Happy Painting with Colour!

I've been working on the second, of what may turn out to be a series of paintings about where I live.  'The Barn' is a social club down the valley road in Marlow Bottom.  You're always sure of a welcome there, and during the Covid lockdown, Shelley Robson and her team have been feeding vulnerable members of the community each Sunday.  Lots of wonderful inspiration for a painting.  Now summer is here, outside the Barn hanging baskets and planters are overflowing with gorgeous begonias, which I just had to include of course.

Please contact me for price and further information if you'd like to purchase the original painting.  Limited edition prints will shortly be available to buy via my website www.beeskelton.com

Here's an impression of how a print could look framed:

My commission order book is currently open for a limited period.  You're welcome to contact me if you'd like me to discuss a painting personalised for you.

Cat nap doodling

Cat Nap - mixed media painting - 8 x 6.75 inches

This little snoozy cat mixed media piece started as a watercolour painting that was going no where, but had some pleasing colours that I thought would make a good background for other media.  I softened the colours slightly then added collaged elements of other painted and drawn papers onto it and allowed it to take on a life of its own.  Developed onwards with gouache paint, more detailed mark making with Inktense pencil and fine nib pen and ink.  The idea of the dreamy cat just started to happen. A glorified doodle really.  Doodling is so therapeutic.  If you haven't tried it yet, I can recommend it.

You can email me for information about anything you see.  A small collection of work can also sometimes be seen in my Etsy shop

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DRINK ME Alice in Wonderland inspired collage

Alice in Wonderland and the bottle that says 'Drink Me'.  Decisions! Will she? Won't she?  Of course, if she hadn't, it would have been a whole different story. 

As you can see, I've again been playing with a collage background and painting folk art style imagery onto it.  I'm liking this Alice with her wide eyes and indecisive mouth.  Her squiggly hair is kind of cool too.  

For more information please click here.

Girls best friend

I've painted this happy little dog-walker, with green striped top and red shorts, onto another collaged background.  I like her skinny legs and equally skinny dog.  

If a man's best friend is his dog, then I'm four times blessed.  I didn't set out to have a dog pack, but that's how it's turned out ... and as for the 2 inside cats, 1 outside cat, with one pending.... just don't go there!


Each have joined the family in a variety of circumstances, but all were following their near death experiences.  As each one arrived and wrapped themselves gratefully around their first meal chez Skelton, we avowed each time that they were absolutely the last four-legged additions the family would be getting  ....  till next time ;)


Teddy we rescued as a tiny traumatised puppy from the centre of a main road 8 years ago.  We suspect unbelievably, she'd been dumped from a car.  Choo Choo was found in almost similar circustances a few months later;  Sally was found senseless on the motorway, after being hit by a car, and Daisy was dumped by hunters on the mountain where we live....  I won't describe or publish photos of the thick metal collar she was wearing when found, nor her festering flesh protruding through the gaps in the tight links, it's too sickening.  Suffice to say these horror stories have happy endings, their lives have been transformed for the better and so have ours.

Alice in Wonderland - Art Workshop

You may remember a few weeks ago, a friend and I had a ripping time making collage! Yesterday, I managed to push enough of the studio-mess towards the walls, to squeeze 2 of us in for another workshop. A different friend this time, who has never in her life considered making art. I don't think she really believed me when I promised she'd be making art to be proud of.

She is a mathematician/physicist and, she won't mind me telling you that her only memory of art classes at school, was when she was required to draw a chair. As she was only able to actually see 3 chair legs from her viewpoint, her logical mind got totally banjaxed, was unable to deal with the invisible other leg, and that was that.

I could have explained that Picasso would have understood her dilemma, and if we hadn't had other stuff planned, we could've Googled some of his paintings to demonstrate how he dealt with showing things from all angles, all at the same time. Instead we helped ourselves to some seriously colourful self-expression of our own, with acrylic paint, paper ephemera, gloss acrylic medium, heat transfer printing and handmade papers.

We had such a good time. It was so brilliant to see my friend's excitement when she realised she'd created something really stunning! Next week she's off to the framers.

'Alice in Wonderland' is one of my original whimsical folkart collage paintings inspired by the book / film. She's a character with a funny little face, who started life as a sketchbook drawing, and was then applied to a collage background, where she stands very prim and proper.

DAY 64 Project 365

Four Seasons series complete. Christmas is my favourite bit of winter, so I had extra fun with this one.

DAY 63 Project 365

Another quirky girl ...she's one scary female! But still smiling in the teeth of a gale ;-)

DAY 60 Project 365

Work in progress Four Seasons series, No 3. Autumn or Fall of course, depending on who's looking.

DAY 58 Project 365

Tiny sketchbook image, which is the start of the next painting in the Four Seasons series ... already looking slightly windswept. Will transfer her onto 350g watercolour paper later today.

DAY 57 Project 365

No more fiddling with this. Summer is finished.

DAY 55 Project 365

Today's work in progress. I'm feeling the hair needs to be darker and a few more tweaks. More tomorrow.

DAY 54 Project 365

Taped down the area to be painted onto 300g cotton cold pressed paper and transferred original sketch. Felt her neckline needed to be tweaked around the other way. Blocked in the colours with acrylic paint. Details and texture tomorrow hopefully.

DAY 53 Project 365

Thanks Lisa for the series suggestion .... April to be followed by the other 11 months. I'm enjoying this style and especially the use of more vivid colouring and would like to do more of it. But think I'm too much of a butterfly at the moment to do a series that long ... but who knows. Any way, I've decided for now the quirky girl sketches will become a Four Seasons series. So April has now been re-named Spring. Here is the Summer sketch. Work in progress tomorrow.

DAY 51 Project 365

April is painted with acrylics on 300gr cotton cold pressed watercolour paper.

CHOCOLATE FAIRY

Our last visitor of the year has left so it's back to normal life until Christmas.

H is away for a couple of weeks too, so hoping to catch up with lots of artwork and jewellery making that I've had on hold.

This folk art Chocolate Fairy is 8 inches square and painted using acrylic paints, plus pearlised and metallic inks.

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FISHBOWL ACEO

I recently joined the ACEO ATC forum and today had a go at this week's Challenge. FISHBOWL. It was fun!

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