For years, drawing has been a basic element of my paintings.  As I’ve explained earlier, I often draw onto the blank canvas, most often with charcoal, before working into it with acrylic paint.

I’ve been looking carefully at some of the much smaller stand alone drawings I’ve done over recent years, and I’ve noticed changes in emphasis and even in materials occur. Some years I worked quite a lot with computer drawings….such as the following…

done probably about 2009.

More recently I’ve concentrated more on slightly more figurative drawings, hand drawn on paper.  Such as:

This drawing is pastel and china marker on paper.

Each ‘series’ of drawings has different effects on the paintings I’m doing at the time. Not in the sense of being a direct influence, but in terms of mind-set? I guess I’d call it.

In the next blog I want to think a bit more about the interactions between the way of drawing and the way of making paintings….it is related, but not easily described.

Hi All –

My how time flies!  So much has happened in the last 6 months!  I’ve been concentrating heavily on learning more about the business side of being an artist…and what a lot of time that takes!  I’ve attended quite a number of related webinars – Barney Davey, Jason Horesj and earlier, MIchael Hyatt….all very much to the point, very useful.

I now have a website:  www.patpaxson.com, as well as an active Facebook Page:  PatPaxson — Mindful-Art. I’m now including several paypal/shopping cart options on the website.

I’ve read a number of interesting books – to discuss soon – sold a few paintings and been active in a gallery in Framingham, MA – the Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery.   The most recent excitement was having my work in the FSFA stand at the Boston ArtFair (Oct ’15).  Great fun to take a look at all the (international) collections of galleries, and to chat with excited enthusiastic buyers/interested people as they circulated around the stands.

Plans for the future include a solo show at the FSFA gallery in Sept 2016…. I’ve invited my UK artist friend Kim Pace to join me for an ‘international’ show….our work is related in some ways, and different in others – more news as plans develop.

Here is one of the paintings that was in the Boston ArtFair:   ‘Wisdom and Student’ …. reflects my interest in people, their interactions and moods….I’ll write more about that soon.

Meanwhile – love to hear from you!

Hello – I’ve been off the map (again) for some few months, busy with making paintings and drawings, and, importantly, setting up and getting used to a new website: http://www.PatPaxson.com,  which has paypal options for many of the wide variety of paintings as well as occasional drawings.

The main purpose of my blogs is an introduction to my painting practice, in spite of the fact that paintings are notoriously difficult to write about… a way to inform (or at least provide hints) about the ideas, energies and enthusiasms that surround the making of my work. A second purpose is to tempt you all out there to comment on, and take an interest in, the paintings and drawings – your comments are very welcome.

Multi-layered images, multi-layered both physically in paint and mentally in ideas, are what keep me painting. I’ve been painting for many years now, perhaps 35 or so, and it never gets dull!  Many of my ideas arise from other sources, books, other artists, etc.  so I will be referring to some of these sources as well.

More soon….