....'The Ti-Tree Tribe'.......

'The Ti-Tree Tribe'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'The Ti- Tree Tribe'
 Jo-Ann Hunt
'The Child Within' Series
 H48x52ins
H122x132cm
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

'The Ti-Tree Tribe'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'The Ti-Tree Tribe'
 detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

.

'Weekend Warriors'

Scouts Raft Race on the Yarra
...too many years ago!

We encourage, we badger, we illuminate, we push, and we love....

....and love some more.... and why?...to grow up independent, 

motivated, warm, balanced, generous, caring human beings. 

 And what happens?

 It works...way too fast! 

they grow up, become independent, and leave !  

 (pity they forget to take all their stuff! )     

                   :)

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Weekend Warriors 2'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within' Series
H120x135cm
H47x53ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

...this painting is headed for my exhibition at Sorrento...

.....I first mentioned it a few days ago here.....

it's not really as blue as my photo...I really need to learn 

to take better photos and to try photoshop.... sigh ...

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

out of focus...I'm shaking with laughter..

I always love a happy ending!

                                              

                                                  have fun today!   Jo   :)

.

....which paint?

...a lovely-jubbly stash of new paint ...

I've had a couple of emails recently asking which paint I use and what is my

studio set-up for storing my paint.

I use Professional Artist-quality Acrylic paints....usually Matisse Structure

and also some Atelier brand tubes. I buy the large tubs and buckets for my

'favourite' colours, although I can't resist a good 'sale' price!  ....see above!

I found most of my studio furniture in kerbside clearances, so it's

not terribly flash! (A computer desk was such a good find, that in exchange

I left a surprise gift of a framed drawing of mine of blue-and-white bowls

on the verandah!)

(the plastic bottles are just three  colours I don't like, but am too stingey to toss them out!... tomorrow! )

New tubes of paint and tubes 'not in use' are kept in biscuit tins on the top

of a chest of drawers...warm colours left, cool colours on the right.

The paint tubs I keep in the drawers, organised by colour family...

earth tones, blues-and-greens, reds-and-yellows, neutrals and lastly

background /gesso colours.

I put dabs of colour , sometimes mixed with a little white, on the lids

of these tubs because I'm always looking for the 'right' colour in a hurry

and because I want to make sure  the correct lid is returned to its

rightful owner.

...the colours I'm using
for a painting move onto
a metal-shelfed taboret.....



.....this is how it looks before I get started.....

......and this is how it looks once I get going......

....tubes are kept in containers on top....warm colours left....

...cool colours on the right.....I'm not terribly complicated!

 My water containers sit on top of my glass palette.

I have a smaller bucket inside a large icecream container....the theory being

I can wash first in the large container, then rinse again in the smaller

container.....but usually both get so dirty anyway that I'm regularly

emptying and refilling with clean water...

....a trip to the sink probably every 15 minutes or so!

I'm a pretty messy creature when I paint!

I wipe my hands and brushes on my clothes and apron, I use a lot of rags,

a lot of water and a lot of paint!

But I do clean up my water and brushes every night, so that I can

arrive the next day and jump right in without distractions or excuses.....

.....well that's the theory!

I hope you liked this brief peek at my set-up.....

...everyone is different but this is what works for me     :)


                                             Jo  

.

'Summer Snapshot'

'Summer Snapshot'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

From today I have five paintings on exhibition  in the windows

at Suburban 312 Gallery..... and I'm hoping to take

some photos to show you on the weekend.

I always love to see an artist's work 'en-masse'.....it has so much

more power and depth....

and to see my own paintings looking cohesive, colourful and

beautifully hung makes all the hard work worthwhile.





.....this is just to tempt you to drive past and take a look.....

'Summer Snapshot'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x92cm
H48x36ins
Acrylic on Canvas

just don't get too distracted and pop the red light camera at the traffic lights!

'Summer Snapshot'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

                                                       Jo   x







.

team mates....



'Team Mates'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©







mate: slang for 'friend' used in New Zealand, Britain, Australia and Tasmania

mate: something Kiwis say when they want to be Australians

mate: though its origins are widely disputed, it is a British word ,
brought over to Australia by the convicts ( from "me ol' shipmate")
then some kiwi tourist stole it

'Team Mates'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within-Summer' Series
H122x92cm
H48x36ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2012
sold

all of the above 'pearls' are from the Urban Dictionary...as submitted by your fellow 'mates' in the general public....some being somewhat 'geographically challenged'! 

'Team Mates'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

                                             Jo  x





.

the support team....



'The Support Team'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©




Everyone needs a 'support team'.....a wingman, an ally.

often they are not who you expect, and the people who step up

to be your 'support team' may surprize you.

'The Support Team'
Jo-Ann Hunt ©
'The Child Within-Summer' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

this painting had a surprize in store for me!



                                                                        Jo  x











.

Painting from life

I'm in the process of  trying to renovate.


I must admit though that this process is really dragging out mainly because I don't want to give the time  to chase tradesmen and hang around waiting for them to show up to quote. I made a major input some four months ago....walls came down, kitchen pulled out, furniture moved and stacked all over the place....then my young builder left to go back to his 'real' job.... you see I was his 'fill-in' on wet-days, 'waiting-for-architect-approval-days, and generally on days when his 'real' work, his contractors job, had stalled.


I'm digressing here.... but.... because of the reno, clean-ups are happening.


and it's amazing what is uncovered when you look into old folios found in an artist's cupboard!


I found these sketches, in pastel, done from life in 1993. I'm surprized they've survived the 'toss-out' bug....I'm pretty good at spring-cleaning old drawings and paintings!


they are quite rough....sketches done in less than an hour....but I'm posting them to illustrate how my art has moved away from traditional realism. 
from a traditional representative way of painting to a looser....oh and how I wish it was so much looser! ....interpretive way of painting the figure.
seeing these reminds me how much I love working from life, working from the model.







drawing from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H750x550mm
H29x22ins
pastel on Mi-Tientes paper
1993









I was tempted to 'fix' his eyes....they are a tad wonky, and to make them darker....to 'fix' the tonal ranges of their skin, to rework them....but then I thought I'd just post them in all their unfinished raw glory!
If I was a  Portrait Painter... and hey....there's still plenty of time!.... I would do a number of these sketches before starting  on my canvas.....

drawing from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H750x550mm
H29x22ins
pastel on Mi-Tientes paper
1993

detail








and then there was this.
another session,  another 'sketch'....just a couple of years back, painted from life in oils.
this painting is probably 4.5 hours worth, over 3 short sessions,  a week apart.... because the oil paint needed time to dry....

painting from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H460x610mm
H18x24ins
Oils on Canvas

and obviously when I first set up my easel the bed support wasn't in position! neither was our young model....who happened to have the whitest skin I've ever seen on anyone....all that foreshortening....so tricky to draw to say not much!
(and to protect the classification rating on this blog and our young friend, I've added my tools of choice to the battered canvas....it was either cover the paint splotches,dents and scratches or protect both our reputations!)
 now all this wordiness and circumlocution (pun intended) is just to say ... yes I can draw.... I believe everyone is born knowing how to draw ....
and yes, can be 'retaught' if you don't believe me....



 ....but that's a possible topic for another post!





                                                          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