Pastel and Paint: Lesly Finn's Art

New Painting started ....... at last!

2009-07-10T22:12:00.007+12:00

Its a funny old world ... a new painting started after all these weeks ........ and I tricked myself into it!! I went with a friend to hand in his wife's entry form for an imminent Art Award Exhibition and thought "Well, I suppose I could put in an entry too...."

So in went my entry complete with Title, Medium and Price!

Now all I have to do is complete the painting within the next couple of weeks. Well done, Lesly, thats about the last thing you need at the moment ... self-inflicted pressure! But, hey, its a challenge - so this morning I decided to get started and draft something out on canvas ...........

1. Having decided what I wanted to do I drew it out in pastel pencil on my canvas. Canvas size 55cm x 70cm.
2. Next I added texture with both acrylic modeling medium and acrylic gel.
3. Then I washed over the pastel pencil to partially seal it.

Now all I have to do is paint the thing!

P.S.
The title of my entry is 'Siesta'.
The medium is acrylic.
The price? ................ sorry, but that's a secret!

Drawing Workshop

2009-06-15T15:16:00.010+12:00

I'm booked to attend a figure drawing workshop next month (July) with artist John Badcock. I had not seen anything about him until recently but a look around his website is both startling and intriguing!

From Wikipedia

John Badcock is a New Zealand artist, based in Geraldine, South Canterbury. Badcock comes from a very artistic family. His father Douglas Badcock and two brothers Brian and David are also painters. Where the other family members specialise in landscape painting, John has become more renowned for portraiture. His art is described as Expressionist, and has been compared to works by artists such as Otto Dix. His work has encompassed many media - oils, watercolours, charcoals and acrylics.

Born in Queenstown in 1952, Badcock has been a professional artist for three decades. His accolades include solo exhibitions throughout New Zealand since 1985, and more recently the exhibiting of The Last Supper at the Christchurch Cathedral. He has been a finalist in the New Zealand Portrait Awards in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006, and the subject of two New Zealand Art Films (John Badcock - a Film by Brian High, and A Changing Landscape – A Film by Simon Pattison). Badcock's recently published first book 'Passing People' provides an in-depth look at his latest series of 100 portraits. The following public galleries currently have collections of his work, Christchurch Art Gallery - Christchurch, Aigantighe Art Gallery – Timaru, and Anderson Park Gallery – Invercargill.

Here is an example of his work from his 100 portraits exhibition "Passing People".

His more recent paintings are more abstract and his work can be seen at NobleBoyd Gallery .

Sharpening my pencil!

2009-06-01T11:20:00.004+12:00

Just haven't been able to concentrate long enough to do any artwork recently but I've decided that it is time to GET A GRIP! Maybe by fiddling about with small things I will eventually get back to more serious projects .....

Pencil sketching from photographs might be one way to work myself back into painting again ... and this first one was done in about half an hour at the dining room table. I'd been asked to do a portrait of this particular child but had not managed to get beyond a preliminary painting which looks absolutely nothing like her! This sketch is a slightly better likeness.

Billie

Two dear art friends meet up once in a while to work together and I joined them this week for one of their sessions ..... I managed this sketch from a photograph of one of my grand-daughters. A slight improvement I think, although it does not bear close scrutiny!

Yvie

A new week, a new challenge

2009-03-23T16:35:00.004+13:00

Today I started another blog ... this time it has nothing to do with painting or artists but is about the newest "adventure" in my life - the discovery of a brain tumour. Luckily for me the initial diagnosis is a meningioma, - lucky in the sense that they are usually benign, but at the moment the future is far less certain than a week ago. And it is quite daunting .... I mean both the diagnosis and trying to write about it!!

January's painting

2009-02-03T15:01:00.003+13:00

'burning bright'

(acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12")

St Bathan's weekend - pastel portrait of Mary

2008-12-27T14:44:00.004+13:00

Mary, sister of our hostess, kindly sat for us one afternoon

Mary (pastel sketch, 2008)

A Pictorial glimpse - St Bathans Workshop

2008-12-27T14:10:00.006+13:00

St Bathans - Part of main street (just beyond the local hostelry!)

St Bathans blue lake - big water, big skies

Old mine castings nearby

- derelict but once 2,500 people lived and worked here!

Our jolly group of artists enjoy lunch and some liquid refreshment

Anne Wright's studio - and a lovely venue for painting in!

Pastels - playing away!

2008-11-10T12:41:00.005+13:00

This weekend I am off inland to Maniototo area in Central Otago, to a tiny place called ST BATHANS:

"Beneath the Hawkdun Range and the Dunstan Mountains is the tiny township of St Bathans. With a present population of 5 people and one hotel, it is a far cry from the days of 2000 people and 13 hotels. Situated beside the beautiful Blue Lake (created by the sluicing and channelling of the gold diggers), the intense blue colour of the lake is caused by the mineral content of the surrounding cliffs. The 120 metre high hill the lake site was, is now a 69 metre deep hole, the deepest mining hole in the Southern Hemisphere. The adobe (sun dried mud brick) buildings, notably the Vulcan Hotel, reflect a theme common throughout Central Otago."

I have been invited to attend a small painting seminar being held by members of the Pastel Artists of New Zealand as guest demonstrator. I find the thought of trying to demonstrate in front of my peers terrifying in the extreme - but must follow in the footsteps of the early settlers with determination!

I will be staying in the local hotel ... it is said to be haunted, and I hope to keep you posted on that aspect of the adventure ..............

Anyway, the first evening (Friday) we are meeting up for a social get-together and are taking something towards a communal supper. Should be fun!

MADDIE - Does the UK Government care? (a correspondence)

2008-11-05T12:48:00.013+13:00

Madeleine McCann - missing since 3rd May

====================================

----- Original Message -----
To: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2008 9:58 AM

Subject: FAO Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary: Madeleine McCann Enquiry

Dear Madam

I am a British national living abroad who has concerns regarding some serious allegations made public in Dr Gonçalo Amaral's book " A Verdade da Mentira". These allegations bring into question the role and intentions of British police force and justice authorities during the course of the recent investigation into the case of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared on 3rd May 2007 from Praia da Luz, Algarve. These allegations are, according to the author of the book, contained in the investigation files of the inquiry now archived by the Portuguese authorities and will be available for consultation by interested parties from mid August.

The allegations include:

a. That British police forces held back for 6 months a witness statement given in UK regarding Dr xxxxx xxxxx appears relevant to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann led by the Portuguese Policia Judicaria.

b. That the Forensic Science Service, Birmingham has produced contradictory interpretations of test results carried out on vestiges found in the apartment and rental car used by the McCann family whilst in the Algarve, and also refused to return some forensic material so that it could be sent for analyses by other international laboratories. Said evidential vestiges were found as a result of searches made by the two specialist South Yorkshire police dogs, Eddie and Keela.

c. That British authorities refused to provide the Portuguese authorities with the medical records of Madeleine McCann as requested within the remit of the rogatory letters.

d. That British authorities

i) did not provide to the Portuguese authorities when requested background information concerning the financial situation of Drs Gerald and Kate McCann

ii) reported that Drs Gerald and Kate McCann did not possess credit or debit cards when asked for the bank records of same.

You may not be aware of the groundswell of opinion which believes that the Drs McCann have received unprecendented assistance from government and business sources. This despite being named by the Policia Judicaria as suspects in their daughter's disappearance. Dr Amaral's allegations would seem to support this view and I am writing to ask for reassurance that the British Authorities are assisting (have assisted) the Policia Judicaria in every way possible to solve this case.

Might I request an acknowledgement of receipt and a response to the above request for information, and also ask that such acknowledgement and response be communicated and delivered to my electronic mail address in the first instance or, failing that, to my postal address given below?

Thanking you for your kind attention

Yours faithfully

=======================================

----- Original Message -----
To: Public Enquiries (CD) Public.Enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:55 AM

Subject: FAO Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary: Madeleine McCann Enquiry

Dear Madam

Further to my original enquiry of 3rd August 2008, to which I have yet to receive any detailed response, may I respectfully draw your attention to the following translation from the Portuguese publication Diario Economico?

Members of the House need to be aware that this article succinctly puts questions that I, and a great many other people, have regarding the Madeleine McCann case. Questions that need to be addressed if justice is to be served for a little girl whose voice can no longer be heard.

yours faithfully

-------------------------------------------------------

Diário Económico, 01.10.2008 Revisiting the "Maddie case" Was it the Portuguese and English governments that decided to sabotage the investigation and to get the parents "off the hook"?

by Domingos Amaral [Portuguese journalist and author]

Now that the Maddie case has been archived by the Public Ministry due to a lack of evidence; now that the process has been opened for public consultation; and now that the PJ inspector who coordinated the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, has already published a book about the issue, it has become possible to list my conclusions about the case. Here they are:

1 - Contrary to what was suggested by the British press, which presented him as a negligent policeman who spent his life in long lunches, washed down with plenty of wine, and with little investigative capacity, the impression that I got from Gonçalo Amaral, both from the tv interviews and from reading the book, is that he coordinated a competent investigation, that followed the rules, that was neither biased nor tendentious, and that he did everything to crack the case.

2 - All the evidence that was collected by the PJ pointed, right from the first days onward, to the little girl's death inside the apartment and the subsequent concealment of the cadaver, probably by her parents.

3 - The indicia that was collected, both from witnesses, and later from the DNA tests, pointed into that same direction.

4 -The behaviour of the little girl's parents' friends is very strange. There are contradictory depositions that seem to have been "built" to lead the PJ into the direction of the abduction theory. On the other hand, the fact that all of the friends abandoned Portugal in a hurry is extremely disturbing.

5 - The manner in which the little girl's parents behave, speaking to Sky News on the same day and transforming the case into a media event, obviously forcing the abduction theory, is extremely surprising. It does not seem normal to me that a father and a mother, when confronted with the disappearance of a daughter, establish as their first and only priority to transform the case into a worldwide media event.

6 - Since the first hour, the English press accepted the abduction theory, which was communicated to them by the parents, without judgment. Like a brainless flock, they fell on Praia da Luz exercising enormous pressure on the PJ, suggesting that Portugal is a third world country, and complicating the investigation. We remember that it was an English journalist that "invented" the suspicions about Robert Murat, thus forcing the PJ to investigate him and to waste time with a situation that was lateral, but which suited the parents' purpose.

7 -The fact that the little girl's father is a personal friend to Prime Minister Gordon Brown led to the English government making available to the parents, media specialists who built and forced the abduction theory. It was a highly professional operation that used sophisticated marketing techniques, in the press and on the internet, with meetings with international personalities, which culminated with the visit to the Pope in the Vatican.

8 -This remarkable public campaign was accompanied by a political pressure behind the scenes, with the English government exerting pressure on the Portuguese government, in the direction of the abduction theory.

9 - For many months, it was evident that the PJ had lost the public opinion battle and that it was not prepared to handle a media and political pressure of such proportion. In terms of public communication, the case was very badly managed by the PJ and by the Public Ministry.

10 - Despite these tremendous political and media pressures, the investigation proceeded on the terrain and was approaching important conclusions, which clearly pointed to the parents' guilt, at least of the crime of cadaver concealment.

All of these conclusions lead me to formulate two questions:

Why were the directory of the PJ and the Public Ministry incapable of having the courage to accuse the parents, like the investigation suggested?

Was it the Portuguese and the English governments that decided to sabotage the investigation and to let the parents "off the hook"?

Some day the truth will emerge, but for me, and even without bulletproof evidence, a case like this should never have been archived and those parents should be tried in court.

Domingos Amaral

=================================

Sent: 04 October 2008 08:44
To: MSU Correspondence

Subject: FAO David Miliband regarding MADELEINE McCANN

Dear David

I am a British national and have been living in New Zealand for almost nine years. I have been a Labour supporter since the Harold Wilson government was first voted in, but that is probably irrelevant!

Please find below copies of correspondence sent to Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, which I understand have now been 'transferred' to your office [Reference : ------/8 Date: 02-Oct-2008]. I am sending them to you direct as I hope that you will spare a moment to read them yourself.

My concerns are regarding the Madeleine McCann case. One concern being that the media spotlight has remained firmly fixed on the needs of the parents rather than the fate of the missing child. Another is the firm impression that powerful people may have influenced the investigative process.

Following shelving of the case and the release of case files by Policia Judicaria (currently being published on the Internet) I believe that the eyes of the world, certainly in Europe and the Commonwealth, are looking to the UK for signs that justice will be served for the little girl who disappeared 3rd May 2007.

I write to beg your assurance that the British Government and UK police are doing everything, and will continue to do everything, in their power to find out the truth surrounding Madeleine's disappearance.

yours sincerely

===================================

AND NOW, FINALLY, A REPLY:

Subject: FW: MoP Letter 52752-08 McCANN - Due 03/11/2008 Date

Dear Ms Finn,

Thank you for your email of 4 October to the Foreign Secretary about the case of Madeleine McCann. I have been asked to reply as desk officer responsible for this case at the Foreign and Commonweath Office (FCO).

The British Government remains concerned about the fate of Madeleine. As Madeleine went missing in Portugal, the investigation into her disappearance is being lead by the Portuguese police. UK police forces have provided and are continuing to provide assistance to the Portuguese police.

The British government takes a strong interest in making sure that British nationals in distress abroad can get the right help. I would like to assure you that our consular officials continue to follow Madeleine's case closely and provide assistance to her family as we would for any British national in these circumstances.

Best regards,

Madeleine - the 'last' photo

What if she was YOUR child?

Margaret

2008-10-17T08:35:00.003+13:00

1941 - 2008

Remembered always with love

Finished!! - 'Winter Vase' (13" x 19")

2008-10-10T14:39:00.004+13:00

Pastel painting - getting there!

2008-10-09T08:43:00.003+13:00

Pastel painting - slow progress

2008-10-05T15:31:00.002+13:00

Well this is proving far more labour intensive than I expected .... but then doesn't everything once you get started! The hydrangea florets are proving a real pain ... I'm trying not to make them photo-realistic, but it is so difficult to know exactly how much detail to go into! I am not entirely satisfied with them but am moving onwards (downwards, that is!) and will review them later.

Pastel painting - another way to tackle a subject!

2008-10-01T10:18:00.006+13:00

I have been asked to demonstrate at three pastel workshops over October/November and, as I have hardly touched my pastels in over a year, I thought it about time I got them out and had a bit of a practice!

But what subject to choose?

That glass vase of hydrangeas still beckons and it would be interesting to tackle them in pastel as well as in acrylic (see previous post).

PASTEL VERSION - making a start!

1. I crop my photograph in order to get the composition I want, and print it A4 size.
2. I also print in 'outline' form at four times the size.
3. Next I trace the main shapes lightly on to Colorfix pastel paper.
4. I begin working, top downwards, trying to get each part virtually complete before I start the next.

Outlines lightly traced in, working from the top of the paper downwards

Enlargement of first completed section

Work in Progress - Acrylic painting (second stage)

2008-09-22T10:16:00.004+12:00

Settling in for the long haul on this, I think!!!! Painting in thin glazes to build up colour and shapes which takes quite a long time. Wish I was a bold and splashy painter .... but its impossible to change ones natural approach. Well I find it so! I also wish that I could hold a camera straight when taking pics ...... LOL!

Work in Progress - Acrylic painting (first stage)

2008-09-16T10:11:00.005+12:00

Really had to pull myself together and begin another project ....

Last autumn a friend gave me a bunch of hydrangeas from her garden - beautiful! So, although I rarely paint flowers, I decided that the colours in these lovely blooms might inspire ....

STAGE ONE

1. Canvas 16" x 20": This was tinted by wetting with water and dropping in the three primary colours. These were then swirled together a little by tilting the canvas.

2. Composition: I took some photographs of the flowers in their glass vase, then played around with the image until I got what I thought to be an interesting view. Composition is always a difficult decision in any painting and I am not 100% certain that this will work out in the end!

3. Basic drawing: Very basic outlines were undertaken using sepia conte crayon then washed over with water. This stage was followed with a more detailed, though still simplified, drawing done with a brush and watery dark red/black paint. The darkest shapes were painting in loosely.

N.B. The glass vase is proving a nightmare!! .... getting both sides correct to make a convincing shape is extremely difficult, so I am hoping that this aspect will improve as I get further into the piece!

Floral - End of Stage One

RUN MEL RUN!!

2008-08-31T21:36:00.006+12:00

Our lovely daughter Melanie (seen here on a visit to Budapest) will be running a half-marathon in UK in aid of the Marie Curie Foundation on 12th October 2008. This is the first time that she has ever done a distance run and she is doing it to help in the fight against cancer.

Please take a look at her web-page HERE! ... and perhaps even make a small donation to help her towards her goal of raising one thousand pounds.

Thank you.

Mixed media on canvas ..........

2008-07-10T15:55:00.006+12:00

Village du Sud

Mixed media on canvas (20" x 16")

My objective with this painting was to create an impressionistic image with plenty of texture. Click on the photo to view an enlargement and see more clearly what I was up to! I am quite pleased with the result ... it's pretty much what I had hoped to achieve.

Oil pastel on canvas?

2008-07-03T14:57:00.005+12:00

Last week I was browsing through some art books and found (and bought) this very interesting one:

Title: The PASTEL BOOK - Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist
Author: Bill Creevy (1991)
Publishing details: Watson-Guptill Publications, New York ISBN 0-8230-3905-6

As you might expect from the title the book covers every aspect of using pastels and not only covers soft pastels, hard pastels and pastel pencils but also oil pastels and oil sticks. The author describes a number of different makes of pastel and various pastel supports, as well as discussing techniques and giving pictorial demonstrations. Although the author's style of painting is quite different to my own, I can thoroughly recommend the book to anyone interested in learning about pastels and also to those interested in seeing how pastels might be incorporated into mixed media work.

In fact, the reasons I was drawn to the book were the exciting sections on pastels with mixed media, in particular the sections on using Soft Pastels with Acrylic Gels or Modelling Paste, Oil Pastels with Acrylic Medium, and making Pastel Monotypes.

Since buying the book I have had a brief try with Acrylic Medium over Soft Pastel but admittedly without much success ... so I feel that this may take a while to conquer! But I did manage to produce the following in Oil Pastel plus Acrylic Medium:

Night moves IV (12" x 12")

The painting is on canvas primed with terracotta color pastel primer. The oil pastels were applied in layers and each layer 'sealed' with Atelier acrylic satin gloss medium. When finished a further two coats of medium were applied. The surface seems to be non-tacky and stable, but time will tell, no doubt!

good news week!

2008-07-03T14:45:00.005+12:00

Well another sale! .... my recent acrylic painting of a nude has sold. I renamed it 'Solitude' and entered it into the Otago Art Society's Member Exhibition in Dunedin. A lady came in looking for a small watercolour and bought my canvas instead!

Another piece of good news is that my 'Tips for Acrylic Painting', together with one of my acrylic painting demonstrations, can now be viewed at Creative Spotlite. If you have not visited this site then it is well worth a look ... masses of art information, tips, demonstrations and links!

Head to Head ......... a good day!

2008-05-26T13:26:00.006+12:00

Well, in spite of it being a cold, wet and grey day yesterday I'm happy to say that our local Head to Head Art Tour was very successful! Participants reported a good number of visitors during the course of the day, doors opening at 10am and closing at 5 pm, and a steady stream of people.

I had over 80 visitors come to view my work (+ a toddler and one dog!), and the interest and comments were very stimulating. In fact, the event did a lot to blow some life into my artistic embers! And I even sold a painting which was icing on the cake ...

Row Boats, Karitane
Palette-knife painting
(acrylic on canvas, 40cms x 50cms)

25 May 2008 .... Open Studio Tour

2008-04-27T19:10:00.005+12:00

keeping it simple .....

2008-04-23T16:23:00.004+12:00

My biggest problem has always been lack of spontaneity in my painting. I try too hard and work over things too much. So today I set myself the task of completing a picture in under 3 hours. Admittedly it has been drawn up for days and the canvas had been stained in readiness .... and still staring at me from my easel!

So this afternoon, while the OH was away at golf, I got out my brushes, etc and lugged it all downstairs to the kitchen (as it is exceptionally cold in my work-room/attic today), and got on with it.

I am not exactly thrilled with the end result .... as it offends my sense of neatness! And I don't suppose my brush work is up to much, whatever 'brushwork' means (I have never really been able to find out)! But, it you ignore some dodgy edges plus some definite rough bits, perhaps its not turned out too badly. Maybe it will grow on me.

Nude III

(acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

this sporting life!

2008-04-13T07:27:00.010+12:00

I have never been much good at sport and from an early age realised that prowess in the field was not for me. Netball, hockey, tennis, it was 'no go' ... I could never make the team! In athletics I couldn't run or jump, in gymnastics I was terrified of handstands, flick-flacks and walking a beam! As for swimming I just about mastered the breaststroke but hated the crawl and refused to learn to dive. In fact I was a complete and utter washout! This I felt was entirely unfair as I love most sports .... but I resigned myself to life as a spectator.

Unlike me, my husband always excelled at sport at school, especially soccer, and has natural ability but early fatherhood and the demands of his career prevented regular sporting activity. However, a couple of years ago we joined our local bowls club, mainly because it is the only place in the village that has a bar! We initially joined as social members but in early 2007 were 'encouraged' to start playing for the club in the local league. John of course showed his natural sporting talent straight away and, much to my surprise, I found that I was equally suited to the game .... this came as quite a shock after a lifetime of believing that I was a complete dud sportswise!

This season, October - April, I have been playing competitive bowls 3 or 4 times a week (hence the lack of paint on canvas!) and have improved my game quite a bit. In fact, in our club championships I was winner of both the Ladies Singles and Ladies Doubles. Of course, I was beaten at the next level, in the district championships, but that was only to be expected.

But, apart from winning, the wonderful thing is that we have both had lots of fun, met a whole crowd of new people in and around this area, and improved our level of fitness. John has also taken up golf and already has an 18 handicap - although that does make me a bit of a 'golf widow' when he gets to the 19th hole!

Vive le sport!

Head to Head ......... in my own gallery!!!!

2008-04-04T16:26:00.008+13:00

Well here's a bit of news (hope you are there, Shez and Jafabrit!) .... as I am posting about a forthcoming venture AND announcing my new 'gallery' space.

First of all there will be an exciting event in May when a group of more than 20 local artists are getting together for a 'Head to Head Art Tour'. The artists all live within the vicinity of the bay which runs between the heads of the Matanaka peninsula and the Huriawa peninsula, and will be displaying their work for one day. Some will display in their own homes or galleries and others will get together in local halls.

My house is the very last one along the Huriawa peninsula and I now have a small gallery area all my own in our new basement extension. The extension comprises a large lounge (which I will also use to display a few paintings), a bathroom, and the 'gallery' which has a small kitchen area at one end.

I have spent today happily hanging some of my paintings in my new gallery!!!! .................

View through part of the new lounge to the 'gallery'.

Closer view through the double doors of the lounge.

View of main wall of gallery area.

View of opposite wall (showing double doorway)

Foot of the stairwell at far end of gallery

Closer view of some of my paintings in situ!

I feel very lucky to have this space to display my work, and now must get some brochures and business cards underway for the Head to Head Art Tour.