Exhibition photos, news, reviews

Photos from a wonderful week showing in The Mall Galleries with the Society of Women Artists. Portraits in progress - Cato Pedder and a posthumous portrait

Good morning,

At last I can share with you photos and notes from a wonderful week showing with the Society of Women Artists, and visiting other contemporary exhibitions (click this photo:)

Deepest thanks to the many of you who came to visit and support, including the full complement of Raft models - there was never a dull moment, it was great to be inundated with visitors. The Society of Women Artists appreciated such interest, and I feel extra lucky to enjoy the whole show with you, in person, or in this blog.

Katherine Tyrell visits and writes up countless contemporary exhibitions every year. I was honoured that she liked my work enough to dedicate a Facebook post to it. Follow her blog for detailed information, photos, stats, news, and opinion. 

News in (who am I kidding?) brief:

I've started a concertina sketchbook of creatures that frequent dung, in preparation for a larger piece amplifying this vital ecosystem. First up are purple emperor butterflies. Rhian Rowson (the natural history curator at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery) has been incredibly helpful setting me up with specimens from the large collection there. Although I've drawn a female and a male, only the males feed on dung and have the purple colour. The purple is 'structural colour' rather than pigmentation, visible when wings are viewed from a certain angle.

A niche market

The wonderful Niche frames (local to me) facilitate a service that I offer my commission clients: to have the finished original painting or drawing professionally scanned, so it can be reproduced at any size, now or in future, on paper or canvas. Simon (photographed here) is helping me colour-match the proof of Cato Pedder's portrait against the original painting. I was delighted with how well it has come out, and will be back soon to have the original framed! 

Posthumous portrait

This much loved lady, Judi, had the pleasure of knowing her latest grandchild was on the way, but sadly she died before baby Roberta was born 💔. For this commission, I was able to pick from a wide range of family photos, to find something that would work as a composite of her pose, hairstyle, the newborn baby, the babygrow, and the background. The light and angles are never exactly consistent when combining photos, so a little artistic licence helps create a naturalistic effect. Throughout the process I checked in with the family about decisions, likeness, etc. It was such a joy to receive this feedback, shared with kind permission: "Hi Gail...Tears all round ... couldn’t stop looking at it... Thank you so much for giving us this special moment. You really did grasp exactly what we wanted, and made her real again for us. It’s such a beautiful picture. I will send you another pic of it in situ once they decide where to hang it... thank you thank you". This is 10x12" oil on canvas. I usually work a bit larger, often from life, but in this case the size was ideal, and the challenge was engrossing. Using Niche Frames' scanning service, the family have been able to order additional copies, with a choice of sizes and frames.

Who's who?

I've put a bit more welly into writing up the narratives in the Raft Of The Medusa here.

You what?

Between us (not on social media), I've repainted The Raft Of The Medusa at a smaller scale (70x100cm) in order to avail myself of an opportunity. The original took months, this version is to a 7 day timeframe, but, you know, hoop-jumping is my drug of choice. Bouguereau was well known for making copies of his own work, and quoted as saying that he enjoyed it very much, particularly when it came to adding variable finishing touches. So I embraced that spirit, cancelled everything I could (no world leaders, unfortunately), neglected house and family (even more than usual), and finished in the wee hours of Monday morning. For the painters reading this, to speed up drying time I used minimal impasto, used Liquin without oil for my medium, and a drop of cobalt dryer for the slower-drying colours. Today it's comfortably touch dry and off to Sky Blue framers for a tray frame (like its giant sibling). Ready for a careful coat of exhibition varnish (in the frame) at the end of the week. Watch this space for further news. 

Thanks for wading (or scrolling) through to the bitter end, I'll be back soon with a reveal!
Have a great week,
Gail xxx