Artists' Diary Week Ending February 15th 

Painting, painting, painting!

Am trying to get together three, yes three separate bodies of work. Consequently I feel like I need three parallel lives!

Sometimes I feel I should just stick to watercolours but when other mediums offer so much they are hard to forgo.

Have completed two 100x100cm oils this week of the Flinders. 

Did paint plein air on Wednesday at Nth Richmond but it was so hot and humid only managed to complete one and start another which was finished in the studio.

20"x8" and 16"x14" oil on board and on stretched canvas

Was very excited to begin watercolour classes at the Sydney Art School and was even more pleased to find a couple of school age students and the majority of the rest under 40!

Fridays' class demo at the RAS. 'Geike Gorge' 1/4 sheet

Thursday I will be doing a watercolour demonstration for the Society of Mountain Artsists, they are a great bunch!

Happy Painting!

Artists' Diary Week ending February 8th

Spent a whole day sorting paintings, cleaning and stacking ready to go out to upcoming shows. Seven stacks all ready for the courier!

Drove down to Thirroul with some painting friends and to meet up with another who lives locally to paint plein air on Wednesday. So different from my local landscape, really need some time in a place to get to know and understand the light on the subjects.

  Snippets from Austinmer and Thirroul

I am loving painting the wet in wet oils, pushing myself to do more, it is a huge learning curve for me. I am not used to spending so much time on a work and to keep my interest and concentration over a longer period is something I really need to work on!

'Moored' 100x100cms

Fridays' class is building with 10 students, really exhausting but love to see their efforts.

A couple of demo vignettes from last Friday

There are still a couple of vacancies in my group to paint watercolours plein air on Norfolk Island in June. Follow the link if you are interested and I promise you a wonderful time.

https://www.norfolkislandtravelcentre.com/events/en-plein-air-julie-simmons

Contact Maria who is just lovely and ready to assist.

I have had a number of queries about workshops, classes etc, all can be found on my website

www.juliesimmonsfineart.com

Happy Painting!

Artists' Diary Week Ending February 1st

February already, oh my goodness. Need to get started on a new body of work for an exhibition later in the year.

Not an awful lot happening on the art front this week, we had a bit of socializing to do on Australia Day. Had a lovely time in the mountains with a great bunch of people.

Managed only one charcoal this week

'Sydneyscape' 56x15cms

We have been running a fun challenge here to paint one of our artists Brett 'Mon' Garling at his easel. My contribution follows and you can check out the rest athttps://www.facebook.com/events/1566698950213988/?ref_dashboard_filter=past

My classes at the Royal Art Society started again this week and numbers have grown substantially. We did two small works.

Delivered my work to the RAS for their annual drawing exhibition, some lovely pieces will be on show.

Happy Painting!

Artists' Diary Week Ending January 25th

Every day I seem to discover another wonderful artist who inspires me to push my boundaries and try new things. So with this in mind I decided to work in charcoal and use my drawing experience to try and create some stronger works. It is a very free medium to use and I found it quite liberating! It was also a good excuse to retire to the comfort of the air conditioned house, the studio was scorching! 

 'Ridng the Rails' 56x56cms

'Silo Shadows' 76x76cms

Have continued with my plein air challenge but unfortunately have missed a few days. It has been hot, humid and extremely uncomfortable out in the field! So it was back to garden vignettes. All 12"x12" oil on canvas.

Spent a day in the studio completing two oils, still finding my feet with this medium.

'The Wetlands' 100x100cms

'On the Hill' 60x60cms

I was delighted to receive the Artist of the Year Award at the Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour on Friday evening.

The exhibition continues until 6pm Tuesday the 27th January.

Artists' Diary Week Ending January 18th

Already the year is becoming a busy one with exhibition entries, demonstrations and workshops being booked into the diary!

Have set myself another challenge to paint at least one plein air piece a day during January but it does prove to be a bit problematic at times what with visitors, rain and very, very hot days where it is so uncomfortable to be outside one just wants to relocate to the air-conditioning! But I have managed to do quite a few so here is a small taste. All are local scenes, either at home of within a couple of kilometers! 

Oh! Except for the day we went to Oatley Park which was beautiful but so, so hot!

Have even managed to make it to the studio and to block in a couple of pieces worked from plein air studies completed during my challenge.

 100x100cms oil on canvas

60x60cms oil on canvas

Sometimes the wash in is the best bit as in the second one here…feel like leaving it as is!

Have been fortunate enough to have a couple of sales at the Victor Harbor Rotary Art Show in South Australia, it runs until Sunday so if you are anywhere near it is a mighty show.

http://www.victorharborartshow.com.au

This weekend is the Art Of Sydney Awards at Darling Harbour, some amazing works are for sale and I will be there on Monday to help out so why not pop in and say Hi!

Happy painting!

Artists' Diary Week 38

And the New Year has arrived and has been a hot and humid one so far, but then again it is Sydney in January and to be expected!

2014 was rounded out with a sisters' day out in the Sydney, always full of laughter!

Sue, Mary and I

The new year started with a plein air painting challenge, a great way to
motivate oneself! Not always happy with the result but each one teaches me something.

Day1 'Geraniums and Terracotta' 20"x16"

Day 2

'View Across the Road'

20"x16"

Oil on board

Out early for this, so hot and humid!

Day 3

'Studio Shadows'

20"x16"

Oil on board

Had been out all day helping at an exhibition take in so did this in a mad rush of dark shapes, a few mid tones then some lights!

Day 4 'Approaching Storm' 24"x12" Had to race with this one, the storm was heading straight  for me! Rain started to fall just as I was cleaning up.

 Saturday was the delivery day for the Art of Sydney Awards, oh my goodness there were some wonderful works coming in! It is well worth the visit to the Maritime Museum in Sydney over the Australia Day long weekend to have a peruse….

There are still a couple of vacancies in my group for Norfolk Island in June, please contact 

https://www.norfolkislandtravelcentre.com for more information.

What else is coming up….Victor Harbor Rotary Art Show where I will have 4 works exhibited. 

http://www.victorharborartshow.com.au

May 2015 be a happy and painterly year!

Artists' Diary week 37

Hmm, final blog for 2014….sadly NO paintings were completed this week! 

Although I did do some scouting for a plein air trip in autumn so it wasn't completely art free.  Oh my goodness, the views across to the Liverpool Ranges from Merriwa are stunning, can't wait to spend a few days painting out there.

And Christmas has come and gone! 

What an amazing time spent with family in Merriwa in the Upper Hunter. We travelled from Brisbane, Castlereagh and Millthorpe descending on this lovely town to spend a few days together. It has become our tradition to travel to a different family home each year as we all live some distance from each other.

This time of year is not about gift giving, although quite a few were exchanged but about being together! And we did have a Christmas 'miracle'. My sons' very old, blind and pretty deaf dog disappeared for 3 days….we were all convinced she had gone off to die but no, she was found and returned so happy faces all round!

      Our annual family B&W photo taken after a very late night playing 'Pictionary' and 'Trivial Pursuit'

The cool kids Georgie, Nyah and Emerson at the skate park!

Breathing Colours still has its' group show up and running

I do hope you all enjoyed time with your families and friends.

The new year is set to be a very exciting one and the exhibition entries are already starting to pile up so without further ado I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Painterly 2015!