Christmas Greetings

 

Wishing you                                            a Joyful Christmas and                                   a Peaceful New Year

I have been very quiet on social media of late with very little art and craft to mention.  I did, however, manage to get a lino cut image completed for my Christmas cards, although I did struggle to come up with an imaginative theme for this year.  These were all hand coloured with watercolour and metallic ink.

The venue for this month's Urban Sketch group was nearby Stanton Park, an area of ancient woodland, grassland and a lake which has Nature Reserve status.  Originally part of farmland, a large, renovated stone barn was in use as an art and craft gallery.  The day dawned very frosty with an icy fog and only three intrepid sketchers turned up.  It was far too cold to set up outside and we were lucky enough to be able to use the farm cottage interior as our base.

An old dresser captured in water soluble
sepia fine liner pen

A tiny driftwood sculpture

Drawing Attention - December 2023

The latest issue of the Urban Sketchers e-magazine.

 drawing-attention-december-2023

Paper and thread

The cover of this book was from a needle case kit supplied by #thelittlesewingmouse at one of our local craft meetings.  I didn't need another needle case, so made the cover and filled it with my experimental mulberry paper embroideries, aiming to keep mostly to the blue theme dictated by the cover.

I used a double thickness of the mulberry paper and was surprised at how the feel was very like working with fabric, with even very small stitches being achievable.

Linen cover with quilted hexagons (approx. 4" square)

This textile fragment was saved from an old Christmas card

Left: appliquéd and embroidered plain fabrics
Right: Printed fabric motif, raw edge appliqué
(used to cover most of the back of the
 embroidery on the next page).

Left: hand embroidery
Right: hexagons from printed fabric

Left: hand embroidery
Right: Printed fabric, raw edge appliqué

Back page: printed fabric used to cover the back
of stitching from previous page

More textile explorations

 Last month I posted an image of the front of a recent fabric book.  I can now show the rest of it.

Because this was a practice piece, trying out different techniques for applying paint and pattern to the fabric, no specific thought was given to the overall design.  When I decided to turn it into a book there was one printed image that didn't tie in well with the theme of dragonflies, butterflies and flora, so the pocket was designed to cover that up.  A pocket needs something in it, hence the mulberry paper lavender bag!

Unsure about adding traditional type pages, I used up a couple of small embroideries as flaps.  I'm not sure that idea was the best, but I can always rethink the format at a later stage.

The front

The back, with small pocket and mulberry paper lavender bag

Cubism?

 Our art group's theme this month was a Cubism-influenced still life.  Despite some internet research, I really couldn't get to grips with the concept of this art style, neither did I find the example images shown appealing.  However, using pastel pencils, I quite enjoyed this "disjointed" effort, even if it doesn't meet the Cubist criteria.

Pastel pencil on black paper
approx 9" square

Another fabric book

 Back in May, I decorated some fabric at a workshop with Karen Carter.  I was unsure how this would be used, but have now made it into a small fabric book. 

Paint, print and hand embroidery
5.5" square

Avebury visit

Here in the UK we have had over a week of exceptionally hot weather for the beginning of September.  In the main I've been taking things easy and seeking shade and comparative cool.  However, on Wednesday I took a trip to Avebury to revisit the Manor House and garden, walk round the stone circle and make the most of the late summer sun.  I managed to find a sheltered spot in the garden to make a tiny sketch before taking a break for lunch at the busy National Trust cafe.

The Stables (now housing a museum)

Looking the other way to the front of The Manor

The Dining Room - the wallpaper was specially commissioned

from China and is hand-painted in watercolour!

One of the old cottages which sits within the Stone Circle

Exhibition in Malmesbury, Wiltshire

 One of my recent paintings currently in The Guild of Wiltshire Artists exhibition in Malmesbury.

"Flourish" acrylic and mixed media on paper

Drawing Attention

 The September issue of "Drawing Attention" has just dropped into my inbox.

https://urbansketchers.org/2023/08/30/drawing-attention-september-2023/

Swindon and Cricklade Railway

We had a great day out at this local heritage railway site.  The weather was good, the Whistlestop Cafe was open for snacks, the many volunteers were welcoming and helpful.  This was a volunteer work day and, although no trains were scheduled to run, we did see the arrival of Thomas the Tank Engine on a low loader ready for next weekend's Bank Holiday events.

A quick warm-up sketch

The Waiting Room

Minimal sketching kit

 

1. My handbag sketching  kit consists of a handmade A6 watercolour sketchbook (a friend gifts me a new one each year), a propelling pencil, a Pilot G-Tec watersoluble pen, a white Gelly Roll (useful on toned paper), a water brush, a Koh-i-Noor multi-coloured pencil and maybe a couple of watercolour or Inktense pencils. The pens and pencils all fit neatly into an old, soft spectacle case.  Very easy to "grab and go" in case there is a sketching opportunity.

   If out for a dedicated sketching day, I will add an A5 sketchbook, a tiny set of watercolours and a small water spray.

   
   

   REPLY

Exhibition entries

Our local art group held its usual summer exhibition in Marlborough, trying out a reduced opening from it's usual one week to a long weekend.

Since lockdown I have struggled to produce finished paintings suitable for framing, preferring to concentrate on sketching and exploring different mediums and techniques.  However, I did manage two new works and was able to add a couple of older pieces.

Ink and watercolour

Gesso, acrylic and watercolour

Urban Sketchers Swindon

This month, one of our members, Zoe, invited us to her open studio event, which was combined with that of a close neighbour.  As well as an interest in drawing,  Zoe writes educational children's books and these were displayed in her conservatory.  Seats for sketchers were scattered throughout the large, mature garden and I opted to start in the adjacent kitchen garden in an attempt to capture some of the horticultural chaos.  Secondly, I couldn't resist the far corner of the main garden, with it's untamed wild flowers and grasses, through which I could just see the child's Wendy house and the large shed, aptly named "Potting Shed Cafe", where tea and cakes were being served.  Blessed with warm, sunny weather it was the perfect place to spend a few hours.

A corner of the kitchen garden

The Potting Shed Cafe

The neighbour's event was in complete contrast, although just as fascinating.  The garden was completely paved over and filled with life size fantasy cars, motorbikes and robotic dragons, just a few of the creations of Podpad Studios (who supply props for TV, film etc.).

June issue of Urban Sketchers e-zine

Drawing Attention 

Avebury sketching

 Great weather for a day out at historic Avebury.  Lots of school children and foreign tourists exploring the ancient stone circle, so we opted for the relative quiet of the churchyard for our main sketching session.

Pen, coloured pencil, watercolour, wax crayon
on kraft paper

Art exhibition overload

At the weekend, a friend and I visited the Nature in Art museum and gallery at Twigworth, near Gloucester.  A huge marquee in the grounds housed the annual exhibition of The Wildlife Art Society International.  In the Education Centre five artists were showing work ranging from lino and collagraph prints, drawings and illustrations to poetry on the theme of "Conversations with Nature".

Best of all, the Artist in Residence for the week was Rachael Singleton from Yorkshire.  Rachael is a textile and mixed media artist working with paper, fabric, hand stitch, printing, painting, collage, papier mache, etc.  Her studio space was an Aladdin's Cave of inspiration and she was generous with sharing her knowledge and techniques.

A corner of Rachael's temporary studio display

A very quick, scribbled sketch of part of the grounds,
together with quirky metal sculptures
(4" x 2.5")

Sewing sampler

 I was given some shiny, new threads which I wanted to try out.  I was also keen to attempt some trapunto (a stuffed quilting technique).

This piece is 16" x 4", cotton sheeting, backed with batting. For the solid coloured shapes I used Inktense pencils and fabric felt tip pens.

Yet another fabric pot

 The fabric vessel exploration continues.  

Hand painted cotton sheeting with machine
and hand stitch - 3.5" tall

Paint, print, resist on fabric

Another excellent workshop with Karen Carter at Ardington School of Crafts. 

Some of my efforts

We used white acrylic through stencils to create a first layer of resist on a variety of plain fabric samples.  The fabric was then painted with water-based pigments and diluted acrylic, with further layers being added with stamps and gum arabic transfers.  If desired, the material could later be further embellished with hand or machine stitch.

This shows just a few of Karen's samples

Attempting abstracts

The theme for this month's art group meeting was "Abstracts" - rather daunting for most of us attending.  However, some useful ideas and links to videos were circulated before the 2 hour evening session and everyone tackled the task with gusto.

I started off with a quarter sheet of heavy watercolour paper (the back of a failed painting), and while waiting for areas to dry, I attempted another three starts on A4 drawing paper.  I certainly had no plan in mind - it was just a case of trying things out and going with the flow.  Certainly no keepers, but good fun.

Materials used - gesso, cardboard stencils, wax crayon, Inktense pencils, fluid and soft body acrylic, ink, Posca pens, wide colour shaper, credit card, bamboo stick, drips, splatter and abandon.

Fabric pot No. 3

 

Eco-dyed cotton with embroidery - 3.5" high

This small piece of eco dyed cotton didn't have any clear leaf prints on it, so I chose to embroider it with simple blanket stitched circles.

My collection of fabric vessels to date
- I'm not sure if there will be more to come.

Fabric print

 

Another block print on painted fabric, with added embroidery.