Open Safety Pin

Open Safety Pin
Oil on gessoed board
$80

sold

Broad Bean Pod

Broad Bean Pod

Oil on gessoed board
100x185mm

$150
sold

It's actually an organic broad bean pod. From the Organic Shop. Where all the old hippies go. Whilst watching our recent election results coverage on TV, a very distinguished political scientist suggested that the reason the Green Party didn't do as well as recent Polls predicted was because:

"All the old hippies and surfies were probably too busy getting their organic vegtables to go and vote".

I liked the curly bit on the end.

Eeyore's Tail

Eeyore's Tail

Oil on gessoed board
100x100mm

$100
sold
 

This fell off a stuffed toy and I felt like painting it. So I did. I have many pleasant memories of reading A.A Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories many years ago to my daughter Toby who is now 22. The joke in our family is that I am very much like the character of Eeyore, the morose and mildly depressive donkey. One of the stories is about Eeyore losing his tail and Pooh finding it being used by the Wise Owl as a bell rope.

This is how Eeyore is introduced in the book:

"The old grey donkey, Eeyore, stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" - and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about."

Kind of sums up the Human Condition quite neatly really..

Blue 4B

Blue 4B
Oil on gessoed board
100x100mm

$100

sold

I'm not sure why I enjoy painting pencils, but I do.

Dead Starling Chick (Detail)

Dead Starling Chick (Detail)

Oil on gessoed board
Aprox 130x130mm

There are starlings nesting above the front door to my studio, and the other day I found three dead chicks that had either fallen out or been chucked out by the mother - I'm not sure. They had the powerful attribute of being both grotesque and beautiful at the same time, and I felt compelled to paint them. My initial intention was a composition with all three of the birds in a kind of pinwheel arrangement. However, I found myself struggling with the painting of just one bird and it became extremely unpleasant trying to battle off a plague of flies. Raid's "fast acting" fly spray is not true to label! I only managed to get one bird painted and not particularly satisfactorily at that. I felt like abandoning the painting and the next day when I came into the studio and lifted the protective covering I had placed over them I was hit by the nauseating stench of decay. That decided it and the chicks recieved a decent burial.

Perhaps I should resort to photographs...

Or stick to painting "nice" arrangments of fresh fruit.

Dead Starling Chick

200x200mm

Remnants

Remnants
Oil on gessoed board
65x85mm

$100

I wanted to see how a burnt match would look on the red so I painted this one directly after finishing the safety pin. This time I tempered the red slightly with a touch of yellow.

Safety Pin on Red

Safety Pin on Red
Oil on gessoed board
40x65mm

$80

sold

I thought this would look good on a red background and I used Cadmium Red Medium straight from the tube. It's rare for me to use such a bold colour in such a fashion. It felt very indulgent.

Broken Charcoal

Broken Charcoal

oil on mahogany panel

45x95mm

$100

Birthday Candle & Holder

Birthday Candle & Holder
Oil on gessoed board
60x80mm

$100
sold

I find that half used birthday candles have a slight poignant quality. Especially lying on their side. Symbolising loss of innocence or child like dreams perhaps..?

White Mask

White Mask
Oil on gessoed board
100x100mm

$100

This painting started out as something else entirely, however it didn't go well and I scraped it off. Later on I came back into the studio and noticed the sunlight just catching the side of this white plastic mask that I had hanging by the window. I struggled with it as the sun was constantly moving, changing the light and shadow. I find it a fascinating subject and one that I will probably come back to, and hopefully make a better job of.

Along with the other dozens of subjects I keep meaning to come back to...!

Tally

Tally
Oil on gessoed board
$100

Serrated Knife II

Serrated Knife II
Oil on gessoed board
100x215mm

This painting was a commission.

Puniho - View From Studio Window

Puniho - View From Studio Window

Oil on gessoed board
110x85mm

Another One dollar auction on NZTradeMe. To bid click here.

sold

Dead Match on Blue

Dead Match on Blue
Oil on gessoed board
60x80mm

In an attempt to actually sell a painting I'm auctioning this one on NZTrademe for a $1 reserve. Surely it's worth one dollar? You can bid here.

sold

Marble on Blue

Marble on Blue
Oil on gessoed board
60x80mm

$80

Apple With a Bite

Apple With a Bite

Oil on gessoed board
$150

sold

The same apple as yesterday with a bite taken out of it. Perhaps I should sell them as a pear.

An Apple With It's Shadow

An Apple With It's Shadow

Oil on gessoed board
115x95mm

$150

sold

How do you paint an apple in this day and age?

Small Starfish

Small Starfish
Oil on gessoed board

80x90mm
$80

One Blue Peg

One Blue Peg

Oil on gessoed board
80x60mm

$80

Many years ago when I was young and full of self confidance, I painted huge canvas's of these commonplace objects, making them much larger than life. I painted one of a plastic icecream container full of these pegs. It sold and I dont know what happened to it, but this painting reminded me of it. Nowadays I don't put all my pegs in one basket...

Vermilion

Vermilion
Oil on gessoed board
60x40mm

$100

You can have good fun painting paint tubes. This one is doubly ironic because it's watercolour paint, painted in oil paint.

My sale of 20% off last month was such a raging success I've decided to put the prices up by %20 this month.