Working on a Series

I’m getting near the end of my latest Turtle series.

Do you lose motivation with your artwork?

You’ve probably noticed a lot of Artists produce a series of paintings. They do this for a number of reasons … both personal and professional. My brother, Michael Jones, has a "Bill & Sheila" series as well as his outback paintings.

If you work in a series it can really develop your skills as an Artist because you are able to concentrate more on a particular technique or subject matter. It also allows you to prepare works for an exhibition which relate to same theme. This means that people who attend your show because they like the picture on your invitation won’t be disappointed to find it is the only painting they like. If it has sold there will be more paintings available to choose from.

Personally, I find working in themes good for motivation and prevent me from getting stale. I’ve been concentrating on my Turtle paintings while we’ve been travelling in our caravan and can feel that I’m getting “all turtled out” and ready to get stuck into my seascapes when I return home in a few days.

C'mon guys ... the water's fine! by Carole Elliott

I’ve worked on a few themes over the years, including animals, local beach scenes, pelicans, seascapes, water studies and turtles.

Most of my themes have an element of water included in them and I often complete a painting just because I want to explore another subject matter. I do these with the intention of coming back to them at a later date if I’m happy with the outcome. Sometimes it is years later and when I’m out and about taking photos I always have them in the back of my mind and create albums for future reference

Some of these subjects include beach pebbles and shells,

the abstractness of swimmers

and water reflections.

When I prepare for an exhibition I usually produce one or two paintings just because I want to. It is a great way to see how they are accepted by buyers and often sell.

I am really looking forward to returning home to finish off my big canvas and have quite a few ideas floating around for other paintings along the same theme.

Supporting Others

I'm pretty excited to have raised funds to support turtle rescue & rehabilitation while we've been away in our van by completing my turtle series and look forward to doing more of this on our next trip. I'm also thinking about completing an underwater series, introducing more of our beautiful underwater life along with the turtles :) Head over to my shop to see what's still available!