Egypt Archives - Margaret Hall Fine Art

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021

Summer Painting for Sheffield Exhibition

Good morning everyone. Well, ok, I have shown you this gouache painting before. But, I am really pleased with myself because I entered it in a Summer painting open call. And Fronteer Gallery in Sheffield, UK accepted it! Then they will actually hang it on a wall, for two weeks in June. Somehow, I can’t quite believe it will really happen, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

My Summer Painting – All Framed and Ready

Of course, we are planning a launch, but it will all depend on government regulations and infection rates. But, I can look forward to it anyway. Honestly, it feels so good to be involved in shows and sketch trips again.

In fact, Fronteer Gallery opened up just before the pandemic and they’ve worked very hard to keep it open. To be honest, I really enjoy being able to support a gallery like theirs. Because they are giving us, the ‘little’ artists, a chance to show work.

Finally, I have created lots of Egyptian themed paintings over the past two years. And, I chose this for my favourite, which I based on a photo of a wall decoration in a tomb. Another hot, summer painting. Just like this one here, but in quite a different interpretation.

I sell all my work at reasonable prices. If you see anything you like, go to the Contact Me page and send me an email to find out the details – there’s no obligation to buy!

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021

In the Hot, Dry Desert

Good morning everyone. Well, I must admit that I was quite pleased with the way I painted this acrylic of the hot, dry desert. As you might know, it is another of the projects in the Learn to Paint Academy course I am following. And the photo was taken by Rod Moore (our tutor) when he took a trip into the outback. Apparently, the temperature was rising to 44° on that particular afternoon! So, it really is a good job that I don’t live in Australia. Because I would just melt into a small puddle!

Home in the Hot, Dry Desert.

As I hope you can see, the heat was positively bouncing off the corrugated iron roof. And this derelict old house with chimney, stove and veranda must have provided a refuge from the heat for someone. Actually, I enjoyed painting this scene- it was something different for me, living as I do in rainy Britain. In fact, trying to put some perspective in that expanse of sand was quite a challenge. And when I added the dense areas of shade around the house it was very satisfying.

A Camel – Ship of the Desert?

A Camel waiting for tourists in the Egyptian desert, next to a pyramid. In gouache. — **Ship of the desert – photo by Jose Ignacio Pompe on Unsplash**

Now, quite by chance, I painted this in gouache paint a couple of weeks ago for my Beginner Gouache group on Mewe. As the theme for the month was Egypt, I chose a photo of a camel and the handler. And they were waiting for tourists who, after a tour of the pyramid site, were eager for a ride into the hot, dry desert.

Obviously, I cropped the photo right down to get a quirky view of the animal. And then, just to complicate matters, I set myself the challenge of painting in an abstract style. To explain, I would treat each shape as a separate block of colour and texture. And, hopefully, I would not distort the sense of the image too much. Just an artistic experiment!

Have a look at this post here to see a different type of desert – “Drylands” , more of a science fiction scene, really.

November 14, 2020November 14, 2020

Two Little Gouache Paintings

A gouache painting in tones of soft grey and ochre. A dramatically lit wall statue of Pharoah in an Egyptian temple. — **Pharoah**

This is the first of my little gouache paintings and I was thrilled to bits to find the fab reference photo .Thank you Elizabeth Van Der Weert ! You see, I thought the lighting was so perfect and gave just the right atmosphere I was wanting to convey. That is, a mixture of realism (after all it is just a statue ). And , a slight hint of mysticism – is it a real flesh and blood figure ? To be honest, as I was painting I had to restrain myself from using flesh tones, Of course, this would put too much life into the face and skin. Actually, I have been in this position before when painting tomb sculptures in churches. And I had to get rid of rosy cheeks and use more grey ! See my blog post here .

Meanwhile, as I was painting, I also began to think of a sort of a horror film scenario. One where the colossal, crumbling statue of the Egyptian king comes down from the temple wall and walks around ! However, I don’t possess a talent for creative writing so the plot doesn’t get anymore developed than that!

Something Completely Different – a Pattern Based Gouache Painting

A circle based pattern ,in gouache paint. restricted colour palette - inspired by a beautiful exhibiton of ceramics. — **Circle Patterns**

I painted the second of my little gouache paintings after seeing a marvellous display of ceramic pieces. And they were in a display all about pattern. Actually, I have written several posts that were inspired by some of the treasures at Cannon Hall , Park and Gardens , For example, this post here on Mythical Creatures. In fact, I plan to write a post soon on these very patterns in ceramics that I saw on this occasion. So, here’s a little example to whet your appetite. And, I do apologise for the blurring – the beautiful piece was in a glass cabinet. Do you know, sometimes you don’t have to go very far from home to see something extra special ?