Literary Scribbles

Husb and I had a great time at Swansea’s Galerie Simpson yesterday evening at the launch of Seren Books’ new collection of the poems of John Ormond. Of course, I took the opportunity to scribble, sketching heads with a graphite stick into my A5 hardback sketchbook. Seren is ‘Publisher in Residence’ at the gallery untilContinue reading “Literary Scribbles”

Ugly, Lovely, Bonkers

I worked on a collaborative project with fellow artist, Melanie Ezra recently. It’s an artist map, one of a series of twelve designed by artists across the country. We have chosen our own quirky route through Swansea’s city centre, pointing out the little idiosyncrasies that interest us and illustrating the walk with our artwork. Swansea isContinue reading “Ugly, Lovely, Bonkers”

Bruges, Swansea, Leeds.

I can’t get enough of Sir Frank Brangwyn’s work. Here’s another study I did from a drawing at the Brangwyn Museum in Bruges. The original is in charcoal and chalk onto a brown paper. I used four grades of graphite into my A5 hardback sketchbook, much smaller than the original. These days drawing in thisContinue reading “Bruges, Swansea, Leeds.”

After Sir Frank

Husb and I visited the Frank Brangwyn museum in Bruges today. Sir Frank has long been an artist hero of mine but despite massive fame in his lifetime he isn’t very fashionable now. It’s time he was noticed again. He was one of the founder members of the Vienna Secession; his work in the earlyContinue reading “After Sir Frank”

I Scream Ice Cream

Just a quick one at the end of the evening, a speedy sketch I did at the local ice cream parlour, Joe’s, a landmark for generations of Swansea Jacks, one of the widespread Italian cafés that grew across Wales in the early 20th century. The ice cream is sublime, possibly the best vanilla in theContinue reading “I Scream Ice Cream”

Seconds And Minutes

Husb and I are just back from seeing the marvellous film ‘Set Fire To The Stars‘ at the Taliesin Arts Centre, followed by a Q&A session from one of the film’s leads, Celyn Jones. A great night out. I did some very speedy sketches in the bar before we went in. These were done inContinue reading “Seconds And Minutes”

The End Of The Road

It was a sad day in our city. A local man who was well known to many of us has died. I blogged about him a couple of years ago but didn’t say too much about him because he didn’t like a lot of attention. Tea Cosy Pete was a gentleman of the road, aContinue reading “The End Of The Road”

The Onesie

So what is it about men and onesies? This is the second time I’ve seen a grown man wandering around in a man size Onesie. This chap in a Onesie, waistcoat, big boots and floppy hat was trying on jackets in the YMCA second hand shop in Swansea a few days ago. I didn’t likeContinue reading “The Onesie”

Art’s Birthday

January the 17th is Art’s Birthday according to Robert Filliou, a French Fluxus artist, who proposed “Art’s Birthday” in 1963. He suggested that a million years ago there was no art. But one day, on January 17 Art was born when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. Now, lots of artists and artsContinue reading “Art’s Birthday”