The work goes on

Still Life, 4th day of work

Work continued on Still Life today. The figure has been mounted on a backing board and a first coat of gesso applied over the fabric draperies. Then I had to set her aside for some drying time and decided to start a new work because I still had half the day left.

I cut out a canvas about 60x80cm and prepared the surface and blocked in a face with acrylic paint. It is developed enough that tomorrow I can work over it in oil paint. The chin looks unnaturally pointy at this stage but that is because the face will be swathed in a scarf around the head as the work progresses.

The Quiet Place, day 1

I have obviously moved away from the really florid, highly embellished works I was doing all last year and up until a few months ago. I'm a little concerned that for the August exhibition I'll be presenting a really broad range of work that doesn't have a single unifying theme. Rodney is creating a much more themed body of work. But we have called our show "Murrurundi Mixed Media Marriage" so I hope that my rather loose and varied collection will seem passable under that descriptor of "mixed".

I am starting to give some thought to doing a new body of work for an exhibition in 2013-14. Next time I would work within a more tightly defined theme and unifying aesthetic.

Its more than likely I'll be back to work in the second week of May after I see the doctor for the next appointment on May 8th. My ankle is healing well and feeling almost back to normal.