Painting for beginners: How to get started

A new brand of artist has emerged: the "pandemic painter" - a fresh creative who took to the paints for the very first time during the covid lockdown. Many of those artists are still painting and some are even building their profiles as emerging artists. If that's you, hurrah!

But if you missed the boat, there's no time like the present to start your art adventure no matter how humble your creative dreams are Your 4-Step Guide to Getting Started with Painting www.rosgervayart.com

Determine your why. The key to success in any considered pursuit is knowing the reasons for starting your escapade. Why are you looking to create? Is it for the process and the visceral joy of making marks on a page? Is it for a challenge and a desire to expand and explore new realms? Is it for the buzz and pride of finishing an artwork?

Check your cupboards. Have a look to see what art supplies you already have on hand and yes, kids' art supplies are AOK at this early stage! So is a basic pencil or biro or tablet if you want to explore digital art. For extra supplies, take a visit to Art Scene or Officeworks or buy online through Art Shed Online or Art Supplies Australia.

Go wild! It's time to play and explore the basics. Brushstrokes! Colour mixing! Wet on wet painting technique! Now is your time to experiment without pressure on the outcome. Get to know your tools and your mediums.

Report back! I'd love to hear how you go so I can support you on your journey. Reach out via my Instagram @rosgervayart or my website www.rosgervayart.com - I adore cheering new creatives like you on!

And a quick tip: Choose self-kindness especially while you're new to art. Choose gentle growth. Choose to only compare yourself to who you were (and how you painted) yesterday. If you can do this, I can promise you that you’ll look back a year from now and be amazed at how far you’ve come! All you have to do is start.

@rosgervayart

Cook With Bern The Chef

Let’s get the Fig outta here!

Fresh figs, baked figs, made into a jam, in a pudding, on a pizza, in my mouth I will cram. Every day, every way, in a crumble, in a pie, go look in the shops, Play eye spy! Choose the figs that are not too soft, have a little give, but definitely not squashed.

Weird looking on the outside, these inverted flowers have the glory on the inside - like me . They love almonds, walnuts, pistachio and hazelnuts, most cheese, rosemary, thyme, bacon, ham & duck. Citrus, warm spices, crunchy pastry, coffee & toffee.

Green skinned are firmer, sweeter and best for drying and desserts, their insides stay resistant longer, fantastic for dipping in caramel and serving with ice cream.

Black skinned figs are delicious smooshed onto ricotta toast and drizzled with honey. They love attending the cheese platter, blue, brie, mild feta and washed rind all love figs!

Diced and added to raspberries or pears, figs are magic covered with almond frangipane and baked for a delicious dessert.

• 100g butter, softened

• 100g caster sugar

• A pinch of sea salt

• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

• 2 eggs

• 140g ground almond meal

Add one or two of the following - 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, zest of one lime/orange or lemon/ ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom/cinnamon or nutmeg. 2 tablespoons of honey, Amaretto, Frangelico or Brandy.

Cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy- either in a mixer or by hand with a whisk. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, fold in the sea salt, baking powder and almond meal and your chosen personality boosting ingredients.

Into a ceramic or glass baking dish, pour in your frangipane mixture, and top with diced fresh figs, pears and/or berries. Bake at 160 degrees for 20-25 minutes till golden brown and fruit is collapsed and jammy. Perfect with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.

Figs as a savoury course love soft white cheese. If you’ve got a pizza addiction, try whipped feta, smeared onto a pizza base, include a couple of tablespoons of caramelised onions, shredded pancetta, add some halved figs, inside side up, drizzle with olive oil and bake. Balsamic syrup trickled over straight out of the oven with a handful of fresh rocket leaves is manna from heaven!

I love to grab some dried Iranian figs from OC Foods in Artarmon for a cheese platter accompaniment. Into a heavy based pot, I add 1 kilo of dried figs, 2 litres of tawny port, and 1 kilo of brown sugar. Plus a couple of cinnamon sticks, a couple of cloves and peel from one orange. Simmered till syrupy, these figs can be poured hot into sterilised jars, left to cool, these figs will keep in the fridge for all of winter. Delicious on the cheese board, also snuggled into an apple crumble for extra richness, or spooned along a slice of sticky date pudding. Figgen Great www.bernthechef.com.au