Hanging With Egon.

I’ve been a bit short on the creative juices the past couple of days so I did some sketchbook studies of works by Egon Schiele. I adore Schiele and find his art inspirational. I didn’t try to slavishly copy his drawings, but rather to analyse and interpret them using charcoal and pastels. I often findContinue reading “Hanging With Egon.”

Albert Hall, Egon Schiele And A Birthday Boy.

Another unusually hot and sunny day in Swansea so I took advantage of the second floor fire escape again and drew another aspect of the rooftops, focussing on the top of The Albert Hall in Cradock Street which is next door to the other Elysium studios and gallery. It opened in the 1860’s as aContinue reading “Albert Hall, Egon Schiele And A Birthday Boy.”

Wobbly Roofs And A Wonky Chain

Another gorgeous day, warm and sunny, not at all like normal Swansea weather. I walked to the studio in the sunshine and although I love my huge windows, they face north and I wanted to carry on basking in the warmth, so I opened the fire door at the end of the corridor, which facesContinue reading “Wobbly Roofs And A Wonky Chain”

Casting A Clout.

It’s unusually warm and sunny so husb and I spent a long hard day on the allotment and came home shattered and aching. Every year we resolve to break ourselves in gently, do an hour or so the first time, but we don’t because you never know when it’s going to pour down for weeksContinue reading “Casting A Clout.”

Disembodied Feet With Wings

Spent an hour or so at the closing event for Keith Bayliss’ exhibition at Mission Gallery, The Enclosed Garden; it was such a fabulous exhibition, I haven’t experienced anything quite like it before. It’s been a terrific success with many visitors coming back several times because it had such an impact. It’s intensely spiritual butContinue reading “Disembodied Feet With Wings”

Dystopia In My Studio.

Elysium Artspace is sponsoring an international painting competition, BEEP, in May and I thought I’d go for it. Now, I’m a printmaker and a scribbler, not a dauber, so I’ve decided to approach it from that angle, using printmaking and drawing tools to create a painting. Normally my work is quite simple and self-contained, usingContinue reading “Dystopia In My Studio.”

The Random Scribbler.

My family get dragooned into posing – Lucien Freud did the same, not that I’m putting myself into his illustrious category :). My young great niece spends Monday evenings after school with me and as we’re no longer allowed to send children down the mines or up chimneys I decided to get some use outContinue reading “The Random Scribbler.”

Skinning Up In The Sunshine.

Sometimes when you’re a scribbler you have to move quickly and have just seconds to get something down on paper. This happened to me today when I was exhibition-sitting at Elysium Gallery. I glanced through the window and saw this young couple sit down on the other side of the road, take tobacco, papers andContinue reading “Skinning Up In The Sunshine.”

Mucky Little Kid

When I was little, Swansea beach used to be packed all through the summer. there were no cheap package holidays and most people couldn’t afford to go away; a bus trip to Barry Island if you were lucky. So there’d be thousands of kids on the beach, changing into those funny little shirred swimsuits behindContinue reading “Mucky Little Kid”

Rhubarb And Compost

I spent a few hours in the garden this afternoon, potting up some peas, leeks and mange tout ready for the allotment and tidying up after the winter. We collected some large compost bins from Swansea Community Farm last summer, put two onto the allotment and kept one for the garden and I had aContinue reading “Rhubarb And Compost”