Jenny Bleackley
Florida Flowers I
“This is the first of a series of Florida Flowers, watercolour on canvas using tissue paper to help the colour adhere. When visiting Florida we stay in a very lush neighbourhood of St. Petersburg and walking down the cobbled streets lined with oak trees and an abundance of beautiful flowers, I think of it as the Garden of Eden. This was the inspiration for my series. I hope it evokes the feelings of passion and love along with the beauty of such bright colours.”
Media: Mixed Media
Florida Flowers II
“The Florida Flower series goes up to five at present, with more in the pipeline. This is watercolour on canvas with tissue paper forming lines and bleeding a great deal - creating its own impressionistic-style of painting. This is typical of the Old Northeast area of St. Petersburg, Florida, where flowers tumble over walls and fences, reaching out to passersby and tickling the senses with colour and their gorgeous scent.”
Media: Mixed Media
NYC
“Looking through a window with rain falling on it, to the New York streets below and the tall buildings either side, I wanted to depict the distorted watery picture I was seeing and all the gorgeous different colours. I got this far and decided to stop. Artists often find it very difficult to end a painting and this was a hard decision but as I really didn’t know how to progress it further I made it easy on myself by stopping! I love the loose watercolour effect. I hope this shows a romantic, warmer and softer view of a hard, hyperactive, bustling city.”
Media: Watercolour
1900s Parisian Café
“I love the atmosphere of the Parisian Cafés and wanted to paint one in the 1900’s. They were places for literati, philosophers and the artistic to meet and share ideas. The guy lighting his cigarette under the lamplight is a mysterious ‘flâneur’ type figure. This painting was done on white watercolour paper, using two watercolours: permanent magenta and pthalo blue - first I created the black background by glazing these colours alternating them. Once the page was black enough I washed out my shapes, creating the pink and bluish accents, finally adding permanent white.”
Media: Watercolour