Another Chilly One

drawing 3

 

Here’s another one-minute pose I did last weekend at the special life drawing   session at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, drawn outside in the open air in the new ‘Graft’ garden: CHILLY! Life models are stalwarts, so important to an artist’s practice and rarely acknowledged for the work they do. It isn’t easy. The drawing event was part of the Now The Hero / Nawr Yr Arwr arts festival happening this week in Swansea.

I used three conté crayons in white, sanguine and black into an A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook from Seawhite’s of Brighton.

 

There are loads of art events happening this week, including an excellent exhibition at Swansea Print Workshop, inspired by World War 1 and the work of WW1 artists Frank Brangwyn and Kathe Kollwitz. Below is one of a series of monotypes called The Warrior that I have done while working with one particular model over 10 years and I am one of fifteen artist printmakers showing their work. “Now The Printmakers” is open until Saturday, September 29th, 10.30 – 4.30 at 19a, Clarence Street, Swansea.

 

Invite Now The Printmakers a

 

 

What Is New Objectivity? – Artsy

A very interesting article about the artistic response to the aftermath of World War 1 https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-objectivity-artists-exposed-decadence-hypocrisy-german-society

Chilly Two

drawing 2

Here’s the second pose I did yesterday evening at the special life drawing   session at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The event is part of the Now The Hero / Nawr Yr Arwr arts festival happening over the coming week. This is a one minute pose drawn outside in the ‘Graft’ garden, fair do’s mun, these life models are a hardy bunch.

I used three conté crayons in white, sanguine and black into an A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook from Seawhite’s of Brighton.

 

There are loads of art events happening this week, including an excellent exhibition at Swansea Print Workshop, inspired by World War 1 and the work of WW1 artists Frank Brangwyn and Kathe Kollwitz. Below are some works by John Abell, one of fifteen artist printmakers showing their work. “Now The Printmakers” is open Tuesday to Saturday, September 24th to 29th, 10.30 – 4.30 at 19a, Clarence Street, Swansea.

 

SPW John Abell
‘Diary Of A Dead Officer’, a collection of lino prints by John Abell and a hand printed book published by Old Stile Press.

 

 

 

Chilly!

drawing 1

Had such a lovely evening, doing life drawing at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The event is part of the Now The Hero / Nawr Yr Arwr arts festival happening over the coming week. There was a large group of artists and five life models and we started out in the ‘Graft’ garden, with three short poses from the brave and dedicated models who must have been freezing. It was only 6pm and it’s been sunny all day, but there was a bit of a chill even fully clothed ……

Then we went into the Waterfront Museum, which stayed open late, and worked through til quarter past eight, drawing, drawing, drawing. This is the first pose, just 2 minutes. Short poses really make you focus on quickly capturing the essence of the subject, not the detail and I think they are more lively and dynamic than the longer poses.

I used three conté crayons in white, sanguine and black into an A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook from Seawhite’s of Brighton.

 

I love this blog. Great recipes, interesting folklore and a lovely way to mark the seasons.

https://gathervictoria.com/2018/09/22/crabapple-rosemary-hand-pies-ancestral-offerings-for-mabon/

Warm Spiced Apple Cake

SPW John Abell
‘Diary Of A Dead Officer’, a collection of lino prints by John Abell and a hand printed book published by Old Stile Press.

 

There’s a lovely exhibition of contemporary printmaking at Swansea Print Workshop this week (until September 29th) and if you fancy popping in to see it tomorrow afternoon (Sunday 22nd), I’ll be show sitting (which is a much nicer way of saying invigilation IMHO) from 1.30 – 4.30. If you haven’t been to the print workshop before, I’ll be happy to show you round our remarkable collection of antique and modern printing presses as well as the lovely exhibition. And there will be tea and coffee and warm spiced apple cake. How can you resist?

“NOW THE PRINTMAKERS”, SWANSEA PRINT WORKSHOP, 19A CLARENCE STREET, SWANSEA. EXHIBITION RUNS SEPTEMBER 22ND TO 29TH (except Monday 24th), 10.30 – 4.30.

I Exploded A Flag

exploded flag 1b

I’ve settled into my new elysium studio which I have until mid-October because I’m the artist-in-residence for the Nawr Yr Arwr / Now The Hero art festival. I’m working on a new commission but I can’t say much about it just yet. I exploded a flag. It was harder than I thought it would be. I like the look of it.

Art, Cake, Cake, Art

 

Invite Now The Printmakers a

 

Such a lot happening over the next week or so in Swansea and it all kicks off this Friday with the opening of the exhibition, “Now The Printmakers” at 5.30 pm at Swansea Print Workshop. Inspired by the work of Frank Brangwyn and Kathe Kollwitz, the show focusses on the work of three contemporary print artists – John Abell, Andrew Baldwin and yours truly as well as a group show of a dozen or so of our artist members. I’ll be there at 5.30 – with lashings of cake – but within the hour I’ve got to shoot across the city centre to the start of my Open Studio event at Volcano, also with lashings of cake…..

 

Invite Here Be Dragons a

And there are other exhibitions opening across the city that night – at Mission Gallery, Galerie Simpson and the Glynn Vivian, with the opening times staggered so art lovers can get around and see lots of them. It’s all leading up to next weeks major international art festival, “Now The Hero / Nawr Yr Arwr”, but more about that tomorrow……

If you’re out and about in Swansea on Friday 21st September, please pop in to one or more of the venues and get yourself some art and cake. There will be bara brith, banana cake, spiced apple cake and Victoria Sandwich……

bara brith 2
Traditional home-made bara brith

 

 

 

 

Remember Greenham 2

A fabulous drawing blog from Patricia McKenna Jones https://wp.me/p3ci8e-dE

Like Chalk And Cheese

I went to a weekend etching course at Trefeglwys Print Studio the weekend before last with two other printmakers – one of whom was Husb. He did some beautiful work but looking at what we produced emphasised that we’re like chalk and cheese. Here’s Husb’s beautifully modulated head of a child, burnished into a copper mezzotint plate, and my bonkers Mari Lwyd, an ancient Welsh traditional life-size puppet with a horse’s skull. Vive le Difference 😀

baby

 

mari mezzo plate