Up The Rhondda

Travelling on the A4233 up the Rhondda Valley between Maerdy and Aberdare, there are a lot of viewing stops that are great for a quick scribble. It was quick too, as we were high up and it was cold and windy as well as bright and sunny. I keep to a restricted pallette of black,Continue reading “Up The Rhondda”

The Coalfield Part 3

Here’s the completed drawing, one of several I did on my visit to Big Pit / Pwll Mawr near Blaenavon last Sunday. I used my sanguine conté crayon to do the final strokes on the drawing, after the black and white. It’s a lovely area with spectacular hills and intriguing industrial heritage. Husb and IContinue reading “The Coalfield Part 3”

The Coalfield Part 2

Husb and I visited Big Pit / Pwll Mawr just outside the World Heritage Site town of Blaenavon. I had a scribble en plein air in my A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook. I stood on the grass up above the mining site and after quickly drawing the darker areas of the rugged mountainous landscape of theContinue reading “The Coalfield Part 2”

The Coalfield Part 1

Visiting Big Pit / Pwll Mawr in Blaenavon on Sunday with Husb, I took the opportunity to do some drawing en plein air in my A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook. I stood on the grass up above the mining site and quickly drew the darker areas of the rugged mountainous landscape of the SouthContinue reading “The Coalfield Part 1”

Big Pit / Pwll Mawr

Husb and I had a grand day out today, driving up to Big Pit National Coal Museum near Blaenafon. We met up with a gaggle of artists (is that the right collective noun?) from The Worker’s Gallery and Workshops in Ynyshir in the nearby Rhondda Valley. It’s a fabulous small gallery that punches way aboveContinue reading “Big Pit / Pwll Mawr”

Golden Light

I saw a brief interview on the television this evening with the actor Timothy Spall talking about his role in Mike Leigh’s film, Mr. Turner. He did a lot of art training for it and said that one of the things that has lasted is that he now looks hard at everything around him, noticingContinue reading “Golden Light”

Redraw, Reinterpret

  I’m redrawing into my sketchbook from the series of drawings I did of Neolithic monuments across South Wales earlier this year. It gives me a chance to reinterpret the original work and see what comes out of it. I’m thinking maybe lino cuts?

Paring It Down

I did a series of drawings en plein air throughout the year, travelling across South Wales to draw Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments. I’m now redrawing them into a sketchbook because I want to pare them down, get to the essence of them, see what the vital details are and see what I comeContinue reading “Paring It Down”

Pushing Myself

I did a large series of drawings of Neolithic stone monuments throughout the past year, drawing en plein air, and I recently started to draw from the drawings to try to push mysef into more abstraction. I’m using three colours of conté crayon, white, black and sanguine into my new A4 size brown paper sketchbook.Continue reading “Pushing Myself”

The Mari Llwyd

Just back from Swansea Storytelling Club where there was a brief appearance from a Mari Llwyd, an ancient Welsh tradition based on a horse’s skull. It was made by local artist and musician, David Pitt. Of course, I scribbled it…….   I have some work in both the exhibitions below, if you’re passing through TheContinue reading “The Mari Llwyd”