News — cats

After a tedious month-long flu-athon in our house, I was itching to get back to the easel and start work on this 30 x 30" commissioned painting of Barisha, Fabergé, Chocolate and Bagheera. I used metallic colours and a shimmery silver background, which prettily catches the light and, I think, does justice to these beautiful and much-loved felines. With thanks to Sarah who commissioned this painting...

I've been experimenting with new techniques recently, including applying resin (a two-part epoxy resin system from Pebeo), gold leaf and enamel-effect paint to my artwork. In particular I've been trying out my experiments on ornaments (which had proved to be a huge success at Christmas so I've decided to continue making them year-round). Each is hand-painted by me onto a plywood or polymer shape which is then embellished with metal leaf, metallic paint, glitter and / or enamel-effect paint...

It's been my busiest Christmas season ever, with lots of commissions, shop orders and bespoke decorations to make and deliver to customers from Norway to New Zealand and the Scottish Highlands to Honduras. Time has now run out for placing orders in time for Christmas but before I wind down for the festive season, here's a beautiful lookalike of one of my hand-painted Christmas decorations. She's called Tammy and her human is the talented Claireabellemakes from Cambridge. If you have a photo of a painting or decoration by me that looks like a furry companion, please do share it with...

  To be honest, you could hang some of them up somewhere all year round. Decorations are not just for Christmas! This year I am selling unique wooden cat, bird, heart and bauble-shaped decorations that have been hand-painted by me. Each one is individually-named, varnished and signed. I have been painting them with acrylic paints, Liquitex and Pebeo paint markers and some are even decorated with glitter... More decorations and different designs will be added to www.KimHaskinsArt.com in the run-up to Christmas. So grab one while you can and keep an eye out for new decorations coming soon!