at Etsy. Yes, I'm back with them again, although I'm not sure why. Think it's the companionship. Lots of chatty people on forums at Etsy.

Ill health this year, and for a person who didn't get sick (not even a cold), it was a shock to me. I am apparently vulnerable just like everyone else. Had no experience with such low energy and did a lot of sleeping. I always thought that the first thing to go were the legs (and that's a whole other story). Anyway, I'm almost back to my old self again. Almost.

Found a new art site I'm exploring. Will let you know if it's a good fit for my work. We poor artists are always on the lookout for The One, like a young girl looking for that one really nice guy. A new  art site is always exciting, not forgetting Etsy. of course, always there, like an old standby-last-minute prom date. I've even started some new paintings - working on three at once right now. I've done this before, but wouldn't recommend it because it can become a bit frantic, but the mood hit me. Looked at the canvas and couldn't decide which of three ideas to go with, so I started all of them. Oh, and definitely saves on paint.

Talk soon. Waiting for the New Year when the world should  be a Better Place.

Be happy. If you're really stuck, there's a perfume for that.

Quiet Folk Art Sales. Perhaps Naive is redundant? What about Trompe L'oeil?

In fact, sales have completely dried up at all of my sites. Modern, colorful and wild abstracts seem to be popular, but I can only paint what I love...my naive figures, land, city and seascapes. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I had promised to post my trompe l'oeil food painting, "Light Lunch", but I forgot. A bit late, by four months, but here it is:

Naturally, this made me hungry. It didn't help that I try to live without dairy. Guess this was my response.



In thinking about the lack of sales, I remind myself that I don't paint with a view to selling. It's never been a livelihood for me, and I don't think I could handle that kind of pressure if it was. Daily Paint Works suggested I should paint more regularly - be more visible on, say, a weekly basis. But I can only paint when the urge is greatest. My work isn't a product that I can simply whip up, following a tried and true template. I surprise myself with the paintings I create. I need that little touch of wonder when new places or people present themselves. Where did they come from? Magic.

I have a lot of followers, people who like what I do, and I am always grateful for that, but the occasional buyer is very rewarding, all the same. I remember every single one of them, even decades after I sold to them. They are like my family, almost, sometimes sending a photograph of my art on their wall, in their living room or kitchen.

I love that.

See you soon. Getting some art rumblings again. It's been a while. I imagine a lot of my paints have dried out.

Three New Paintings - All Women.

I had an urge for more portrait paintings and these three women emerged. They all have their own little stories to tell, of course.

Veronica

Marion

Martha

All three paintings are available at my Daily Paint Works gallery.

My newest painting, not quite complete, is in my favorite Trompe L'oeil style, and all about food and wine. Should be finished this week.

Just a reminder: Many of my earlier paintings are available as prints. You'll find the link at Daily Paint Works.

"Olden Days" -- 19th Century Australian Figurative Landscape Painting.

I had a lot of fun painting this. There is something therapeutic about the detail I incorporate. The work took ages to do, of course, and would have been finished much quicker if I hadn't constantly gone back to it and added a bit of this and one of those. The last thing I painted, before I finally forced myself to say "enough!", was the pigeon on the roof.

The whole time I was painting, I was working out little stories for the people I created. I suppose it's another form of writing, even if it remains only as images.

Thing is, I did say I would spend part of the week writing, and part painting, but that's not how it worked out. I don't seem to have much control in this area, although I did try.

I have another painting in the preparation stage, and I will try to get back to the  novel, really I will. It's just so much fun watching my pictures emerge on the canvas.

And writing, particularly in the revision stage, can be downright frustrating.


In closing -- nothing to do with art or literature -- a very mischievous cockatoo cruelly destroyed a plant I was nurturing in a pot in my garden. My "Silvery Moon" Convulvulus had survived our drought and the cold winter, and promised to bloom soon. It is, after all, nearly spring here. But when I took my coffee outside just now, I saw the remains of the plant scattered around the pot. All that's left in the soil is a stump.

I've put most of the stems in water and the twiggier bits in a small pot of soil -- perhaps they will root. As this sort of thing has happened before, I'm not too shocked, but it is a shame that for the first time in ages we are about to have a good solid rain spell. The convulvulus would have loved that.

Oh, if any of you can recommend a plant that these naughty birds would never touch, please let me know. I was thinking of chilli peppers. Probably too harsh. I used to enjoy cockies in my garden but I think they've outstayed their welcome.

Until next time.

Cindy Zoglmann at Daily Paintworks.

I used to post my favorite art at this blog all the time. I became so busy I just couldn't keep it up, but I am making a determined effort to start doing it again. We all need promotion. We all need to know that people are seeing our work. And please remember that your comments are so precious to us. It means we are not invisible.

Today I want to introduce you to Cindy Zoglmann -- gallery name, Zoggie -- who paints wonderfully zany and colorful pictures with a great emphasis on cats. As a cat lady, I adore her sweet felines.

Cindy paints other things, naturally. But I have this thing for cats. Check Cindy's gallery out at Daily Paintworks. It will put a smile on your face.

Latest Painting (I'm on a Roll) - "The Usual Stragglers". Because I Love Sheep.

The last couple of years had a strange effect on me - as it undoubtedly had on many of us. The world changed dramatically. It became far more stressful, more worrying than anything I could recall. I reached the point where I just didn't need to hear the latest farcical news reports even as I was always a news addict. Finally I developed the ability to look at the headlines and move on. I've become a bit of an ostrich. Most shocking of all? CNN no longer holds my attention. Why add to the day-to day challenges we face in our lives? There were some personal difficulties during this time, too - illness in the family, the usual life upsets, and my own self-made, pointless pressures. These were enough  to leave me without much energy to create anything new, and then Global Affairs threw in its two-cents' worth.

I was unable to write or paint. I felt I had nothing to say. What could I offer when things seemed out of control?  I retreated to knitting, watching movies, and gardening, rather obsessively. Oh, and napping a lot. All things little old ladies do, right? Not this little old lady. I was always a bit of a rebel, a little eccentric (ask my kids). I decided this bit of history we are going through was not going to dictate the way I live my life.  I've come back to my first loves. Not so much the writing, although I've been doing a lot of mental composition - sometimes jotting things down, but mostly believing I will remember the ideas, the lines of dialogue, whatever, when I'm ready. But the painting is back. Thank you, Gaia.

It's a relief to know that the pure absurdity of what's happening in politics hasn't changed me. It just numbed me for a while. I actually laugh a lot these days, even if it's sometimes a touch cynical. It's  ridiculous to be ruled by forces I cannot influence (so much for voting). So I reject the hype, the babble. And I am back, ostrich-like though I may seem.  I needed to say all of this today, even as I appreciate that we all have much shorter attention spans than we once had. We ordinary people have so few outlets for venting. Luckily I have my blog. Thank you for reading. I will bore you no further on the subject.

My new painting, "The Usual Stragglers" is lighthearted, peaceful, and calming. I hope you like it. Perhaps you'll smile.

"The Usual Stragglers"
Acrylic on 16 x 20 inch canvas

I told you about my new sales site in my last post, but I've now found one I like even more. Check out my gallery at Daily Paint Works.  Not only is there NO commission for direct sales, but it also offers an auction service (for a tiny commission), separate "store" pages for sales links to prints of sold work, and a page where I have linked my novels for sale. I've had such fun setting this up, and there is so much at the site in terms of reports, tracking, feedback, etc. I highly recommend it.

I've sixteen paintings listed there at present, including "The Usual Stragglers" above, but I'm gradually adding more. Perhaps nothing will sell - the art market is a mysterious one, after all. But it is pure pleasure to know that my work is out there, available. And I've become a bit more entrepreneurial - I now regularly plug myself on Facebook and Twitter. Why not? If I don't do it, no one else will.

Until next time...

Finally. A New Painting. Folk Art Cityscape - "The Mall"

I'll never get rich as an artist. So few do. We obviously do it out of love. But I do apologize for taking so long to revitalize this blog. You are a patient lot, dear followers.

Hope you like this new one.

"The Mall"

I hardly ever shop in-store now, but it's definitely more exciting than online shopping. Bustle, perfumed air and people! But I'm getting to the stage where it's so much easier just to press links on a screen. I'm turning into a recluse.

Until next time.

My Folk Art...Apology and a Reminder

Although I've prepared a few canvases for some new paintings, I have yet to actually start something. I do appreciate how patient some of you are when I see that you've visited, imagining that you probably shrugged yet again at my inactivity. I'm sorry I've been so distracted lately, but I promise there will be new work soon.

The next time I post, I should have some new images on the page!

Where have I Been?

So very long since I posted. I feel quite guilty seeing the date of the last one...where have those years gone?

But I am still here, still painting, although not as much. Still writing, but with less gusto. I have to admit to some slowing down of late.

And this is where it gets really boring. I've been doing rather a lot of gardening. It was always a special love, but it came back with a wham in the last few months.

Gardening in Australia is not for the fainthearted. Gloves are a necessity, they say, so I wear them, imagining one of the million poisonous critters in this country just waiting to spot a bare hand. In fact I haven't come across anything scary. I have a blue-tongue lizard who pops in for a snack around the first month of each year (their mating season - don't know what's particularly mate-conducive in my garden, but it is quiet. Perhaps they like their privacy.) She (I think) wanders in for about two hours, soaks up some warming sun, eats a bit of banana, moves to the shade to cool off, and then leaves. Mysterious. I don't know where her permanent home is.

Cockatoos are monstrous. They are colorful, entertaining, extremely noisy and demanding of food. They sometimes arrive in gangs of thirty or more. If I'm slow to give them some tidbit, they attack the outdoor table and benches, ripping off great shards of timber, or they pull new, very tender plants out of their pots and toss them away. So far I've managed to rescue these and shove them back in the pot. Amazingly they survive the ordeal. It's a bit much when you have to keep checking outside to see what these birds are up to...reminds me of when my twin boys were very young. Couldn't be left alone for a minute.

I could stop feeding the cockatoos, but they come up to the patio doors and peer in with such an imploring expression.

But I do get about twenty very gentle doves each afternoon, looking for seed...which I buy for the cockatoos who, it turns out, prefer people food. And there are many rainbow lorikeets. They seem to eat anything.  I have to confess to a true love of wildlife, and I do worry about them - you know, during heatwaves, stuff like that.

If you look closely you'll see how damaged the table is, that one solar light is bending under the weight of a cockatoo, and the poor first-year Jacaranda tree in the forefront has lost all the top leaves. Thankfully, these came back.

If you're still following this, you can see that I've been off-track for some time.


But, in the last week, I've set up my new art store. I was with Etsy for years, but they became so over-regulated that it became impossible to continue with them. When I first opened my shop there, it was mainly rather small-time artisans who simply wanted to sell their hand-made creations. Boy, has that changed. Etsy become a huge, highly-polished entity, listed on the stock exchange. Just the thought of that put me off, let alone all the hoops the artist was meant to jump through in order to keep selling. Interestingly, I still appear to have a shop, with no paintings of course, with the words - "HafandegFolkArt is taking a short break". As it's been over fifteen months since I declined my "upgrading", this is a somewhat understated.

Needless to say, I am now with Artfinder. I only have around twenty paintings up for sale at present, but it takes time to organize new listings, and I also need to paint some new ideas. But just the act of listing here has brought back the old enthusiasm - that jump-out-of-bed-to-a-new-day that's been missing.

Please, when you have time, take a look at this link to Artfinder. Please let me know what you think.

I just wanted to share with you all, if you're still interested!

Until next time. Don't know when...

Keeping Art in the Family - The Work of Kim Caldwell

My daughter has always been creative. She loves improving things, fixing things, changing things, decorating things - trash-to-treasure stuff, and we share that same excitement every time we find some new piece at a yard sale or the thrift shop. Both our homes reflect our eclectic collections with a citified vibe which is just a touch Bohemian, but with a splash of Country for good measure. Nothing Spartan about our homes. Come in, put your feet up, let the kids run around.

But whether my daughter's interests are from nurture --I've involved myself in almost every kind of art form throughout my life, from music, to interior design, to sculpture, painting, and fiction writing, which she grew up with -- or from nature, I guess we'll never know. Perhaps she's simply inherited the same crazy genes that I did. (How frustrating not to know who else in our history had the same wild ride through life.)

And now she's painting, something she'd never tried before.

Today I present these with great pride. I've never been an abstractist, much as I admire so much of it , but the spontaneity of this art form seems to be so natural to her. These are very large canvases. If you are going to make a bold, modern statement, make it big!

Until next time, take care.

Unpredictable Painter. No Specific Style or Subject. Would Have It No Other Way!

So here's another offering for the past few days. I am not going to explain or apologize for the wide variations in my subjects. I've said it many times before; I have no idea what I will paint on any given day. The idea for a painting often comes to me as I'm falling asleep, and that means I can't wait to get up in the morning and get to work on it. Of course, I repeat the subjects from time to time, simply because I love doing them. Landscapes and Colonial Portraits are my favorites, but you can only produce just so many before you need a change of pace.

"Maple in Morning Mist"

12 x 16 inches

"Escape of the Cultured Pearls"

9.5 x 12 inches

"The Young Master"

12 x 16 inches