Heliocyan

Death is now the phoenix' nest; And the turtle's loyal breast To eternity doth rest.

More deep sea creatures just added to my shop! https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/505621287/what-lies-beneath-jellyfish-deep-sea?ref=shop_home_active_1

Treat yourself to my Halloween Peacock poster, it’s on special offer via my ETSY shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/268282976/halloween-peacock-poster?ref=shop_home_active_4

Just back from my framers and he did a marvellous job with these two miniature paintings of mine. I'm always amazed how much a frame can make or break a painting. Bonus: there are edible mushrooms growing on his parking lot - I will have those later, with caramelised onions, fresh oregano, and melted cheese on top. :D

I use mainly acrylics. They are easy to work with and quite forgiving when you have to make changes or paint over mistakes. I do love working in oils too, but they are not very practical as I have a cat = cat hair in all paintings because oil takes so long to dry. As well: for fine lines, I love my 0.03 black fine liner from Copic. All the line work before I colour in is done with one of those.

My latest miniature painting for the exhibition of the Royal Miniature Art Society in London next month. It's finally finished!! I was catching up with 'Highlights of the Northern Light season' on @bbcradio3 while painting, which seemed very appropriate. This one will probably be the last miniature for this year, I have neglected quite a few commissions and clients over this one, simply because I got too carried away....it took - as usual - much longer than I expected.

I'm having so much fun with those miniature paintings right now, even though sitting hunched over the desk, staring through a magnifying glass is taking its toll on my back, and my posture in general. This one looks finished from a distance, but there's still so much to do when observed closely.

Great horned owl, miniature painting (the painting is roughly the size of a business card). Acrylic, ink & pencil. The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl - originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" - is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird and widely distributed, the breeding habitat of the great horned owl extends high into the subarctic of North America and down into South America, to upland regions of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Its primary diet contains of rabbits and hares, rats, mice and small birds. While roosting, great horned owls may rest in the “tall-thin” position, where they sit as erect and hold themselves as slim as is possible. Due to its natural-colored plumage, it is well camouflaged both while active at night and while roosting during the day. During the daytime it roosts usually in large trees.

Working on new paintings for the London miniature art exhibition in October. My eyes tell me they had enough from staring at this small scale for today. I can’t focus on the details any more. I think it’s time to rest my eyes and retreat to the computer... because playing WoW helps. Clearly. 

One of my friends has a pet skunk. She is called Stevie, and she loves cuddles. I love her to bits! <3 

Haha, it seems the moggie approves of my latest painting! (*Phew*, lucky me… ) I unwrapped the artwork when it came back from the framers, she came and sat in front of it, just staring at it as if she studied all the details. :D

Fear not, the little critter survived the experience of being studied - it was just trapped under a glass for a while, for examination. It was not easy to draw from life, while the little guy was just running around in circles, trying to find a way to escape. Poor little sod was eventually released.