Ashwinstudio art blog » Painting

Visit to Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny

Ashley — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:13:15 +0000

Visiting, Impressionist artist, Monet’s garden in Giverny was like a pilgrimage to me. To see one of my favorite artist’s legacy – where he painted some of his most important works. Paintings, such as his water lilly series, that opened to the way to abstraction.

I must admit I did not expect the gardens or the house to live up to all the hype but I am delighted to to say they did! In fact, the gardens were one of our holiday highlights – my wife and my children loved it as much as me.

Anyway here a just a few of the pics I took:

Michelangelo, Raphael and Bernini

Ashley — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:35:05 +0000

I have just returned from a fantastic short holiday in Rome where I was humbled and in total awe of the sculptures and paintings by Michelangelo, Raphael and Bernini. Everywhere you look there is unbelievable works of art from the Stanze of Raphael to the Trevi Fountain and of course the Sistine Chapel. After years of admiring Michelangelo’s Pietà from books it was great to see it in real life and even though it is now incased protective glass it still took my breadth away. My only complaint is there is just too much to take in!

Friendship – Abstract oil painting on canvas

Ashley — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:08:12 +0000

I have been working on this abstract painting on off for a four months now. I used thick paint and mixed many of the colours directly on the canvas.

CAMs art auction for Haiti

Ashley — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:01:53 +0000

Please to announce the art auction at Williams Gallery raised well over £2000. All the art for sale was donated by Cambridge Arts Movement artists. I donated broken circle which I am pleased to say sold.

Abstract Painting: Explorations of the Mind 2

Ashley — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:17:09 +0000

This painting is experimental in both technique and subject matter. I have used both acrylic in the early stages building up layers and dribbling paint from a stick at different angles. I then used glazes of oil paint to build up depth, colour and tonal changes. As for the subject – well judge for your self.

The Fens Dawn Till Dusk, Painting Exhibition

Ashley — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:10:38 +0000

Six paintings from the Fenland series of landscape paintings are on exhibition at the Cazimir Cafe, King Street, Cambridge.

Fenland painting series exhibited at Cazimir Cafe, Cambridge

Two more fen paintings on display

The exhibition runs for one month starting 8th October 2009

Artists put themselves in frame

Ashley — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:30:11 +0000

The Cambridge Arts Movement self-portrait exhibition made it into the Cambridge Evening News. And featured my artwork.

Article in the Cambridge Evening News

Mixed-media self-portrait

Self-portrait

Ashley — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:52:15 +0000

The private view for the Cambridge Arts Movement self-portrait exhibition at Williams Gallery was great fun and very well received. The range of work from all the different artists is very exciting and many of the visitors were interested in how each artist approached the subject.

And I was very pleased with the very positive feedback I got from fellow artists and visitors. It has given a real drive to do more experimental work.

New series of paintings – Explorations of the Mind

Ashley — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:44:21 +0000

Have finally completed the first of a new series of paintings titled them ‘Explorations of the Mind’. I have struggled with the title and toyed with Mindscape, Dreamscape and Mind Exploration but they just did not seem right.

Exhibited at Williams Art Gallery

Below is the first in the series (I have two more underway). For this, I have used used acrylic paint, oil paint and car spray paint.

Explorations of the Mind 1

Experimenting with Acrylic Paints

Ashley — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:02:19 +0000

Most of my recent paintings are in oil but a lot my earlier experimental work is in acrylics and mixed media. And for some of my new abstract paintings I have dug out my acrylics again as one of the benefits is it dries so quickly. This allows me to experiment with different effects and to continue working on the paintings for extended periods rather than wait for it to dry.

Still, I love working on oils and will work over the top with glazes and stumbling.

However, the question arises of is it okay the paint over acrylics with oils? Many artist do this and belive it is okay and believe that the acrylic paint is a sufficent ground to hold the oil paint. Conversely, other artists say it is not the ideal surface for oil paint. Perhaps only time will tell – probably long after we have gone! One thing I do know is I have paintings that finished fifteen years ago, that I painted oil over acrylics, and they are perfectly fine!

Another reason I have returned to acrylics, is after several conversations I had with artists whilst on holiday in Dorset. The artist I spoke to work almost exclusively with acrylics (well, actually emulsion and acrylic), mainly because they have a large turnover of work through their galleries and cater for the tourist market. Many said they did use oils for longer and more experimental work: By experimental I mean work that is not so targeted at the tourists and work that perhaps takes longer to sell.

What interested me most was the fact that they used emulsion paint with the acrylics. One artist advised me to buy the strongest red, yellow and blue I could find (or have mixed) but make sure it was a very well known brand. In their experience it worked absolutely fine. Again, I have found mixed views of using emulsion but I intend to give it a try. As long as you are honest about its use I don’t see a problem. Anyhow, it has been used by many modern artists recently in work that is highly valued. John Myatt, the famous art forger, still uses it and did so in many of his works that fooled the ‘art world’!