The Dark Old Church

I went rummaging around in an old church earlier today. There were no working lights and the natural daylight was very dim because of the torrential rain outside, so it was dark and spooky. I did some sketching into my Daler Rowney Ebony sketchbook with white conte crayon and chalk. The church is no longerContinue reading “The Dark Old Church”

Sunpan And Gong

The Bagpuss Window, a semi-derelict anarchic artspace, flashed into existence for three short weeks in September (2015) and then ended as abruptly as it started as the wrecking crew moved in to demolish the building. Fellow artist Melanie Ezra and I took it on at very short notice from developers Coastal Group and opened itContinue reading “Sunpan And Gong”

Random Folk

Husb and I went to a meeting in our area this evening, a group of like-minded people looking at the feasibility of raising money to convert an empty church into a community arts / cultural facility. It’s an historic Victorian building, Grade II listed by Cadw and it would be a shame to see itContinue reading “Random Folk”

The SPace

The SPace is Swansea’s newest artspace, a collaboration between Swansea Print Workshop and Coastal Housing Group. The SPace is a group of artists / printmakers from Swansea Print Workshop who are taking over Unit 6 at 217 High Street for 3 months to showcase their artwork, to develop new work and to invite the publicContinue reading “The SPace”

Scribbling Iceland

I spent a few days in Iceland recently and although I took a sketchbook and some pastels with me, it was too cold to draw. Even just 30 seconds or so without my gloves and my fingers stopped working. So now I’m back home and back in the swing of all the arty shenanigans goingContinue reading “Scribbling Iceland”

Monstrous Mural And The Lizard Den

Today I joined some fellow artists to take over the keys for a new artspace in Swansea’s High Street, an area of urban regeneration. It’s a second, temporary, setting for Swansea Print Workshop and we have it for three months, to do experimental work, to exhibit, to interact with the community and to collaborate. It’sContinue reading “Monstrous Mural And The Lizard Den”

The Dragon, The Star And The Crescent Moon

Back in April 2014 I travelled to Pakistan with another Swansea Printmaker to do a residency at the Zaira Zaka Print Studio near Rawalpindi. It was an amazing and exhausting experience – jet lag, culture shock, a visit to the ancient monuments at Taxila; working day and night in the studio with my fellow artistsContinue reading “The Dragon, The Star And The Crescent Moon”

Allotment Break

I spent almost all of September at The Bagpuss Window, a semi-derelict shop that became a spontaneous artspace for a few weeks before demolition. Ironically, after our awful summer of torrential rain, September was glorious and I was stuck indoors for most of it. I took the keys back to the owners last Thursday andContinue reading “Allotment Break”

The Carved Elephant – A Drypoint Etching

I have been doing some printmaking at The Bagpuss Window, the temporary artspace in Swansea’s High Street, making a little edition of miniature drypoints (similar to etchings). I set up a printing area around the little etching press, with an inking table, a blotting table and a drying table. I measured and ripped 8 piecesContinue reading “The Carved Elephant – A Drypoint Etching”

Walk, Draw, Gong.

Today is the Autumn Equinox and The Bagpuss Window featured a labyrinth made from bark and gong music from David Pitt. Visitors were invited to walk the labyrinth while David played gong. I had a go. It’s very meditative. It helped me loosen up as I did some more work on my big wall drawing.Continue reading “Walk, Draw, Gong.”