Nina as a baby

baby Nina
oil on canvas
230x300mm
(9"x12")
NFS

Don't panic baby watchers...
Coco hasn't had her baby yet...
This is a flashback...
To Nina as a baby...
Only a few weeks old...
She has her white mittens on...

Jaden with jade

Jaden with jade
oil on canvas
300x230mm
(12"x9")
NFS

A three year old Prince Charming...

Finn agog

Finn agog
oil on canvas
300x230mm
(12"x9")
NFS

Not sure how to interpret this expression...
Soon after birth of brother Jesse...

Brody asleep

Brody asleep
oil on canvas
250x300mm
(9"x12")
NFS

the gallery painters 2011

The gallery painters exhibition for 2011 was on October 30th...
Mike Ferris gave a wonderful opening speech...
About painting...
Its purpose and place in our lives...
Sparkling wine and delicious nibbles...
It was on display for 4 weeks...
Staffed by the painters...
While I was in Penola...
With 5 week old Jesse James Mitchell...
And family...
Next exhibition will be in 2013...

Finn

Finn
oil on canvas
250x300mm
(10"x12")
NFS

Nina

Nina
oil on canvas
280x360mm
(11"x14")
NFS

Dusk

Dusk
oil on board
110x500mm
(4"x20")
SOLD

Can anyone recognise this place?
I tend to look at it every time I go to Beachport...

Tessa

Tessa
oil on canvas
300x250mm
(12"x10")
NFS

'Bout time I wrote somethin'...
Been paintin' grandchillin...
'Cos they're our life at the moment...
But also...
'Cos portraits are the real test for me...
Hard work...
And I am free...
To paint the way I want to...
The only way I can...
Why couldn't I have my old head on my young shoulders?
And here I am, putting the painting on my blog...
Then I change the face...
And change the blog...
No one notices...
Except me...
Gotta get it right...
Tessa has the most incredible hair...
It is so thick...
She had it very long...
Then had a 'Dora' cut...
And it was like a thick wedge...
Ah...
Beautiful Tessa...
This was a few years ago...
Then she came home from China with an amazing haircut...
But that's another painting...

Brody

Brody
oil on canvas
300x250mm
(12"x10")
NFS

Jesse

beautiful new grandson...
Jesse James Mitchell...
born 14 Oct...
photo by Anna...

Jaden

Jaden
oil on canvas
300x250mm
(12"x10")
NFS

Eucalypt

eucalypt
oil on canvas
610x910mm
(24"x36")
$1800

Obelisk

the obelisk at Robe
oil on canvas
500x400mm
(20"x16")
SOLD

SALE

For the month of October 2011 only...
30% off the marked price...
Of all Claire Souter paintings in the gallery...
See you there...
Or email me for a bargain...

Preparations at the gallery

Seagull and seaweed

The seagull and seaweed
oil on canvas
410x510mm
$670

Seagull and rocks

The seagull and the rocks
oil on canvas
460x610mm
SOLD

Onto the beach

And onto the beach
oil on canvas
460x610mm
(18"x24")
SOLD

Over saltbush

Over the saltbush
oil on canvas
510x610mm
(16"x24")
SOLD

Sunshine yellow

Not a wattle to be seen...
But definitely a trend towards Australia's colours...
And incidently, the floral emblem of Cairns is the yellow penda...
Also yellow and green...
Up there - top left and right...
My unconscious mind is certainly very patriotic...

Female sunbird
oil on canvas
510x1020mm
(20"x40")
$1800

One month later

I can't believe one month has flown...
The Penola exhibition was wonderful...
Thanks to Amelia...
And Lois...
And Anna...
And all the amazing people who came to the opening...
We fell in love with Penola...
Thank you everyone...
I'll be back there in November...
For a new grandchild...
I was going to keep this blog purely professional...
ie. paintings only...
But I keep lapsing into the personal...
Today is Tessa's 8th birthday...
Can't believe that either...

Off to Penola

red beach almond leaves
oil on canvas
610x910mm
(24"x36")
$1200

We're off to Penola tomorrow...
For my exhibition...
No mate for the sunbird yet...
Tedious work to do on the flowers yet...
Enjoyed doing this while I procrastinate yet...
Exhibitions interrupt everything...
Anna is opening the exhibition...
She would be more apprehensive than me...
Wouldn't she?

Male sunbird

male sunbird
oil on canvas
510x1020mm
(20"x40")
$1800
detail

and his female mate will be along soon...

invitation to exhibition

Fuchsia

Fuchsia
oil on paper
760x560mm

Spaces

This looks so much better spaced apart...
Don't you agree?
Thanks for the advice Susan...
Didn't someone talk about the devil...
In the detail...
And God...
In the gaps?

Tuesday

Tuesday at gallery...
with the girls...

And while Nina paints...
Tessa poses for me...
In front of the new prints...
Of the paintings...

Of Tessa when she was nearly 4...
Now she is nearly 8...
Her Chinese grandmother and I...
Live quite close in Cairns...
And are friends...
We share the same grandchildren...
40+ years ago she was really struggling in China...
Secretly studying medicine at night...
Working during the day...
Only allowed one child...
She longed for more...
I was at university in Australia and ignorant...
Secretly bought cheap Chinese pamphlets...
From an exotic bookshop in Rundle St...
Little Red school book...
Peasant paintings fron Huhsien county...
etc...
1978...
I loved these paintings...
I loved their idealism...
I loved the design and draughtmanship...
I have painted them in the background of Tessa...
I now know a little more of Wang Jing's (Tessa's grandmother) country...
Only a little...
She now knows a lot more of mine...
She now knows I could unashamedly have 3 children...
She watches me have 6 grandchildren...
She adores them all...
She finds it hard to manage her envy...
The past is being pushed under...
Like a cork...

Back to the beach

Looking out
oil on canvas
610x460mm
View to Beachport
oil on canvas
760x510mm
(30"x20")
SOLD


Where?
oil on 3 canvases
760x1530mm

First Cassia flower

First Cassia flower
oil on canvas
460x610mm
( 18"x24")
$950

Sky colour?

What colour is that sky, blossom?
oil on canvas
910x610mm

Mondays

Mondays at home with the boys...

And while Brody takes a nap...

Jaden and I get out the paints...

And he reminds me of a wonder world...

That is ours for the taking...

For the painting...
(albeit briefly when you're 3 years old)

back to work

Meanwhile...
It's back to work at the gallery...
Classes started again last week...
Now we're working towards the "gallery painters 2011" exhibition...
This will be on Sun 7th August...
It will entail about 20 painters showing their works from the last 18 months...
This follows our highly successful inaugural exhibition in Dec 2009...
But more about this later...

Meanwhile...
I will be shifting a group of paintings to Penola...
I have an exhibition at "Local Images" opening on Sun 14th August...
I last exhibited there in 1999 with www.clairesoutergallery.com/oldsite/green.html...
And look forward to working with the new gallery director...
Who took over from the retired and legendary Lois Hodge...
More about that later as well...

And meanwhile...
I received an email yesterday...
I'm a finalist in http://www.thewaterhouse.com.au/ again...
Whoooppeee...
I love being in this exhibition...
It will be my 5th time...
I've missed out a few disappointing times...
More about that later...

2 plums and a rose and 2 weeks closed

Penola plum 3
oil on canvas
460x610mm
(18"x24")
SOLD

Penola rose 3
oil on canvas
760x610mm

The gallery is closed for a few weeks holiday...
Painting classes begin again from Wed 1 June...
For any queries regarding classes or purchases...

Email souters@ozemail.com.au

or phone 0408 258 747

Another rose

Penola rose 2
oil on canvas
350x450mm

Penola rose

Penola rose 1
oil on canvas
350x450mm

Anzac day

Easter weekend...

New life...
New floor paint...
Ready for new painting people patina...

Fig bird song

Fig bird songoil on 3 canvases
255x305mm ea
(10"x12"ea)
SOLD

Back to the tropics...
And a fig bird whistling the day away...
On the foreshore of Cooktown...
After Chris had ridden his bike from Cairns...
Over 3 days...
The 3 paintings are not quite enough to capture the long line of photos I took...