Graham took me to Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill for my birthday in early November.  He adores oysters and wanted me to paint a plate of them for my exhibition in May next year. We got there quite early having dropped in at the Royal Academy on the way to see the 'Bronze' exhibition.  They produced a plate with three different kinds of oyster, Mersea, Loch Ryan and Dorset, all on a bed of ice and seaweed.  Sustained by a delicious cup of coffee and later a glass of Sauvignon, I painted as much as I could and Grahamthen devoured them with relish.  I sent the photo of the finished product to Bentley's and they are keen to use the image for their Christmas Card.  I took it to my printers, I-Pixel this morning.  Apparently, I cause them real problems as I use off white paper.  Hopefully he will manage.....

'Name' paintings

It is mid May and it is still quite cold outside.  I have managed to do some painting, but not a lot.  I have done a number of 'Name ' paintings which seem popular as Christening presents for a few friends and relatives.  I try to make them as personal as possible,  with references to the child's home, or the place of their birth. Here are a few examples of ones already done:

I painted these two piglets not long ago.  They belong to Penny Johnson of PJ's catering, and I am afraid are destined for ham at some stage.  They seemed to be friends and it is so strange that something so cute as a piglet can change into a huge sow with a really ugly profile.  I used a bit of chalk to show the hairs on the back.
 The big sow belongs to Richard and Annie Hall at Hailes, near Market Drayton.

2012 getting back in the groove

I have not used this for so long and on another computer. I hope I can put images onto this blog again. The days are getting longer and soon we will be in the garden until 6.00pm. This is Cwmyoy Church right up in the hills not far from Llanthony Abbey. A friend of my daughter was married there in February and it was snowing. The hill is so steep and narrow that there was only room for the bride's car, so everyone else had to walk about half a mile up hill to get to it. It is a beautiful, wild place. No wonder she wanted to get married there. This is a painting for her wedding present. I hope it shows how cold and snowy it was as I had to imagine the snow.

update

2011 was a busy year in more cases than one. We became grandparents twice over. Our grandson Wulfstan was born on April 23rd and our granddaughter, Georgina, was born on December 23rd, so we will have no excuses forgetting their birthdays. Painting took a bit of a backseat. I entered for an exhibition in London with some friends which was a waste of time, largely because I had not sent out any invitations - I only had 8 and in any case my mind was on other things. As I write, I am trying to decide what to exhibit in an exhibition nearer home this March. I fear this again will not be very well attended, and buying paintings will not be very high on anyone's agenda at the moment. People are more concerned about their fuel bills and what the future holds. Fortunately the winter has not been too bad - so far. We have managed to survive without the heating for the fourth year running. We turn it on when people come and stay and then find ourselves stripping off because of the heat!

The snowdrops down the drive started flowering in December and are still going strong. We have had a couple of cold spells which have held them back a little to prolong the season. The Tenby Daffodils are in bud and our hellebores are beginning to make a show. I have just about finished a painting of another Amaryliis or hippeastrum which I gave myself - Waitrose were selling them off cheap after Christmas. I hope I can get an image of it to put on this blog tomorrow.