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Hastings Country Park

February comes to an end which has seen a few days of snow and has been really cold at times, but today is very different the sun is out and you can feel the warmth of those rays.

A much welcomed government announcement has been laid out on easing  lockdown restrictions. This has left me with a sense of excitement along with the veil being lifted on me spending too many hours in bed, too much time on social media when work had to be done and my extra long breakfasts which have become quite a ritual, I could go on, but I won’t. Work has been completed although my output has been slower during this time. I really would like the way I currently work to remain the same, maybe with less hours in bed. I’m sure this goal is achievable and one I’ll be making sure I work towards.

Talking about work, there will be a shop update next month with new paintings and I’ll be selling a few pieces on instagram too, you can follow along @obikodesign

If you get in quick and would like a thoughtful gift for Mother’s Day on 14th March, there is still time to commission a painted keepsake, details on how to place an order can be found here. 

With spring surrounding us so soon, I’m looking forward to taking in all those gorgeous colours and flowers. As many of you know, much of my artwork is influenced by nature, especially the abstract pieces and at this time of year my creativity peaks, but my knowledge is limited on the species I draw and paint. I’m going  to rectify this by digging a little deeper into the makings of these wondeful plants and trees and when I’ve discovered something newsworthy I’ll pass some of that new found knowledge your way. If you have any book, blog, podcast recommendations on this topic please let me know.

Until next month, enjoy the lighter days, rest and take time out for the little things.

Hello

Welcome to the New Year and already signs of spring are showing. This month has mostly been about  bringing plans to paper for the next three months anyway.

I can’t ignore that It’s also been a difficult month for all of us, this third lockdown seems to of hit really hard, resulting in a sombre mood across the country. There is hope and light which I just about can see. Here in Hastings and I’m sure like many towns and cities the loss of many major large stores has changed the landscape, but it’s heart warming to see people preparing and working again in new smaller independent spaces and shops, getting them ready for when the world re-opens.

My plans for a new local project the self explanatory title of ’12 paintings in 12 months’ which was to start this month has also been put on hold. There is a date in the diary for early march to begin filming with South Coast Squared who are going to document the 12 months. Although nervous I really can’t wait! I’m currently looking for central premises, where I will be visible to the public while I paint, people can then come in to see me, have a chat, see the progress of each painting and if they are up for it be on camera too. When the final 12 paintings are complete, they will all be auctioned off and a percentage of the proceeds will go back into the  South East creative community. I’ll be talking about this more in forthcoming newsletters,  you can subscribe to these on the bottom right of the website.

New to the website are six new 21 x 29.7cm hand-painted patterns in muted colours, I’ve used oil stick in some of the artwork which gives it a great texture. I had a lot of fun working on these, you can view them here.

That’s about it for now, if you have any questions, queries or would like to collaborate in some way, please email Linda at info@obiko.co.uk

Until next month keep well.