hilliard society international exhibition of miniature art

My entries in this year's Hilliard Society Exhibition

The Hilliard Society Annual Exhibition opens next Saturday 25th May in Wells, Somerset and will once again  be an opportunity to see (and buy!) work by some of the finest miniature artists working today. It is the largest selling exhibition of miniature paintings and sculpture outside of London and well worth a visit. Entry is free and there will also be painting demonstrations and tuition throughout the week - plus there are always member artists in attendance to chat to. Wells is a really beautiful market town to wander around as well so it makes for a lovely day out.

This year the show will be available to view online and if you can't make it to the Town Hall  in person, the Society office will be re-opening on June 4th for purchase enquiries and sales - just make a note of the artist and number of the work then phone or email to find out if the piece is still available and delivery costs wherever you are in the world. 

The Private View is on Friday 24th and tickets are available from the society. You can find more details on the society website here - Hilliard Society 2013 Exhibition

miniature watercolour painting and step by step

Autumn Quince with Comma Butterfly
© Tracy Hall 2013
3.5" x 2.75" Watercolour on Arches HP

I came across this Quince tree in the Kipling Gardens in Rottingdean, and loved the shapes and colours of the fading leaves. Shortly afterwards we spotted a Comma butterfly sunning itself nearby and I thought they would work well together in this painting. I'm also trying out a different kind of frame for a change, a brass oval, these are very popular at the miniature exhibitions but I haven't used one before.

As I have been doing a bit of 'step by step' work recently I thought I would record the stages of this painting to share here on my blog. (I couldn't get the blogger video thingy to work so I uploaded it to youtube instead). I hope you enjoy it.

The technical stuff if it's of interest - I used Arches HP paper (my usual watercolour board doesn't fit in these frames!), drew it out with a sharp pencil and painted it using a 10/0 brush throughout. I used Winsor and Newton artist watercolours : Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Gold, French Ultramarine, Transparent Yellow, Prussian Blue, Alizarin Crimson and a tiny touch of titanium white. Here it is:

Comma's aren't a butterfly we get to see in Orkney and I love their scalloped wings. I had to look up why they have that name - apparently it's because of the tiny white marking on the brown underside. This is the only photo I got of the underside, but you can just about make out the tiny 'comma' on the lower wing!

primrose and butterfly miniature painting

Peacock Butterfly on Primrose © Tracy Hall 2013
2" x 2" watercolour

My latest miniature painting features one of my favourite flowers, the primrose, and a fleeting visit from a beautiful peacock butterfly. I managed to remember to take photos of the progress (I don't know if it is just me but I find it very hard to remember to do this, especially as I get more and more absorbed...!) Anyway, it will be appearing as a step by step in a magazine later in the year so I can't include it here yet but below is a taster:

I started by photographing it as I went along but soon realised that it wasn't going to work very well so switched to scanning it which seemed to be better. And below the finished framed piece. All this makes me seem almost organised! If only...

frog and lilies miniature painting

untitled so far...© Tracy Hall 2013
2" x 3.5" Watercolour 

I'm not sure this one is finished yet...still tinkering. I photographed the lily pads in Rottingdean but the frog wasn't there. I photographed him in a neighbour's garden, but I suspect he would have loved the pond at Rottingdean given the choice. Unfortunately I have a cold and can't think of a title for it yet, even supposing it's finished. Which I can't decide either because of the cold.

a close up of the frog

In between miniatures, illustration work and the cold, I have managed to finish uploading all of the paintings to the Sue Lee Miniature Collection website. There is work from over 140 contemporary miniature artists and a terrific range of styles and subjects. Sadly Sue passed away last month but hopefully now everyone can enjoy her amazing collection, just as she wanted.

The Hilliard Society Miniature exhibition handing in date is the 27th of March and it's open to non-members as well (first year only - you just have to join if you want to enter again) so looking forward to seeing everyone's work this year!

garden miniature painting

Redstart and Rudbeckia © Tracy Hall 2013
3.5" x 1.75" watercolour (ghost penny shown for scale)

My latest miniature painting harks back to late summer when the rudbeckia were in full bloom. I confess I couldn't identify the little brown bird I'd watched flitting about the garden, but once again Tim Dean (who I did the Orkney Book of Birds with) came to my rescue, as he invariably does, and told me it was a female redstart. So mystery solved and painting can be correctly titled!

farmyard miniature paintings

No title yet...© Tracy Hall 2013
3" x 2.25" watercolour (with ghost penny for scale)

Back on the farm with my two latest miniature paintings, the first in the lambing shed with a shetland ewe and lamb and below a happy pig (large white) enjoying some mud and sunshine.

No title yet here either... © Tracy Hall 2013
2" x 2" watercolour (with ghost penny for scale)

There are lots of flowers coming up shortly on both the big easel and the little one which is always fun in february! We've had some lovely weather recently and you could almost be fooled into thinking it was spring. It's lovely to see the crocuses and snowdrops appearing in the garden and the fulmars are back in their nests on the cliffs along the shore. Roll on summer!