Category: Uncategorized

The last rose

Published on by The Starry-eyed Mermaid1 Comment

~there is beauty in death

I remember seeing an old episode of ‘Tales of the Unexpected’. It is a British show based on the stories of Roald Dahl. The show ran between 1979 and 1988. This particular episode, ‘The Sound Machine’, is set in a sunny suburban summer before the Second World War. Mr. Klausner develops a box which amplifies the tiniest sound. It records the screams of flowers as they are being cut. I was 11 years old and very disturbed by the idea of plants feeling pain! This memory stayed with me. I am now 55 and always feel sad when I see flowers in a vase. Although they are beautiful, I am much happier to see them in the garden.

I wrote this poem as I was gazing at a vase of roses on my living room table. The blooms had wilted and there were petals on the table, shriveled and pitiful. A saddening sight.


Rose

How proud was this rose. Its deep
pink petals were velvety and rich.
My hand brushed over a swathe of
suitors hurling bouquets at my door.

The gerberas, all sunshine yellow, resonate
with optimistic women; yoga mats and chai lattes.
They cling to life, fronds of petals falling.
The table littered with near death.

Now the rose shatters, though my
gentle hands cup its parch-dry petals.
As though love can bring back the broken,
like Jesus and the old bones of Lazarus.

The deep pink has faded to the lips of a
dying woman. She waters the garden
every evening, yet still the flowers
shut their eyes.

©2022 Sarah Drury














Painting of two violet flowers using acrylic paints and a palette knife

Poppies and violets & the thrill of a palette knife

Published on by The Starry-eyed MermaidLeave a comment

Violets & Poppies!! Who doesn’t love the vibrant reds and mystical purples of these majestic flowers? These small floral canvases were my very first attempts at working with a palette knife & acrylic paints. Let me explain a little about the symbolism of violets & poppies, and how I created the artworks.

Violets

Violets are linked to mystic awareness, meditation and spirituality. Their symbolism reflects the Virgin Mary’s humble and modest qualities. Victorians included these blooms in bouquets, to convey faithfulness and everlasting love.

Creating ‘Violets’

Painting of two violet flowers using acrylic paints and a palette knife

Violets, 2019, Starry-eyed Mermaid, acrylics on box canvas, 15x15cm

Creating ‘Violets‘ involved a loose and liberal paint technique. Yellows and blues were swirled into a rough background layer of white paint, using the palette knife to create texture. The blues and violets were applied in single strokes, scraping the palette knife into the canvas. The paint was teased and blended into an impressionistic floral. Once the paint had dried, I added scrapes of gold.

Poppies

Poppies have been used as a symbol of sleep, as the opium extracted from the flower is a sedative. The blood-red bloom has been a symbol of remembrance of war for over a hundred years. It also embodies the wish for hope and peace in the aftermath of the First World War. John McCrae was a Lieutenant Colonel during the First World War. He wrote ‘Flanders Fields’. It is read at the Remembrance Ceremony every year. Here is the poem and its backstory.

Creating ‘Two Poppies‘

acrylic art of two poppies

Two Poppies, 2019, Starry-eyed Mermaid, acrylics on box canvas, 15x15cm

Creating ‘Two Poppies‘ involved a slightly different painting process. A small palette knife was used on the white background to create a subtle texture. It was left until the background was completely dry. I then used the palettes knife to create each petal, in a single, broad swish of scarlet acrylic. The movement is butter lavished on a slice of bread! The secret is to load the knife with the correct amount of paint. Too little will create a sparse effect, too much will be difficult to work with. When the scarlet had dried, glints of gold added a hint of regality. The stems were trails of green paint using the side of the palette knife.

Over to you…

What is your preferred painting medium? Have you got any techniques you enjoy? Have YOU created any palette knife art?

Would love to hear your ideas and inspirations. Have a great day! Hope it’s full of paint, mess and artistic abandon!

Capturing Ballet: Continuous Line Art and Watercolour Techniques

Published on by The Starry-eyed Mermaid2 Comments

Several years ago I created a series of artworks depicting male & female ballet dancers in motion.

I used a simple sketch, in a continuous line, then added a loose watercolour wash.

Here’s the artwork on my YouTube channel, ‘The Arty Poet on Prozac.

Remember 70s National Health Specs???

Published on by The Starry-eyed MermaidLeave a comment

Can you remember the National Health specs of the Seventies? The ones the council estate kids had to wear? They were blue or pink translucent plastic affairs!! My sister had a blue pair.

Children weren’t so fashion conscious back then. We weren’t defined by the clothes we wore. Social media wasn’t a thing. We were out on the streets most of the time, not caring how we looked!

Creating Habanera: A Journey of Colour and Chaos

Published on by The Starry-eyed MermaidLeave a comment

I had such a fabulous time creating this spunky artwork – Habanera – inspired by the opera Carmen. Lashings and lashings of acrylics were smoothed and teased over a 40″ x 30″ stretched canvas, using a palette knife. The red paint was particularly wonderful: thick, buttery, vibrant, unapologetic! Worthy of Carmen, herself!

There is a twist to this story. I brought the canvas back from the studio space. I carelessly abandoned it propped up against the bookcase in the living room. A few nights went by and I hadn’t bothered to move it. BIG MISTAKE!!! My autistic teen, known for Jurassic-level meltdowns, felt triggered. His arm reacted by hurling a heavy mug STRRAAAIIGGHHHTTTT through the canvas!!! OMG!! I have never felt pain like that in my adult life!! Ooops!! *Insert expletives! Hee hee!

All came good, in the end. I managed to carefully cut the canvas fabric from the frame. It had split into two halves, which made the most wonderful diptych! I had the two sections mounted onto backboards, and framed, so they hung level. They looked even better than the original canvas (in its entirety).

A local lady fell in love with the diptych, and hangs pride of place in her home! I was sad to part with it, to be honest, but to know someone else is loving it as much as I did, is reward enough!

©2024 Sarah Drury, Habanera, acrylics on canvas, 40″ x 30″.