Monday 1 March 2010

Abroad Posting


Sawrey Farm (work in progress)

I've recently sold two paintings to a friend and client in San Francisco and had to make arrangements to get them there. My mate and fellow painter Mike Bell (no relation!) suggested I use an online Agent called Interparcel whom he'd used in the past and from their differently priced services, I opted for delivery by UPS. So on Thursday I had to wait for the UPS van to come and collect the parcel. At the time of writing it's in San Francisco now and on the point of being delivered which I think is pretty good service.

What this meant, of course was that I didn't go to the Club to continue with my painting, Above Harry Ramsden's . Nor did I go on Friday, so the painting awaits completion. What i did do on Friday was go to the preview of ØRNULF OPDAHL Mood Paintings of the North at the Northumbria Gallery. I love Opdahl's moody paintings of Norwegian fjords. In fact, although the oils are out of my price range, I have two of his lithographs which I treasure dearly.

Because of the usual chatting with folk I haven't seen for years, I didn't get to see the video interview with Opdahl. People would come up to me and say, "Have you seen the really interesting video?" then talk to me long enough to ensure I couldn't. I'll go back to see the show again and the video, but if you'd like to see the video now, you can do so on the King's Place website. Make sure you enlarge the view to full screen.

Aware that the Harry Ramsden painting presents little in the way of concentrated work to get it finished, I decided I need to get one or two more started, so today I got this Sawrey Farm painting under way. It's another in the Rock & Tree series which is holding my attention at the moment.

7 comments:

April Jarocka said...

Lovely start to this one Harry. I do love your style and your colours. I am trying to loosen up my oils as you can tell (cup and chocolate) and break away from my usual tight style. I really do think it's a more creative way of painting and more satisfying. Rocks and trees...you can't beat them. I'll look in to Opdahl's work. Thanks for the link.

harry bell said...

Thanks April. It's becoming increasingly clear to me that I need to use a well-loaded brush - as big a brush as possible - to remove the temptation to tighten up the painting. Unfortunately, I find that very difficult when I want to make small paintings.

Good luck with your own loosening up.

April Jarocka said...

An interesting video of Opdahl Harry. I didn't care much for his studio, too dark. Nor the series he is working on. Roll on the day when we can slap darkness onto a canvas and everyone see sunshine pouring out of our efforts..sorry...jus wondering what the fuss was all about. I like his lighter work. Thanks for the link though.

harry bell said...

Each to his own, April. The big works look terrific in the gallery and the smaller ones have a "bigness" about them that works too. Maybe if you saw the surfaces on them you'd like them more. I guess living on a Norwegian fjord puts you in the midst of overpowering landscape and weather, but there are shafs of sunlight streaming through on quite a lot of them. I could live with one. Or two. Or ....

April Jarocka said...

Sorry. A negative moment...i am sure you are right. They probably are very powerful, and i do love BIG art!

Kevin Williams said...

Harry,
Watched the Opdahl vid. Wonderful atmospheric landscapes. Must've looked great in the flesh.
Kev

harry bell said...

The Opdahl show is on until 9th April, so it'll still be there when you're up for the Jazz Festival. Just a matter of fitting it in.