My weeks have been busy lately with all sorts of arty activities.  One of the highlights though, was my week in Cairns where I spent five days attending the Cairns Art Escape (my third year in a row now, so it’s obvious that I enjoy going there).  This year I chose to attend Cherry Hood’s classes where we learnt how to paint BIG watercolour portraits in a moody kind of style which appealed to me very much.  The style (front-on serious images), the colours (titanium white, van dyke brown, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue to name a few), and the size (full watercolour sheets) all appealed to me and it was good to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.  We should all get out of our comfort zone once in a while as you never know what you might discover or what new direction you might travel in.

For those who don’t know, Cherry Hood is a well-known Australian artist who has quite a significant art history.  Cherry was the winner of the 2002 Archibald Prize with her portrait of the young pianist Simon Tedeschi.  The Archibald is one of the most famous and sought after painting awards in Australia so I felt very honoured to not only be in the presence of one of the winners but to actually learn some of her famous techniques. Cherry has won numerous other awards and has her works represented around the world, and she continues to run workshops near her home in New South Wales.  You can read more about Cherry on her website – Cherry Hood.

Following are three paintings I did at the workshops: