Being Bolder ….

Making Stronger Marks.

Carrying on with my most recent painting, I realised that I’m pussyfooting around and I need to get a lot bolder and stop worrying about it. If it goes wrong, I can paint over. I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paints and I can cover up mistakes if I need to. I had a quick look at some paintings by Henri Matisse, to inspire me to be bold. I wonder if he had problems letting go?

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

By The Seat Of My Pants…

Lightening The Painting.

I’m doing a bit more work on the painting I started earlier in the week. It’s weird working like this. Normally I draw, and that’s pretty spontaneous and quick. Or I make prints, which is methodical and well-planned. But with this painting lark, I’m flying by the seat of my pants! I started out with a little scribble in a sketchbook and I’m winging it from there. It’s also odd, doing a bit, then leaving it for a day or two to let in sink in and work out what to do next ….

Early stages in the painting.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Little Boy, Big Hat.

A Focused Young Model.

I spent a few happy hours at GS Artists today, at the opening of their next series of 9-to-90 community art events (in partnership with HARBWR Arts On Prescription). Of course, I had to have a scribble. There was a sweet little boy sitting opposite me, engrossed in his drawing. He had a big, bright hat on so I got out my Derwent Inktense colour blocks and my water reservoir brush and scribbled away. He seemed chuffed with it too.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

More Paper Heaven

Denim, Cotton Rag and Watermarked Papers.

Husb and I spent a couple of days in Somerset, mainly at Wookey Hole which, apart from the fantastic caves, also has a museum paper mill. We had a really excellent demonstration and history of the mill, which unfortunately stopped making paper in 2008, but the shop still stocks the lovely handmade sheets in various sizes and types. I couldn’t resist adding to my paper collection – yeah I’m weird like that.

Denim offcuts and paper.

One that caught my fancy was this lovely pale blue deckle edge made from denim offcuts, which is a great way of using a waste product. I bought some but I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with it. Linocut print maybe? Or a drawing?

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

In Paper Heaven…

Wired For Watermarks.

Husb and I just got back from a couple of days away in Somerset, visiting friends and the caves and paper mill at Wookey Hole. Unfortunately, the mill, one of the last in the UK to make traditional hand-made papers, stopped production in 2008 but it’s been preserved as a museum and there are regular demonstrations of paper making throughout the day. And there is still beautiful paper to buy in the site’s gift shop. The photo shows one of the moulds with wires embedded into the mesh to create a watermark in the paper. Lovely.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Pushing It ….

Working From My Sketchbook.

I’m carrying on with this painting onto a recycled canvas, from a sketchbook scribble I did a while back (below). I’m way out of my comfort zone here, I normally try and work directly from life, or from a photo if I really have to, so to try and make a painting from what is essentially a few squiggles in ballpoint pen is harder than anything I normally do. But I must resist the temptation to be precious about it, I’m experimenting.

The Original Sketch.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Making A Start ….

Starting A New Painting.

I’ve been scribbling in sketchbooks for decades but I hardly ever develop any artwork from these little drawings. I don’t know why, it’s a huge resource but until recently I forgot about the sketches almost as soon as I’d done them. So recently I decided to make a real effort to go back to my sketchbooks for ideas. I’ve done a few screenprints recently, based on some quick landscape scribbles, and I thought I’d have a go at a new painting, using a small sketch of a young relative I made a few months ago. I’m using a recycled stretched canvas with a “hard edge” experiment that I didn’t like, and Liquitex heavy body acrylic paint, a palette knife and Winsor and Newton brushes.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Getting Nearer.

Carrying On With The Pastel Portrait.

I did some more work on the “celebrity” portrait I started recently, using my new-ish pastels from the Lake District. I don’t normally work from photos or do celebs, but I need a lot of practice to try out these as they’re much softer than I’m used to. The likeness is getting nearer but not there yet. It’s good to take a photo and upload it as I can see what needs to be done more clearly than when I look at the actual drawing.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Under The Weather…

Drawing My Feet.

It’s been one of those days when I feel really under the weather – and the weather is miserable, grey and rainy. I didn’t get on with the pastel drawing I wanted to complete so I grabbed a few minutes to scribble my feet that are perched on top of my exercise ball in the living room. Not great art, but it’s good practice to sketch regularly, even a quick little continuous line drawing like this.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Who Is It?

Half Way.

I don’t generally draw celebrities but I was trying out my new pastels and there wasn’t anyone in the house so I grabbed a photo off the Internet and started scribbling their likeness. Here’s the halfway point – can you see who it is yet?

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

%d bloggers like this: