Princess, unicorn and moon
On a snowy day with poor indoor light my camera’s flash wanted to centre stage, but I’m sure you get the picture. This artwork was a birthday gift to me many years ago. I’m delighted to have since met Laura from the old Post Office Gallery at Waikouaiti and extremely pleased she’s happy to be part of Bellamys at Five.
Introducing Laura
Harlequins, angels and musicians are some of the main themes I have been painting for the last nearly twenty years. They are painted in artists acrylic paints on MDF board and more often than not the figures are cut out with a fretsaw. I enjoy the colours, shapes, textures and distinct personalities that happen as each piece evolves.
Laura with the screen
I have had some interesting commissions over the years, and while it can be hard getting started, I also enjoy the challenge of coming up with a suitable design. The photo of the screen shows one such commission. Peter my husband, aka my technical advice department, made the screen and I painted the three panels.
Harlequin With Butterflies
My angels are inspired by many things from the Book of Kells, to a beautiful carved wooden angel I saw at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford that was displayed above a man trap. I bought lots of postcards of musical instruments from the Bates Collection in Oxford too and these have been used many times as reference material for the instruments my musicians, angels and harlequins often carry.
Mr And Mrs
People’s relationships interest me as a theme too, and the whole weight that is carried by the word ‘AND’ when one person becomes part of two people.
Musician with Red Toadstool
The natural world around me is also an important source of inspiration, and things that have caught my eye, or triggered childhood memories of, for instance, roaming the farm, and the imagination being fired by a fairyland of red and white toadstools under pine trees, these things find their way into my paintings too.
As we currently live near the sea mermaids are starting to become another theme. And I am sure I will continue to find inspiration in lots of different things, for many paintings yet.
Bellamys at Five 