pennejefford.blogspot.com

 Somewhere along the way I lost him.  He promised me he would go last but sadly that was not to be so I now sit here in the remnants of what was and wondering just where this will all end up.  I nearly did not make it either, two heart attacks in one day, died for twenty minutes in the second but here I am back again.  Recovery is slow however the first paintings began this week.  I had thought the blog gave up the ghost ages ago but have found its still here and still going so time for some daily writings.

 A pastel of a Eastern Yellow Robin.  Slightly odd angle for photograph, however it is already framed and was hard to take the shot with the glass and not get a reflection.  Painting taken from photographic image kindly supplied by Lesley Kiker from Victoia.  Lesley does wonderful bird photos.  This was my first ever bird pastel, done a few months back. I like my birds to be a painting not done like a photographic copy so soft pastels are perfect  for painterly effects.

 Pastel of this beautiful small bird that lives in the Australian bush.  From a photograph with the kind permission of Darryl Kirby.  These are the sweetest birds and when I lived in the mountains we had a family who lived in our garden, a small brood of females with one male.  The females are often referred to as Jenny Wrens.  I always love to paint them and imagine myself back in my old garden while I do.  image unframed is 10 x 10 inches.  All my works are available for sale. 

  A small male Blue Wren in pastels I gifted to my stepson's partner, Katie.  10 x 10 inches.  Image kindly supplied by Lesley Kiker from Victoria.  Lesley is a wonderful bird photographer and I am honoured she let me use her image to create this painting from it , her photos are superb. 

 I belong to a bird photo site on facebook and some time back asked if people would give me permission to paint from their photos.  I had lots of lovely photos offered to me and I am most grateful for that.  With covid around my going out and gathering material is severely limited as I have kidney disease.  I love pastelling and having developed a severe reaction to paint am going to be working in birds for some time to come.  This is a small Kingfisher I created in pastels from a photo by Manda Lee with thanks to her for her kindly allowing me to use her image for my painting.  10 x 10 inches. 

 Rust or Iron has always been a part of my life since my early days as a potter.  I no longer glaze pots and commit them to the fire for the iron oxides to coat them with colour.  Time passing has always been a theme of my work since the nineties and it still speaks to me but in cloth now.  We use and create with iron for its strength, dig it up raw from the earth and cast it into all manner of things.  Gradually as time goes on the iron breaks down and rusts and returns to the earth from where it came.  On cloth it leaves beautiful markings with additions of vinegar and salt.  The serendipity of this is the same as a kiln opening, you do not know really what you finally get till all is revealed.  Different weights of cloths give different markings, temperature and time of the year have an effect as well.  Nature has its say on the final imprints on your piece.  I created this quilt with circles of rust, time and nature moves in cycles ...