Santa Claus is on his way!

Curly Bob and his fellow bears are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. While concluding our festive preparations we were discussing holiday locations for 2020 from an artistic point of view.

Bob felt that we all had many happy holidays staying at Coverack on the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall. The county has many  disused tin mine sites and one of the most spectacular locations was that of the Crowns Mines, Botallack, North Cornwall. Sadly we never actually made it to see it in person so I have had to paint it from a web photo which was inspirational in itself.

However I do have fond memories of many happy afternoons painting  the cliffs & sea at Pendeen which is a similar setting and I drew upon these memories when working on the painting.

This is "Crowns Mine, Botallack" , an acrylic painting on canvas which is available in my Etsy shop.

"Crowns Mine, Botallack" 

If you like this painting please visit my Facebook pages to like it there. Thank you.

'Tis the Season to be Merry!!

'Tis the season to be merry. Curly Bob will be celebrating the opening of our Etsy shop, his re election as BMP for Rotten Borough and of course Christmas and New year.

Having given it some thought over his large glass of mulled wine (who else would drink mulled wine with a straw??) he has decided that something white would be desirable for obvious reasons.

Therefore we have chosen "Carneddau, Winter Night". It is an acrylic painting on canvas from 2017. It is 50cm x 40cm and is for sale in our Etsy shop. The Carneddau are a range of mountains in North Wales which I still refer to fondly as Snowdonia.

"Carneddau, Winter Night", acrylic, 2017.

Our very best wishes for a peaceful Christmas & New Year to all of Bob's fans, followers and anybody who has been good enough to give us feedback on my work. We hope to see you all in 2020!

Not Long Now to Christmas!

Curly Bob and his fellow bears are becoming more excited every day as Christmas draws ever nearer. There is much anticipation of chocolate, jelly and custard and all the other delights enjoyed by our furry friends over the festive period.

Meanwhile work on our fundraising project goes on by listing even more artworks for sale in my Etsy shop. There are 13 more works to list. The next one is called "Pen Y Ghent, First Snow" and is a structured acrylic painting on canvas from 2019.

"Pen Y Ghent, First Snow", 2019

More works will follow over the Christmas period.

Bad Weather in France

Curly Bob is still busy trying to convince floating voters in Rotten Borough that he is the right bear for the job.

At least having him out of the house allows me to get some painting in around other matters.

We holiday in France when we can and the Brittany coast is a great source of inspiration. Bob hates getting his fur wet so the storm scene I have painted was based on a photograph

It is titled " Le Phare et la Mer Orageuse -The Lighthouse and Stormy Sea"  an acrylic painting on 40cm x 30cm canvas which is for sale in my Etsy shop.

As always all profits to a worthy cause so please like my page on Facebook and on Etsy. It all helps!

"Le Phare et La Mer Orageuse - The Lighthouse & Stormy Sea", 2019

Curly Bob for P.M.!

Curly Bob has come to the end of his 6 weeks of his 2019 Election campaign to drum up his support in Rotten Borough. We caught up with him and he gracious enough to allow us to photograph him with his bear friendly IPhone which he also uses to run the Emporium online and elsewhere.

While on his " battle bus" Bob & I agreed that we should publish something a bit brighter given the dire weather to lift the spirits of his fans. Therefore here is "Brittany Cottages #3", an acrylic painting on canvas, 2019 and it is 20ins x 8 ins. As always it is available in our Etsy shop.

If you like this please "like" this on my Facebook Page.

Thank You.

"Brttany Cottages #3", 2019

Curly Bob on the Campaign Trail

Bob's 2019 Election Rosette

The Weather Takes a Turn For The Worse

Curly Bob has been busy with the hustings here in Rotten Borough. However given that Christmas is now fast upon us he has asked me to post something in keeping with the season i.e. with some snow in it.

Therefore I have selected a work from our last winter holiday in North Wales.

It is called "Snowdon, Early Snow" and is an acrylic painting on 40cm x 30cm canvas. It is available in my Etsy shop.

More on Bob's election antics later in the week.

"Snowdon, Early Snow", 2019

Facebook Page Launch!

In line with Curly Bob's desire to spread the work across Social networks we are launching a page on Facebook officially tonight. It will mirror the content on this blog but will reach more of his friends on Facebook.

Todays offering is an acrylic on canvas incorporating some mixed media preparation for the paint surface.

It is called "Fort, Corsica" and I painted it in 2017. It is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Back to Cold, Wet & Windy!

After the heat of the desert Curly Bob thought we should have something more local. My wife's cousin lives on the edge of the Trough of Bowland so this view came to mind. I painted it  for my exhibition in Eccles a couple of months ago.

It is mainly acrylic paint and mixed media beneath. The Trough is a beautiful place but can look very moody when the cloud comes down.

The painting is called "Ward Stones, Trough of Bowland". It is 40cm x 30cm and is painted on canvas. It is for sale in my shop on Etsy . If you like what you see please "Like" my Etsy shop snd Facebook page.

Freezing Snow Followed by Hot Sand!

This is called "Sinai Sunrise"  in which I attempted to capture a cool foreground with the promise of the day's heat to come. As with all my works they are unframed, gallery wrap style and ready to hang.

The previous painting posted in my Etsy shop was a snow covered mountian in North Wales so we thought this would be a change of scenery.

If you like it please vote for it on my facebook page.

Thank you to All At CPIU, Salford Royal Hospital!

I have just spent half a day in the CPIU at Salford Royal Hospital having a blood test and would like to thank Karen & all her colleagues for looking after me. Their dedication, friendly attitude, care, consideration and supportive attitude are everything that makes the NHS and SRH so special.

Sadly Curly Bob didn't come with me to say hello because he hates needles!

Bob has pointed out that hospital or not today is posting day. My next work is "South Stack , Anglesey", another acrylic painting on canvas from 2017.

It is for sale in our Etsy shop with all profits going to our causes (see list).

As always please vote for it on our Facebook page , if you like it. Thank You!

1 More From The Easel!

Bob & I have been busy selecting the next work to be shown on our Etsy shop from today.

It is called "Y Garn, Winter" it is 40cm x 30cm and is in acrylic paint and mixed media below. The process takes much longer than painting only in acrylic paint. Because of the thickness of the media this drying time can be weeks for technical reasons.

We take lots of holidays in Snowdonia and North Wales and I collect photos and post cards to work from. We hope you will enjoy this.

2 More Paintings Published on my Etsy Site!

2 more works published today on my Etsy shop. This means we are on target to have 26 works posted by the end of November.

The first one is an abstract form. I was experimenting with this for a couple of years around 2015 but decided to concentrate on Landscapes. It is called "Iris in Fire" and is 40cm x 30 cm in acrylic paint and various media.

The second one is a ladscape view of "Snowdon, Crib Goch & Crib Y Ddysgl". It is 40cm x 30cm and has been created by using various media to create a rugged texture to the surface which is then painted with several layers of acrylic paint. It takes several weeks to arrive at the finished item.

Original Acrylic Contemporary Landscape Painting on Canvas 40cm x 30cm (approx) - "Lighthouse, Early Evening"

Bob & I have decided to publicise my new shop by posting a new painting every day up to the end of November. Our target is to have 26 new works in our shop Curly Bob's Art Emporium on Etsy

This work is called "Lighthouse, Early Evening". It is an acrylic on canvas 40cm x 30cm and was painted in 2017 and was one in a series intended to convey the endless sea and sky in a tranquil setting.

We hope you will like it and vote for it on Facebook.

Opening a New Shop on Etsy!

After months of planning and countless management meetings Curly Bob & I have decided to open a shop on Etsy. Of course Bob will run it and I shall provide the labour and artwork.

This will require us to up our game as regards promotion via social networking. This looks like being a fairly steep learning curve and we hope any visitors will bear with us. (no pun intended)

I understand some new artists will refer to this as a "soft opening".  Personally this seems to mean blundering around until we get it right but we will get there.

The intention is to raise money for what we regard as our chosen worthy causes and an online shop was the next logical step. It will definitely be the proverbial voyage of discovery and every effort will be made to keep Bob on board until we reach our destination.

The first painting to be be shown is called "Winter Crows at Sunrise". It was inspired by a painting by Jean Claude Daubigny which I saw in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris 15 years ago. It is very difficult to locate online and was only hung for a couple of years. I  remember I was deeply moved by the winter light. I have tried to convey the deep cold using my own palette and hope any viewers will like it. Any constructive feedback always welcome.

It is for sale in my shop on Etsy