Local Exhibition

 My local art group is holding an exhibition at the end of this month.  If you are in the area, do come along - it's always well-presented with excellent work on show.

Miserden Gardens

Another perfect day out with sketching friends, this time to Miserden Gardens, deep in the Cotswold countryside.  The garden was host to another sculpture exhibition, so plenty to see in addition to the beautiful flower borders and woodland walk.

Pen and mostly water soluble pencil in Paperchase kraft sketchbook

 

A perfect sketching spot

The wild flower border

Sketch meeting 2nd July

It is proving difficult to refresh interest in our sketch outings since lockdown.  Last Saturday's meeting saw only four of us turn up at our out of town shopping centre.  We had the use of a first floor meeting room as a base.  As the weather was unseasonably cool and with rain forecast we opted to stay inside and sketch from the panoramic windows.

The architecture was very uninspiring, so I used the time to practice some people studies - a few hurrying by and others waiting at bus stops.

Brown water-soluble G-tec pen in A5 sketchbook

Collage and Mixed Media

This was the suggestion for the monthly evening workshop of our local art group.

I already had an old figurative collage that needed refreshing, so I picked out a selection of painted papers and a facial sketch to work with.  I left the background as it was and superimposed a new figure.  I like the colour scheme of pinky/orange with the airforce blue, but the butterflies and the figure seem at odds, so further adjustments are likely (or a fresh start).

Handprinted and painted paper collage
4" x 6"

With time to spare, I tried out a couple of mini collages using predominanly painted address labels.  A quick and easy way to "sketch collage" - simple shapes are the key.

The yacht image was more successful
than my first effort with the flowers

Sculpture Exhibition

Despite an uncertain weather forecast, we had a brilliant day at the "Fresh Air Sculpture 2022" exhibition in the grounds of the Old Rectory at Quenington, Gloucestershire (on until 26th June).  In addition to the numerous sculptures in the extensive gardens, the Pool House Gallery displayed work by artists using jewellery, glass, textiles, ceramics, etc.  Of particular interest was the work of Zoe Hillyard who uses fabric and broken ceramics ..... fascinating.

A glimpse of the Old Rectory from outside
the Pool House Gallery

A couple of photos of the grounds and exhibits:

June issue of Drawing Attention

Urban Sketching

 

Half a dozen members of our local sketching group braved the chilly weather to sketch in one of our town parks at the weekend.

Earlier in the week I was lucky enough to book a two day workshop in Oxford with international urban sketcher Paul Wang from Singapore (Instagram @paulwang_sg).  An intensive couple of days, with the mornings spent in a classroom at the Museum of Natural History, one afternoon in Wadham college grounds and chapel and the second attempting to sketch a narrow cobbled alleyway and its crowded, ancient buildings.  An excellent course and although at the time I didn't produce any watercolour sketches worth sharing, I will definitely work on practising the lessons learned.  

Warm-up sketches in the Museum