31 March 2009

AAArgh! Mucho administrationisimo.
So much office work at the end of a financial year.
Plus printing and packing orders [no complaints here].
Plus work on websites.
Plus frames and preparation for exhibitions and hanging pictures etc.
Still....mustn't grumble.
The picture is of my spot in a group exhibition down the road in my local pub.
The group are Fiveways Artists, as part of the upcoming Brighton Festival in May 'Artists Open Houses', and the theme of the show is Venice.

28 March 2009 Eden's logo

Our eldest grandaughter is Eden Charlotte Kennett Ruffell. And here is her first contribution to this blog. The painting is a digital work completed on a Wacom tablet.

25 March 2009

I actually spent all day in London presiding over the Guild Court and AGM. So no painting.
But here is a glimpse into 'work in progress'.
This unfinished painting is the fifth one in my Croydon series. The view is along North End which is now a pedestrianised bustling shoppers paradise. When I was a teenager this was so different ........ etc [yawn- as old codger remembers his past].

24 March2009

Another half finished painting of the middle of Croydon. The old Alms Houses on the left contrast rather well with the 'Threepenny Bit' skyscraper down the road at East Croydon station. Watch out! That tram is coming this way.

23 March 2009

Been working on the distant view of Croydon after a bit of research on the radio masts on the far horizon. The left hand mast is the Croydon mast and the wider, further and taller mast is Crystal Palace mast.
This view from Purley Way really shows how Croydon has bloomed and grown during the years since I lived here. In the centre is the Town Hall tower which used to be SO big when I was a lad. Now it is dwarfed by the office blocks around it. The 'threepenny bit' tower is on the far right.

22 March 2009

Surrey Street market has not changed much since I was a kid. I remember a long gone Sarsparilla stall selling drinks, and a man selling plaster wall hangings of dogs faces or swiss chalets. I used to go to Surrey St to gather food scraps to feed our chickens every Saturday.
The painting as shown here is unfinished.

21 March 2009

Another unfinished painting in the Croydon series. The Town Hall dominated the Croydon skyline for a long time, but it is now surrounded by very undistinguished office blocks. This bus goes to Bromley, where I was born.

20 March 2009

This is unfinished. I am working on a set of five paintings of Croydon to show in an upcoming exhibition called; "Colin Ruffell in London, New York, and Croydon".
This view is from the Purley Way playing fields looking towards the town centre.
Painting size 12"x16", acrylic on canvas.

19 March 2009

Here is the 'plein air' painting after a little more studio work.
'Plein air' painting means that it was painted outside in the open air.
Some people say that plein air painting should have no more than 10% studio tweaks.
But how do you measure 10%? Time spent maybe, or paint used, or what?

18 March 2009 Plein Air

Ah-ha! You thought that I didn't really do this. But here is the evidence.
It was another lovely early spring day, with bright sunshine and a chilly wind.
Here is my set up for painting sitting under the tailgate of my car.
But my fingers froze, and I will have to finish the piece off in the studio.

17 March 2009

Enough flowers for now.
Yesterday Shyama and I visited another fine art publishing house in London.
I took some photographs that will provide reference material for the upcoming exhibition in Croydon.

16 March 2009

Another floral painting in the new series...hooray the publisher loves 'em!

15 March 2009

Here is another new floral painting. Part of a commissioned portfolio for a major international publisher.

14 March 2009

Here is another abstracted floral painting for a 'special' publishing market.
The colours are more muted than my usual pallette. The discipline is very welcome.
I am learning every day.

13 March 2009

We made a tiring day trip to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea London where our daughter Shyama was showing her work on the Fourwalls stand.
Here she is in full exhibitor mode. The poppy painting on the floor is one of hers.
And here is one of her paintings. Click on the image to see her website.


The fair was heaving with buyers, lookers, and collectors, with very little evidence of any so called credit crisis. A great place to do a bit of networking with a variety of friends in the art industry.

12 March 2009

This morning I saw view this while drinking a cup of tea in bed. It was in fact an illusion that came from a reflection in the glass of our bedroom door. But it looked like a remebered view across water to distant mountains. The big mountain on the left is actually my knee under the bedclothes.
To see details about this and other original paintings available for sale click here.
Todays painting will make a nice little limited edition print for our portfolio of painting a day publications. The prints are limited to 25 in total. This one will be 5" x 7".
Click here to see more prints.

11 March 2009

This new 50cm x 60cm painting on paper is a welcome change after the last few days painting buses and windmills. A studio piece based on some of the flowers that Fran got for her birthday last Saturday.
It is another 'special', so again its not available on our website. Sorry!
It is a tough life, having to fulfill these commissions for the international publishing market.
But someone has to do it.

10 March 2009

Here it is again, only this time I have finished it!
Just a few tweaks here and there.
The bus looks uncomfortably close to the windmill, but that is the way it was at the photo-shoot.
They had put the brakes on the sails and locked down the mill to make sure that it was safe.
This is another 'special' painting which will not be available on www.crabfish.com

9 March 2009

Here is a little picture of Big Ben. This is one of a set of four London sketches ordered at the Spring Fair last month. They will be not be available on our website. Sorry.

8 March 2009 John and Jill

The bus is called John Constable after the great English landscape artist, and the windmill is called Jill. This painting is still not finally finished, but I wanted to show the progress for my friend Alan in Cornwall who is a big fan of my bus paintings.

7 March 2009

It is Fran's birthday... so here is her latest painting.
It is an aubergine and an onion.
Why are aubergines called eggplants in the USA?
Check out the website page to see details, click here or on the image.

6 March 2009 The O2

The O2 stadium used to be called the Millenium Dome. It was built to house the UK exhibition celebrating the new millenium, and was abit of a flop. Nowadays it is the venue for major international stars to strut their stuff in front of huge enthusiastic audiences.
Click here to see details of the original painting.

5 March 2009

Here is another small original painting of gourmet delights from our kitchen. These little chillies are hot, especially if you include the seeds, and are best cooked with tomatoes and rich meaty suaces to give a zing to your tastebuds.
The painting is 6" square in acrylic paints on canvas.
You can check out Frans original paintings by clicking here.

4 March 2009

Fran has finished another kitchen painting. These 8" long red peppers are organic and we get them from our local Sainsbury's. They are absolutely great chopped up in a salad or stir fry. So sweet crisp and juicy. Yummy.
Click here, or on the image, to see Frans Painting a Day limited edition prints.

3 March 2009

Aaargh! It is very frustrating. The trouble with success is that it takes up too much time. We are getting orders for the originals and prints from more galleries and collectors.
Of course that is fine :-)
But we have to process every order by printing, entering, certification, recording, invoicing, packing and sending. Which means less studio time. So I have been unable to finish anything new. However, here is another picture of the Bamberisation experience on Monday. Thanks to Simon Potter from the Jack and Jill Windmill Society for this.
That is me [Colin] in the hat, and Roger Bamber kneeling on the grass.
The windmill is called Jill, and the bus is named after the artist John Constable.

2 March 2009

We were woken by an early morning call to say the weather was perfect for a long arranged photoshoot.
The culprit was well known photographer Roger Bamber [several times voted 'Photographer of the Year'].
Roger had asked Colin to paint a picture at a local beauty spot for a project that included a bus.
Here is a shot of where it all took place.
The painting will be shown when it is finished.

1 March 2009

Sunday lunch here at home with the family meant feeding nine at table.
So Fran and I didn't get any painting of our own finished.
We fed five grown ups and four of our grandchildren.
Here is an offering by the youngest completed in the afternoon.
Ava Gypsy Pavlo Ruffell age 5.
Yet another artist in the family.

28 Feb 2009 Peppers

Two sweet peppers by Fran Slade. Once again Fran has come to my rescue because I spent the day writing letters, going shopping and cooking.
Click here or on the image to see Fran's 'painting a day' prints.