CARMEN BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

CARMEN BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

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THE RED SHOES BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

THE RED SHOES BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

MIXED MEDIA

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SPLENDID ISOLATION BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

BALLET PAINTING BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

SPLENDID ISOLATION BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

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ORIGINAL ART AND PRINTS AVAILABLE

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PASSION BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

PASSION BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

PASTEL

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SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA AND ANDREY MERKURIEV IN ISOLDE AND TRISTAN, BOLSHOI

SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA AND ANDREY MERKURIEV, BOLSHOI BALLET DANCING IN 

ISOLDE AND TRISTAN

PASTEL PAINTING BY ZOE JAMES-WILLIAMS

Tutu painting

#Throwbackthursday 

I love painting tutu's. This is painted using pastels on purple paper. 

www.zoejameswilliams.com

Odette in the Wings. Ballet Painting by Zoe James-Willialms

Odette in the Wings. Ballet Painting by Zoe James-Williams

www.zoejameswilliams.com

Step-by-step: The little ballerina by Zoe James Williams

Delighted to be featured on the official Derwent Pencils Blog using inktense for one of my ballerina sketches. Lovely vibrant colours and easy to use.

Link to full blog post here

At The Royal Opera House with Royal Ballet Guest Principal Mara Galeazzi

Mara Galeazzi, AMAZING Ballerina and former Prima Ballerina with The Royal Ballet invited me to The Royal Opera House to paint her whilst rehearsing for two dances. One new beautiful PDD Alta Stare choreographed by Tim Podesta and a Wayne McGregor piece taught by Alistair Vareecken for Hatch House with the " Covent Garden Dance Company" on the 17-18 July. I love this part of my work when I get to see such beauty in motion. Only by seeing a dancer perform in person can you truly capture their essence on paper. A real privilege, Thankyou Mara xx

Me and Mara

Covent Garden

Mara Galeazzi  and Alistair Vareecken

view from the Macmillan studio, Royal Opera House

Inside The Macmillan Studio, Royal Opera House

Going into the Macmillan Studio. His portrait is on the left. Great Photo

The Royal Ballet Relaxation Space. Has all these amazing black and white photos of Ballet Legends on the wall including Fonteyn and Nureyev

Royal Opera House Exhibition

Royal Opera House Exhibition

Royal Opera House

Carlos Acosta, Behind The Scenes At The On Before Tour

I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to the dress rehearsal of the show On Before starring the legendary ballet dancer Carlos Acosta so that I may capture him for my paintings.  A mix of contemporary dance that perfectly showed off his dancing prowess, the show was an inspiration and I am looking forward to creating a series of striking paintings capturing him in motion. 

Carlos Acosta is principal dancer and choreographer with The Royal Ballet and has been a guest dancer all over the world including with The Bolshoi. He is the true Renaissance Man, ballet dancer, choreographer, actor and best selling writer. His biography, No Way Home is his extraordinary journey growing up in Cuba to becoming an international ballet star. Its a must read. 


While watching him in the empty auditorium as he and his partner Royal Ballet Prima Ballerina Zenaida Yanowsky went through their steps I knew there is nothing like see the live performance, the sweat and the work that goes into each dance and also the relaxed moments that the audience does not get to see. This privileged position enables me to capture the ballet dancer in their true essence. 

New Painting of Iana Salenko, Prima Ballerina

Iana Salenko, Prima Ballerina in rehearsal. This was just before she started to rehearse for La Grand Pas Classique. Brought the house down on the night! I used pastel and washi paper ( for an extra fluffy tutu!) on midnight blue paper.

Watercolour of Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina, Mariinsky

New watercolour of Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina, Mariinsky Ballet, while performing Romeo and Juliet at The Royal Opera House. From the Star Crossed Lovers Series

New Open Edition Prints of Ballet and Figurative Paintings.

One of  three new open edition prints available exclusively on my website in Shop Page

www.zoejameswilliams.com

£32 unframed and unmounted inc P&P

Perfect for a  Christmas present

 In Rehearsal

In Rehearsal

Pure Gold, a painting of Johan Kobborg,

Painting of Johan Kobborg titled

Pure Gold

. Watercolour with 23 carat gold applied. Part of my Kings of Dance series. The gold was added because of Johan's love for all things gold! Gold has a universal and symbolic nature and I loved having the excuse to use it in this picture.

Iana Salenko, Prima Ballerina, Rehearsing for Le Corsaire

Rehearsing for Le Corsaire with Iana Salenko.

 Iana is a guest Prima Ballerina for Royal Ballet and Principal Ballerina with The Berlin State Ballet. She also starred in The Baileys ballet advert and is married to Principal ballet dancer Marion Walter.

Their  official website is Iana Salenko and Marion Walter or follow Iana on twitter on@ianasalenko

World Ballet Day: The Bolshoi, Royal Ballet, Australian, San Francisco and Canada

 October 1st was the first official World Ballet Day. 24 hours of ballet behind the scenes from five of the leading ballet companies, Australian, Bolshoi, Royal Ballet, Canada and San Francisco. Below is a link to the full four hours of the Bolshoi segment. Absolutely fascinating and a real privilege to have this sort of access. A huge success and wonderful to make ballet so much more accessible to everyone. Bravo!

Full class from Royal Ballet. A pity they didn't allow the full four hours to be repeated but still fascinating.

San Francisco , the full 4 hours. This was fascinating I especially enjoyed the rehearsal of Raku, which I have never seen before and thought was beautiful.

Highlights from Australia Ballet

Australian Ballet Link to World Ballet Day

Sorry I couldn't find Canada but will add if they upload highlights. Enjoy!!

Xander Parish, Starlit Lovers Series 1

 Xander Parish performing in Romeo and Juliet in The Royal Opera House
This is first of a series and I wanted to capture Xander and Viktoria's beautiful chemisty as they first fall in love as Romeo and Juliet. I used a limited palette to create the twilight effect with a blush for the skin tones.

#Starcrossedlovers series no.1 #romeoandjuliet #ballet #xanderparish #ViktoriaTereshkina #Mariinsky #Watercolor #pastels #charcoal #drawing #thebigdraw
Copyright Zoe James-Williams
Check out Xander Parish Website for up to date information on his dancing schedule. Also you can read a great interview in The Telegraph  Xander gave about becoming the the first British Dancer to be invited to enjoy The Mariinsky Ballet Company in St Petersburg.  
You can also follow him on twitter @xanderparish

Painting in progress, The Dying Swan

Painting in progress of Alina Somova, Prima Ballerina with The Mariinsky Ballet Company while performing The Dying Swan. I have used pastel, watercolour, acrylic and washi paper on blue ingres pastel paper. It is far from finished which is why I am just showing a section of it. But you can see the texture of the washi paper on her headdress and tutu. The skin tones have to be worked on but am happier with the hair. The hands also need more detail. 

Sketches from the rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet with Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina

Some of my quick preparatory sketches from Monday at The Mariinsky rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet with Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina at The Royal Opera House

At The Mariinsky's Romeo and Juliet Rehearsal with Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina at The Royal Opera House

I was very privileged to be allowed into the Mariinsky Rehearsal at The Royal Opera House for Romeo and Juliet with Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina. Huge thanks to Xander Parish for organising it so that I may paint him in the role. It is a spellbinding performance. Tender, moving and heartbreakingly romantic. There won't be a dry eye in the House tonight. Xander is the first and only British dancer in The Mariinsky, an enormous and well deserved achievement and I am really looking forward to painting and drawing him. 

Going to Stage Door at The Royal Opera House to collect my pass into the Mariinsky Rehearsal

My official pass

Beginning to sketch the rehearsal

My first selfie!! in the auditorium of The Royal Opera House

Raven Girl Ballet Costumes in the foyer. Really Beautiful

couldn't resist this fan. It was so pretty.

Great portrait of Simon Weston at The National Portrait Gallery

BP Portrait Award Exhibition. One of the best in recent years. 

Not sure I liked it but the technique was really amazing. Very striking indeed.

The lace on the skirt for this was beautiful even though you can't really see it here.

Some dainty choux buns from Paul's,  I thought they would make it back in the heat!

Some more interesting links about Xander Parish

BBC interview with Xander Parish

www.xanderparish.com

 Official photos from Romeo and Juliet, The Mariinsky with Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina