my first exhibition

i am very excited to report that my first mini exhibition is happening mid february. its in a very gorgeous coffee house in norwich called the cherryleaf coffee house and the owner Em is very supportive. the cherryleaf not only make coffee, but Em makes all her cakes in house in her beautiful open kitchen right there in front of you. im very very excited to see my work on the walls and im working like a demon at the moment, on new pieces, commissions, framing, pricing etc etc. its keeping me very very busy.
if you havent already, please visit my facebookpage at www.facebook.com/rebeccabarkerart

please and thankyou x

jack daniels my way

newly uploaded to my facebook page. this took hours and hours of sketching to get the outline perfect, then, oncwe i started adding the colour, i realised that i was smudging out the outline as i was moving the paper. RAGE.
i couldnt bring myself to re-pencilt he rest of it in so alot of this was painted 'blind'! i think it just adds to the worn in, vintage effect.

my man jack

in close-up

hope you all like. if you have any suggestions of other iconic brands that i could reproduce, please leave me a comment either here or on my facebook page.

www.facebook.com/rebeccabarkerart

NEW work

Here are 2 of the newest paintings that have just gone live on my facebook page. the blue lips are a private commission and so they are not for sale. the guy i painted them for is very very happy with them.  success!

lip service

these lips in particular are proving very popular. ive done 3 different sets now, red, green and here, blue. you can see them all at www.facebook.com/rebeccabarkerart

clockwork blue

hope you all like?x

Yesterday brought very exciting news.

Exciting and very very scary.
My boy is taking me skiing. Me, who struggles to stay upright on terra firma, without heels or alchohol. In fact its been said many times that after a glass of wine i seem to be LESS clumsy, not more - as is often the case.
Cue much much panic regarding the following....
1.) going skiing with 5 people who were practically born on a pair of skis.
2.) being cold and having to tough it out for a week for fear of being told continually to 'man up'
3.) the pain that will surely be a constant prescence, since i get muscle burn the day after going bowling. Yes, bowling....not exactly an extreme sport is it?!?
4.) the chair lifts. dangerous no????

but has been somewhat mollified with the though of this......

austria

apres ski - yum!

i am looking forward to it really. it just makes me wonder if i'll be able to manage to anything other than awful for an entire week. i dont know 4 of the other people going and i want to impress them. daft, i know but as i wont/cant impress anyone with my skiing, grace and elegance. i'm hell bent on looking great, starting with the flight, moving on to the dreaded morning 'sleep face' over that first cup of tea, through to great makeup while on the slopes that will STAY PUT and finally for evening dinner.

cue inspiration......

kate moss/bond girl! 

victoria beckham - cold no??

lady di - just gorgeous

does anyone have any tips??? make up tips especially. im guessing that suncream is my most important piece of kit because i dont want to end up with a face that looks like beef carpaccio on day 1.
please share if you do.
im in phase 1 of quite a deep panic!

Rebecca Barker ART on facebook

Technical issues sorted (i kind of ignored them until it sorted itself out) and now im up and running again. To celebrate here's a sneak peak at what i've been working on.
Yesterday was a good day - i finally made a facebook page dedicated to my art and illustraion. Facebook is an amazing way of sharing my work on a large scale that you can manage yourself and best of all. its for free! until i get a portfolio chokka block full of decent pictures i'm holding off on getting a website designed because i want it to be amazing. this will take time and money so until i'm ready to take that plunge, please visit Rebecca Barker ART on facebook and have a look around.

if you have any questions, or if you would like to commission a piece, you can either leave a comment here or on my facebook page. please 'like' my page if you do, its great feedback

www.facebook.com/rebeccabarkerart 

technical issues!!!

ive had a bit of a break from the land of blog to enjoy christmas, see friends and family and work on some more paintings. everything is very exciting at the begining of this new year and instead of feeling the usual january blues, i am relishing having projects to work on, aims and goals and tons of inspiration.

i was looking forward to uploading some new images of my work for you guys to look at but i don't seem to be able to,  selecting a file from my computer doesnt appear to be an option!?!?! i'll upload as soon as i can

is anyone else experiencing problems???

i am artist

well, ive only gone and done it.
i sold my first 2 paintings and i am celebrating.
3 months since i ditched my old life (one where i was a slave to my job but got paid shed loads) and became happier, healthier (poorer) and i now feel credible again.
i hope you like them as much as my customer did....

cool cara

Cara delevigne is my favourite model of the moment and it seems im not alone. she's fronted campaign after campaign and walked in any show worth mentioning. She is also a laugh. which is more beautiful than any of her gorgeous photos. see below....'on cara' vs 'fun cara'. i actually think i prefer her goofy shots.

such willingness to poke fun at herself should be applauded - as should her attitude to the recent victorias secret catwalk show that she appeared in. after weeks and weeks of seeing images of supermodels sweating in the gym, and a few shots of bloodied knuckles after too much boxing training - all to prepare for the ultimate gig, did cara join in? did she detox? eat or drink NOTHING on the day of the show???? no. on her way to the show she stopped off for a macdonalds. cara, you're my hero and i salute you x

best fur out there

as promised, here are my fav foxy coats for keeping warm and cosy this christmas... its a look that id dress up on an evening with long boots and a smart handbag. or, throughout the day, with skinny jeans and converse.

H&M sheepskin £99.99

Topshop goatskin £250

H&M faux fur £39.99

Warehouse faux fur £55

Miss Selfridge faux fur £68



How will you wear yours??

stay warm x

stay warm look cool

nothing looks cosier, cuddlier or cooler at christmas than a faux fur coat. easy to dress up or down, they are an annual favourite that never go out of style. the only rule...invest in a decent one. while i have no problem with other people wearing fur, especially of the vintage variety, its not for me. so when choosing a coat or gillet i think its important to make that investment to ensure that you dont end up looking like you've skinned Bungle from Rainbow and have thrown him about your shoulders! for those of you who arent familiar with dear old Bungle, i urge you to google him.

so choose youre faux fur wisely people, cos, baby....its cold outside.
tomorrow i will post the best from the high street.
x

all you need is love

im feeling soppy.
i miss my boy.

untitled eyelash drama

this is what ive been working on recently. its a large piece, just over A2 size and here i have used a mixture of watercolour and black ink. i use no digital jiggery pokery on my paintings as i think they lose some of their charm, so what you see is what you get here, all hand drawn and painted by me.
i'd love some ideas what i could call her.....please let me know if you think of something brilliant. my mind is blank.

shine bright like a diamond

You’re a shooting star I see
A vision of ecstasy
When you hold me, I’m alive
We’re like diamonds in the sky

artwork by funnytummy

I urge you all to click on the link below and check our rihannas performance on the UK's X-Factor. amazing, how many girls do you know wont even got out in the rain for fear of risking their hair and make-up?, let alone sing live on TV while in the middle of rainstorm - the effect was amazing though, really powerful.

i love this woman, shes a total fox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw-NHqEa4FA&feature=player_detailpage

cute birthday gift for him

so, my 'him' lives in a different city to me at the moment. hopefully temporarily, but even temporarily is enough. our relationship now consists of near constant emails and texts as well as the normal phone calls. we email each other pictures, what we're eating, nice views, my nail varnish (especially if i know he'll hate it...anything glitery he loathes!) the dogs...basically everything so we get an insight into each others lives on a daily basis. theres also the opportunity to be funny, and theres nothing quite like opening an email and laughing out loud at a silly picture. because i know that that was his intention. to make me smile from miles away. i know he's thinking of me and that makes me smile even more.

anyway. its his birthday soon, and, as with everything else at the moment im trying to be more creative rather than just buying something expensive. i also cant afford to do that anymore. so heres what i came up with.

he needs a new wallet - thats easy.

but how to make it special?

do you remember when passport photo booths used to give you 4 different pictures? and you got them in a strip? and you and your boyfriend used to squeeze into a booth and have cute pictures done? me too.

except they dont exist anymore. you get 1 picture, in colour and its massively expensive.

so i made my own version to slip into his new wallet. i wanted to keep things light hearted and to look, in the pictures like i normally look. also known as. not too staged. no airbrushing. normal hair and makeup.and some silly faces.



 once i had taken all the photos i needed, i turned then into black and white images in paintshop pro and adjusted the sizes. then after placing them into a strip and printing them onto photography paper. BOOM. old skool passport pics that i can slip into the wallet.

i wont tell him, so he'll find them by accident, hopefully when im not there.

what do you think???

i think everyone should try this. its so cute, especially if you're away from your loved one x

happy birthday G xx

(and no - he doesnt read this blog!)