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When I went on safari in Kenya last year I took two luxury sketchbooks with me and filled them up! 
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 All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small. - this artist loves them all! Whenever I’m asked "So what kind of art is it that you do" I always say “Beautiful oil paintings inspired by nature”. That has been my raison d'être since becoming an artist. I’ve been going to the new Forest show every year since I was a child. I’ve been exhibiting there as a trader for the past three years and this show never fails to disappoint. So if you’ve never been before, or if you haven’t been for a little while; here in my top 10 reasons why the New Forest show in Brokenhurst in the heart of the new forest is the place to be on the 24th 25th and 26 July.  At the weekend I had the great pleasure of delivering two beautiful paintings to a beautiful home. It was the end of the commission process and I drove away feeling absolutely delighted with a job well done. The story began a few months ago when my client spotted a painting in an exhibition at Waterstones. She went home and happily told her husband secretly hoping that perhaps he might invest in an original painting for her birthday. Little did she know that her husband also went to Waterstones, checked out the painting that she liked and made a decision to commission me for a bespoke piece. The next stage of the process was him visiting my studio. He came armed with various photographs of his beautiful White Park cattle. I can't tell you how I felt when I saw those photos; they are such picturesque animals. Blue black ears and noses juxtaposed with their creamy white faces make them an incredible subject matter to paint. The next stage was very exciting as I arranged to visit the farm meet the cows themselves! I was shown in to the pen with the bull by the herdsman. My heart lept into my throat when he informed me "If I say run, run. I'm not mucking about"! The bull was actually very placid and calm and not bothered at all by me crawling around on the ground trying to get photos every conceivable angle. However I'm reliably informed that the calm bulls are the ones you have to watch out for, but that day was my lucky day and I escaped completely unharmed! Next was selecting the most picturesque of the cows. I focused on three or four in particular. The cows were so friendly and curious whilst I was photographing one, another would rest her nose on my shoulder, while a third decided to lick my arm. It didn't bother me at all these are beautiful friendly beasts and besides if you're going to paint animals this is an occupational hazard!
The next stage is quite formal where I draw up a commission agreement. This is really important for both artist and client as it makes sure that absolutely everyone involved knows what's happening. The price quoted is the price paid no hidden extras here. Everything is agreed from the reference photographs to be used, the size of the painting, the frames, the canvas, and the style. I began with a couple of really rough sketches, sometimes I like to do the sketches in situ in front of the animals. My rough sketches aren't clear enough to act as a true reference but they capture the character of the animal. I enjoyed the stage very much indeed.  The next stage is marking out the underpainting on my beautiful linen canvases. This is very formal and painstaking you have to get it right. With any commission piece I am no longer trying to capture the essence of a breed, I am capturing the beauty of a specific animal. After this it's a question of balancing style with accuracy. I wanted a glint in the eye, and a beautiful shiny black nose but also to incorporate my characteristic colours. Though on these pieces the colours on not quite as strong as usual as the black-and-white had to be the main focus. Once completed the paintings were framed and then delivered to a happy client. I absolutely love these two, they were a joy to paint.  Wenlock. White Park. ©Louise Luton  Jumper. White Park. ©Louise Luton  Painting in my studio; the best bit of the job! A friend of mine has just posted on Facebook that they "have their accountant's hat on" doing their books for the year and she feels like her head is about to explode! Doing the books is probably my least favourite job each month, but at least it means that my accounts are up to date and my tax return will be sent jolly soon, rather than waiting 'til the last minute! It's true. I'd rather be painting. I think sometimes, when I proudly tell people I'm an artist, they have grand romantic schemes that artists sit around in cafes, drinking wine, and discussing philosophy, politics and art all day. Then suddenly the muse will strike and they will head back to the leaky garrett and create the next masterpiece ready for the salon to judge in the next season! Perhaps the modern English reality isn't that artists are sitting about in those cafes all day, but I'm still fairly convinced that lots of my friends think my life consists of getting up late, faffing about all day, taking the dog for a walk in the evening, seeing a beautiful sunset and heading back to the studio and magically painting it. The reality simply isn't the same. And I'm not complaining one bit. My artistic life is wonderful and I thoroughly enjoy it but it's definitely hard work. There is a big difference between sauntering along a country lane considering the beauty of the sky whilst the dog sniffs around in the hedge, Compared to lugging your easel and painting equipment about, then setting up for a day of en plein air painting. Concentration is required to really analyse the landscape around you. Sketch after sketch, considering light, colour and composition. The sketches produced on those en plein air days will help you in the studio the next day, the next week or even next year. Most recently I've completed a commission for a couple of beautiful white park cattle (I'll blog about that in more detail next week). The starting point for the commission was visiting the farm to see the cows in all their glory and getting some reference photos and sketches. I don't mind admitting that I came home covered in mud....only it wasn't just mud. I'll leave that there I think.  My stand at last week's Reading Contemporary Art fair A couple of weeks ago I was blogging about art fairs. Whilst they have, thus far, been very successful for me this year, they are hard graft. Loading, unloading, standing up for three days selling your wares, doesn't fit into the romantic/starving artist myth. But hey, a girl's gotta eat and if I paint it, I have to sell it too. The business of running a business is interesting, varied and exciting.
It definitely doesn't involve swanning about in a Parisienne cafe...more's the pity! In fact, I'm just about to log in to a webinar about effective online marketing...it'll probably tell me to write to blog! 'Over the next 12 days, each day, my FB page will be celebrating this year's art, with the theme of the 12 Days of Christmas. But as a reader of my blog you get to have everyday's delicious artistic morsel in one go! I think I'm going to do this every year from now on. It's been great fun putting it all together. Merry Christmas x On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me A partridge on some green tweed.  On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed.  On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed.  On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed.  On the Sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Eight toots-a-fruiting Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Nine birds a fluttering Eight toots-a-fruiting Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Ten flowers flowering Nine birds-a-fluttering Eight toots-a-fruiting Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me Eleven lords-a-leaping (acutally 25 Barons standing still but you get the idea) Ten flowers flowering Nine birds-a-fluttering Eight toots-a-fruiting Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Twelve stones still standing (way more than 12 still stand!) Eleven lords-a-leaping (acutally 25 Barons standing still but you get the idea) Ten flowers flowering Nine birds-a-fluttering Eight toots-a-fruiting Seven Deer-a-doeing Six fields-a-fielding Five Highland cows Four flying things Three French hens Two little ducklings And a partridge on some green tweed  It's been a busy start to the Summer season in my art studio. After such a roaring success at Reading Contemporary art fair back in April I've been busy creating new works for the Summer round of fairs and exhibitions. There are plenty of ways to see and buy my work this Summer. Firstly there's the fabulous Open exhibition currently at Salisbury library, mounted by Plain Arts Salisbury. I have two locally inspired landscapes in there of Stonehenge and the Cathedral. It's such a varied exhibition, that's there's something for everyone. The marvellous thing about open exhibitions are how eclectic they are, they are great places to visit with friends and family as you debate the merits of a variety of work. Our Open exhibition isn't a competition, so it's not about agreeing or disagreeing with judges decisions, but with such a variety it's always interesting to discover why something ends up being your favourite.   This Summer also sees a departure for me, in terms of the types of shows. The New Forest Show 26-28 July will be my first horticultural fair. I've been every year for as long as I can remember, but I've not been an exhibitor. There are always a some really super stands at the NFS, and a huge variety in the Craft marquees. This year, I'm in Craft Marquee A, on stand number 3. Preparations have been full speed ahead, as Dad helped construct my stand structure and Mum is busy making rustic bunting! It's going a to a lovely stand. I’m going to be exhibiting my popular Countryside companions collection. There'll be some super eye catching large works, on natural linen, beautifully framed. Also they'll be some limited edition prints, cute cushions and some small canvases too. Do come along and see me if you're at the show. The Craft marquees are on the West hand side of the show ground, by the Village green.  Throughout August I will be exhibiting some of my landscapes in Boston Tea Party in Salisbury. A great chance to see locally inspired landscapes and seascapes, and have a refreshing cuppa while you’re there.  Hot on the heels of the New Forest show and Boston Tea party is BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim palace 4-7th August. The inaugural event promises to be nothing short of spectacular. I will be in the Craft heroes marquee this time. Hero? Why yes, I’m going to be demonstrating oil painting techniques. I’ll be creating more countryside companions and beautiful landscapes during the four day show to add to my collection. All works will be for sale, though you might have to wait a bit while they dry! I have a couple of complimentary tickets left, so please email me if you’d like them. First come first served.
In August I’ll be heading up some more fantastic workshops at Salisbury Museum. On 16th August is Salisbury museum’s discovery day, where you can come and explore the Cathedral collections and join some arty workshops while you are there. For all ages. I’m also doing some workshops at Salisbury Cathedral, which are sold out, however there are some more coming up in the Autumn, and I’m taking bookings for Tuesday 1st November So plenty to keep you going through the Summer, and if you make it to any of the events listed, please pop by to say Hello, I’d love to see you there.   Image may be subject to copyright. The art of perfection or how to develop the skills that pay the bills! In David Bayles and Ted Orland’s book “Art and fear” they cite a project of a ceramicist teacher. In the project the teacher split the class into two groups one group was told that they would be graded entirely on the quantity of pots that they produced - produce as many as you can, they whole elite will be weighted at the end of the project. The other half of the class was told that they would be graded entirely on quality. It did not matter how many pots they produced during the process, they simply had to arrive with one perfect pot at the end of the project. The results were astounding as, without exception, the students that produced the most pots, also produced the best pot. It would seem that the students in the quantity group were rapidly producing pots, failing, and learning from their mistakes, whereas the quality group was slaving over design and working out perfection without experimentation. And without feeling what failure felt like and recovering from it. I think this experiment is so important to understand when try trying to develop your skills as a professional artist. You're not simply looking for one piece of perfection when you're creating art you have to go on a journey before that piece of perfection happens. Anyone that is put off creating art because it won't be perfect is doomed to failure and never to pick up a brush again! Those of us who are prepared to fail, those of us who are prepared to throw the campus in the bin and start all over again, those of us who are prepared to keep trying are on the road to success because eventually something good will come. One cannot possibly sit down at the piano for the first time, having read every book on classical music, and expect to play Rachmaninov’s piano concerto Number 2 straight off. You've got to play a lot of bum notes before you're going to play that concerto!  ©louiseluton Three cherries www.louiselutonart.com So how do we experiment successfully? Is there such a thing as successful failure? Looking at my own practice I think without doubt the “quantity/ quality “ experiment is evident in my work. At the beginning of the year I started daily painting. I need to be clear here I'm not necessarily painting every single day, but every working day. everyday, I sat in my studio in Salisbury, on dark January days, painting as if my life depended on it. I think this has hugely enhanced my practice. I began the year by painting little still life paintings of fruit. This might seem an odd choice as all of my larger paintings are landscapes or big colourful animals. So what possible relevance could it be to paint some dramatically lit cherries on a small canvas? The benefit was in the doing: learning how to set things up, learning how to create interesting composition with very simple elements, learning to mix colour accurately, learning to see colour on a plain white tablecloth where others might have simply painted it white and grey. There are so many skills involved in painting a small painting that this has helped inform my larger, more ambitious work. This whole process has enabled me to understand my medium in even greater depth; oil paint is, in my view, a fathomless medium so understanding it is a lifelong task. I am delighted with the work that I have been producing of late, and you might have seen some of my work on my Facebook page or on Instagram or on Twitter. But rest assured there are plenty of experiments, accidents, and a huge number of mistakes that have led to the work that I am now able to produce and publish on the Internet. So I urge you next time you look at a piece of art don't think about how long it took, think about how many failures there were before it worked. This might encourage you to buy it or it might encourage you to get your paint brush out, either way, you’ll be on a journey to understand the skills that pay the bills.  ©louiseluton Ram. Oil on linen www.louiselutonart.com This week's blog post is a little sneak preview of the press release for BBC Countryfile. This will be live on the Countryfile website from the 1st June! _  The view from Louise Luton's Art studio. Louise Luton and the art of capturing natural beauty at BBC Countryfile Live Louise Luton’s Salisbury art studio looks out over the valley across to Old Sarum. It’s easy to see why any artist would live where she lives. Surrounded by fields, livestock and constantly changing skies; Louise is inspired by nature. She will be demonstrating her oil painting techniques at Countryfile live and giving visitors an insight into her inspiration, and how she creates such stunning oil paintings. “It all starts with drawing, but unsurprisingly animals rarely pose for me just because I have my sketchbook out! So I have to take reference photos too. David Hockney once described drawing to be like chess, “your mind races ahead to the moves you eventually make” I agree with him, when I make gestural, quick sketches I can already get a feel for the painting I might be able to produce once I’m back in the studio. The quick sketches rarely carry enough information on their own, but if I were to rely entirely on photos I’d miss the character of an animal. It’s the same for landscapes - a painting should give you the feel of a place, not simply what it looks like”.  My oil paintings begin very traditionally,starting with very thin layers of blue and umber at first. I make sure the landscape, or face of the animal is composed perfectly before continuing any further. Once I’m happy, then the fun begins and I can incorporate broader brushes stokes, surprising colour and splashes and splatters. This is the character of the painting - I love it! Louise frequently exhibits in and around Salisbury and sells at National Art fairs, but BBC Countryfile Live provides a rare opportunity to see Louise at work. “I’ll be bringing some blank canvases and unfinished pieces to work on. Oil painting takes multiple layers, so as soon as the underpainting is completed on one piece, I’ll set it to one side and move onto the next layer on another piece. Visitors to my stand will see work at various stages in addition to the finished pieces on display and for sale. The whole stand will be quite a dynamic place, changing throughout the event. I’ll have my sketchbooks with me too. Most people are fascinated by artist’s sketchbooks as they are a real insight into how we go from a starting idea to finished painting. I love my sketchbooks - I’d never part with them! I’ll be happy to help people get started with sketching while they’re at Countryfile live.
Louise Luton, was born in Salisbury in 1971. She graduated from Digby Stuart (London) in 1992 with an honours degree in Fine art. She has been an artist and teacher for over 20 years, and after living and working in London, Exeter and Bournemouth, returned to her hometown of Salisbury in 2009. Louise was commissioned to produce a public art piece as part of the 800th anniversary Magna Carta Celebrations Louise Looks forward to seeing you at Blenheim palace for BBC Countryfile Live. She is in the Craft Heroes marquee on Stand 28  |
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February 2023
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