paintings prints and stuff

snow ...... I've neglected my blog - I'll try to post slightly more often.  The warmer weather is here - so of course I get interested in snow.  It started because of a trip to the Cotswolds to see a Kurt Jackson exhibition in April - there was incredibly late snow on the hilltops looking wonderful.  That led to one painting and made me revisit sketches I did of a very early snowfall one November and work further from those.  November Low Sun, EarlySnowfall approx 15 inches square, pastel This is from the sketches done when we had and unusual very early snowfall in November, when there were still hints of autumn colour.   As I looked at the field a flock of birds took off,  The light in the sky was glorious and the patterns of the ploughed field - everything just added up to one of those perfect moments.   Dusk, November, Early Snowfall tiny one, approximately 5 inches square, coloured pencil The birds have flown and th...

Spring at Hartshill Hayes, watercolour and mixed media in Stillman & Birn A4 Beta Hardback sketchbook The family went off walking through the bluebell woods. which are looking absolutely gorgeous at the moment,   I sat at the top of the steep hill sketching.   Spring - a month late - is finally here and we had a few beautiful days.  It was warm and a bank holiday, bringing out lots of walkers, picknickers and those just wanting to sit in the sunshine - I left them out as it's the landscape that interests me. I used watercolour, coloured pencil, conte pencil, Derwent sienna drawing pencil, white Daler Rowney acrylic ink, touch of gouache .......and the kitchen sink! I have a few bottles of the FW acrylic ink and really like it but hadn't bought the white.   I asked one of my students how opaq.ue it is - I think he has the full set - and he said very .  So I ordered one - and it is :>)/   Just what I needed.  Even white ...

I made a spring themed necklace as the weather has a definite, if cool, feel of Spring.  I was really pleased with how it all came together as I'd hoped.  I've not learned a lot yet but I used 2 of the techniques I've learned so far :>) I'm going to do variations on this them, different colours, different seasons. I must update the Etsy shop with paintings - and I may - just may - do a page for some of these when I makes some more.   What do you think?    From a different angle. I had a puncture this morning : > (   and whilst waiting for the AA to come and put the spare on for me, I sketched the trees I could see.  Nothing brilliant but better than being bored : > )   They were done with Derwent Graphitint.   The colours were really suitable for the cool morning light.  It's better in real life though, the photo doesn't show up the colours quite well enough. I'll carry on with the series of issues to...

The edge of Dartmoor, a stream tumbling down through a wooded valley, coloured pencil and Rotring Art Pen in Moleskine sketchbook We'd been exploring up on the bleak high moors, which I love, small herds of wild ponies and sheep, stunted trees and rocky crags, narrow roads and ancient stone bridges.   Now we were at the edge of the moor - lush wooded valleys, streams the colour of whisky tumbling over rocks on their way to the sea - equally lovely in a very very different way.   I stopped to catch the dappled sunlight on this old bridge and the warm amber glow of the peaty water. It was an incredible tangle of wildflowers and branches, great contrasts of light and dark and not at all easy!  so it maybe got a bit overworked.  This is the hotel we stayed at - just for a day on the way home - right on the borderline where the wild, bleak, high moor descends into lusher green fields and wooded valleys.  One side of the road is the high moor, the othe...

The weather has been gorgeous over Easter - unfortunately I've been pretty busy with paperwork and stuff that meant I didn't get out sketching. I have to put mirror plates on some paintings tomorrow for a group exhibition at the local museum and deliver them on Friday. There is a pastel exhibiton coming up soon with another group but I've had authorisation that coloured pencils are allowed so that means I can show some of the flowers I did in cp. That takes the pressure off a little and means I can get on with the big canvasses, series of seascapes and hopefully start the rivers and canals project :>) I think I might treat myself to a nice big new A3 sketchbook for the rivers/canals project - I really do prefer to work a bit bigger. Buying art materials is fun :>) , I like to keep project research stuff together so I'll probably have a one small sketchbook and a large one - apart from any canvasses I do plein air. The image above is digital - scanned watercolour ...