Aloe Vera and Custard Tarts

I took a small Khadi sketchbook with me on my recent trip to Portugal and drew en plein air with Daler Rowney soft pastels. The landscape is very dramatic and I spotted these gigantic wintry Aloe Veras spearing the land and sky. The colours are so intense in the bright winter sunshine, so different to theContinue reading “Aloe Vera and Custard Tarts”

Across The Planet

  It’s lovely to see where artwork can get to when it leaves me and it’s released out in the wild. I did this mixed media piece, “Annwyl Käthe” – stamping, chine collé, stitching and hand written text – in an edition of 15 for the annual Leftovers print exchange organised by Wingtip Press inContinue reading “Across The Planet”

Back From The Sun

Husb and I have just got back from a few days in the sun. We bagged ourselves a package holiday to southern Portugal, Albufeira, to get some winter warmth. We had to leave the cats in the hands of a kitty sitter and they look fatter than ever. And I suspect that Sparta Puss mightContinue reading “Back From The Sun”

Word Performers

Husb and I went along to Cinema & Co this evening for poetry, rap and word performance. I have dismal memories from decades ago of ‘Poets and Pints’ nights in local pubs, with few exceptions, full of third-rate wannabe John Cooper Clark’s declaiming drunkenly and I’ve mostly avoided poetry ever since. But this new generationContinue reading “Word Performers”

Workers’ Mates

I’m a gallery artist at the excellent Workers Gallery in Ynyshir where up to 20 invited artists are selected annually to have a square metre of permanent exhibition space and to work with the gallery to develop the exhibition programme and run regular residency and demo days. The Workers’ focuses on art made in Wales butContinue reading “Workers’ Mates”

Chuffed To Bits

  I just heard today that I have had 2 artworks accepted into the Swansea Open exhibition, running from December the 3rd to January the 6th. It’s returned after a gap of about 5 years, while the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery was closed and being refurbished, and it’s great to see it back. I’m chuffedContinue reading “Chuffed To Bits”

Punjab To Rhondda With Cake

I’m doing a one-day artist residency at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir this coming Friday so if you’re in the area, or fancy that trip up the Rhondda Valley that you’ve been promising yourself, please pop in and see me. I’ll make a cake. Maybe a Victoria Sandwich. When I did a residency in Pakistan,Continue reading “Punjab To Rhondda With Cake”

Male Nude And Dundee Cake

Here’s another drawing I did yesterday evening at life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. I drew onto my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet, which is getting a bit old now, using the free Markers app. I worked onto a black background, putting layers of faded colour with my finger and a large brush and thenContinue reading “Male Nude And Dundee Cake”

Greetings Humans

  Greetings Humans. Sparta Puss here. I managed to get my paws on the furless she-ape’s pooter box while she’s washing my food bowls. And preparing my supper. And brushing excess fur from my favourite blankie. And going down the road to the hunting ground called the supermarket to hunt for my kitty biscuits. She’sContinue reading “Greetings Humans”

Hanging With Camille Claudel

I’m exhibiting at “The Uncredited Woman” at Llanover Hall in Cardiff CF5 1FH until December 8th. Here I am at the opening of the Women’s Arts Association annual show, with the work I submitted, a screenprint of the French sculptor Camille Claudel. I used the liquid stencil method to prepare the screen, working from one ofContinue reading “Hanging With Camille Claudel”