Summer101: second Bowerbird sale

Great news! Yesterday I sold my second painting to a lovely family who I'd hoped would buy it after they showed interest earlier in the week. The son and father of the family tried paddleboarding for the first time while staying at the Ritz-Carlton this week and wanted a memento of their holiday!

I was happy to oblige with this sale, and love that I could share the story behind the painting with them. It really is an honour meeting the people who will own your work, you get a glimpse into their lives and why they want your artwork in it - which so rarely happens in galleries.

Summer101: what's in a name?

Sometimes the name of a painting can be enough to sway a purchase, so I'm throwing this out to you, what should this painting be called? It's more traditional that my other pieces, but also more impressionist.

It's 12" x 9" mixed media on canvas, based on an image taken at dusk/twilight on Seven Mile Beach.

It's also better viewed from a distance. :-)

Any name with a hint of Cayman, Seven Mile or local spots also is favourable as a holiday memento, but I'm open to all suggestions. Answers in the Comments please.

Summer101: windsurfing

The trouble for PT is that I give with one hand and take with the other. For example, the painting of him learning his use his new windsurf I made for him, suddenly had to disappear from our walls and be 'loaned' to The Ritz-Carlton gallery. Above is "Windsurfing - try, try, try again".

I did however promise to create him a better, more PT-like version as an apology, which is his for keeps. For now. Image below is "Perseverance", can you spot the difference?

Swimming with turtles

Today PT and I swam with turtles, specifically green sea turtles, and it was amazing. We had our snorkel gear and we swam above, alongside and after them, if was like featuring in Finding Nemo. They are so graceful, streamlined and fast.

Since we've officially entered rainy season/hurricane season, the weekends are now having to be filled with rainy day activities. We decided to visit Boatswain's Beach in West Bay, locally known as the turtle farm.

The attraction is focused towards turtle conservation, but it's a sad truth that they also grown some of the turtles to sell for their meat, which hit the headlines earlier this year when the price of turtle meat soared. Irrespective of how it tastes (and I have no idea how it tastes) these creatures are beautiful and undeniably cute in baby form.

You're able to hold the baby turtles, by simply picking them up from their holding tanks (they're grouped by age and size), it's wonderful to view and touch these creatures, but it's even better seeing them in the water and swimming in their world.

Boatswain's Beach also has nature trails (which we couldn't complete due to the storm that came), a predator tank full of sharks, lagoons and a Caribbean aviary, where we saw parrots and wading birds. The bright red ibises are so beautiful as are the cheeky Cayman parrots which camouflage perfectly in their trees with tiny pink flowers.

Summer101: first Bowerbird sale

I arrived at the Ritz at midday and by 12:05 a gentleman arrived at my Gallery Information desk requesting a haggle on the price of a painting, "Ah well, that all depends on the artist and their generosity" I smiled back, "it's this one" he points. "Ahhh", I said, well "I'm up for a bit of haggling".

And 30seconds later I had a sale, my first sale in the gallery was also MY first sale. What a buzz! I had the privilege of meeting the couple who fell in love with the painting, something that few artists get to do, and give them a little more information about it.

Interestingly, after the 'sold plaque' went up, in exchange for the painting, a string of people proclaimed their sadness at the painting being sold, which was added bonus. I've now got the weekend to create a few more images, which hopefully will go to new homes soon. Watch this space.