all that glitters...

So the final week of my challenge came and went! It was a great experience and has given me confidence and structure that I don't think I would have gained, certainly not that quickly. Day 23: Gouache Day 24: Ink Day 25: Pastel Day 26: Acrylic Day 27: Acrylic Day 28:Acrylic Day 29: Pastel day 30: Acrylic Most of the pictures from this series are available for sale. If you are interested, please message me for details. So now for a short time to reflect on what I have learned and where I want it to take me.  You can follow my progress here, or on instagram @hrequineart

August is whizzing by and I can't quite believe I only have one week of my challenge left. I will miss it in some ways, but won't miss the struggle of finding time to paint. Some of these have been very late night sessions. Day 16: Ink Day 17: Graphite Day 18: Pastel Day 19: Ink Day 20: Gouache Day 21: Graphite Day 22: Gouache You can follow my progress daily on instagram  @hrequineart

August is flying and I am already past the halfway mark of my challenge! Day 9: Pastel Day 10: Watercolour Day 11: Ink Day 12: Graphite Day 13: Acrylic Day 14: Graphite Day 15: Pastel You can follow my progress daily on instagram @hrequineart.

So after a diverse start, a rather watery week followed! Day 3: Watercolour Day 4: Watercolour Day 5: Watercolour Day 6: Gouache Day 7: Watercolour Day 8: Gouache Follow me on instagram  @hrequineart for daily updates

Time to challenge myself! 30 paintings in 30 days. But there are more rules to make things interesting 😈 1. One subject. For me, horses obviously. 2. Six mediums: Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, ink, pastel, graphite. 3. Only 5 paintings in each medium. So... I have put the name of each medium on a straw, to be drawn each morning, so I never know what I will get! Once I have drawn/used a medium 5 times, that straw will go in the bin so potentially the scope could narrow fairly quickly. Time will tell. Day one was graphite. Not my favourite medium and one of the reasons for the challenge; to get me out of my comfort zone and try different things Day two was ink and another medium I don't usually use, talk about in with a bang! I thought I would try my hand at zentangling for this one. It hurt my eyes! I now have to wait and see what tomorrow brings! You can follow my progress on instagram @hrequineart

I have always been obsessed with light. My journey in the creative world began in photography, so I learned to look at light in a very specific way. I learned the importance of light and shade and how to make it work in a composition. Light can add shape and dimensions, or hide them depending on how you use it. It's interesting how different coloured natural light at different times of the day as well as the angle of the light fall can also make a huge difference to a photo.  The same applies with painting. I love how light can accentuate a subject, especially a horse. I can define their muscles, highlight their manes, whiskers and tips of their ears. These are all things I find beautiful. I returned to this muse again recently with two small canvasses.

The title of this post refers to how I am going back and forth between mediums. The theme between them remains constant though, as I am exploring ways of getting texture into my painting. The trick is to open up the imagination - push paint through material, sand, salt and break all the "rules" :) Back in Black Acrylic on stretched canvass Buckskin Watercolour on 300gsm paper You can follow me on instagram @hrequineart for regular updates on my work

It is well recognised amongst those that know me, that I have a very limited attention span. I am so easily distracted, it's embarrassing sometimes! My latest distraction artistically is watercolour. I never set out to become this engrossed in this medium, but confess to be completely captivated by the freedom of expression it gives me and the fact that I can work quickly, which with my limited attention span, is always going to be a winner! I take influences from what I see around me and my watercolour sketches are a great way to experiment, so I couldn't resit a quick sketch of the new boy in the barn this week: The wonderful photographer, Lisa Mardell has given me permission to paint her pictures.  Her work can be seen at http://www.photographybylisamardell.co.uk/ and I have taken the opportunity and have really enjoyed it. Here are a few inspired by her Wild West series. For more regular updates, follow me on instagram @hrquineart

So, following what feels right and staying true to my vision; work has begun on Silhouette II. I am allowing it to evolve from the first series. We will see where it takes me. Valentine Heard it through the grape vine Flames of desire Follow my journey on Facebook and Instagram: hrequineart To see my full collections: www.clikpic.com/hrequineart

This is a quote I read this week, from American Artist Nikki Smith and she is spot on; "Just do your work. If the world needs your work, it will come and get you. If it doesn't, do your work anyway. You can have fantasies about having control over the world, but I know I can barely control my kitchen sink. That is the grace I am given, because when one can control things, one is limited to one's own vision. " Meanwhile, I will continue to play with water colour and take a leap of faith into the unknown. follow me on facebook - www.facebook.com/hrequineart