Splatter!

I work part-time for a national homelessness charity, just a few hours a week where I run fine art courses for people who use the service. Today I started an acrylics painting course. I like to jump straight in with something practical so I did a group abstract painting exercise. After a quick explanation ofContinue reading “Splatter!”

Window Licking Good?

Husb and I regularly babysit one of our very young relatives and last week I took him on his first trip to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. There’s a fabulous exhibition from their archives at the moment – a wonderful and quirky selection of artwork. I find babies very hard to draw. The proportions ofContinue reading “Window Licking Good?”

Responding To A Story

  I went to the Glynn Vivian art gallery last week, to do some live drawing at an event involving poets, storytellers and musicians. I normally draw directly from life but I went right out of my comfort zone for this one, allowing the words, music and spoken rhythms to flow into my hands andContinue reading “Responding To A Story”

B.I.G. And Baked

After I filed and degreased my new copper etching plates, I cleaned and prepared a section of the inking up area of Swansea Print Workshop to apply Andrew Baldwin‘s B.I.G. hard ground to the surface of my plates. It’s built up in thin layers until there’s a fine, even amount of ground on the plate.Continue reading “B.I.G. And Baked”

File And Degrease

Take a sheet of warm, shiny copper. File the edges, first with a coarse file, then two successively finer ones to make a gently bevelled edge. Smooth the corners so they are slightly rounded. Flip the sheet over and gently remove the burr around the back edge with the finest file. Then take the copperContinue reading “File And Degrease”

Fat Is A Felinist Issue

  Yo Humans. It is I, Sparta Puss. I haven’t been able to get my paws on the pooter box for ages because the bald monkeys I live with are ALWAYS hogging it. Idiots. The she-ape has had me on a diet. She says she’s fed up with people fat-shaming me on Facebook, whatever thatContinue reading “Fat Is A Felinist Issue”

The Scourge Of The City

I did this drawing of a seagull a couple of weeks ago at Swansea Museum from a stuffed seagull in the Museum’s stores. I think it’s a herring gull (but I’m not sure). If it is, then it’s on the conservation danger list, which surprises me because there are thousands of them around here. They’reContinue reading “The Scourge Of The City”

Picking Up The Ambience

I spent a couple fo hours at the Glynn Vivian art gallery on Saturday morning, drawing at a spoken word event, @peoplespeakup, which was part of the Swansea Fringe, with Rufus Mufasa, David Pitt and Eleanor Shaw amongst others. I like drawing in public, I think it’s good for people to be able to seeContinue reading “Picking Up The Ambience”

The Bugs

  Here’s a selection of bugs from my series of silkscreened postcard-sized prints I did recently at Swansea Print Workshop. One’s a cockchafer and the other a violet ground beetle from a collection at Swansea Museum’s archives.   I printed some onto paper prepared with chine collé. I had printed sheets of handmade paper madeContinue reading “The Bugs”

A Tissue Issue

Workibng with Kelly Stewart at Swansea Print Workshop last week, I experimented with different ways to screenprint my range of drawings. I’ve always liked the chine collé technique especially with handmade paper made from recycled saris. I get it from the haberdashers in Swansea Market and it has a great texture and a some juicyContinue reading “A Tissue Issue”