Abstract Flowers

I had just started work on a painting of a boat when defects in the paper's surface produced horrible blotches. After a bit of cursing I decided to have some fun with the paper, rather than waste it. I wet the whole sheet, then poured on red, yellow and blue paint. As the resulting mess dried, I threw salt all over it. This causes white blotches to appear everywhere - so the original paper defects were barely noticeable. I selected two vertical 'slices' of the paper and did these two paintings of abstract flowers on them: "Wildflower Blue" and "Wildflower Red".

Cottage Windows

I saw these twin windows as I walked along a street in the pretty Northumbrian town of Corbridge. Their windowboxes crammed with violet, red and white flowers intrigued me. How much daylight were the people inside getting? Still, the windows looked superb from the outside. I have to say I enjoyed painting the stonework just as much as I did the flowers.

Pole Dance

For some time I've kept a blog called Ken Young Paintworks, where I post small paintings which I offer for sale on the Daily Paintworks website. I also paint larger paintings, mostly watercolours, and I've decided to start a second blog, Ken Young Art, for those. So here I go with "Pole Dance", a brand-new painting featuring pink climbing roses entwined around a metal pole. The size is 25 x 35 cms or 10 x 14 inches if you like your measurements Imperial. I spotted these roses while visiting the beautiful Alnwick Gardens in Northumbria, in Northern England, last month. It was a warm day and I'd taken refuge from the sun on a shaded bench. I looked up to see the roses swaying gently in a breeze against the summer sky, much as I've painted them here.

"Pole Dance" is the first of 20-plus paintings that I need to get ready for an exhibition at the Dundas Street Gallery in Edinburgh next February. My friends Roy McGowan and Colin Joyce will also take part. I'll post more information about the exhibition as time goes on.