WE'RE MOVING!!!!

Well, I am upping the game and moving on out!

My new über fantastic website launches this weekend and it has all the bells & whistles ... including an integrated blog .... so please pop over and follow me there: CLICK HERE FOR NEW BLOG

This blog will no longer be updated ... so it's goodbye from me and hopefully see you over on the other side!

Thanks for following and please spread the word x

http://www.gillianpark.co.uk/

COCKTAIL COLLECTION ORIGINALS ... now for sale

Today I delivered and hung 10 paintings in my wee Edinburgh 'gallery' ... or Clifton Hall School coffee lodge to everyone else!

The Cocktail Collection originals are now framed up very simply in 12x16" cream wood frames and mounts and looking nice.

Eight paintings, all £90 each (12x16") ... prints also available: 10x12" = £30

If you're interested, please email me: gillian@gillianpark.co.uk

HOT NEW RANGE: THE COCKTAIL COLLECTION

Gorgeously glam shoes in über juicy colours!

8 new card designs on textured paper with silver envelopes ...

Framed & unframed prints

and the big favourite: 6 new magnets!

Watch this space ... coming very soon ....

LAST ONE ... THAT'S AMORE

There had to be a pair of red shoes in the Cocktail lineup ... so here they are: with a wee heart charm or two for good measure.

Thoroughly enjoyed painting the Cocktail Collection ... the cards are coming soon ... and perhaps prints ... and perhaps a few more to the range further down the line.

Anyway ... that's it for now folks, Cheers!

NO NAME AMERICAN STYLE SHOE ...

OK - I need to research some USA cocktails here ... This reeks of stars & stripes for me ... with no actual stars and stripes!!

... and oddly, I normally HATE cobalt blue, but in this I am liking!! Is cobalt the new prussian?

JIMMY CHOO WITH A BIT OF COLOUR + A DANGLY STARFISH!

Here are a pair of Jimmy Choos customised to suit my colour addiction just now!

Normally black with gold piping ... I have livened them up a touch and added a dangly orange starfish ... just right for the new Cocktail Collection

Now should these be Blue Lagoon or Carolina Blue??

Answers on a postcard, email or message please

BUTTERFLY SHOES

Fifth in the new Cocktail Collection ... The Butterfly

New collection coming soon: watch this space

TEQUILA SUNRISE

Oh my ... I have loved painting this one!

Orange IS the new red!

Tequila Sunrise painting for the new Cocktail Collection

RASPBERRY COCKTAIL ....

Here's the third addition to the Cocktail Collection ....

It's a bit more classic than the other 2 pairs ... now should it be a Raspberry Bellini or a Kir Royale ... any other suggestions?

SPRING SHOES 2

Spring is in the air again.

Second in the new series ... maybe the cocktail collection ....

Watch this space!

A SPRING IN MY STEP!

Oh dear .... scraping the barrel with that pun!

A nice spring-like shoe portrait to put me in the mood for some decent weather!

Much cleaner portrait as a start of a potential new card series .... clean illustrations, white background .... we'll see what response it gets.

SPRING FLOWERS

Now for something a bit different.

I really admire the painter Shirley Trevena so thought I'd give her approach a bash on this loose bunch of tulips & hyacinths ... and I enjoyed it!

Odd to start with no final painting in mind - just to throw some colour on paper and take it from there and think about the composition as it happens instead of planning it all. I did go in and draw with some white ink in the end though ... I just had to have a bit of line!!!!

It's still taped to the board here but I think it might work quite well cropped in with a nice big white mount .... very 'springy'! ... unlike the misery I see when I look out of the window!

Might try more like this and see where it goes.

OFFER OF THE WEEK - RED SHOE COLLECTION CARDS

This week's OFFER OF THE WEEK is in celebration of St Valentines Day ... featuring the best selling Red Shoe Collection cards, 3 for £5

Valid from 14th-21st February

CLICK HERE TO BUY

I THINK IT'S FINISHED ....

It's difficult to know when a painting is finished ... but I think the Ballet Shoes commission is complete.

Am starting to fiddle with bits now and risk losing some of the looseness.

Will live with it in the living room for a day now and if I don't feel pained by any of it, then I think it's done!

... and obviously I DO need the thumbs up from my lovely commissionnee also!

STAGE 3 Ballet Shoes

I believe this is stage 3 ... bit more depth and detail.

STAGE 2 .... AGAIN! Ballet Shoe Commission

OK - think we're on the right track now!

My initial bash at the ballet shoes just wasn't working for me: overworked, overloaded and too tight ... so in my great wisdom on Tuesday, I washed if off and started again ...

It's looking a bit better now, good brushstrokes on the shoes, and happy with the rich red with hints of orange and pink in there.

Lot more work to do but am much happier with this stage now!

Ballet Shoes commission begins

Here is the first stage of the ballet shoe commissioned painting.

It's a bit of a ropey phone photo but its' just to gauge the size and composition at this stage.

Fitting nicely within the 20" x 10" brief

SUMMER FUN - SOLD

First original painting of 2012 has just sold in Edinburgh.

The painting of my daughter's old canvas summer shoes (aged 5.5!) was done in October 2011 - a nice loose wee painting and a bit of light relief in this loathesome January weather!


Need to get painting again!

NEW PRODUCTS - SNEAK PREVIEW

New magnet

Matching Card

New Card

Here are a couple of the new products launching at Scotlands Trade Fair at SECC 22-24th January.

There are 6 new card designs + 4 new FRAMEABLE cards and frames + 4 new magnets

Pop along to stand K68 if you're visiting!

I CAN'T EVEN SEE MY COMFORT ZONE FROM HERE!!!

I have been asked umpteen times if I have a print or card of ballet shoes ... and finally I have cracked and rattled one up for the Spring Fair on Sunday ... here's a taster of the new card.

A bit pink ... a bit shapeless compared to the usual suspects but hopefully will hit the mark with the ballet fans!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Here's a better pic of the watercolour version of There's No Place Like Home ... no ... still not touched the oil version!!!

This one will become part of the new Red Shoe Collection of cards & prints launching at the Scotland's Trade Fair at SECC next weekend ... and I might just wear the shoes one of the days!

Big challenge this weekend though: the pink ballet shoes ... ballet shoes have been requested so often, I have to paint them. Borrowed for only a short time so need to get my finger out.

Watch out for a website update next weekend: www.gillianpark.co.uk

WATERCOLOUR COMPARISON ... got carried away

On Monday I started the oil painting of my red shoes with big red ribbons ... and in my wisdom, I decided to paint a watercolour version alongside to see how that works.

I started the watercolour version yesterday ... but got carried away! My watercolour comfort zone (plus the urgent need for some new card designs!) took hold of me and I haven't managed back to the oil version - I have LOOKED at it a few times .. but that's not quite the same!

Here are the progress pics (rough as they are!) of the watercolour version of There's no place like home ....

1. Initial sketch

2. bit of loose colour

3. a bit of depth added

4. A bit more detail .... and I thoroughly enjoyed painting the pattern on inside!

5. and now for my favourite pen .... There's No Place Like Home ... or there's no medium like watercolour!!!

PROGRESS OF AN OIL PAINTING

Taking a leap of faith here and decided that I would take progress pics of how a painting progresses .... however, an oil painter I am not!

So this is a big step for me (pun intended!) however, am hoping it will help and make me less likely to chicken out, ditch the painting and go back to the safety of my watercolours ... here's hoping anyway.

Have had this canvas lying around for years in the hope that I might actually use it and become marvellous oil painter ... but it scares the living daylights out of me so yesterday I took some brave pills and nervously started painting 'There's no place like home'

... great idea today: gonna start a watercolour version of same painting and see how they progress ... not started that yet but will post when I have.

Step 1 (9th Jan) - initial painting to get shape right:

Which I didn't manage when I came back to look at it last night, I can see the one on left is for gigantor and the one on right is for normal sized person!

A quick revision while I run the bath for child no. 2:

 I will say: the canvas is 50cm x 50cm so it's much bigger than am used to - I normally paint in actual size (any excuse)!!

LACEE'S WEDDING FLOWERS - COMMISSION

I have received an interim pic of the commission I painted before Christmas.

The painting was sent to the US rolled in a tube, unmounted and unframed - so it's great to see how it looks now!

Painted from a few supplied wedding pics and commissioned by Zak (of The Fiddleheads fame - http://thefiddleheads.net) for his new bride, Lacee, as a surprise Christmas present.

She was delighted ... as was I! (More pics coming soon)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It seems like such a long time since I last blogged but now the festivities and reality resumes once again, I will get back into the swing of it!

No painting has been done since November - eek - and now worried that I will have forgotten how! But this weekend, I may find time to dabble in a sketchbook or indeed attempt my sparkly red shoes.

SPRING FAIR  - 22-24TH JANUARY, SECC- STAND K68
Only 2 weeks until the Spring Fair in Glasgow SECC so time is pressing on and I would like to add a couple of red shoe paintings to my ranges so ... watch this space.

I will be launching a new series of Frameable Cards and another few Magnet designs which have been hugely popular since their debut in September! Plus a few new card designs .... please pop by Stand K68 and say hello if you're visiting.

MY FIRST OVERSEAS COMMISSION HAS LANDED: 
A bridal bouquet commission I painted in November has arrived safely in Georgia, USA and hoping to receive a pic of the final framed & hung painting this weekend. I have been unable to blog about it before as it was a surprise Christmas gift. I have heard that it has been a huge success and was very well received, here's a wee bit of the message I received on boxing day: "she absolutely loved it! Thank you again for making her Christmas so special!" ... ahhhh ... my first overseas commission