The Net

"The Net" acrylics on canvas    180 x 110 cm    © Elizabeth Tyler 2004

I found the subject for this painting on the quayside of a fishing harbour on the island of Corsica some years ago. The contrasting colours of the net against the sea made a dramatic effect which appealed to me.  It was really a challenge though to keep track of all the lines, ropes, floats and the net. The underlying shadows of the criss-crossing lines help to give the impression of depth. You can see that some of the ropes are stiff from the salty water of the Mediterranean, so they don't fall in soft uniform curves but have their own stubborn will.































If you look closely, the intricate network is tied and sewn together with small knots. The fisherman's patience for this tedious, time consuming work must have been far greater than mine when I painted it all.

The watercolour "Helenium" found a new home in Norway

Helenium 95 X 40 cm © Elizabeth Tyler 2011

  The open studio event went well this year with lots of positive visitors, enthusiastic art lovers and interesting people. One painting was sold to a family living in Norway. A problem arose though when they tried to fit the rather large painting into the car's roof box to transport it home. They had taken measurements and thought it would fit, but the streamlined roof box had rounded corners and no matter how they squeezed and tipped and turned, they just couldn't close the box. In the end they put it diagonally over the back seat. I hope both the painting and the family arrived home safely.

Open studio event

The painting I was working on previously is now finished and framed. As the subject was seen in the warmth of the late afternoon sun, I've called it "Evening Glow". It is now representing me in the group exhibition for all the artists participating in the annual open studio event "Konstrundan" here in southern Sweden. The exhibition in the Landskrona Art Hall opens Good Friday along with all the artists studios. We are 148 artists here working with many different techniques so the event is usually quite popular. I have been taking part in this event since 1997 and the number of visitors has increased every year. Normally over 2000 in my living room during the 10 days so I won't be painting for the next couple of weeks and tomorrow I'll go to bed early.

Painting magpies in the snow - or not...

I photographed these two magpies from the kitchen window earlier this year when there was a lot of snow. At first I rendered them as they were, surrounded by white snow. Afterwards I felt the the background was rather boring and nondescript. So I started letting a blade of grass or two peep through the snow in places. Then I went on and on painting grass, blade after blade, day after day. Different shades of green, yellow and blue were added. On and on I went, almost like the sorcerers apprentice. Painting shadows between grass straws, lightening up, toning down, overlapping in places and finally adding the taller grass and twigs in the foreground.
 In the meantime the snow has slowly vanished from the garden, the days are longer and spring is almost here. The magpies have moved up into the pear tree where they're building a nest. I'd like to paint that too but it's way out of reach, they know what they're doing so I'll leave them alone now.

Magpies   acrylics on canvas 35 x 110 cm                                                                                               © Elizabeth Tyler 2013

Garlic

Garlic           acrylics on canvas    90 x 120 cm                                                                     ©Elizabeth Tyler 2002

Sometimes inspiration comes from an unexpected source.  Making dinner one evening, while I had my reading glasses on to look at a recipe, I took a closer look at the garlic I was holding in my hand. I had just broken some cloves off and what was left was some thin transparent flakes of skin, the root and the rest of the cloves. The garlic wasn't just white but many different colours ranging from yellow ochre, pale purple, blue and brown. I've never been much good at cooking so the dinner was no success, my mind was elsewhere as it usually is. I couldn't wait to start painting the garlic. The painting was much larger than life so I could render the garlic in every detail. I chose complimentary colours for the background in order to bring out the pale shades of the subject itself.
The painting was sold a few years ago but the other day I was glad to have the opportunity of seeing it again in its present surroundings, a beautiful private home in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Step by step painting rocks

Painting "Rocks", acrylics on canvas 150 x 110 cm                                                         © Elizabeth Tyler 2013

Step by step, week after week I worked on this painting and now almost 2 months after I started, the finishing touches are added. At least I think these will be the finishing touches, the last brushstrokes, the final blobs and the umpteenth layer. I just have to leave it now for a while to let it rest and mature by itself.  I might contemplate picking up a brush again to do some small adjustments but right now I need to do something else. It's often necessary to turn your back to work that has demanded so much attention for so long. In a few days I'll be able to see the painting in a new light and decide if more has to be done.

New Exhibition

Entrance hall of the Assa Abloy company Landskrona.

At the moment I have a small exhibition in the beautiful entrance hall of the Assa-Abloy company, (entrance systems) in Landskrona Sweden. The architecture of the hall comprises a decorative pool through which underwater stones can be seen. This happens to be exactly the same subject I chose for my acrylic painting "Over and under".
Although my painting is from the Mediterranean, the subject is universal and coincidentally matches almost as if tailor made for the hall.

"Over and under" acrylics on canvas 150 x 110 cm © Elizabeth Tyler 2009

Apart from this acrylic painting on canvas, the exhibition consists of watercolours, etchings and lithographs.