Spots And Stripes

The weather forecast is reasonable, showery in the morning but picking up later, so tomorrow we’re out and about in some mountainous areas on the trail of some ancient stones. I’ve been working on some Fabriano paper in my home-made walnut ink and I’ll be taking some pieces to draw on. I like doing this prepContinue reading “Spots And Stripes”

Memory And Imagination

Working on Fabriano paper with my home-made walnut ink, I’m drawing expressively from my experiences trekking up local mountains to draw Neolithic and Bronze Age stones. The ink flows like liquid silk, holding the brush strokes when undiluted and moving freely across the paper when thinned out with water to make a variety of washes.Continue reading “Memory And Imagination”

Sponges, Brushes And Cloths

Continuing with the work I was doing yesterday, and will probably be doing over the next few days, working onto Fabriano paper with my home-made walnut ink, making expressionistic drawings inspired by, but not directly related to, the several days I have recently spent wandering mountains around South Wales to draw Neolithic and Bronze AgeContinue reading “Sponges, Brushes And Cloths”

Letting Go Of The Comfort Blanket

Here’s something scary, I’m getting out of my comfort zone which is working from what is in front of me. I’ve been clutching to the comfort blanket of working from reality all my life and now I’m trying to let go. And I am not enjoying it one bit. But making art is something IContinue reading “Letting Go Of The Comfort Blanket”

One Of Those Days

Husb and I drove down to Pembrokeshire today to pick up some relatives from the Irish ferry. We went down an hour earlier planning on finding some ancient monuments and do some drawing. Unfortunately the weather had a different idea and threw torrential rain and gales at us. We found a dolmen called Devil’s QuoitContinue reading “One Of Those Days”

Mud, Stones And Ice Cream

Yesterday we trekked up the mountain near Trecastle to visit the Nant Tarw stone circles and cairn. The Bronze Age circles are made up of small, rather insignificant stones and although fascinating historically and culturally, they were not particularly inspiring visually. However, the scenery was absolutely spectacular, with the Fan Brycheiniog face of Mynydd DuContinue reading “Mud, Stones And Ice Cream”

Larks Hovered, Kites Circled, I Drew…

Out and about again today with archaeologist Dewi Bowen and film maker Melvyn Williams searching out ancient stone monuments. We had a tough walk up to a late Neolithic stone cairn on Mynydd Bach Trecastell not far from the little village of Trecastle in Powys. To be honest, the cairn wasn’t particularly interesting, I’ve seenContinue reading “Larks Hovered, Kites Circled, I Drew…”

Through Darkness To Light

Drawing ‘The King’s Quoit’ from another angle, I could see underneath the capstone, through the inky darkness below the huge rock into the bright sunlight beyond. The shape reminded me of being in a cave, looking out through the entrance and it occurred to me that the ancient people who created these monuments might haveContinue reading “Through Darkness To Light”

The Quoit Of The King

Husb and I went for a drive on Easter Monday, exploring some of the South Wales coastline that we hadn’t seen before, the lovely beach of Manorbier / Maenorbŷr in South Pembrokeshire. It’s a very ancient settlement with local evidence of flint microliths from the Mesolithic and Neolithic ages and this magnificent dolmen, The King’s Quoit, lookingContinue reading “The Quoit Of The King”

Rain And Racing In The Rhondda

Husb and I had a day off today, a rare thing when you’re self-employed and we went off to The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir for an afternoon of slot-car (Scalextric) racing with our young nephew. It was pouring down outside but we were warm and having a whale of a time inside, surrounded by gorgeousContinue reading “Rain And Racing In The Rhondda”