One Hundred Paintbrushes & Counting - The Blue Cat Paints

I have a blue cat in my studio.... as well as a stuffed cloth frog, a puppet with a paintbrush and, amongst a lot of other "stuff", no less than three wind chimes [which drive everyone else nuts!] and countless pots with 100 paintbrushes - do I need them all? Yes, of course [like a hole in the head!].

I have lots of visitors too - huge spiders which lurk behind canvasses and under palettes on purpose to give me a heart attack. Unfortunately, the blue cat isn't any help at all [that's left for my long suffering family to deal with].

The studio is attached to a gallery section where up to four students at a time will soon meet every week for watercolour class. Of course, the obligatory dog bed lives there too - it's dragged around by our German Shepherd 'Mika' who can usually be found wrapped around my easel. You don't have to guess what colour palette I've been using..... just look at the dog! In fact dog DNA makes my work totally unique!

Tip:  It is strongly recommended to remove all dog hair before delivering commission work to a client!

We artists are indeed a rare breed - eccentric, sensitive, absent minded about all things 'non-art', excitable, tortured, warm hearted and in general, just clean mad! We unknowingly 'wear' our paint, go to the supermarket wearing slippers [yes, guilty as charged] and surround ourselves with all sorts of pets..... until recently I had a Bearded Dragon "Sam" and a Boa Constrictor "Phoebe" but had to find them new homes for the sake of my poor hubby's nerves! Now we just share our lives with a German Shepherd "Mika", one elderly and rather grumpy Oriental cat "Mugsie", numerous Koi Carp [who even I couldn't name] and a wonderful fluffy goat called "Nanny" - yes, a really naff name..... any suggestions? We also had two gorgeous red hens "Harriet" & "Henrietta" and a plethora of daft noisy ducks but, alas, the fox was hungry.

Tip:  Look in the mirror and check your feet before leaving the house!

Why Blog?

I've been thinking about an art blog for quite a while - something that injects a bit of humour into teaching art, something a bit different! So, here it is... I have all the 'lessons' and 'tips/advice' planned as well as a series of YouTube clips at some point in the near future.... but, as yet, they're all in my head so please watch this space....

Born with a brush in my hand [now there's a thought!], I turned professional a number of years ago. The thirst for knowledge never ends, certainly for me anyway, so I'm sure there will be something for all levels of experience as this blog evolves.