Unveiling

This is my daily 20- minute painting for today. I both like the light in it and am disappointed with the light in it. I hadn’t v really thought through how to approach this painting; got part-way and then decided to do it differently, but by that stage I was down to 11 minutes. StillContinue reading “Unveiling”

20 minute paintings

If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’ve been taking part in a January “20 in 26” painting challenge. The challenge is that I have to paint for at least 20 minutes each day for 26 days.    I can work on individual paintings or a single painting in 20 minute intervals. I’m atContinue reading “20 minute paintings”

20 minute paintings – letting go of perfection

Throughout January I am taking part in the Pastel Society of Ireland’s #20in26 challenge. Essentially this amounts to doing one 20 minute pastel painting per day for 26 days in January (you can also work on a painting in 20 minute chunks at a time,  posting your work at the end of each stage). MyContinue reading “20 minute paintings – letting go of perfection”

High Latitudes- painting the Arctic

I THINK I finished another painting last night.  I’ll keep it on the easel for a day or two.But that just leaves 1 final painting that I’m planning for this collection of paintings of Svalbard. That makes me just a little bit sad, but also really pretty excited.  My studio is small and so,  whilstContinue reading “High Latitudes- painting the Arctic”

How do you make water wet?

Just a short post. I took a break from painting Arctic scenes to do this recent painting of kayaking into the sunset. I was drawn by the light through the clouds and the low perspective on the waves. And I wanted to conjure up what it feels like to be in that kayak; to feelContinue reading “How do you make water wet?”

“High Latitudes” (II) – painting the Arctic

My last post was a few months ago and I talked about my excitement at collaborating with fellow Northern Irish artist @SusiemooArt on an exhibition of paintings inspired by our respective travels in Svalbard in the High Arctic. The exhibition will run from January to March 2025 in the North Down Museum in Bangor, CountyContinue reading ““High Latitudes” (II) – painting the Arctic”

“High Latitudes” – Painting the Arctic

I’ve previously written about traveling in Svalbard in the High Arctic – an archipelago about halfway between the Northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. You can read about my trip here https://juliewilsonart.com/blog/ at “Arctic Dreaming”. I had wanted to visit the Arctic for a long time drawn by childhood adventure books and talesContinue reading ““High Latitudes” – Painting the Arctic”

Keepers of the lights

For the past year in between other projects I’ve been working on a series of paintings of lighthouses in Northern Ireland. I finished the collection about a month ago and today the final painting has just been framed. I haven’t seen any 4 of the framed paintings together yet, and i really look forward toContinue reading “Keepers of the lights”

Relearning how to paint: ‘High Arctic’

If you follow my blog or my Instagram account you’ll have seen that I recently visited Svalbard. I’m currently working on a collection of (non-Arctic) lighthouse paintings, but I have high hopes to spend the winter holed up in my attic working on a collection of large paintings of the stunning Svalbard landscape. But aContinue reading “Relearning how to paint: ‘High Arctic’”

Arctic dreaming

In May this year I finally got to fulfil a long-held dream and visited Svalbard at the top of the world.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Svalbard is an archipelago in the High Arctic, about 400 miles North of Norway, half-way to the North Pole. The whole archipelago covers an areaContinue reading “Arctic dreaming”