Happy New Year

And the first painting of the New Year is...

'Flaming January'

(10x10", Oil)

There's been a delay in my postings this last seven days: I wanted the post about my Uncle Keith to reach family members and be available to them until after the funeral in Australia. The second delay was that I didn't want to risk posting anything new and then lose it whilst trying to change over from Blogger to Google. I'd rather cross over under my own steam and control, than let someone else do it for me and lose stuff.

Well, it's all done now. I've made a successful (I hope) transition.

Now, back to creating...

This painting was one I did last January for the 'Fabulous Fakes and Forgeries' exhibit at the 'Spring Bull Gallery' in Newport, RI. The premise was to copy an existing master work or paint a parody of one. I chose the parody line because I hate copying from anyone elses work - no matter who they are. Anyway, I decided to combine my koala fantasy paintings with one of those by Frederick, Lord Leighton. Considering how sleepy koala bears are, I thought that his 'Flaming June' painting was just the thing. However, since the seasons are reversed in Australia, I felt fully justified in calling my version 'Flaming January'.

This painting won the 'Best Humorous - 2006' award at the show. My first real gallery award ever. I was most impressed.

Meanwhile, I have to get cracking on working on my new entry for the same show next month...

Cheers
Marianne