Oils on canvas (40 x 40 cm)Painting depicting an Irish servant girl making butter in her rich master's house. (County Antrim).
I had a very old blurry photo to work from and quickly grew fed up from looking at the photo. So, I let my imagination take over and created my own 'scene' using items from my house and a huge amount of artistic license.
I spent some time researching old kitchens of the Victorian era so in went the old cast iron stove, copper pots and utensils and the cupboard in the passage. I made the doorway smaller, added a flagstone floor and one night, as I was painting away, my doggy sat watching me. He was so cute that he ended up in the painting as well!
Oils are so lovely to work with... you can change the entire look with a few strokes of the brush or the rub of a finger. I tried to do this painting in the style of the old Masters.
What I love about the old Masters is how no detail was left out. The clutter of everyday life is so much a part of the fun of painting this scene. I had to use a magnifying glass for certain objects so it is no wonder that I have been working on this painting for over two years.
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6 comments:
Hi Avril, it was well worth the two years that you spent on it. The painting is perfect.
It is a wonderful glimpse of the past.
Thank you, Tammy!!
Avril, your imagination did a wonderful job on this. I'm sorry I have not been by. Life has been crazy. Forgive me?
Hi Rose... I have been away for some time as well. Hope everything is ok there?? Will try to visit soon!
Simply wonderful - I came across your blog when I was doing research on Blogcatalog.com and am so glad I did. Your painting is amazing. I was actually just talking about going to Ireland one day. Our ancestors are originally from there (I'm in the United States). Thank you for sharing your work with all of us.
Thank you so much for you lovely comment. I hope you do visit Ireland - you will really enjoy it!!
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