Class Glass

  I had a lovely surprise today. Local stained glass artist Deanne Mangold, of Class Glass Wales, came to visit with a glass panel for me based on one of my drawings of ancient standing stones. Deanne had seen some of my drawings at an exhibition, Yr Helfa / The Hunt and wanted to translateContinue reading “Class Glass”

Saint, Sunlight And Scabby Exterior

  I did more sketching towards the end of my recent holiday in Italy, in Bologna, than earlier in Florence, mainly, I think, because making art is my profession and drawing while I’m on vacation feels like work. But after a few days I had itchy fingers and started to scribble in my sketchbook again.Continue reading “Saint, Sunlight And Scabby Exterior”

The Skinless

Another quick sketch from my recent trip to Northern Italy, this one from the Anatomical Theatre in the Palazzo Archiginnasio in Bologna. The theatre, built in 1637 by Antonio Levante, is a beautiful room in carved wood which looks, to me anyway, like a classical anatomy theatre should. There are two wonderful life-size wooden statuesContinue reading “The Skinless”

Bokashi!

Husb and I spent a few days away in Northern Italy, exploring museums and galleries on a guided tour arranged by New Scientist magazine. We took in a fabulous exhibition, “Beyond The Wave”, of Japanese Ukiyo e printmakers, Hokusai and Hiroshige in Bologna. I was fascinated by their process. To my surprise, the artists themselvesContinue reading “Bokashi!”

Galvani

It’s tiring going round museums and galleries and churches, so Husb and I had a bit of a sit down in the Piazza Galvani in Bologna, which has a large statue of Luigi Galvani, the pioneer of bioelectromagnetics whose work inspired Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. When I draw statues, I try to get them fromContinue reading “Galvani”

Walking In Their Footsteps

  Here’s the final drawing I did last Bank Holiday Monday, when I joined a group of women from across South Wales to remember the original women’s peace march that led to Greenham Common back in 1989. We set out from Swansea really early, then had speeches, songs and a short march around Alexandra GardensContinue reading “Walking In Their Footsteps”

The Melted Rocks

One of my favourite places is Paviland, a strange otherworldly cove on the coast of the Gower Peninsula which is the site of the Goat’s Hole Cave, famous for the skeleton of the  “Red Lady of Paviland“, which is actually a young man. From the main road, it’s a fair walk across fields via aContinue reading “The Melted Rocks”

Out Of The Blue…

  Where do we draw inspiration from? Well, frankly, could be anything, anywhere, anytime. Sometimes it flows from a planned programme of research, other times it just hits you out of the blue. I try to listen to a TED Talk each day and one popped up yesterday by the oceanographer Penny Chisholm about theContinue reading “Out Of The Blue…”

Concrete And Astroturf??!!

Husb and I are keen gardeners, well, no, that’s not true. I’m a keen gardener and Husb would happily fill the garden with concrete and Astroturf! Our garden is small but we also have an allotment and grow a lot of fruit and some veg. At this time of year, we’re picking our produce whichContinue reading “Concrete And Astroturf??!!”

Walking And Drawing

I spent yesterday evening with a group of really lovely women at a creative arts workshop in the beautiful surroundings of North Gower. We went for a walk in the glorious sunshine and some us us did a ‘Walk And Draw’ which really focuses you on being very selective as you can’t draw everything inContinue reading “Walking And Drawing”