I have been updating our websites and facebook today, trying to catch up a little. I have packed Divas portrait ready to be posted and it will be on its way to its owner in Germany soon. I took photos of the process while packing and have added the photos to facebook. Click the image below to visit our page, don’t forget to ‘like’ us if you haven’t already!

I also added Diva onto our dog portraits website, where you can view a scan, detail, the progress photos, the reference photos and a lovely testimonial from our client too : )  Lots of people have commented on Diva which is wonderful and I really hope the recipient loves it too. Diva’s Page >>

I have also added photos of Mike and Margaret with Nick when they came to collect the portrait of Sally and Phoebe. I have been meaning to add them to the testimonials feedback section for ages and they are finally there now : )  Sally and Phoebe >>

This week for me is a very much an organising week. I am arranging everything in the studio getting ready for the Christmas portrait, I have ordered a bundled of lovely canvases which should arrive soon  and one of my next jobs is to design some new promo material, xmas cards and gift voucher cards…so that’s going to keep me busy over the next day or so! Hope you are having a good day too!

Photos of Diva's portrait being packed on Facebook

We are now back from the London Art College AGM meeting and our short trip to visit family in Cornwall. It was lovely to be in Cornwall even though it was only one day pretty much, it was good to have a break. The meeting went well, I did a presentation of new software I have been starting to roll out for the college and it all went well. Here are a couple of photos.  The one of Nick is quite funny, the clock says nearly 12.30 and I think he looks as though hes going to be first out the door for lunch!

We have a lot to catch up on here in the studio so it will take a couple of days to get organised. The portrait of Sparky has been framed so we will collect that tomorrow and I will take photos and post it asap.

London Art College Meeting 2011

London Art College Meeting 2011

Here is Diva! This has turned out beautifully and I’m thrilled with how Nick has painted Diva, love the flowers in the grass too. I will be adding it to the website gallery when we get back to work next week. I hope you all like it too!

Diva in oils on linen canvas 12 x 10 by Nick Beall

Nick has been busy this passed week painting Diva and its completed sitting on his easel drying. I have been a little busy so am a bit behind updating the blog so here are all of the stages together. I will scan the portrait tomorrow and blog it for all to see : )

I have been really busy this week. We have the London Art College AGM in Bristol coming up and so I have been preparing for the meeting. I run the online side of things for the college and have been setting up a new teaching system for the tutors to use. I have been testing it out over the last few weeks with my own students and have had wonderful feedback from them. They love it and its working beautifully. My task this week has been to do a few screen captures as a ‘how to’ guide and print them for the tutors to give at the meeting and also create a video presentation using Camtasia, showing the software and how to use it, which I can play at the meeting too. I think I have everything ready so its all systems go. My parents are taking some time out and coming to stay with Tom and looking after the chickens. I hope that they will enjoy their little break in the cottage. We are also taking the opportunity for a flying visit to Nicks parents in Cornwall just for a day as we haven’t been down there for so long. So it will be great to catch up with everyone. We will be back next week and I will start to blog the portrait of the lady and her three dogs you can see in the client list on the left.

I will blog the final scan of Diva tomorrow so I will be back soon!

Diva painted 12 x 10 in oils by Nick

Diva painted 12 x 10 in oils by Nick

Diva painted 12 x 10 in oils by Nick

Diva painted 12 x 10 in oils by Nick

Diva painted 12 x 10 in oils by Nick

Here is the final scan of Sparky! This is a very special commission for me as it is for a lovely freind of mine who I havent seen in almost 20 years. We use to go to school together and the commission came out of the blue from her other half  as a surprise gift – funnily enough called Nick too. I am really hoping they and Sparky, will be able to come and collect the portrait as it will be wonderful to meet after all these years. Angela has been so patient waiting for her portrait, as I have taken far longer than I should, but I hope that she is thrilled with the outcome.

Nick and I have been working this morning but we are taking the afternoon out to sit by the fire and relax and cook something nice too. Its rainy and blustery outside, autumn is blowing the leaves around the garden so its a good afternoon to stay in doors by the fire. I hope you enjoy your Saturday too! I will blog the stages of Nicks portrait of Diva tomorrow : )

The Final Scan of Sparky - by Melanie

Here are the next stages of Sparky, I have been working on the portrait over the last couple of days and Nick took a photo of me on the final stages too. I hope to have a final scan tomorrow. Our Internet is still hugely slow, cant do very much online at the moment so we are really hoping it gets fixed within the 10 days that they promised. We even bought a new adsl filter but no luck.

Nicks doing well on the portrait of Diva and I will add all of those stages at the weekend : )

Sparky and Melanie!

Sparky in oils

Here are Sparky’s first to mid stages! I have been painting fairly non stop Sunday and Monday and being Tuesday today I thought I should take some time out to update the blog. We have been having Internet problems these last few days, we are crawling on dial up speed so everything is taking a lot longer to do! Its amazing how many times you think ‘oh ill look up…’ or, ‘I wonder what…’ and you reach for the computer. We are hoping its just a fleeting glitch on the line that they will fix it soon.

Nick is beavering away here too working on Diva at the moment. He has already drawn out the lady and the dogs but its just in a drying stage so Diva is coming along well. I will post his stages when i have finished Sparkey to keep everything together. Nick took Sunday off working outside all day as it was a beautiful day here, getting the woodshed ready for the winter and cutting kindling up from some pallets we have been given. He also did a great job tidying up the shed to fit the garden furniture in. The leaves are falling off the trees and it looks very autumnal here so we are making sure everything is under cover for winter.

I will post more photos of Sparky tomorrow, ill try to get Nick to take one of me painting. Not so easy to take a photo yourself while painting….!

Sparky 20 x 16 Oils on Linen by Melanie Phillips

Sparky 20 x 16 Oils on Linen by Melanie Phillips

Sparky 20 x 16 Oils on Linen by Melanie Phillips

We have had a lovely morning this morning as our clients visited the studio to collect their painting of Sally and Phoebe. They planned a trip to Wales for a few days enabling them to have a short break and visit us at the same time. They were thrilled with the painting and I was able to take some photos of Nick with Mike and Margaret along with the portrait as you can see below. A successful portrait with happy clients - perfect!

I have been doing a bt of admin in the studio this afternoon and im not off to relax for the evening and will be back working tomorrow. Will definitely post Sparkys photos tomorrow I will be working on him all day : )

Mike, Margaret, the painting of Sally and Phoebe and Nick in the studio

I have scanned Nicks latest painting today and also taken a photo of it in the studio too and added to the website so its all been go around here today. Our cleints are visiting tomorrow at 11am to collect the portrait so its all ready and waiting. They will be having it framed locally to them so we are looking forward to seeing a final photo when its on the wall in their home.

I have had some time to paint on Sparky’s portrait too, I’m taking photos as I go and I will try to post them all tomorrow. We are working this weekend, Nicks next portrait is rather a complicated one and he will probably be working on a couple of portraits at a time as it will need some drying times in between so I will post his next portraits on Monday. The weather is not so nice here now, its pretty autumnal and we are having the fire alight a fair bit now. Its warming up the cottage well as it takes a while for the heat to warm up the thick stones. I hope that you all have a lovely weekend : )

Final scan of Sally and Phoebe with detail.

Final scan of Sally and Phoebe with detail.

Sally and Phoebe in the studio

We have had a lovely morning with a client visiting the studio to arrange a painting of their sadly passed dogs Zarah Grace and Kali for a surprise birthday present. You can see the mockup in the left hand navigation below. Nick took some candid shots of myself and the client looking at the photos in the studio. Tom was in a few of them, but he was a blur on the camera as he was so excited to see someone here! Cake was good too! off now to catch up on some cleitn emails and mockups : )

Melanie and Pat in the studio discussing the photos for a portrait