A Modern Interior

Xmas interior

I went visiting today and had a scribble, of course. I don’t often do interiors and still life but I think that maybe I should do more. When I see historical paintings in galleries it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that these were paintings of modern houses and possessions in their day, a record of everyday life. This is a household getting ready for Christmas, with wrapped and unwrapped presents occupying every nook and cranny around the large flat screen TV. I drew this into my A5 cat lined notebook by Peter Pauper Press with a graphite stick.

 

Impression Of Heat

hot earth 2

I did some quick, impressionistic sketches while I was walking around on my visit to Portugal a couple of weeks ago. The earth is stratified, horizontally and vertically and made up of bright hot colours, reds, oranges, yellows and browns which contrast so vividly with the brilliant blue of the sky and sea.

I used Daler Rowney artist quality soft pastels into a 15cm square Khadi paper sketchbook, The paper is lovely, very textured, heavy and deckle-edged. I think it’s worth paying out for really good quality materials because a little goes a long way. These pastels have lasted me ages and there’s plenty more pigment left.

Banners Are Good…..

Hub 201217a

Banners are good. Banners are a useful way of breaking the ice when I’m running sessions in art. A lot of adults feel intimidated by ‘art’ and that they can’t paint or draw. Doing banners means they can drop by and do a few brushstrokes or they can get absorbed for a couple of hours. The group came up with a starting point of writing words and from then on it was colouring in on a big scale, with acrylic paints (Liquitex). We’ve nearly finished, maybe one more session then on to the next banner.

Art In The Cellar

ogof 2

I am so lucky to work as an art tutor for a charity that helps homeless people. I love it and I love using art to communicate with people and to give people a lift, a sense of achievement. This banner has been going for a few weeks now. People can drop in and do a few brushstrokes or work on it for the whole session as they want. But the really important thing is that it engages with people, it draws them in to talk and make contact with the services that can help them.

ogof 1

The venue is in a basement and provides evening meals and a warm, safe place to spend an evening. It’s a Christian venue but is open to everyone in need. Some of the service users wanted to create a banner that welcomed people and at the same time gave an idea what the place stands for. They had to work together to agree on the basic design, the words and images, and I downloaded stencils for most of the imagery as it makes it inclusive to people who can’t, or who feel they can’t, draw.

 

Balanced Rocks

stones 2

Exploring the local beaches around Albufeira last week, Husb and I found a cove full of balanced rock sculptures. It was a small sandy cove with a rock pavement jutting out from the base of the deeply fissured cliff and it was covered with little cairns. I drew this one with black, sanguine and white conté crayons into an A4 size brown paper sketchbook.

Stones At Sunset

stones 1

Walking along beaches around Albufeira, Husb and I came across a cove where people had constructed dozens of balanced rock cairns. Of course, I had to have a scribble….. The sun was going down – the day had been too warm to walk out comfortably so we waited until early evening when it was cooler.

 

Hot Earth

hot earth

 

Here’s another drawing I did into my little Khadi sketchbook last week on the coast of Portugal. The colours were incredible, bright blue sky and sea and hot red and orange earths veined with dark greys. Extraordinary geology. There were also a lot of rock balancing sculptures in a little cove just to the east of Praia de Oura. It only just occurred to me that I should have tried drawing with the coloured earths! I’ll just have to go back.

 

rock stacks 1

 

 

Aloe Vera and Custard Tarts

aloe

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 the soft greys and greens of home.

 

custard

 

Most of our walks along the beach ended up in the old town of Albufeira where we chanced upon a lovely tiny cafe and patisserie, the Pastelaria Barhon, that served heavenly Pasteis de Nata (Portugese custard tarts) that we had to eat to revive us because it was so tiring walking in the hot sun. Honest!

 

Across The Planet

annwyl KATHE

 

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 in Idaho, USA. Part of Leftovers is an annual international touring exhibition and this has just featured in a show at the Wharepuke Gallery in New Zealand.

 

Wharepuke

It looks gorgeous. Maybe someday I’ll get across the world for a visit. If you are a printmaker and want to get involved in Leftovers VIII, please click here.

Back From The Sun

Yuccas

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 might have got her paws on the computer when we were away! It’s a gorgeous place with fantastic geology and flora so I got down to some scribbling, using Daler Rowney artist soft pastels into my small square Khadi hand-made paper sketchbook. The heat and sunshine created such completely different colours to those I’m used to back home in Wales. And arriving back was a shock to the system. It’s been snowing heavily here and we landed to temperatures below freezing bbbrrrrrrrr …..