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, reaching upwards, battered and changed but still living.
Left to right: Using a 4H Reeves pencil; a Faber Castell Pitt 4B graphite stick: a KohiNoor 2B graphite block.
I spent a happy afternoon at Swansea Print Workshop today, doing some direct line monotypes (aka linear, trace). It’s a technique I used to do lots, but haven’t for ages, I don’t know why. I’m developing a composition for a linocut inspired by the Miners Wives from the Welsh strikes from the 1980s and these little ones are helping me get used to the drawings and mark-making.
I took some digital photos at the Wassail and Mari Lwyd parade in Chepstow yesterday and I’m using them to try out the CONCEPTS free graphics package. Husb downloaded it for me a few months back but I haven’t done much with it yet. It’s weird using a stylus and the angle of drawing onto the screen is a bit strange too. The airbrush is odd, it lets me cover some areas and not others. I suppose I should watch a YouTube tutorial, but I get so impatient.
Husb and I went to Cas-Gwent, Chepstow, today for their local Wassail and Mari Lwyd parade. It was freezing and crowded, with nowhere to sit, so I decided to take some digital photos and when I got home, I fired up my laptop and tried out CONCEPTS, a free graphics package that Husb downloaded for me a few months back, but I’ve had no time to play with it so far. It’s fun – I did this quick sketch using, mostly, a continuous line technique.
I’m flicking through my archives, this is from 2017 when I went off to Cardiff to work en plein air, in the street in Mill Lane. Unusually for me I decided to work with collage. I don’t find collage particularly intuitive, it’s quite difficult for me as I normally draw everything. But now and again I push out of my comfort zone. I’m quite pleased with this one.
I used a mixture of prints that I didn’t like or hadn’t come up to scratch. And papers I had coloured myself with soft pastels. And it was one of the few days in Wales when it didn’t pour down with rain!
I’m doing some drawings for my next lino-print and today I was playing around with composition – just a quick brush and wash sketch to group lights and darks. I need more practice with police helmets!
I took some photos at yesterday’s Wassail and Mari Lwyd parade at the Gower Heritage Centre and had a bit of a play in Adobe Photoshop. There were 5 fine Mari Lwyds at the Wassail and it gave me a chance to compose some groups, I normally see them singly or in twos.
I went to the annual Wassail and Mari Lwyd parade at the Gower Heritage Centre today. Last night was Hen Galan, the “old” (Julian) New Year, celebrated in Wales with the Mari Lwyd, but as well as the riotous Wassail yesterday evening (with much local Shed Head Cider by all accounts), there was also a family-oriented event today. Here’s Husb wearing our own Mari Madarch Hud (Magic Mushroom Mari in pink) aided and abetted by a small Ostler, a young relative who guided the Mari Lwyd around the orchard. They’re helping to drive away the evil spirits of the Winter and bless the apple trees to encourage a good crop of apples for next year’s cider harvest.
I popped into the National Waterfront Museum this afternoon for the opening of a new exhibition, a small installation created by members of Crisis (Skylight South Wales), the homelessness charity based in Swansea. People who are currently or have recently been homeless are offered many services by Crisis, including an adult education programme covering subjects such as art and craft.
Some of the members have been working with the creative staff to develop and showcase this work, and came up with the concept of showing how a house can be turned into a home through making their own arts and crafts. Almost everything in the installation was designed and/or made by members – wallpaper, curtains, cushions, ceramics, small table, glassware and mosaics. Plus a range of wall art – paintings, pyrography and screen prints. It’s a gorgeous little exhibition, well worth a look-in as part of a visit to the museum on Swansea’s Marina.
I love that moment when I roll the first layer of ink onto a new lino block, seeing the image appear out of the light grey surface. It always gives me a thrill. It’s never the same again because when you clean the block at the end of a session, the light grey bits get stained with the ink.
This little block, is an experiment for a larger block which is inspired by the Welsh Miner’s Wives during the Miners Strike in the UK in the 1980s.
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