The Landscape Beneath

 I never thought my Iphone could be so useful when working on my paintings (except for taking photos, ofcourse).

While doing the next layer on my current painting, 'Dreamtime' I was able to refer  to earlier stages  by looking back over my photographs. I wanted to  reintroduce, in translucent but darker colour, the landscape that lay beneath.

My idea was to show the journey gradually engulfing the the puppet theatre and the figures as they moved across the surface.

You can see my efforts so far, on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts. 

Jigsaws

  Just got back from our annual holiday in Sheringham. This was a record year with 31 members of the family attending! We've been staying in St Lukes Cottage for nearly forty years and in all that time it hasn't changed  much.

 In 1984 I did a painting entitled 30 DAYS which told the story on wooden jigsaw pieces of a month's stay in Sheringham. About half way through, Hazel dislocated her knee and ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of the holiday. You can see the painting (and the cottage) on my latest Instagram post.

I'm thinking of using jigsaw pieces again in my next painting, but that's for another blog.

Preliminary Canvases

 I've had preliminary canvases of my work, for sale ever since Babylon Arts asked if I could donate one for a charity auction. It sold for more than I expected so have been selling them ever since.

They've been on my website for a while, but a bit difficult to find!  Hopefully, on my new (unfinished,) redeveloped website you'll be able to locate them straight away.

Go to WORKS FOR SALE on the top bar and a drop down menu will appear.

Objects And Installations

 My redeveloped website  (www.tedconeysfamilyportraits.co.uk) is now 'live'. Its not finished yet but hopefully you can see how it is shaping up.

Giles of Redactsolutions has now taken over from Daniel  and  has been making a few changes.

I've long thought that the objects featured in my paintings are as important as the works themselves, though this was not reflected in the website, even though they are prominently displayed   in my pop-up gallery.

Also, I felt that some of the pieces were really installations in their own right, either because I had put stuff together to create something new or had added  to an existing object to give it a different meaning.

Click on 'The Collection' page and a drop down menu will signpost you to 'Objects and Installations' 

The Councillor

 I've just started some observational drawings for my new painting entitled 'The Councillor'.

I'm using the boat hoist on the marina near  us as a symbol. For me, it represents gathering up various members of the family over the last eighty years and helping to restore them to health and happiness.

You can see photos of the hoist and  early sketches on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts.

   I always like to overlap  finishing  one piece of work (currently 'Dreamtime') with research for the next one. 

Reverse Perspective

   I've just been to the 'Hockney's Eye' exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and it was interesting to view his work alongside a selection of the Collection's Old Masters.

I knew something of David Hockney's ideas about how artists had been using various drawing aides for years, as my children about bought me his book on the subject.

During the exhibition I became more interested in his examples of painting using 'Reverse Perspective' and I may well experiment with it for my next painting.

I also liked Hockney's relaxed attitude to perspective which chimed with my own. By all means make use of it but don't let it enslave you.

Cheap As Chips

 I had over 90 visitors to my last Open Studio weekend.

 One person was asking me about my painting '3001' and I  explained how I came to choose the objects that would go in my Morris Minor -  a time capsule to be rediscovered in a 1,000 years time.

The inspiration had come from a recently unearthed Roman shrine found under the car park at Shire Hall. One of the items was 600 oyster shells, which were an inexpensive  favourite with the Romans.

'As cheap as chips' came the retort from my visitor. Nearly right I said, as I had chosen 6 Kettle crisps as a modern equivalent to go in the painting.

You might be able to spot them  in the latest picture on my Instagram post.