Hi!
It's July
The best time of the year
For bubbles
2 kids' double trouble
& my watchful gaze as I peer
Out of a painting of oils
Bubble bubble trouble and toils
Don't paint the eyes till the end
Focus first on the blend
And the rest as you should
Then the charm is firm and good…
…magic is in the air at the height of summer. It's a hot and fiery time. This painting is in an online show: Elements, curated by Sara Choudhrey and is called, appropriately, FIRE! …
…It's also a watery time, in more ways than one (it's been quite rainy in the UK). I love cool summery water. So does my baby! Come and cool down and paint some water with me: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/book-online...
…Is she holding some water? What's she offering? She is the August edition of the Faces classes. This course and upcoming others can be found at https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com
The Art of Attention, the small, select group who are currently enjoying my mentoring project, continues in autumn; please email me if you're interested in joining. More here: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/bookings-checkout/the-court-of-gayumars-art-of-attention?referral=service_list_widgetand here: https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com/forum/news-and-announcements/the-court-of-gayumars-the-art-of-attention
Below is the current work in progress...
…I really, really, really enjoyed painting this lotus, that watery flower. It's now my 2nd favourite flower after the tulip. I can't get enough of that gorgeous blue, and the lotus structure itself is complex yet the petals are so simple. Such a fascinating flower with a long history in many cultures (Buddhist, Hindu...) It was not so easy as I'm also finding that painting flowers can be hard! No mud no lotus.
Below is the Bauhinia, a study in more complex petals but a simple shape...
...Generally I love the colours of summer flowers. These were in a meadow somewhere we went. The bluey purple, or purpley blue, and a kind of ink blue that is both blue and purple at the same time. Ambiguous, beautiful colours. Is the dress below that blue and black or white and gold? ...
...a little ambiguity and mystery are good. Keeps us guessing and wanting more from our art and stories: let's talk more - our July meeting is on 20.7.21, 6-7pm London time. Zoom link is via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com or here's the direct link:
JULY MEETING
Vaishali Prazmari is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Free Monthly Miniature Meeting 20 July 2021 18.00 London time Time: Jul 20, 2021 18:00 London Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84644156847?pwd=ZWlmdWhtRlAzMXVmMlNtN0s1a01lQT09
Meeting ID: 846 4415 6847 Passcode: 244038
Join by Skype for Business https://us02web.zoom.us/skype/84644156847
Monthly Miniature Meeting structure:
To start, 20 mins discuss one chapter of My Name is Red which should open up some more broad questions/discussions: we'll discuss the 6th chapter
Focus on somebody's work, one individual to show their work and everyone give feedback, comments, thoughts, suggestions, like a crit in art school, with respect (to be pre-arranged beforehand) 20 mins
Broad questions and discussions 20 mins...
…I added to my Brushes website so there's more to look at and see. Have a look see: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk. It's a flowery, fruity summer. We went strawberry picking...
…and blew bubbles. One of my favourite ever activities with children is to blow bubbles. It's portable and easy. The happiness-to-parental setup ratio suits me very well. Boys and bubbles! I'll turn my photo at the bottom into a painting one day. It's not the first time boys have been fascinated by bubbles in paintings. Artists must have loved this situation too. The following are by (left to right): John Everett Millais, Caspar Netscher, John Siméon Chardin and Netscher again. I love the one below by Frans van Mieris I and the satisfied expression of (presumably) the mother's face. Satisfied because her child is focused and occupied well and also learning and having fun, and she gets a moment to herself in her mind and allows it to wander, while simultaneously gazing at her child and loving him. It's a fleeting moment of perfection. The bubble itself is a transient, perfect phenomenon*. But the simple humble single bubble: I remember seeing the Caspar Netscher paintings in the National Gallery as a child myself and thinking wow, so cool, a painting of bubbles, an artist bothered to paint something so fragile and transient, AND a painting of a kid like me (there weren't many, they were stuffy old men, mostly)! So I loved it. Now, decades later, I have my own kids blowing bubbles and the wonder and joy is still there. All those colours! Next to the focused and happy boy there are some summer flowers again. The last July flower is the Sunflower and I'm really looking forward to painting that. Glorious, yellow and huge. I could never grow one (I did attempt it). But I can paint one (easier for me!). It's on my bucket list - actually growing a giant sunflower from seed that grows to be taller than any human. A great symbol, too, a kind of sci-fi vision of nature taking over. Sunflowers could be scary! But in paintings they aren't; paintings make everything ok.
Bubblingly yours,
Vaishali Prazmari
*I keep referring to this but it's so relevant - all the elements and how I design my brushes, courses, art and life:
This fleeting world is
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream
- Poem at the end of the Diamond Sutra (the world's oldest printed book - British Library) Summer is short, let's make the most of it, let's all make paintings while the sun shines!
