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”

I Ate A Snail

Today I ate a snail for the first time. I won’t bother again. It tasted like earth in garlic butter with the texture of one of those rubbery sponges you put make-up on, if you wear make-up. Husb and I went to a posh French restaurant for his birthday meal. His birthday was in AugustContinue reading “I Ate A Snail”

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”

The Dawn Road From Reykjavik

The last few photos from my recent trip to Iceland, the road back to Keflavik airport at sunrise. It’s so far north that the dawn is about 9.30 am which is very civilised. Once we were out of the city there were little isolated farms or homesteads dotted across the lava landscape. The movement ofContinue reading “The Dawn Road From Reykjavik”

Icy In The City

Some people thought we were nuts, visiting Iceland in November but it’s so beautiful! We saw the Northern Lights – I can die happy now. Proper snow that sticks, not like over here. Bright, crisp days and iced up lakes and that low slanting sunshine that makes everything glow. We walked alongside the frozen lakeContinue reading “Icy In The City”

Big Boats And Arctic Char

  Husb and I have had a few days in Reykjavik, Iceland, a beautiful city. We strolled downtown in the crisp brilliant sunshine yesterday to take a look around the old dockland area. There are a lot of museums down there, the National Maritime, the Icelandic Saga and Northern Lights museums. And some lovely placesContinue reading “Big Boats And Arctic Char”

Land Of Ice And Fire

Husb and I visited Iceland (the country, not the shop) three winters ago and we managed to get a really cheap package deal to go again in a couple of weeks. It’s a fabulous place for an artist, although hard to draw outside in winter temperatures. I tried out different preparations for the papers IContinue reading “Land Of Ice And Fire”

Inspired By The Punjab

I carried on with stages 2 (red) and 3 (blue) of my new monotypes while I was doing the final day of my pop-up studio event at Swansea Print Workshop. Yesterday I posted stage 1 (yellow) for both the first pressing and the second – ghost – pressing. You can see the full set inContinue reading “Inspired By The Punjab”

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”

Sunshine Prints

I did a whole load of cyanotypes yesterday for an exhibition and I had some pieces of paper and chemicals left over so, waste not want not, I coated the paper scraps and stored them away in a folder in a dark cupboard. Today, I shrank my negatives digitally and printed them out on acetate.Continue reading “Sunshine Prints”