Soaking, Stretching and Dead Bunnies.

I spent a few days soaking, stretching and preparing some sheets of paper, Fabriano and Somerset, coating them with several layers of rabbit skin glue [smelly] and then applying random washes of thinned acrylic paint in yellow ochre, permanent rose and pthalo blue respectively, making sure they were translucent enough to create randomised colour combinations.Continue reading “Soaking, Stretching and Dead Bunnies.”

Weird Aliens

We do some regular sprog-sitting [sorry I’ve been informed she’s a teenager this year, not a sprog] and it’s a chance to try and get to grips with the weird proportions of a child’s head. Their facial features are all scrunched into a much smaller area than an adult and their heads therefore look muchContinue reading “Weird Aliens”

Big Cushions And DIY

We’v had a long weekend of D.I.Y. and we’re grubby and tired so catching some relaxation with BBC’s ‘The Voice’. Iwasn’t expecting to like it at all but Tom Jones is such a legend and Will.I.Am is delightfully funny and the standard of singing is good to spectacular. Husb is chilling out on the bigContinue reading “Big Cushions And DIY”

Greetings Fur-less Monkeys.

Greetings fur-less monkeys. Spartapuss here. I’ve taken charge of the Pooterbox again. Who needs opposable thumbs, eh? The idiot she-monkey’s been at it again, with the pushing a dirty stick around on a book and making grubby marks on the nice clean paper and claiming it looks like me. Now it’s all dirty and I’llContinue reading “Greetings Fur-less Monkeys.”

A Brand New Life Drawing

Just got back from life-drawing group at Swansea Print Workshop. We had a very experienced model this evening who also models at our local university. She has one of those Dutch ‘peasant’ faces that Van Gogh used to paint, like in the Potato Eaters. I mean this in the nicest way – very interesting features.Continue reading “A Brand New Life Drawing”

Birthday Books And French Breasts.

Another birthday! Woohoo! Husb gave me three excellent books first thing and then took me this evening for a gorgeous meal at PAs wine bar in Mumbles, one of our favourite restaurants. While we were waiting I sketched the Norman Oystermouth Castle, currently being renovated in the distance behind some of the little Victorian cottagesContinue reading “Birthday Books And French Breasts.”

Cats And Seaweed

Today I fancied doing some tehnical exercises in my sketchbook, just for a few minutes, so I squinted my eyes and drew the outline shapes thrown by my little cat Sparta. It’s not that easy because the second you start to draw a cat, they fidget. Even when they’re asleep! It didn’t take long toContinue reading “Cats And Seaweed”

Cockles And Icecream

Still babysitting and we took the two little ‘uns to the beach at Burryport today. It’s a funny little town which has been a bit rundown for many years, yet has a beautiful harbour with Georgian cottages, a lighthouse and a lovely beach. The car park had a coupke of vans selling seafood and icecreamContinue reading “Cockles And Icecream”

Sprogs And Curiosities

It’s been a varied holiday week, saying goodbye at the funeral of a teacher and mentor, Pat Briggs; saying hello to a new little great nephew, as yet unnamed but in the Welsh tradition already nicknamed, Ffredi [which is Welsh for Freddy :)] and two days babysitting small family sprogs. Not a lot of timeContinue reading “Sprogs And Curiosities”

Teacher, Artist, Great British Eccentric

Today was one of those days where I experienced the meaning of the word ‘bittersweet’. I went with many others to the funeral of Pat Briggs, a Swansea-based artist, printmaker and sculptor who taught me in my first year at Swansea Art College, on my Foundation year, almost 40 years ago. We both stuck aroundContinue reading “Teacher, Artist, Great British Eccentric”