Karincharlotte Pins and Buttons

Originally drawn with Coloured pencils on black paper. Photoshopped to make it more vibrant than the original. I loved this vibrant version better than the much darker original.

This cat has at least three cats underneath the layers of paint. One day I will post them all together. Anyway, I am finally satisfied that this is as colourful as it can get, at least for now. I have had enough people tell me they like this to prevent me from painting over the top of it, so this is finished. Acrylics on canvas 40 cm x 30 cm Original still available.

This painting has gone through many transformations over the years. I love mermaids and fish, and love painting fantasy art.

Acrylics on canvas aprox. 60 cm x 40 cm $350 Currently at Sassi in Williamstown, Vic. Inspiration for this painting comes from looking at a lot of art. I love the abstract art of Picasso, and the colour and symbolism of Paul Klee's art. Laurel Burch's cats have also inspired me a lot.

Just a bit of fun, painting in my Van Gough style, although that may be an insult to the great man. I do love spring gardens, and love this style, which is lively and loose. Hoping to do a series of orchid paintings in a similar style. Acrylics on canvas 40 cm square.

Here I have worked on Cat lady some more. Watercolour , ink on Arches paper. approx A4 size.

I was less than pleased with my final version, but after cropping it, I thought it was better. That is the advantage of working on paper. You can always crop out what you don't want. Started out as watercolour, and at this stage have also used gouache ( and waterproof black ink ). Mixed media on Arches watercolour paper.

Happy cats

Acrylic on board 5 inch x 7 inches This was one of my entries into the 5 x 7 Art Prize. I entered two. I was thrilled when I found out that this one won 3rd prize . I nearly didn't enter, as I was under stress to finish it in time for the deadline. So glad I got it in just in time. The other one I entered sold, so it was a win, win. The theme of the competition, was " my space, a place for inspiration and creativity " . Instantly I knew I had to paint my studio. I painted it in my studio, and from life, not a photo. I'm kind of glad I still have it. It's my first painting of my studio. I will probably do more. :))

Watercolour on Arches paper.

Just another fun doodle done on my iPad with My fave app called paper 53.

Waterlily

Could not think of a clever title for this. Any suggestions appreciated. No matter. I think that is what I called it in the last show, where I sold it. This started out as a watercolor, and when that didn't work out, I added a bit of prismacolor pencils in some parts. It's about A4 size.

One of my first watercolour still life paintings. I did this painting for an art course as one of the lessons. The assignment was to paint a still life without a preliminary drawing. Funny thing about this painting was that it became the first in a series. I was supposed to paint a still life, but I was at a loss of what to paint. Then I had this epiphany moment, or perhaps I was just being lazy... I thought, "hey, why not just paint the still life in front of me. I did this at night, at the kitchen table of the farmhouse where we used to live. I did this painting in 1990, and just recently someone has fallen in love with it, and is buying it. Fancy that? After all these years. Hence, I thought I better take a photo of it, and put i...

Miss Purrfect

This is something I did a while back, and considered it a flop. It failed as a watercolor, except I really liked the face on the left . I fiddled around with it, and eventually it ended up like this final version. It would have ended up on the shelf, but I decided to post it on deviantart, thinking it was horrible, but just as a test, I suppose. I got a lot of positive feedback, which made me realize, I'm not always the best judge of what people will like. I had it framed and sold it.

City Cats

This tiger was created based on the original Tiger Abstract which I did 20 plus years ago. The reason for painting it again, was that it was chosen to be reproduced onto Journals, and the original was lost except for a small low resolution photo.

Acrylics on canvas 102 cm x 76 cm SOLD Finally getting around to posting the final version of this. I had lots of fun painting this . It was painted without a plan, just painting from intuition. it was just a bit of experimental fun. So thrilled it sold after it has been in a few local exhibitions, and finally sold at the Clayfire gallery in Daylesford. I painted this after being very inspired after watching a new TV series called Colour in your life. Go check it out ( just google it ) . All the episodes are available on Youtube.

Party Animals

Watercolour on 1/4 sheet Arches 300 gsm cold pressed paper... Just back from Gwen's class. I had the usual 2 hours to do this painting, but found it worth while to do a warm up sketch first. I did the initial sketch with a blue watercolour pencil. There was no time to get fussy. This called for a fast and loose approach. Not something I would normally choose to paint , but I enjoyed the challenge.

Watercolour on Saunders watercolour paper.

Watercolour 12 in X 8 in This was inspired by a one dollar greeting card I bought. I love frangipanis, which are a joy to draw and paint, and a recurring theme in some of my work. This started out as a watercolour pencil sketch, and later developed it into a watercolour painting. It took a long time to get to the final stage. The final stage was to spray the painting with clear water, then add a very loose wash of blue, pink and yellows, then spinkle salt on it. This was a bit risky, but it paid off. I loved the final result. I sold it last year in our exhibition.

Large Acrylic on Canvas. I continued working on this after this photo was taken. Maybe it would have been good even had I stopped here. Anyway, I do like this stage, and thought it might make a nice greeting card. Fingers crossed, maybe will even come up as a tote bag.

Watercolour on Arches paper. It's an oldie from 2007. Original still available.

I did this a few weeks ago in Gwen's watercolour class. One of the students brought in some wooden African figurines for us to paint. This is done in watercolour on Arches 300gsm cold pressed paper, 1/4 sheet I used mainly French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna to convey the black figurines. Also added some titanium white for the highlights and some of the white lines.

Watercolour on 1/ 4 sheet Arches 300 gsm cold pressed medium paper Painted from life in a 2 hour watercolour workshop.

I've always been fascinated by the big face at Luna Park , Melbourne. I have never been tempted to go in, but the face looked so fun to draw. Not sure if this is supposed to be some version of a clown. My painting was not intended to be scary, but it has turned out that way. I've heard that little children are afraid to go inside, through the mouth/gateway. I did this in a Bill Kerr's painting class . It was done in Acrylics on canvas. I used brushes and a palette knife. It still has that unfinished look about, it after living with it for a while and receiving some positive feedback from a friend, whose opinion I respect, I have decided that I'm not going to work on it any more. I may attempt it again, since this one is relative...

I go to Gwen's watercolour workshops on Wednesday mornings. On this particular day, Gwen couldn't make it to the class, so asked if I could run the class. I declined, figuring that everyone could work independently for the day, but I did feel a tad obligated to bring a still life, so quickly threw together a few items I thought might be fun to paint. Well, at least I enjoyed painting it. Watercolour on 1/4 sheet Arches 300 gsm NOT watercolour paper.

This is an experimental painting I did in watercolour on Arches watercolour paper. Later on I worked on it some more. As so often happens, when you work on a watercolour, you lose the light, that's when I get creative and try to salvage a painting with by experimenting with other media. After taking this photo, I ended up playing with it some more, with coloured pencils and ink.

Originally this was a collage I did for an art course a long time ago. Then I adapted it into a watercolour lesson for my watercolour students. The exercise was to try to mix the colours to match the collage. Recently rediscovered , I've decided that it might look good in a frame. Watercolour on Arches paper 300 gsm. 23 cm x 17 cm

This is one of the most recent paintings I did in Gwen's watercolour class, which I attend every Wednesday morning. Gwen is my friend and also a very talented artist and art teacher. I admire her style, and also like the discipline of going to a weekly class and working from a still life or going out en plein air. I also enjoy the social aspect of this class. Over time you build close bonds and friendships with fellow students and teacher. This is watercolour done on 1/4 sheet Arches 300 gsm rough paper. Although I would have liked another 10 minutes to complete this, I am also glad that the two hour time frame and working from life means that paintings usually don't end up overworked.

Still life done in Gwen's class - watercolour on Arches 300 gsm NOT paper 1/4 sheet.

I painted this a while back after a very long break from painting. I just wanted to do something fun - just let my inner child play. I didn't like the resulting painting, and kind of ruined it. But before ruining it, I took a photo of it and enhanced it, made it brighter. Now I kind of like it, sort of. Well, anyway, maybe it will make an interesting greeting card at least. Watercolour, 1/4 sheet watercolour paper. What would be another good title. I thought at first Rainbowland.

Watercolour on Arches 300 gsm rough paper. I painted this from a still life in my Wednesday watercolour class. I loved the still life, and particularly the green and red colour scheme. When I got home from the class, I noticed some glaring mistakes, and decided to fix the problem. I started to work on it some more , and was totally amazed at how it came together, considering I didn't have the subject in front of me any more. I am really loving some of my brighter opaque Daniel Smith watercolours , particularly the turquoise and Opera pink. They are just so strong, and gorgeous. Do you think this could be a Christmas card?

Watercolour on watercolour paper.