NOVEMBER PAINTINGS

Here are the three paintings that I am working on at present - but have not been able to spend as much time in the studio as I would like.  Getting work framed for Christmas shows and other more domestic chores also -  preparation for Dorset Art Weeks and Christmas, of course.   I hope next week will see these three completed and more ideas I have underway....

Two Trees 120 x 120 cm oil/canvas.  I see these trees - with Duncliffe behind them most days when the animals ( the two cats and the dog) and I go for our walk.   Actually - all three paintings are on familiar walks ...   

Melbury and Compton Down  80 x 120 cm oil/canvas  - I have painted this landscape so many times over the past ....nearly 40 years and this Hill in particular keeps me coming back over and over again ...  !  This is the walk when  we cross the lane and walk north towards Shaftesbury.  Its about 5 minutes away.  I can see Melbury from my kitchen window ....   makes washing up a joy! (almost) well - everytime I look out of the window the hill - MY hill changes, looks different, always entrancing!

Fontmell Down and the Curlews 90 x 90 oil / canvas ... I have not painted this particular view before - and I rarely choose a view with buildings in ... but I am rather pleased with this take on a familiar subject....  mostly the walks here 

require a lift 'to the top ' above Littledown and we walk home - what a delight! I have seen the ravens we have at home and red or black kites too.  No curlews sadly!

PAINTING AGAIN.....

 OCTOBER FLOWERS  26 X 20 cm  oil/board

MELLOW DAHLIAS   60 X 50  cm oil/canvas- unfinished

I have spoken before about how strange painting is ...   I know I have said it in my book - and it is true.  For several weeks I have had ideas and - eventually got myself out of the kitchen out of the garden and into the studio - where probably I have 'tidied up'    This displacement activity is so familiar ....   I know it well - how was it possible that today - at about 3 o'clock I finally stopped myself 'walking round it'   ( as Robert says) and stopped negotiating with myself and just started ....     and two pictures are more or less done ...  and loads more to do...   now I have breached the ... blockage or dam or whatever it was, it will flow till it dries up or circumstances intervene or ...  something else stops it and another lull will take place - like fields that have to lie fallow, it is not reasonable to expect creativity to be on tap all the time!

WACCY LABELS.....

I got  this drawing tablet a while ago and have only just begun to use it ... last night after making chutney from all the produce we have here ...  LABELS! .... its quite hard getting used to looking at the screen while drawing on the tablet, and there are loads of things I need to learn ...  but I am pleased and excited with the experiment!  Who knows what else will happen....  ???  

AUTUMN reflected at STOURHEAD

Three pictures below are all going into a charity event in BRISTOL HARBOURSIDE  at the BRISTOL GALLERY.  It is for the hope step and jump  children's charity ....  ( I am so pleased to have the previous post behind me!)  

autumn reflections    oil on board  19 x 18 cm 

yellow tree reflected   oil on board   17 x 16 cm

The Sixbyeight exhibition

Welcome to the Sixbyeight exhibition website; We as a committee are planning a charity art event starting on the 11th November where patrons will have the opportunity to purchase art from professional and amateur artists. We have collated hundreds of pieces of art all measuring 6×8″ which will be sold at £40 each and all signed on the reverse , so your purchase is unknown an ‘artistic gamble’, all proceeds from this event will then be donated to Hop Skip and Jump

A private view will be held at the Bristol Gallery on the 11th November from 7pm, by invitation only, followed by the open view on 12th-13th November from 10am – 5pm. All donated works will be available to purchase.  www.sixbyeight.co.uk

John Hurt, Tom Stoppard, Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, Kim Cattrall, Mark Ravenhill, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Miranda Richardson, have all donated pieces ....  

stourhead reflections   oil on board   18 x 16 cm

"GET STUFFED LOSERS, I DONT BULLY THAT EASILY"......

Two weeks ago I was attacked - road rage.........  the attack stopped just short of being actually physical .... but psychically it has really affected me - the suspects are being questioned soon - and I hope they will opt for restorative justice rather than court .......   It has taken me this long to stop feeling weepy and pathetic and find my justifiable anger .......  and here is what has helped me access how I feel about being threatened and abused and to say  in the words of  LOUISE MENSCH in today's paper, "Get Stuffed, losers, I dont bully that easily"  .... 

No more about it for now... except to say that Victim Support may use one of the  following  as a poster....  I dont know if they ( the paintings!) are any good - there are certainly things about them that I like - and maybe that can lead me on somewhere new.   ONce again I am grateful that somehow I have a channel, a way of exploring the interior that feels like a gift.  

ONE

 TWO - UNFINISHED

THREE - UNFINISHED  6" X 6"

FOUR - UNFINISHED  6" X 6"

a BOTTLE OF WINE.... and a loaf of bread!

I painted this when I was at St Martin's I think - when I was 20!  I remember the grapefruits went off - I think I had made the mistake of having them in the freezer compartment of the fridge...   !  Shared house in Keildon Road, SW11 ...  ah innocent days.   I wish I could contact some of my housemates ...   even with the good offices of Facebook and ... the dreaded Friend's united no luck!  Ah well -  I am pleased to see in those days - I was so young but I could wield a brush...  two more still lives to follow...  just for fun 

oil on canvas

AUTUMN EQUINOX..... a bluebell painting ....

I have been sorting out my photos and I found this ....  a scanned-not-very-good photo of Blubells, from 1996 I think, and I had the  thought that Spring and painting bluebells is something to look forward to! 

OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE....

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamsonfrom A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles(See note below about Nelson Mandela)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”



I first  read/heard of this piece when I was Peace Worker at a Conference at Woodbrooke College in Birmingham in the days of Greenham and all that...   and it has a place in my 'fuzzy file'  something I copied from Bruce Kent......  in another life that laid the foundations for this one......

MISTY MELBURY & FLOWERS.....

I have finished this painting - almost like it as much as the Jubilation one - and I have three others nearing completion and ... two small ones on boards that I did last year that I never fully resolved that I feel I can tweak into something now ...  really on a creative high and loving it!   

Misty Melbury & Flowers 80 x 80 cm

SEPTEMBER JUBILATION

I have named this painting after consultation with a special friend! - so this is it!  I think I might put it on the cover of my book which I am re-printing very soon.    I am not sure I am ready to part with this one just yet - or maybe I shall agree to getting some reproductions done by PICTURE FRAMES (www.pictureframers.co.uk)... we shall see!

September Jubilation oil/canvas 1 x 1m   

 No Hiding in the Flower Bed 90 x 90cm sold - MINSTER GALLERY WINCHESTER

THE GOOD LIFE! doubled!

This painting is finished and I am really happy with it ...  excited about where it has taken me! 

Often when you hear writers talking on the radio about their novels, they say the characters take over the story and the plot, they develop a life of  their own.   This seems to reflect what happens to me when things go well - when 'I' get out of the way...    and then I am working in harmony with the painting, a channel for the inevitable... the painting takes over and I am led.   

It is getting more abstract, less descriptive, less literal.  And as I looked at the flower bed I just kept seeing more colours - suggesting themselves to me!   I am ready to begin the next painting as long as I dont allow myself to be distracted by watering geraniums and tomatoes and dead heading cosmos, oh ! or picking raspberries!  

So it is also about the bounty this time of year, The Good Life times two!

I dont know what to call this painting -  I want to call it for a very dear friend - I have to ask her permission first so I will come back and label it later!

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY .....

I have been out painting ... wasnt it hot today?   Wonderful, what a treat and lets hope we have an indian summer?    Finally I have got the lovely Mr P to take a 'natural photo' of me ...  I was actually painting, not pretending to !....    the flower bed of course.

It began from another angle - and/but I am being led by the nose - I try NOT  to think when I paint, thinking DOES NOT  HELP at all when painting ...  it is about the left brain trying to be bossy and organise things and be sensible and .... BORING ....   no magic with left brain .. or brian ....   enough for now ..... 

I am pleased with this - the end of a second session - and a relaxed one at that!
Putting it on the blog is more stressful - if I remember I must talk about 'earnestness' and 'play as opposed to angst .... making a good, honest and authentic painting....  


I want my work to reflect joy and all those happy emotions - why not?  the flowers of the fields etc etc ....  but never froth at the expense of honesty and integrity...    and I  think  that what I want to express is a clear ... avenue to God's grace - acceptance and knowledge of what is so good and so available in my blessed life....  without my vanity of ideas and stuff ....  striving at a felt authenticity and simplicity ... of the grace of being a ...late middle aged woman in this treasured corner of beautiful England.    What blessings indeed!

WHITE BLOSSOM FRENCH ORCHARD. 60 X 90 cm

Oh dear, I have finally got round to updating my website and messed it up... oh well ....   I have made some great flans and two apple cakes today, and nearly finished this picture so I dont feel too bad!  It will get sorted out soon....

MEETING OLD FRIENDS..... in Wales

I sold these three paintings over ten years ago - and during a recent visit to Wales my husband was able to take photographs of them ...  I am especially fond of the first one of our old garden in Shaftesbury.  You can even see the tower of St Peter's church .... my love of painting gardens goes back a long way! 

This is the view from Fontmell Down the last time there were poppies there - about 1995? 

 And below is my favourite Cowparsley from Frenchmill Lane....  

  And this is my favourite Cowparsley from Frenchmill Lane....  

THIS OLD HOUSE.....

  It was   three oclock when I finally got out to paint yesterday!   What is it with 

all the 'things that have to be done'  ???  Just the tasks that we all have to get done to keep life afloat....   and then some others too - I think it does take  a conscious decision to do the things that are really important and focus on that....

In consequence maybe I just grabbed at this view in desperation - it is so lovely being out - not sure what this picture will be like.  I think the house is too dominant - too big probably.   I left the car up in the field so will see what I can do today.   Here is a photo of two of my companions !

PAINTING AGAIN.... HOORAY....!

It is really great to be painting again -  it feels such a treat, like a kid out of school!  After the show at Ashley Wood last month I have spent my time catching up with all the things that have been neglected while I was taken up with preparation for the exhibition (76 paintings, and the 80 page book!)   

The event  was a great success but/and it is such a joy to be painting again! This painting below is nearly finished - and since it looks like it is going to be fine I shall stop this and go and get on with it and the other one I started last night!

        
    untitled as yet!60 x 60 cm 

SPRING CLEANING ..... test blog

After my show at Ashley Wood I have tidied my studio and filled all the holes in the walls and painted it - all the paintings are away and I have 'turned over a new leaf' - or a new piece of melamine for a palette

SIX DAYS TO SEE PHYLLIS WOLFF EXHIBITION AT ASHLEY WOOD...

Ashley Wood Farm near Tisbury ( SP3 6PY) is a wonderful collection of barns on the Fonthill Estate and they provide a marvellous venue for showing paintings.  Here are some photographs from the 'Barn'.  The other connecting space is the milking parlour, I have hung 76 paintings in all, and some woodcuts.  34 of the pictures have been painted since Dorset Arts Week a year ago - I have to admit I am a bit surprised myself at the output - my framer (wwwpictuerframers.co.uk) said I should take up a hobby!  

On Saturday I have an impromptu talk during the Music Festival that was going on.   I will speak more of this later.

I will be at Ashley Wood every afternoon between 2.30 and 3.30 to meet people ...   Do Come!  

                                      

OAK FRAMES for APPLE PAINTING

Hope Elletson of Pictureframes.co.uk has made these beautiful oak frames for me and here he is, with me at Ashley Wood.   ...  I am busy hanging this exhibiton which features nearly 30 new paintings - all with beautiful handmade frames from Hope...

CATWALK......

Here are Muriel and Coco ....ready for the off ....  

  the ...  logic(sic!) behind me taking the cats is that I am hoping they will get to like this route and keep away from the roads...  I dont know why they follow me - our previous cats used to - its the breed - Burmese - wonderful ....

above  is the field  above our house ..... you can see Pen Hill in the background, and Solomon ... below you can see our house and the Blackmore Vale behind .... it is very beautiful 

round the corner   

 This is the top of an old air raid shelter I think ...  its a place where the girls like to stop and have a wash!  The field has been ploughed and there is corn just begining to appear.  In the background is Nip Mountain ( Melbury of course)

I know this post is rather mad - its back to painting tomorrow I promise ....!

ANIMAL CAPERS .... SHEEP WORRYING DOG

I have been working very hard getting ready for my exhibition  - for months and now all the preparations are more or less done - I have my beautiful book ready and we start to hang pictures tomorrow ....  so here is a little diversion ....! 

This is a picture of my dog Solomon - the attentions of this lamb are really worrying him!  He is a beauty, but a bit of a lady-boy - so my sons say - they say I have ruined, and its probably true!   

HEY ... CHECK THIS BOOK OUT....

This  is the cover of my new 80 page book ...  exquisitely designed by Johnny Bull -who incidently has a print in the RA summer exhibition - in the same room as our Tracey....  

Johnny Bull  Ideas •  Pictures |+44 (0)1722 718790 || plumpstate.com  | johnnybull.com |

I am so excited about the book - it is fab....  my work looks great and I am so greatful to Johnny ...    it is a real pleasure to work with someone and I have learnt a lot - about good design that I didnt know.  Simon Barber of Evolver said that there are two things an artist should not be allowed to do - take their own photos ( where he admitted I was the exception!) and design their own publicity... and to tell the truth - looking at the stuff I have happily done on my little mac before - I can see where it does not pass muster!  Oh well - more later!

I want to talk about 'mistakes'  ......

p.s.  here is the link to my book http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2236524?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget   

YOU ARE INVITED TO .....

EXHIBITION BANNER by JOHNNY BULL

This is to go outside the entrance to Ashley Wood Art Space where my solo show is going to be held....  I think it looks great!  If you would like an invitation to the Private View do get in touch.   You can contact me through my website.  www.phylliswolff.co.uk.    It is a wonderful space and there will be a lot of paintings, I am looking forward to it.  My book will also be available too.  

MIRABELLES, CHARENETE - by a Dorset Colourist...!

I have finally finished these paintings and am very pleased!  I have decided to put the fourth one on my invitation to the Private View of my Solo Show which I am busy preparing for.  

I am also getting a book together ... and the issue of a title has come up - A Dorset Colourist is the favourite so far ...  

Mirabelles II 40 x 60cm oil on canvas   

 Mirabelles III 30 x 30 cm oil on canvas 

Mirabelles II 40 x 60cm oil on canvas   Mirabelles III 30 x 30 cm oil on canvas Mirabelles IV  60 x 90 oil on canvas