Surprised? If you have been following my postings each day during the 30 in 30 challenge this month, then you may have been expecting more fruit today. The truth is, as much as I was enjoying working from observation, the still-life was just feeling too … still!

Often in my larger paintings, there are areas that I define/refine more (realism) and areas that I have fun just playing abstractly – in the case of a flower painting, that may be the background. So far during this challenge, it seems I’ve been giving in totally to one impulse in each painting, instead of a yin-yang combination.

With realism, the more you look, the more you see, and it is easy to get carried away on a wave of perfectionism. So, I wanted to take a break and paint something fun, something with more LIFE … and although the inspiration for this painting was another still-life object, my approach has been to imply more movement.

The object that I’m using as inspiration is a mask with peacock feathers. I bought it in Leeds, England in 2001 and it has just been hanging in my studio for years, waiting till I got around to use it as a prop. There is just something about a peacock theme that I love, maybe it is because there is so much blue and green and those are colours I use a lot in my painting. Maybe it’s because turquoise has always been my favourite colour.

It could also be because of the patterning, one of my favourite art movements is Art Nouveau – decorative and romantic, the goal was to bring beauty into our everyday lives. That’s an ideal I can get behind.

Embracing and inviting love and joy into our living and working environments does not mean a rejection – or ostrich-like attitude – of the ugly truths that also exist in all our lives. It is a conscious choice to counter-balance those truths.

One way for you to share more beauty with the world, would be to share my Facebook page! Thank you to those of you who have recently started following, commenting and liking. As my work does vary, the more people who get to see it means the faster each painting will connect with someone who just has to have it in their life. And of course, that means I can continue creating more art.

So, I really appreciate all of you who not only follow to see what I might paint next, but also tell your friends about my art!