Hey, ho, bloggers  Are you enjoying all those wintry mists?

And aren't there a lot of mists at the moment? Axle our dog and I went out on our doggy trek the other day and saw at least fifty misty cobwebs!! I really wished I'd had my camera with me. They were so white and beautiful. The sunlight had just begun to creep up through the fog, turning them into magical cobwebs. Axle wasn't so interested in cobwebs though. It's nose down and 'follow that smell' for Axle. And there are a lot of lovely smells in our fields here. Well, I imagine that there are: since we have a melting pot of cats around here, foxes, quite a lot of deer, and even the odd boar or two.......... 

Here's me singing you a little blues ditty. We'll call it 'Georgia On My Mind'..... if you like. I'm sure you've heard that fabulous Ray Charles version. It's really worth a listen, if you haven't yet.

Here's an update on my commissions. I don't know whether I showed you my lovely 'Born Under The Sun' lady finished. So here she is........

I finished her off by oiling her off, then varnishing her. Sounds a bit painful, but she didn't mind.......

You know her eyes follow me inexorably around the art room now. I painted her to be looking straight at the viewer, so, that's exactly what she does. It is a bit spooky though. Technically, it is due to the fact that a painting on canvas remains static, so that the angle remains the same in the subject - no matter where you, (the viewer) stands. But, it is still quite unnerving sometimes!

Anyway, on to my more recent commission: horses in a horserace. It's not finished yet, so I'm just giving you a little taster.......yum, yum. I talked last blog about bringing movement into this fact-paced horse-race. It's not an easy thing to do. With a photograph, you can tinker with the foreground and the background, and of course you can do the same with your brush. So, I have endevoured to make the background look blurred: as if those horses are roaring past! And, though I want the main subject horse to be accurate, I don't want it to look too sharply-drawn - since it, as well, is roaring past at great speed (honest!)

Horse race painting, by Laurel Moore.

I've called this oil painting 'Favourite': since this main horse (number 5) is the focus of the painting.

The detail of the muscles of a horse are something fairly new to me as a painter. So, it was a wonderful (yet sometimes frustrating)  journey for me. I hope when I've finished that I will achieve the look and feel of 'power' in the horses. Because, that is always the impression I am left with, when I meet a horse (formally ) That sense of sheer power...........

Anyway, it's a sunday here in Switzerland so: shhhhhhhhh!!! I would like to have a chop around my plants with my clippers, but as you know ( if you read my blog) you can't make noise in Switzerland on a sunday. Unless of course, you seem to be a farmer. Are you a farmer?? Could you pretend to be one?

I must just show you a little frontcover watercolor illustration I did recently -  for a children's book. It is a wonderful story called 'Coming Home', by an American friend of mine. It is a true-story of her adoption of a Bulgarian child from an orphanage there. This is a watercolor I painted of her daughter.

I'll let you know when we have the publication date. But, you will need tissues on stand-by for this sweet and heart-warming story!

'Coming Home' by Kim Garcia.

Illustration by Laurel Moore.

Commissions

No charge for shipping smaller commissions internationally!! Watercolours or oils offered, any subject painted for you! As a general rule: smaller paintings $600. Larger are around $1,500, depending on the detail and time required.

I will take no payment from you, until you are 100% happy with your painting ( I usually will email you a small copy of your finished painting, for you to approve) All paintings are sent signed and insured, by registered Swiss Post. So far, we have had 100% success with our deliveries. Please bear in mind, there may be a waiting list for your commission.

So ask me your questions anytime, show me your ideas/photos at questions@moorethanart.com and get a wonderful original commission  for your house by Laurel Moore.

Hey, I just realized I forgot to mention the pumpkins..........

Hey bloggers

Must share the most gorgeous portrait with you. Quite frankly, this gave me the biggest and longest laughs I've had for months - seeing this. Hope it does you too. Bought one of those cyber webcam thingies, with these special portrait-enhancing extras!

Perfect Portrait of and by Laurel Moore.

So, I hope you like my new look. My bosoms look stupendous in some of them. So funny! I have many more to share with you, so be prepared. Or shall I just find another one? Yes, one more today!

What a hoot!!

So, who needs to learn to paint portraits? When you can produce such great ones, via webcam eh? Nice set of teeth. People have always commented on my nice teeth  

Well, I've been swinging on my wheely chair from painting, to saxing, then to singing then to song-writing this week. I've finished three songs this week!! And though I say it myself, I think they're wonderful! I'm itching to perform them with a band. But, all in good time............

Worryingly, my rings have begun to tighten these last few weeks. At first I really thought I'd been getting chubby. So, I spent some time checking in the mirror, before I relized that they just must've gotten muscly!! From playing the saxophone!

 Well, that wasn't something I was expecting! But, I guess fingers are just like any other part of the anatomy. So, now I have fit, buff fingers  Luckily, they don't look any chunkier. That would be a bit of a bummer really. It must just be on the inside that I have mean and moody fingers now, with which you can't mess! My poor little finger, doesn't quite know what's hit it these last few months. Well, I don't think a little finger is designed to do much really, on a normal day. It's just an added extra. But, it has a lot to do pressing those keys on a tenor saxophone. And those lower pads are really quite beefy. Not a lot of use for nice nails now either really.

So, it's a choice between being covered in paint, or spit at the end of the day now really. What a choice!

Here's a little thumbnail of the oil painting I finished a week or so ago. Isn't she gorgeous? I've called her 'Born Under The Sun'. I've tried to bring out the intensity of the heat in the painting, where the sun is so incredibly hot. I also tried to achieve the rich variety of skin tone. There was an orangy base, with chestnut brown layers. So, I used many layers of glazes (a little paint in oil)  to bring out those layers of  glowing colours. Then I used final glazes over the top, to bring a rich healthy shine to the skin.

The garment in red, was richly embroidered, and I loved the richness of those colours under the intensity of the sun. She took about four weeks to finish. I work a few hours most days, or every other day. I find, if I paint too long, my eyes weaken, and I can get a bit stale with it. So, it's better for me to leave it, then come back later. I seem to have gotten quicker and quicker with my paintings now. Which is great, because it means there's more time to fit other things in too.  So, moving between the other skills works quite well for me now.

I've created these working timetables now; they're great for giving myself more self-discipline and also seeing what I have managed to achieve each week. It's kind of like a tick-list of time spent on each activity. It also helps me keep a better balance on my activities and stops me frittering time away - mostly on this computer!!  Whoops!

www.moorethanart.com and www.boundlessgallery.com