Pete On Art

Creative Discoveries In Art And Spirit

 

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes For The New Year

 

 

Table of Contents:

 

1. Christmas Greetings and Ramble

2. Inspired Thoughts From Beyond My Norm!

3. Unusual Practical Ideas For The Artist Christmas Stocking

4. On The Easel

5. The Latest You Tube Video: En Plein Air 2024,

 

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1.0 Title: Christmas Greetings and Ramble

 

As 2024 comes to a close I am busy reflecting on warmer summer days and preparing my website for a spring launch while continuing to paint. I am also attempting to find time to plan 2025, it is better after all to have a plan before it starts.

 

If my activity goes well, included with this Newsletter will be a video show casing the En Plein air pictures created in 2024, the good and not so great.

 

My plans for 2025:

 

Jan 2025. A spring Launch of paintings from The John Musgrave Heritage Trail

Apr 2025: A Launch of Eternal Existence Paintings

I will aim to publish one Newsletter per fortnight or as close as possible.

I will also publish one You Tube Video per fortnight or as close as possible.

I am expecting to be exhibiting locally at various times next year

 

PS: To keep informed of new releases and special offers please ensure you are signed up for this newsletter. Thank You!

 

If there are any topics or ideas you would like me to cover please let me know by email or if you are reading this on the web site you can leave a message at the bottom of the page. Your comments are always welcome!

 

Highlights of the Year 2024: This has to be the very friendly uplifting generous and positive comments I have received while out painting. Painting outdoors can be daunting but you all have made it a pleasure for me.

 

I wish you all a very Merry, Joy-filled Christmas and Prosperous Healthy 2025.

 

2.0 Title: Inspired Thoughts From Beyond My Norm!

 

First I sit in meditation, I then ask for guidance and support and write what comes word by word. This is what I wrote:

 

I sit here with no thought or expectation in mind, only hope and anticipation. I await your input.

 

Thank You we are here and present.

I bring peace and light with eternal love.
You may know in your heart that there is only being, and to be in truth is important.

We are all challenged with desires, some lead to paths of upliftment others less successful, however all provide a learning experience. As long as we learn from our experience we are progressing.

 

When we sit in quite to meditate, our minds rarely rest, it is only when we allow ourselves time to enable the silence to come that we find true peace and connection to the divine light. This however is not the only time we are able to connect with the divine, when we are in a state of doing without thinking we are often connected to the divine light and being guided to achieve our best. If we therefore practice both the action of being in the silence and doing things that come natural, and allow ourselves to be guided and be open to guidance we will experience both more success and more joyful times in the body.

 

When we sit and meditate, focusing on the flame of a candle is helpful for some, others find certain types of calming music beneficial, however music is best played at a low volume and without headphones. When we begin to be attuned any music will fade out of our awareness and we become totally focused on being in the light.

 

I hope you find this helpful and of interest. Remember To:

 

Gift a Smile Each Day

And Watch The World Smile Back!

 

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3.0 Title: Unusual Practical Ideas For The Artist Christmas Stocking

 

Later this year and recently I have been introduced to several substances that I believe will be used in my art studio for a long time to come. I am always on the look out for green environmentally friendly options to the standard material we use both in painting and cleaning up. Having used these items I can personally recommend them.

 

Acrylic Retarder – Home Made

This is so simple easily available and saves you money. Acrylic Retarder is added to acrylic paint to slow down the drying time, I use it when doing the extraction process, the paint can stay wet for 20 mins or so depending on your environment.

Purchase a bottle of Monopropylene Glycol. Empty a small amount into a jar and add between 25% and 75% water that has been boiled (Not hot). The more water added the faster the drying time. It is worth testing to find what works for you best.

 

 

XCP Professional - Cleaner and Degreaser

I discovered this out of necessity, I had been varnishing a painting with W&N varnish and started washing up. The usual solvents I use including Jiff and Fairy Liquid did not break down the varnish and the brush was in danger of being ruined. I had a hunt in my garage and came across the above degreaser that I use for cleaning the car and bike. I had nothing else so gave it a try. Thankfully this cleaned the brush perfectly. It is water-based and bio degradable. I may be using this in the future to clean my oil brushes too.

 

Murphy Concentrated Wood Cleaner

I came across a YouTube artist who mentioned this as a product that cleans and restores brushes. I have a particularly stuffed brush where the paint had hardened towards the ferrule over time and was close to useless. I did not hold out much hope but it was a good test for the product, albeit a bit unfair a challenge. The brush soaked overnight and despite previous cleaning more paint came out, I left the brush another day, and again more paint was dissolved. After rinsing the brush is useable again. This is well worth a try as a brush cleaner and restorer.

 

All the above items can be got on Amazon here in the UK and I believe the XCP may be available at Halford’s. (PS: Other de-greasers may also work)

 

 

 

 

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4.0 Title – On The Easel

 

In the last month, I have had several artworks on the go, all have been part of the “Eternal Existence” theme I am working on. The first painting is an imagined representation of a landscape in a land beyond our own. I have not titled the painting yet so any ideas or suggestions are welcome. I began with thumbnail sketches and used these as my guide. As usual, the painting is created with layers of paint beginning with an underlayer of pale yellow. The second layer was done using pastel shades of acrylics. Subsequent layers were added using oil colours both as glazes and later as opaque colour.

 

 

The second painting was born out of an idea that came to me when I was still half awake, or perhaps while in a dream state, and for once I woke and wrote the idea down. The idea is of a Soul dancing. Imagine arriving in the heavenly world, you have been greeted by your closest friends, and have an overwhelming joyous feeling of being home. The idea of the painting has been a slow development from having the thought of a soul dancing to music such as a waltz and then considering how this could be portrayed as an image. I began with a small panel shown below and had no idea as to what may come. I just simply started with a short meditation, requested guidance and applied paint to the panel. I then used the extraction process to allow shapes to form. Although I was reasonably happy with this beginning It did not feel as though it aligned with the idea of a Soul Dancing.

 

 

 

After further meditation and in some quite moments I had the idea of using a fluid version of the Yin Yang symbol. Yin Yang is a concept that originated in Chinese Philosophy, describing an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle. This lends itself to both the idea of Eternal Existence of the soul and the unification of the whole soul.

 

I decided to go immediately into the painting on a large canvas (30”x40”). The painting is prepared with Gesso and a pale yellow acrylic under layer. The next paint application was the abstracted fluid version of yin yang shapes using a pale pink and a pale blue green. The paint was applied using sponges and scouring pads.

 

Subsequent oil colour layers have been added as glazes and opaques. The painting is not yet finished but I show you here the progress to date.

 

 

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5.0 Title – The latest You Tube Videos:

 

En-Plein Air 2024

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UoHcphm1CUo

 

 

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