Free to Roam

'Free to Roam'
Jo-ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush ' Series
H122x112cm
H48x44ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2009
sold

I'm living in a suburb where everywhere you look, the bulldozers and developers are moving in.





beautiful old homes are flattened in hours, and as the rubble is loaded onto trucks to be hauled to the rubbish dump, I can't help but feel really sad  for the loss of the memories, the history, the connection with the past.





it's not that I'm against modern architecture.

it's not that I'm against change.

'A Gentle Life'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold

it's just that I love old buildings.
.....and I love new  buildings.....
I love DESIGN....good design, brilliant design.
I love the dichotomy of when people restore, reinvent an old building, and choose to insert a new shell inside an old skin to bring something old into the modern era.




this belief in the power of blending the old with the new was sparked  by a trip to Italy many, many years ago, when we visited a relative in Padova, Italy.




the external appearance of his apartment was definitely 11th Century, but inside was the epitomy of the absolute latest in the best of Italian design.
.....I was gobsmacked, won over....oh boy!




 I realised then that one can honour the past, but still acknowledge the present, and definitely look to the future.




His was a  building that was half 11th century , and half looking towards the 21st century....even though technically it was in the 20th century !
combining the old with the new, for me , that's the way forward.




 to respect those who've been before us, and to honour the knowledge that we're only guardians of this patch of ground where we live and build our lives.





more power to the renovators!





I guess I've always been nostalgic for the past.....not that you could tell!








                                                     Jo x








,,

Vintage Memories and Vespas

Have always wanted one of these... though in my mind I'm tootling around the cobbled back streets of Italy , shopping basket filled with olives, some cheese, fresh crunchy bread...... skirt flapping...and not battling the traffic and the maniacs on the streets at home!





Vintage Memories
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt



detail



Vintage Memories
Jo-Ann Hunt
 'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
61x61cm
24x24ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold







                                                   Jo x

Sox and Stockings



Wash Day in the Cinque Terra

It seems I have a fixation with washing!



but come with me here.....if it was you.... hanging washing from the windows  of a home like this....




 

'Sox and Stockings'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

 


a warm breeze....


a hint of spring coming.....


with this view....

'Sox and Stockings'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x138cm
H48x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

.



the smell of a good pasta sauce on the stove.....mmmmm....



what's not to love about laundry!!













 ....you can tell the apron never gets washed!!

Jo x

Market Day Rhythms



'Market Day Rhythms'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt






I love discovering the different pace to life in different parts of the globe.

but a market has a similar pace and tempo wherever it's situated....

...the set-up in the early hours....

...the business-like, brisk beat of the first shoppers homing in on the best produce....

...the hub-bub and noisiness of the mid-morning crowd....

more casual....

 more chatty....

with socialising and purchasing taking equal priority....

and then the pack-up, down-shutters....

trolleys and vans departing....

...all quiet now....

...until next time....

when the rhythm of the market is played again.










'Market Day Rhythms'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H107x122cm
H42x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold





....this is making me hungry!




                                                                                    Jo x



Ancient Villages



'Village Ancien'
detail'
Jo-Ann Hunt







Hilltop villages delight me.


I love the way they improbably cling to the most impossible of cliff faces,
and the higgledy-piggledy, almost playful nature of their construction.




since 2005 I've painted these medieval towns....with one foot based in reality, and one foot in my imagination.



I love to imagine the lives of the people that live in these homes.... a birdcage on a balcony....put outside to sing in the sunshine....soccer socks and shorts  on the line to dry....



it's a fascination that continues to intrigue me, and this 'Series'.... 'Travels with my Paintbrush' ....
is one that I return to every year.



for me , there's always one more village, one more balcony.....



always more 'Travelling with my Paintbrush' to do !


Jo x






'Village Ancien'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Seies
H132x132cm
H52x52ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2007
sold



From 'Vision' to Canvas...

My painting process begins with assembling all sorts of visual ideas.



often I know what 'look' I want for the painting....
if it's to be abstracted, intimate, detailed, monochromatic, bold, calming....etc



then I start 'to gather'....
like a Satin Bower Bird ....
collecting all sorts of 'stuff' to inspire me, to flesh out my ideas.
I love this part! 



visual stimuli, visual inspiration, visual 'stuff'.
stuff such as photos....

  

and sketches from my sketchbooks.

 then I do some more sketches of the details...

for the overall composition, I may do a series of rough....VERY rough.... thumbnails....

then I mess around with some colour schemes....'mess' being the operative word here!

then.... 'prep' over....

I just dive right in....








'The Trattoria'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt






'The Trattoria'
Jo-ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H102x102cm
H40x40ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold





 before the 'vision' evaporates!








for more on the fabulous Bower Bird,  just click here..... with Sir David.....

and here, for some funny, very determined 'pilfering' in the Top End.



enjoy.....

Jo  x

A Progression

hmmm ....that was easy......I did it......I've 'imbedded' videos......go me!!...that will come in handy when I get a new camera!

note to Blogger and the 'help community'.....you guys rock!

Bassano del Grappa

now to get back to this post.....





I paint in 'Series'.... different themes, different ideas....
I follow them through until I need to stop/ change direction/something else draws me away.





I figure if it was OK for Picasso to have his different periods......his Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism and more.....
and for Brett Whiteley.....
you can't argue with perfection....
then it is OK for me.






some series are a closed book.....finished....won't return to that one....
for example.....my  'Music of the Mind' Series.....








'Song of Venice.... The Grand Canal'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Music of the Mind' Series
H12x138cm
H44x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2005
sold







some series have a series within themselves....like a mother ship with smaller versions of itself berthed ( birthed?) to its perimeters.... eg: 'The Child Within ' Series...
'the Child Within...John and Betty '
'the Child Within.... Myths and Legends'

'The Red Pedal Car'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'The Child Within....John And Betty ' Series
H125x125cm
H49x49ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2003
sold




 

'The Sisters'
Jo-Ann Hunt
Commission Portrait
'The Child Within' Series
H122x107cm
H48x42ins
Acrylic on Canvas
 2005
sold



'Soul Mates'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'The Child Within...Myths and Legends ' Series
H140x140cm
H55x55ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2010
xxxx

....they  change over the years....they evolve....
and you should see what theme in this series I'm working on now!
......(but not today!)




and then there is the series that I always seem to have time for....
there's always more to say....
more to paint....

that series is 'Travels with my Paintbrush'....

'The Farmhouse beyond the Vines'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H93x78cm
H36x30ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2005
sold



'The Olive Pickers'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H112x138cm
H44x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2005
sold









'Paradise Found'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H132x132cm
H52x52ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2007
sold




series..... a sequence, string, progression....
my way of working....
why deny yourself all that fun when you can paint it all!
....just one series after another...
there's always another!

Jo x

Festival Lights

A town  lights up.....

  .....some lights are just made to dance under!









Padova , (Padua)  Italy

Ah...... Sophia.....

 

Sophia Loren





I'm often asked where the inspiration for my paintings comes from.....
what sparks an idea.




I enjoy foreign films....and some months back I saw a few old, black and white Italian films starring Sophia Loren.
the designer in me adores these stunning portrait photos....



all photos : tophollywoodtop.blogspot.com

the woman in me can't resist the rhythm and nuances of the dance....













and the romantic artist in me produced this!







'A Place to Dance'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

....a place to dance....beside the sea....under the stars....inspired by Sophia Loren....

'A Place to Dance'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

so now you know.....

bet that wasn't what you thought!

Jo x

A Room with a View

A Room with a View
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

favourite meal:  risotto con piselli (risotto with peas) in Padova with             the relatives....all of us at home, around the table....grazie Paola
favourite drink:  blood oranges, freshly squeezed
favourite sound:  the buzz of the vespas in Florence
favourite scent: the smell of saltwater on the oysters in Marseille
favourite song:  whatever it was he sung....the man that sang as he walked, on his way to work, through the narrow streets, singing just for himself, at 6am, his voice resonating off the stone walls and cobblestones, in Amalfi
favourite purchase:  my hand-painted plates from Positano
favourite view:  way, way, way too many to mention.....

so this one is for the memories...

'A Room with a View'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

Do you hanker?



'Market Day Delivery'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H127x36cm
H50x14ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx




'Market Day Delivery' was inspired by stories told to me by my lovely mother-in-law.



on market days, she said, people in her village in Italy would lower a basket from their window to the street below, with their order and money for their fruit and veg.
the farmer/ travelling merchant would load the basket with the pomodoro, olive oil, radicchio,
whatever was ordered, and then go on their way.



I hanker for the 'good-old-days'  when life was simple and you could sleep with your door open,
 and leave money on the step under the milk bottles.
I know....I know.... no washing machines, no phones, no dishwashers, no internet.



but I still hanker.
I even hanker for the loss of the word 'hanker'.


do you hanker?

Detail
'Market Day Delivery'
Jo-Ann Hunt