First attempts at painting

When I first started doing my own art   (instead of reproductions), I was very unsure of what that would be and whether I would be able to deliver what was on my mind.   

 I have always been drawn to intimate interior scenes and still life.  So some of my first paintings were of interiors in watercolors.   

This and the little painting to follow are of a corner of my living room in Nice.  At least the balustrade is really there but the pieces of furniture were actually a table and a book shelf in the corner.  I changed the table into a desk in the first drawing and then a blue table in the second.    I imagined the bouquet, the book, the drawers etc. 

After all one can paint whatever one wants whether it's there are not.  In fact an artist has to edit..... to get a good composition.  And therein lies the first creative step.

 At the time of this painting, I was reading a book by Natalie Goldberg the author of the writer's manual called Writing Down the Bones.    Being a fan, I had bought her book called In Living Color as well. 

 Even though Goldberg didn't think of herself as an artist at the time, she started on a trip with a pen and watercolors.  In Living Color  she shows some fanciful illustrations of places she has lived and scenes from her travels .  Her naive style is an authentic voice and I am sure my second painting was influenced by her expressive images and quirky style.

Natalie Goldberg paintings

After I did the first composition, I started to breathe easier.   This was freedom and whatever I painted was going to be a surprise.   

   So for the next picture of the same corner,   I realized, hey.... I want a blue table and a window and balustrade that are acting out and dancing away.  Why not?  

Mioko Iyhara

Pictures: Miyoko Ihara / Rex Features from the Telegraph

Nine years ago, Japanese photographer Miyoko Ihara began taking pictures of the kinship between her grandmother and her unusual-eyed white cat. 

 Miyoko's grandma Misao found the abandoned cat as a kitten in a shed on her property and the pair have rarely been apart since.

"Misao named the white cat "Fukumaru" in hope the "God of fuku (good fortune)  would come and everything would come "full circle"  (as maru :circle)".

Fukumaru is always at Misao's side whether she is farming her land, having a bath, eating or sleeping.

 Now nearly a decade later their closeness and adventures have been published by Miyoko in a photography book called  Misao the Big Mama and Fukumaru the Cat.  

The couple have become increasingly popular in Japan with this unusual photo essay becoming a bestseller and becoming a viral sensation across the world. 

  All these pictures tell a lovely tale of friendship that not many of us can resist.      

Shadow of a Doubt

oil on canvas, 60x73 cm, Mary Payne

If you hold the screen so that the colors are the least saturated you will get a pretty good idea of this painting which is one of three of the same size and color range.   I call this one " Shadow of a Doubt" .

Alone/Surrounded

Oil on Canvas, 60x73cm, Mary Payne

Again, to get the full affect of this painting you need to hold the screen so the colors are palest.   I have titled this painting : "Alone/Surrounded".  

Castles in the Air

Oil on Canvas, 60x73cm , Mary Payne


This is the third canvas of a series of the same size and color range.  I call it "Castles in the air"  after the saying by Henry David Thoreau.

I will paraphrase his words for you:  "so you've built your castles in the air, now put foundations under them."  My mother used to quote this and it has stuck with me.

Kabuki : sketch of the day

 Now that I am out of the cast and into my life again,  I want to pick up one of the treads of my life:  the studio.   I found this photo in my archive of paintings . It is a piece I did from a photograph I found in the newspaper.

 It is done with oils using mainly a palate knife on oil paper.   I still like it.

The Blue Tree: Monotype

I don' have many examples of monotype in my experience but I would like to change that.    Monotypes are made by drawing on glass in acrylics (or your preferred medium) and then pressing a paper on top of it to make a print.   You can draw with a tool of any kind, or you can wipe away paint with a rag to get the effect you want.  

This little piece was bought by a couple of friends, Philippe and Jacqueline, and now hangs in their guest bedroom.   I visit it sometimes.