Another day, another painting.
Cold Wax Medium
“We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.” – John Berger
January 16, 2017
My work from the last two weeks:

The latest in the 6″ X 6″ Circle Composition series:

And my daily drawing challenge so far:
“To embrace luck, you have to enhance your tolerance for ambiguity.” – Twyla Tharp
December 19, 2016

I managed to work on three different pieces this weekend. This one was looking so much like a bullseye that I decided to add the eye.

Possibly too colourful, but I thought I’d try a different approach and this is where I ended up.

And I have decided that this is now finished. Unless of course I decide to come back to it at some point. For now though, it’s done.
“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.” – Alberto Giacometti
“There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt.” – Richard Feynman
November 1, 2016



Another reclaimed canvas – this time with lemons. Again, not that pleased, but it is what it is. I played a bit more with my 6″ X 6″ canvases too. And I think those went a little better…
“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.” – Geoffrey Chaucer
September 12, 2016
I’ve added another layer to each of these pieces – all being a mix of Paynes Grey and cold wax medium. And these really are about layers. This is all about playing with the cold wax medium and transparency and I am trying not to get attached to anything along the way. The trick is going to be deciding when to stop.
When I looked at this one again, it seemed to have lost a lot of it’s brightness and I found it quite dull – so I decided to add a lighter colour and pull out the grid pattern a little more with a bit of Naples Yellow mixed with cold wax medium. And I dulled down a few areas with Paynes Grey mixed with cold wax medium. Looking at it beside last week’s version I’m not sure it’s an improvement. Too late now though. And I still don’t know which way is up (with the painting that is). I think today’s orientation emphasizes the cross that is emerging a little too much. I will try something else with it next week and see what happens.
“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.” – Oscar Wilde
September 6, 2016




This week I decided to play some more with cold wax medium and created a first layer on two 6″ canvases, and added a layer to another two 6″ canvases to repurpose them in a new direction. I don’t think any of these are finished though.
“To me, beauty appears when one feels deeply, and art is a by-product of an act of total attention.” – Dorothea Lange



Three images this week. The glass of my lemon vase slowly develops, open books gain some definition and I manage one of my three drawings for the week. And ‘manage’ is a term I use loosely… It’s been an odd week though – hopefully this one is better.