One From The Archives ….

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 “One From The Archives ….”

One From The Archives: Bannau Brycheiniog.

Here’s a scribble from an old sketchbook, a walk on Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) on a sunny but misty afternoon about 8 years ago. I used a range of grey pastels mostly on their side into a black ringbound sketchbook.

The Name Of The Stone …

I’ve been looking at Google maps recently, exploring the city online and finding interesting nooks and crannies. I knew about this Bronze Age stone in Bon-y-maen, to the North East of the city, and I have even visited and drawn it, but I never really gave much thought to the area around it. The nameContinue reading “The Name Of The Stone …”

Re-Visiting Monotype.

I spent a happy morning down at Swansea Print Workshop today, re-visiting a technique I used to do loads – it’s called the 3-Colour Reduction Monotype (or 3-Colour Stacking Monotype). I haven’t done this since before Covid19, over 4 years, maybe longer. Why does time shoot by so fast? I based this monotype on aContinue reading “Re-Visiting Monotype.”

Archive: Trees In Early Spring

I’ve been rummaging through my digital folders and looking at old sketches. Here’s one from 2018, a sharp early Spring day in Dynefor Park near Llandeilo. A group of artists had travelled from the city to work in the arboretum there. I saw this lovely tree that had fallen over, but carried on growing, reachingContinue reading “Archive: Trees In Early Spring”

I Forgot These….

Husb and I went walking up the mountains a few weeks ago, to Llyn y Fan Fach on Bannau Brycheiniog where I did some fairly detailed work with pastels onto painted paper. But before I started on the bigger pieces, I did a couple of hasty scribbles into my tiny leatherbound sketchbook, to work outContinue reading “I Forgot These….”

Eryri: Sketch And Film.

Here’s the last of my Eryri sketches, as we left the mountains on our journey back to the coast and Caernarfon. This vista had an extraordinary bright torrent of waterfall tumbling down the dark rocks, set against a strangely gleaming sky. Husb recorded this short film of me drawing on the little steam train –Continue reading “Eryri: Sketch And Film.”

Eryri: 5

Travelling back from Beddgelert on the little steam train, the storm was lifting and although the winds were still high, the rain stopped and a strange light flooded Eryri, backlighting the mountains. I worked very quickly into my black sketchbook with Sennelier and Daler Rowney soft pastels, held on their side flat against the paper,Continue reading “Eryri: 5”

Eryri: 4.

After a steep and spectacular climb up the mountains, Husb and I had a break in Beddgelert and the storm eased off while we were there. We strolled through the historic village and were stunned by the ferocity of the two rivers that meet there, Afon Colwyn and Afon Glaslyn. The recent storms had createdContinue reading “Eryri: 4.”

Eryri: 3

I live in a very rainy country, but rarely represent the rain in my sketching …. because it’s miserable to stand in the rain and draw! And not very practical – paper gets soggy, colours run or slip around. That can be interesting, but it’s a lot of physical discomfort. So the journey on theContinue reading “Eryri: 3”