The Celtic/Welsh May Cat, Y Gath Mis Mai

Sparta, our two-year old tortoiseshell [calico] cat is simultaneously a tiny, sweet, adorable, cuddly little kitty and a rampaging murderous scourge of anything smaller than her that moves. Worse than that, she brings her prey into the house. People tell us she’s bringing us ‘presents’ but you know, I’d rather go without her little gifts.Continue reading “The Celtic/Welsh May Cat, Y Gath Mis Mai”

Printmakers – the Misers of the Artworld?

All the serious printmakers I know never ever throw anything away. Left-over ink is carefully wrapped in cling film, prints that haven’t worked out are recycled for drawing or collage, paper stencils are carefully peeled off screens and applied to a background sheet as a unique monotype/collage, old bits of wooden furniture and offcuts ofContinue reading “Printmakers – the Misers of the Artworld?”

The Soaked Bride of Meenagahane

Driving along the County Kerry coast with husband and young niece, we followed a small road down a steep, narrow valley to a tiny inlet with an old stone jetty and a few ancient cottages. A friendly geriatric collie dog ran out of one of the gardens and showed us around the tiny bay. TheContinue reading “The Soaked Bride of Meenagahane”

The Little Art Deco Chair

My dear Aunty Nin saved hard, putting money aside every week from her wages from the stall in Swansea Market where she worked. She paid the money directly to the best furniture store in Swansea and eventually after a couple of years she had a new leather suite- a settee and two chairs, delivered toContinue reading “The Little Art Deco Chair”

Just a Quickie

  Just a very quick blog tonight because I’ve been at the studio all day then I was working at the opening of the exhibition at The Brunswick all evening and just got back home. Here’s a sketch I did a couple of years ago at The Green Man Festival in Usk, a beautiful partContinue reading “Just a Quickie”

The Sad Tale of William Pink

A couple of years ago I went to an exhibition at our local gallery and amongst the eclectic mix of curiosities was Smugglerius, an écorché of a smuggler who was skinned after being hanged at Tyburn in the eighteenth century. An écorché is a sculpture cast from a flayed body. The original Smugglerius was madeContinue reading “The Sad Tale of William Pink”

Really Artgeek Stuff – from Sketch to Drawing to Monotype [PG]

Just completed a new large full-colour monotype using the 3-colour reduction method. I started off with a sketch which I did in a life drawing session then I developed it into a larger drawing [bottom image] in compressed charcoal, graphite block and white oil pastel onto a sheet of recycled Bockingford 250gsm paper. It hadContinue reading “Really Artgeek Stuff – from Sketch to Drawing to Monotype [PG]”

The Man With Huge Hands and the Cholesterol Special

We put up the next exhibition in The Brunswick this morning – 8.30am start on a SUNDAY!!!!! It’s looking fantastic [here’s a link to it’s Facebook site if you want to see more – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130341270397734 ].  Anyway, we finished just before lunch and after heading home to dump the tools and have a cuppa withContinue reading “The Man With Huge Hands and the Cholesterol Special”

Things to Do With a Four Inch Screw

Instead of lino or wood for making block prints, I use offcuts of ‘Foamex’ signwriters’ foam board, which local firms throw out, so it’s free AND recycled. It isn’t easy to cut with conventional cutting tools as the blades need frequent sharpening, which I do with a leather Slip Strop, but it’s very easy toContinue reading “Things to Do With a Four Inch Screw”

King Coal’s Sacrifice

  One morning when I was eleven years old our headmistress announced at assembly that a coaltip had engulfed a small primary school in a village just a few miles away. That village was Aberfan and almost 150 tiny children and their teachers were crushed and suffocated to death that dreadful day. I remember theContinue reading “King Coal’s Sacrifice”