DOGSCATSANDDOLLS

Drawing a line in time: A test, a competition, a question: or, what is in ...

2011-09-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

A link to a favorite artist's blog and a competition...

Drawing a line in time: A test, a competition, a question: or, what is in ...: When I visit schools I take with me a number of 'props'. One is a necklace that I wear most of the time anyway, a silver bottle with red s...

Finished portraits and thoughts on the new term

2011-08-30T02:51:00.000-07:00

I have been fiddling on and off with this for a little while but it is now finished, and although far from perfect I am quite pleased as it is my first colour pencil portrait (or colour pencil anything really)

approx A4 on pastel paper

I have also recently finished a memorial picture in graphite pencils on watercolour paper

2011-08-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

I have continued with the portrait experiments and once again using my grand-daughter Leah as the model have completed another pastel

Although I feel my technical skills with this medium are advancing I am not totally happy with this one. I'm not really sure why, but it seems to have an oldy worldy children's story look about it and I don't feel it captures Leah's true character. I am not a lover of full colour work and am much happier with monochrome or limited palettes, but I don't think this is totally the problem. so I have put this away for now and started another, same subject but different medium and a pose that is much more appropriate to Leah's true character.

This one is being worked in colour pencil, a medium that I have dabbled with on and off but never really got to grips with. Instead of using the popular (coloured pencil artists books ) instruction, that I normally try to do, this time I have just gone straight in using the same methods I use for my graphite work and so far it seems to be looking ok. Still some work to do, but here is where I am at...

The pic is a little washed out as I have scanned it instead of photographing.

But this is certainly the Leah that I know and love, whereas the one above seems a little alien somehow.

I am also working a background of sorts (just an illusion of foliage in the same colours) to avoid the 'floating head' syndrome, but with all that hair it probably would not be a problem anyhow.

I think my time spent at Uni is now kicking in somewhat and I am much more critical about my own work and before I offer portraits as commissions I really want to find an angle, a slightly different perspective than a straight forward portrait.

Alice in the Park

2011-07-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would add a few pics of our summer 'Alice in the Park' exhibition, organised and run by
HaBA (Highbridge and Burnham Artists)
In the photographs Alice is my grand-daughter Leah and Kev (my husband ) the Mad Hatter.

2011-07-28T02:48:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I posted, I will just cover the most interesting (hopefully) stuff.
My major exhibition at college went well, and I now have a Foundation degree in Applied Art and Design, I have been accepted for the BA Hons degree course in the same subject so have one more year to do.
The local summer Arts festival was a bit of a wash out due to the weather, but we did manage one and half days (details and pictures on my Facebook page if anyone is interested)
I am currently taking some time doing some of my own art (as opposed to school stuff) and updating my website www.geraldineboley.com, with new work. I have discovered that I like human portraiture as well as the animal kind and have been playing around with charcoal and pastel.
Something that my course has given me is a new perspective on my own work, and having experimented with lots of subjects and different media, I have come almost full circle back to pastels, although I now also enjoy dabbling with water colour, acrylic and collage. I am looking at other ways of using pastels as I have become slightly bored with my style of working, and have become very enthusiastic about using their inherent properties to the full, and also looking at a wider scope of subjects, so this will be my next step.......

Kev (my husband) charcoal and pastel pencil on pastel paper

charcoal on wc paper

Leah and Sam (my grandchildren)
pastel/pastel pencil/charcoal pencil

update

2011-04-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

`its been a while since I posted on here, but the easter weekend has given me some breathing space to catch up on a few things and the beautiful weather we have been having means an earlier start to the day so I can fit more in;-). I am busy preparing for my assessments for my degree, all due in the next three weeks or so and also for our major exhibition. I am currently working on three large (5' x 4') trees in charcoal on heavy rough water colour paper and these are currently the strongest contenders for my exhibition pieces. I have spent a day at Bristol Zoo (with grand -children) taking photos hopefully for future reference and also the last two days have been visiting the Secret World wildlife rescue center. Both these enterprises work very hard for conservation and the rescue center is entirely dependent on volunteers and donations. See link on this blog/facebook for further info. I have some seriously good photographs of some of our local wildlife and am hoping to get some of my own work underway in the summer..........

2011-03-01T08:49:00.001-08:00

Well it has taken me till the 1st of march to get round to my first blog of 2011! It has been a busy few months, we had our 'Transition ' exhibition in January, and the 'biggy' summer exhibition is just around the corner in May.
This one is marked towards our degree so is very important!
I have been working in my sketchbooks and also have done some random artwork, including some linocut, but have once again come back to drawing. I have recently drawn several trees and these along with the crows are becoming a bit of an obsession. I am currently exploring charcoal, mixed media and oil pastel (separately, not all together) and so far have not come up with any concrete ideas for the show apart from the fact that it will probably be tree and /or crow related. Anyways for the moment a few pics of current work.

This one is in charcoal & mixed media approx A0, and still has a way to go.

Another ongoing project, this is oil pastel approx A2

and lastly coloured pencil on thinned oil paint A2

college work

2010-11-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have actually managed to get down to some drawing at last, I am having some fun with these, thinking about incorporating something in this line into some mixed media paintings for our group/college exhibition in January. Needs a lot more work and thought, but here are some of the ideas (a couple more to follow when I manage to remember to photograph them!)

A slight deviation

2010-11-03T00:57:00.000-07:00

It seems ages since I last blogged and I think it may be a good time to update, I have been working hard at college and have managed to do a little textile work, I am not a lover of sewing but do like the effect of stitch in art work and am becoming much more interested in collage and mixed media, which is quite ironic as on my previous Diploma course I loathed collage! Just shows been forced out of a comfort zone can be a real good thing ;-)
To be honest my painting attempts on the last project did not get a great reception, so I have side stepped slightly, not wanting to abandon the collage and mixed media, and my own way of working just to tick boxes, I have added more in the way of tissue paper, oil pastel and stitch to a couple of new pieces, still working within my nature, and crow/bird, themes, the first is still quite representative, but the second is much more instinctive.........hopefully a step in the right direction, but certainly something I wish to explore further. I have also included a picture of the second acrylic/collage version of the book/crow painting

acrylic/collage

2010-10-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have just completed my three week project for college, it was to kick start us into our major projects for the remainder of our year, unfortunately this turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I think as an artist my concepts tend to be reasonable enough but this piece of work falls short of contemporary. It has however given me some ideas for progression this (school ) year,
anyway this is acrylic and collage, the collage in the form of the 'Book of Ashes" I made earlier this year for another project (which was well received)

Back to school!

2010-09-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

The summer break has ended, and as I have been working on commissions and college tasks all summer I can't say I feel refreshed, but I have enjoyed a weekend in Wales, and a visit to the UK Wolf Watch centre in Shropshire.
This week was the start of the new year at Uni and I have spent the last three days registering/enrolling etc and generally getting back into the swing of things. Once again I have mixed feelings about whether I am suited to the (mature) 'student' thing, and I am already having sleepless nights, my time management skills are far from perfect and I always struggle with the amount of work. A new project has been set which I will update on in a day or so, but in the meantime..........

I took Oskar out for a long walk this morning which we both enjoyed (he even went for a swim ) he tore a cruciate ligament about 18 months ago and his exercise has been limited to the garden since then, he is still limping intermittently but seems a lot more comfortable recently so we will see how it goes........

I also took a couple of pics of a kestrel (unfortunately my camera lens is not quite strong enough to get much detail at this distance, but still worth a look, and also a couple of nice shots of a Great Crested Grebe.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that he continues to improve as I have really missed my walks and although I stopped partially for his benefit and also because I no longer have Kess, I now feel ready to get back to a routine.

Fennel /latest commission

2010-08-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

A bit behind on the blog again, but I have been busy working on commissions, I have finished two Christmas portraits, but unfortunately they cannot be shown yet.
and another commission just finished, this one is a beautiful Bengal cat (a real treat for me as I just love drawing/painting orientals) called Fennel, she is worked in pastels with pastel pencil details on Pastemat paper size 30 x 40cms. I have one more cat to do and then I will be concentrating on my college projects ready to go back in a couple of weeks.

Oskar, finished painting

2010-08-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post, Oskar is now finished. Stretched canvas 12 x12'.

experiment

2010-08-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Thought I would just add this little piece, I had quite a bit of paint left on my palette when clearing up after finishing Oskar this afternoon, so not wanting to waste it I had the idea of mixing it altogether very roughly, painting it onto a page of my water colour journal ( used for experiment/colour testing) and seeing if I could see anything in the resulting paint! Using a few colour pencils this is what I came up with. A very quick (about 30 mins) drawing.......... but it has given me more ideas for my project....watch this space!

more acrylic and another artist.

2010-08-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

I am staying with the acrylics for the time being, I am also working on a commission in pastel, but cannot show that until completion, so in the meantime here is a portrait of my JRT 'Oskar' that I am currently working on. So far I am pleased with his progress, and I am beginning to feel a little more confident with the paint. The biggest problem I have found with this one is getting the colours right, he has several different shades of brown in his coat varying from light yellow tan to a dark red brown! As I normally work in pastels I have not really had to mix colour as such, so this is a new experience, luckily I have lots of photos of 'Oskie' as well as the real thing, so reference material for practice will not be a problem. This also has a less traditional feel than my pastel work, and will be a slightly more contemporary option for my pet portraits. Here is where I am at the moment

Still thinking about my college project I am adding this picture painted by another of my favorite artists Victoria Crowe, she is the second of four artists that I have chosen for my brief. I love the atmosphere of her art, and again symbolism is a major factor in my attraction to her work as well as the

multi layering/elements. My ideas are still very loosely formed at this stage, but will be a continuation of my previous work. I am still thinking about the circle of life, the inevitability of decay and death, but also rebirth in particular as viewed by varied indigenous peoples and religions. The superstitions and myth surrounding certain animals and birds will play a major role and I am interested in the part played by

animals and animal spirits, Shamanism in particular.

This is 'Winter Icon' water colour and mixed media (2009)

Acrylic swan finished?

2010-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well the swan is complete, but I am not sure the water is, so will leave it on the easel for a couple of days and see. Tomorrow I am going to start a new painting, not sure if it will be acrylic yet. I also have a pastel commission on the go, so that should keep me out of trouble for a few days at least.

Thinking ahead to my college project for September

2010-08-02T03:09:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about my inspirations and why it is I am drawn to animals and nature, I am not religious in the conventual sense, but perhaps a little spiritual. I look for magic, I love the beauty in nature, and am in awe of reproduction and the whole circle of life and death. I see beauty in decay and fragility and I think these are areas I will explore further, I have touched on this in my studies so far, in my textiles and ceramic work, but I want to bring these ideas in to my mainstream 2d work. I am required to find 4 major artists that I can identify with and research with the aim of creating a brief for my project, the problem for me is not finding 4 but eliminating the others.

Susan Seddon Boulet

new blog and swan update.

2010-08-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have now added a blog to the website, so although I will continue to update here for a while more in depth content will now be on the new blog
at http://www.geraldineboley.com/page8.htm you can subscribe to the blog via the RSS feed (button on the linked page)
The swan is coming along slowly, after a bit of a hiccup, (on the new blog) and I am hoping to finish it in the next day or so.

swan in acrylics/work in progress

2010-07-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hope I am not tempting fate by blogging this one, but if so it won't be the first one consigned to the bin., and it's all good experience. As my attempts with painting 'kess' In acrylics did not go as well as I had hoped (she is now on her second coat of oils and in the process of drying) I have started another acrylic painting. Thinking that feathers might possibly be easier (?) than fur in paint, I decided on another swan, mainly because I have endless references and also as I have just done a couple in pastels, thought it may prove a little easier!

Anyway this is 3 days in spending a couple of hours a day on it, I am finding that is long enough at one sitting (read standing!) as I am losing concentration after this.

Tess

2010-07-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

As promised another finished commission, this is Tess, once again in Pastel on Fisher paper

I have spent some time on the 'Kess' painting today (oils) and whilst that has now been left to dry, am attempting another acrylic, hoping that if I persevere I will eventually be able to paint!

Commission finished

2010-07-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of two of my current commissions that I have finished, a very pretty little spaniel with odd eyes (as in one blue and one brown).
approx A3 sanded pastel paper

I will be uploading the other one tomorrow once it has been delivered to it's new home.

Art in the Park

2010-07-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of pics of my stand, I kept it small as I was sharing with other artists, but have to admit I did find it quite restrictive. Over all I enjoyed the shows, meeting other artists and the people that came to see our work. I was surprised at quite how much work is involved in preparation and organization. I have learnt quite a bit and this will be very useful for my professional practice studies when I go back to college in September.

Exhibitions

2010-07-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends I have spent exhibiting some of my work with HABA, the Highbridge and Burnham artists. Both went well and I had quite a lot of interest in my pet portraits and also my pastel swans. I sold a few cards, got two definite commissions and My textile tree has found a new home with a lovely lady who has had her eye on it for quite some time. The tree is covered in all its glory on my website, I am posting a couple of pics here for now, until I sort out pics of the exhibition and combined sculpture trail to upload.

update

2010-07-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

I am slipping on the blog again, I just don't seem to find the time !
Well last weekend's little exhibition was a good introduction for me, sharing a gazebo with other artists, as a part of the local 'Picnic in the Park' was not too formal and I had quite a bit of interest in my Pet Portrait Paintings, particularly the one of Maisie that illustrates this blog. I didn't sell anything but all my promotional material went and I had several enquiries, and I am hopeful I may get a couple of commissions. I currently have a bit of a backlog, due to getting ready for the shows, there is another bigger one this weekend, 'Art in the Park' which is totally art orientated so I am looking forward to this one. I have spent the last couple of days printing greeting cards of my work and mounting my acrylic/collage paintings as I am going to add them to my other work to see if they get any interest. am hoping to finish my pencil drawing of the gull and goose, before saturday but am running out of time, so may just put on my website shop.
Here are the four paintings I am in the process of mounting, for the show

Black Swan

2010-07-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

This is the second swan, I was going to call this "Evening Glow" to go with the "Morning Light" but it has turned out differently than I originally planned and I feel has a different character to the first, so here is "Shake a tail feather"

swan /pastel on pastelmat

2010-07-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

Two blogs in one day (thats gotta be a first for me). I was going to leave this one till completion, but as its nearly there, I thought I would post now, in case there are any useful crits etc ;-)

I am hoping to put this one in two small local exhibitions next two weekends, appropriately enough as the ref pic was taken at the local leisure park, where the second of these will be held.
16 x 12 (approx) when mounted

Arni

2010-07-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

Experimentation on the back burner (again) and down to some 'proper' work, one of my latest pieces
a graphite memorial commission, apologies once again for poor picture quality, for some reason, graphite is a pain to photograph accurately

Arni

and with mount

more experimenting

2010-06-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

After my foray into collage and acrylics, I am continuing with the same media, but a little more conventionally with a variation of my more usual (commission) work. I normally work with pencils or pastels and have always been a little afraid of acrylics and oils, although I have done a small amount of water colour in the past. The previous experiments have been put on the back burner for the moment as I wanted to try a portrait in paint. I have previously attempted to create a memorial portrait of my G.S.D. Kess (she had to be p.t.s. nearly two years ago, due to illness) using pastels/pencils etc. but for various reasons I have not completed a picture.
So I am attempting a painting, with a small amount of collage in the form of a quote from John Galsworthy

"Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives."

I am struggling a bit as I am not really sure if I am using the paint correctly, but it is the only way I will learn.......... this is where I am so far, apologies for the poor photography.

I am actually wondering if oils may be better for me, as I am continually adding medium to try and blend and stop the acrylic drying out, but this is the nearest I have ever got to painting a portrait in acrylics (I did do a skull once at college, but that was easier because it didnt have fur and was smooth!) so I am going to see it through to the (hopefully not bitter) end!

Any advice welcome.

2010-06-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

I have just started the summer break from college/uni and although I have some work still to do (commission and small local exhibition entries) as well as sorting out and organising my artists research etc for september, I have taken the opportunity to play with some paint.
I have become increasingly frustrated and dare I say slightly bored with drawing and so wanted to have some freedom (of expression) using a media I have virtually no knowledge of (or control over). Inspired also by our recent visit to Cornwall I thought some landscape work may be a good way to go! As it turned out the results are much more expressionistic than I originally planned and the work evolved into something else............ enough of my waffling, this is one of the pieces I have been working on, I would love to know what peeps think, good or bad..
Click on pics to enlarge

acrylic and collage

Glastonbury Exhibition

2010-05-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take some time out today, and have a break from my latest commission (cant say too much about this one at present, but will post soon) and having finished all my Uni assessments except one that is not due in until after the reading week (half term). We (being me and husband Kev) decided to visit Glastonbury as I wanted to see the art exhibition by three local artists, "Diversity" was a wonderful collection of Pastel, Paint and coloured pencil pieces, I met Pauline and Diana two of the artists and had an enjoyable chat and watched them at work. Well worth a visit at the Glastonbury Galleries if anyone is in the area.

2 down 2 to go!

2010-05-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

This week has been quite hectic and we are only half - way through , but two modules for our summative assessments have now been handed in and we have two more next week, which include a report and Power point presentation and our Life drawing/drawing and research module, roll on this time next week!
As promised a few pics of the 10 week project, there is also an A2 folder of mono prints and my favorite piece, the back -up sketch book, will post pics of these soon.

lightbulb!

2010-05-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

After a several weeks thinking and planning about Symbolism, Romanticism, Pre-raph's etc (just about what you would expect from me, me-thinks) for my summative report at college, I work up early this morning with the realisation of something that had been nagging at me unconciously for a while.
I am not going to do the report on the aforementioned subject matter, but on Dada, Surrealism and Salvador Dali! after doing a powerpoint and writing copious notes, that never saw the light of day earlier in the term, I would be rather stupid to waste them, (even if I did nearly forget about them!)

Our 10 week projects have gone in to be marked and thanks to a very generous fellow student, (thanks Joe)
who took lots of photo's I will put the pictures of mine on blogger very soon ;-)

More Moth book stuff.

2010-04-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

I have spent all weekend pondering my moth ideas, in between working on another spaniel portrait which is not going well due to poor refs.

Last week at college I had the idea of making the main element of the book/moth piece about the shadows (Jung) and of stringing real dried moths on wire (escaping) the book of ashes, and lighting it so as to make a real impact with the shadows of the moths falling across the book.......... over the weekend thinking about the practicalities of this, the limited space, no accessible electricity point (extensions used for any length of time in college is a health and safety no, no, I would need help constructing some sort of black out area, and although friends have offered help I am aware that we are all working to a very short deadline and I don't want to impose.
So...... all this has led me to adapting the idea. There is a beautiful piece of work by Virginia Wolfe called "The Death of the Moth" which has to be read to be appreciated, but it led me to thinking about the inevitability of death and although the moth seems to struggle against it there is no escape.........I think the moths trying to escape from the black book of ashes (death) is still a good idea, but I am going to try and represent their shadows with strands of silk fibre (silk moths?) pulling them back into the pages...... At this moment in time I have no fixed Idea of how or if this will work and also whether I can obtain (cheaply) enough moths.......so may have to make some, whilst thinking about this, another element suggested itself..Imposter moths, but I am not sure that this is worth pursuing at the moment, but who knows another conceptual piece at a later date perhaps?

Back to school and Artist books

2010-04-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

The first week back after the Easter break has gone well. As I had finished my college linked commissions in the time I was home, it means I can now concentrate on the 10 week project (of which I have done very little and have only 3 weeks left) more of that in a bit.
My presentation about my own work, went well and I am becoming aware that my art does actually go a lot deeper than I had thought. Perhaps not as much with the commissioned pet portraits, but even these have my "style" and my own animal portraits in particular "Maisie" reflect a lot more about me than I realised, this is fascinating stuff and I can't wait to see what my colleagues presentations reveal about them and if it confirms what we already know about each other.

The 10 week project is our final piece for the year and part of our summative marking.
I have been thinking about it constantly whilst doing my other work and I have lots of ideas.
I love books, particularly myths, folklore, fairy tales and the like and am also fascinated by the circle of life and death, changes (metamorphosis) etc.
I made a Saggar fired book in my work shops that was not fired in time for the marking, and am now thinking this was a good thing because I can use it in this project, it looks like a pile of ashes, but I think it is very beautiful and has deeper connotations because the original book belonged to my late Father.............. I also have some small bird bones and dried moths, which I may use as they also are very delicate/fragile and beautiful.
I am planning to make a second artist book using silk fibres and materials that I have left over from my previous textile explorations and I want to include my more recent moth etchings, but not the screen printed versions as I feel they lose something when made so much bigger............. I have in mind a concoction of small, fragile and delicate elements of previous living creatures, enclosed and /or escaping in/from the books, and throwing shadows and shapes on the pages (of the Saggar book) so I may need to include some sort of lighting.

Silk rods stripped separated and ironed together

Artie finished and other stuff

2010-04-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well thats Artie done and gone to his owner who was I am very happy to say delighted.
I am pleased that all went comparatively smoothly, but I am becoming more and more frustrated with soft pastels, in the main it is the difficulty keeping them where they are supposed to be and not making smudges and mess elsewhere, I use a mahl (sp?) stick, and gloves but invariably end up in a mess. The supports that are courser grained seem a little better at holding the pastel and I would use fixative but for some reason it always seems to mark the paper as well as the drawing/painting even when I spray very lightly from a great height!

I think the black animals cause the greatest problem as it is so hard to remove the dark smudges from the paper :-(
I have been trying out colour pencils but they dont somehow give me the same sense of satisfaction as the pastel, (for the same reasons that I dislike it, I also enjoy the ability to move it around the support, layer it and change it) I am thinking maybe I will experiment with oil pastels, but as It is back to college this week I am going to have very little time for anything other than course work and I still have 2 commissions to do.

Artie, nearly done

2010-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today's update and Artie is almost done, I need to sort out the collar, tweak a few bits and add some whiskers, then add a mount before he goes off to his owners

Artie not on Fisher paper .

2010-04-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well the original "Artie" has been scrapped due to the problems with the paper already mentioned, I did manage to cover the "spots" with fixative and layers of pastel, but it looked very heavy and "flat" so have treated it as a practice run and started again.
This is on Sennelier Pastel card, not too sure about this surface as it is very course, so am having to work a good under layer before I get the details in. I am in the process of trying out various surfaces in the hope of finding one that I like, without throwing up too much pastel dust. Anyway, here he is so far, some slight variations in colour due to camera.....

Secret World Commission finished

2010-04-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

I have finished and am able to post some pictures of the commission I have been doing for the Secret World Animal rescue centre, in Highbridge, Somerset.
Owned and run by Pauline Kidner, the centre is dependent on donations and fund raising (some wonderful work and events done by the volunteers and friends of the centre, as anyone linked to them on FaceBook will be aware)
A haven for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The animals are taken care of until well enough to be rehabilitated in the wild. I will be adding link to the centre in the next day or so.
The commission was part of my college course for this year, we had to find commissions in the public sector and I chose to approach Pauline, because of my love of animals and nature, the vicinity (not too far from me) and hopefully in part to help with promotion of the centre.
It has taken me a long time to do as it had to be fitted into the course with all the other work, also I had problems trying to fit the details in with pastels, although it is a large piece (A1) the elements in it are smaller so I decided to go with coloured pencil, no biggy for some, but I don't (or should say did'nt) use CP's, so it has been a baptism of fire..............

Artie on Fisher paper (hopefully)

2010-04-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally started something new, It's a black spaniel called Artie, this is a commission within my college course, basically we have to get commissions in the private and public sector and keep a sketchbook/diary to go alongside, this will include proposals, contracts , meetings and client contact etc!

I have decided to use Fisher 400 paper as I am working in pastel, but have already hit a problem, after putting in a loose background I have noticed some little spots that the pastel is not covering, almost looks like fixative has been sprayed onto it. It has been stored for a while but no fixative or similar has been near it, so I am going to put a couple more layers on before I give up and start again! I have some Uart paper on order from the SAA so if all else fails will try that instead, that way I can get some experience with some new papers as I do tend to stick to what I know favouring Murano (smooth side ) for pastel sketches and drawings, and mount board for pastel paintings.

Spring Cleaning!

2010-04-07T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have spent the morning finishing the "Spring cleaning" I started yesterday, could really do with doing some decorating but it will have to wait for the summer break from college, but at least now I have a dedicated "studio" for my art work, and the rest of the house should run more smoothly.
The room is actually a spare bedroom I have taken over, it is a little "girly" but thats because I sometimes have my grand children to stay and this room is shared with Leah 8 ;-)
I like to see artists studios/working spaces, so thought I would post some pics whilst it is (relatively) tidy.

Anyway that aside I am now going to knuckle down and get on with my commission and college work, so pictures soon hopefully

quick update

2010-04-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to post at the moment, have spent the last 24 hours cleaning up my daughters PC, which had a nasty worm on it!!!

Also managed a bit of a tidy up on the website this week, some new pics and pages. The Secret World commission is nearing finish, will be posting soon, so hoping to start on two new commissions (both spaniels, one black, one liver and white) very soon. Also have a cat in the pipeline !

Printing the moth and other stuff

2010-03-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

Last week was a bit hectic to say the least. I had my presentation for the Secret World commission on Thursday, it went well I think, but will have to wait untill after Easter for comments/marks. The commission is finally pulling together, it has taken so long, but has been a huge learning curve. I have a bit of work on the foreground and also may be screen printing the text, so am nearly done, which is just as well as I have some of my own commission work to get on with, as well as a second commission within the college course.

I had great fun Printing on thursday, and whilst demonstrating monotype screen printing with my moth acetate as a template, our tutor forgot to remove the acetate sheet and printed on that instead of the paper!

I rather liked the result, shame it had to be washed off, but I did a couple of nice prints so will post soon.
We are on our Easter break now, but have work to do before we go back, including an assignment/another Powerpoint for our theory studies. This is a larger one than we have done before and is all about analyzing our own work and influences, a bit scary but rather interesting.

update

2010-03-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Busy morning in college today, started off in print, but as my screen (moth) was not ready I was going to watch Gale demonstrating ( I have done a little screen printing , but it's been a while), then Kate suggested I come to sculpture to watch Michelle's small horse bone, casting as it could be useful for my (Saggar, fired) book casting, this was quite interesting and has set a few more ideas off for my book project (or maybe some other stuff later).
I had to finish early as I have no one to let Oskie (my JRT) out at the moment, but have spent the afternoon looking up resources for my moulding and casting, as the book is so fragile (looks like a pile of ashes ;-) ) it is going to need fairly specialist resins etc, and although I have managed to find suppliers, it does look like it is going to be quite expensive! Heres hoping I wont need too much.
Have also made a start on the sketchbook to go with the project and now have an introduction page and some influences and ideas. I am going to leave it as is for the time being because I need to finish the Secret World commission and also a summative (yikes) Power Point presentation for next week, and we have to write a small piece about our weakest areas, for our life drawing assessments next week. Will be glad to get all the "bits " out of the way and really get down to some work on the project!

Printing/Moth

2010-02-26T01:15:00.000-08:00

I will have to either draw a smaller moth or shrink my original drawing on the computer, due to financial restraints at college we are supplied with very small copper plates for etching and my drawing is too big (would have been nice to have known this before I spent so much time on it!). But this is not really a problem as it gives me time to re-assess my final print.

So in the meantime.....I have completed 3 prints (one too light, one too dark and one good) of a soft ground etching on the plate supplied. I created a background on my plate consisting of some scrim and a quarter of a leaf embedded into a ground which is rolled onto the copper, then put through a press, the scrim and leaf is then removed leaving indentations and finally ink rubbed and rolled onto the plate and printed onto damp Somerset paper. This took most of the day to do, but I really enjoyed it and am pleased with the results, will post photos when the prints have dried, they have to be left under pressure until dry to prevent warping.

Next week I will be adding to my plate using Hard Ground Etching, I will probably draw a smaller moth as the detail in the bigger one will be lost on the small prints, but if all goes well I may buy some copper plate and make some larger prints. The drawing can go into my project sketch book as this is all assessed with the final outcome.

I am planning an artist book consisting of prints and stitching on paper, about "shadows" (Jung) and things, under the surface, from the unconscious and archetypes. Until then it is back to the drawing board (commission) and I have to collate all my photos, info etc on all my gallery visits, artist inspiration etc from the last year into one "journal"

Today

2010-02-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Just got in so thought I would make a quick post whilst grabbing a cup of tea before getting dinner.
Today went well, three of my group did presentations and I was reasonably happy with mine, I think maybe I could have put more detail in the actual Power Point (I certainly had enough information in my notes) but on the whole I was happy I covered the brief, and I enjoyed the discussion afterwards on all three, I did mine first as I get a bit nervous and like to get these things out of the way.
Next we had a presentation by visiting artist Fiona Cassidy.
Life drawing was good this afternoon and surprisingly I enjoyed drawing Jane (our female model)in charcoal, more than I did the one of Andrew (ditto male) I did in pencil, I think it maybe that I spend less time worrying about details with charcoal so the whole thing ends up much looser and (relatively speaking) fresher.
So this evening will be spent on my "moth" drawing ready for etching tomorrow, it really should have been done in the "reading week" but I spent most of that on the commission!

I have just finished my Moth so thought I would add it here.....
I rather like how it's turned out, just hope it is suitable for etching tomorrow
It's a death head moth hence the skull patterning on the back

Tues 23 Feb

2010-02-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well it is now 22.00 and I have just about finished my presentation for tomorrow, I decided on the beguiling of Merlin for the thick (aesthetics) and Kandinsky's Accent in Pink painting for the thin, hope I have it right, will know tomorrow that's for sure.

The basic principle for the aesthetics stuff (sorry too tired to remember correct terms;-)) is thick aesthetic art has deeper meaning than the surface values, ie a narrative, story or expression of something. Art with thin aesthetics has no obvious deeper meaning and is taken at face value, ie the beauty of line, form or colour. It sounds very straight forward, but I have had the devil of a time finding something for the thin, as even abstract art very often has deeper or less obvious meanings. Anyway I make no apologies for showing Edward Burne - Jone's version of Nimue's (Vivian) betrayal of Merlin again and also Wassily Kandinsky's Accent in Pink.

checking in

2010-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post as I am becoming rather neglectful of late, thats not to say I have not been doing any art work. I am still working on the coloured pencil commission for my college course, I can't believe how long its taken me so far............admittedly I have scrapped a couple of starts and cannot spend as much time as I would like on it due to all the other bits of the course and real life getting in the way. I am still thinking I have made a huge mistake doing it in pencil not pastel, but did not see how else to get the detail in!
We have just had half term/reading week and once again I haven't managed to finish (or even start) the work we were set as I have spent nearly the whole time on the commission, but did manage to fit in a visit to the Bristol Galleries, which I have to admit to enjoying very much after setting out without much enthusiasm.
So tonight and tomorrow will be spent catching up, I have a Power Point presentation to prepare on Thick and Thin Aesthetics in Artworks which I have looked at but finding it difficult to choose a painting for the thick aesthetics as I love so many, will most likely be something by one of the Pre-Raphaelites, as I just love the style of painting and the romantic and mythological themes, or maybe John William Waterhouse, who in the strictest sense was too late to belong to the P-R brotherhood but painted in a similar style and context, and I do have the most fabulous book about his work ;-)
I also have to do some research and prepare a drawing for etching on thursday (which I am really quite exited about), but again I have some ideas for this as it is to be used in our 10-week projects we are just starting, more information on this in later blog as I don't want to write loads tonight (and I am not sure it makes interesting reading for others) for now i will just add a few paintings I have considered for my presentation
the first is the Beguiling of Merlin (by Vivain, Nimue or Vivienne) by Edward Burne-Jones

and the following three are all by John William Waterhouse

Crystal Ball /skull Lamia

Boreas

Monday

2010-02-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Busy working on SW commission, so not much to post. I have decided to plow/plough? on with the CP version as I have invested so much time in it already, and I think it is looking a little better today. I may take it into college tomorrow for advice...........
Rather a raw wind here and Oskar and Maisie have been in the warm all day, so has been quite companionable working with the two of them in the same room.

Not taken today, but rather apt!

Cat Nap.

barking up the wrong tree?

2010-02-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

No pictures again this morning (hopefully later if light improves today), having a little crisis of confidence at the moment (whats new!) having spent goodness know how many hours on my college commission, which is a piece for a local wildlife sanctury, consisting of two children and various animals in front of a large tree and landscape background, I am not at all happy with it. Possibly something to do with the fact that after several false starts in pastel I decided to attempt it in coloured pencils, a medium I have only dabbled with a couple of times without much success and as its on A1 mount board a tad over ambitious me thinks! The composition is now working and I have put in the sky but am not sure on the lay down, after about 3+ very light layers of pencil it is looking quite smooth, but I still have some white showing through making it look "crayony" and its becoming a little waxy, so I dont think more layers are a good idea, not sure whether to carry on, revert to the pastel one with the composition that I don't like or start another one in pastel but with the new composition!

Tues

2010-02-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Good day at college today managed to finish the 3 textile moths I have been making over the last few days, but forgot my camera so have no pics today (will try to get some soon) have just the evaluations for the 4 workshops to do by tomorrow p.m. and I should be some where near done! Unfortunately my "saggar Book" has not yet been fired and wont be ready for my assessment on thursday, but as this not my fault hoping it won't go against me.
A couple more doll pics as promised for a friend, this was done for my foundation diploma studies last year ..........
Bi-polar doll

I also want to add this photo of one of my daughter's kittens as she is just so pretty, I am hoping to paint/draw her (the cat) at some stage and also her sister who is also very pretty but completely different in colour (will post a pic soon)

2010-01-22T01:09:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update, as I have no new work to post at the moment.
Had an excellent day in Ceramics yesterday, creating a book out of paper pages and clay slip, similar to the method used to make saggar firing kilns, painting each page with slip then drying with a hot air gun. This will now be fired and hopefully become a very fragile book (I have a 20% chance success rate according to Simon our ceramics tutor, so lots of crossed fingers please ;-)) I will then use more clay and/or textiles to make further additions, consisting of moths and/or butterflies.
I spent the whole day doing this and expected it to be quite boring, but have to say I really enjoyed the process even if I did take more clay slip home on my clothes and person than I left in the studio! and if doesn't work this time I am quite prepared to try again ;-)
Tidying up my digital photo library I came across a couple of my cloth doll pics, so thought I would post them here as due to changes they are no longer on my (new) website. The second (clown) was made from a pattern, designed by Jill Maas

Ideas for Ceramics

2010-01-18T00:44:00.000-08:00

I started my ceramics workshop last week, having lost a week already due to the weather I am very aware that I only have 2 weeks now to do my project. I have an idea about making a clay book, as perfect and beautiful on the outside as I can get it, but with "things" stuck, squashed or crawling between some pages.
Originally I was thinking of maybe a small "dead" bird or creature, but think the feasibility of actually being able to find or create this is limited, so am now thinking along the lines of a broken (wings) fairy, not a pretty fay type, but something a little edgy, this would tie in quite neatly to my sculpture project, which partly consisted of casting an ornament of a fairy on a ball which turned out with varying degrees of success and as usual I preferred the broken versions ie minus feet, bits of wing etc. Hopefully this project will symbolize the outward idea of striving for perfection and "good" the other "stuff" inside is imperfect, or "bad" (or just human?) - broken fantasy (dream) fairy tale and magic, escapism in reading. Hope this makes sense ;-)
will add some pics of sculpture/3d up soon

oh well "so little time, so much to do"

Sunday

2010-01-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

Well I intended to work on my Secret World (college project) commission this weekend, but as usual things have not gone to plan and I have managed about an hour on it so far! I have been looking after Leah 8 and Sam 2 (my GC) this morning and after watching Polar Express (a little later than I originally intended!!) we did some drawing on big pieces of paper on the floor and I showed leah how to do indenting and relief with oil pastel under coloured pencil which she loved.

I was searching through some old Photo-Bucket photos trying to find some pics I had put up of Kara's (Leah and sammy's mum, and my daughter) two cats a couple of years ago, as leah wanted to print them for her " all about me " box she is doing for a school project, when I came across this small (A4) pastel I did for my sister's partner who is Austrian, and thought I would post it.

I remember thinking at the time that landscape was not my forte', but looking at it now it doesen't seem so bad! The composition is a bit "iffy" but I do think there may well be something in the idea of leaving work you are not happy with for a while (Ok, maybe not a year +) and coming back to it!

On another note I have found more artists to add to my ever growing list of inspirations and influences. When Kev (husband) and I went to Edinburgh at Christmas we visited amongst others the Scottish National Gallery (much to his delight !) I was really taken by a series of very large Embroideries

by Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936)

Traquair was on of the most accomplished artists of the Arts and Crafts movement (which we have just covered at college) and her work is very appealing to me as I have dabbled with textile and needlework as well as being very inspired by the style of her artwork, feeling very similar to Mucha,and even Klimt in the more ornate pieces.

So upon investigation, on Amazon I discovered a very nice little paperback (which I have ordered) and also came across "Doves and Dreams" a book about the lives and careers of Frances Macdonald (1873-1921), sister of Margaret Macdonald, and J. Herbert McNair (1868-1955), the two artists who have hitherto been considered as adjuncts to the Mackintoshes, (The Glasgow four),

the blurb on Amazon quotes

"Doves and Dreams" will spotlight the achievements of two remarkable artists: McNair, the innovator and inspira

tional teacher, and Macdonald, an exceptional talent who produced some of the most remarkable symbolist watercolours of the twentieth century. The original book was rather expensive but luckily I found a second-hand version at about half the price! don't you just love Amazon ;-)

Snow Show 2010

2010-01-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Not many of us managed to get into college today, but those that did were put to the task of creating a blog with a show of snow around the campus....................so thought I would add a few here to show how hard we worked!

not so much The Terracotta Army more a little snow patrol!

snow show Joe

and of course this would not be complete without the inevitable snow ball fight

and some pretty pictures.........

Christmas Commission/

2010-01-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

Could not post this before as it was a surprise for my clients husband, but have had an email to say he was delighted with his "girls", so thought I would update. Not a brilliant photo due to lighting and reflections.........

2009-10-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry I am not managing to post very often, just about keeping on top of things, have thankfully finished my last pet portrait for a while, will post after Christmas as I don't want to risk spoiling my clients surprise (not likely but you never know!)

In between coursework I am trying to do some of my own stuff (art) without much success but did manage a couple of pencil sketches/drawings, this is one I did in the wee small hours, after not being able to sleep (would love a switch to turn off over active brain!!!!)

This is Sammy my little grandson in a not too typical pose as he is normally a sunny little character, but I did find this pic very interesting to draw, I do not do a lot of human portraits but found this a perfect de-stresser (is that a word?)

2009-10-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Well today I have managed to work some on my Christmas commission, sorry can't show it yet, but hopefully will at Christmas. Also have one confirmed and one possible commission for my college project, have two unanswered offers (the project requires us to gain commissions in the public and private sectors) so they will be almost certainly no go's now, as I won't have time for more.

Have updated my portfolio, worked some more on my ICT (film and video) project, mainly research and writing up. A quick clean up after the weekend (we had our two grandchildren Leah 8, and Sam 2, to stay) am now about to cook dinner and tonight will be spent working out how to use and getting ready the college video camera for filming when I walk Oskar in the morning, before I leave ! The project has a theme of duality and I have come up with the idea of the local environment being overshadowed by a Nuclear Power station, and need to get some more film (my little camera doesent have the required quality of film for editing) and also some sounds of birds etc, and the throb and hum of industry, will visit the power station for the second time at the weekend but have to get sounds from elsewhere in the meantime, and then try to fit in learning something about Final Cut (film editing prog) as I dont have the program on my computer, and will be using it for the editing!

2009-09-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Weird day today, after really bad night with strange dreams, and little sleep, most likely due to sore throat/chest infection, me and husband have managed to pick up, I did not think `I would be doing much in the way of art.' My commission is still on the easel untouched, but looking at a picc of my Late G.S.D girl Kess, who was pts, almost a year ago, I suddenly had the urge to draw her, something I have been planning for months but have been unable to face.....(is this what they call the "muse"?)

my printer isnt working properly , so bringing the main computer down from upstairs (my laptop is useless for drawing from) its a MAC so not the massive task that it sounds like!

I started with an eye and have just carried on........ no pre drawing just this urgent need to get her on paper!!!!! I used the first paper I found that was the right colour, feels like sandpaper, I had put this away for experiments some time......and this is the result so far.....and it is her, even down to her odd gaze due to a fixed retina from birth... I have run out of steam and am looking after my grandson later so have to clear away, and may or may not finish this, but it feels good to have started......

some thing different

2009-09-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have a surprise Christmas Portrait to start, (a bit early , but am back at college next week so won't have much time for commission work then. ) so won't be showing it on here.

I have been playing around with acrylic and also oil pastels, the former still not going where I want it too, the latter looks promising.

This is acrylics and soft pastels on heavy watercolour paper

Maisie finished

2009-08-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well I think I am done with this one now, will leave it on my board for a few days, in case I need to tweak it here and there, but as I don't want too much detail in the tree/leaves to distract from the cat I will resist the urge to fiddle. As you can see Maisie herself was very impressed by the whole procedure!

Today's update

2009-08-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

I have adjusted the nose, and now need to alter the mouth area. Her colours are not correct in the photo, due to lighting and tree/leaf shadows, so am now working from Maisie herself, while she lies asleep on the sofa!! Her underneath and legs in particular are a much creamy colour than in the pic and her markings vary from a very dark sepia to a true black.

Update on Maisie picture

2009-08-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

This one is beginning to turn into a real labour of love (a labour anyway!)

Slow going today, but have made quite a bit of headway, I am getting a little concerned about the nose mouth area as it is "not quite her" so thought I would get the up date on here, and finish for today, then compare with the photos at the same size as the portrait to check on the positioning etc.

I have tried turning it upside down and in the mirror but so far no help, Hopefully a fresh start tomorrow will show me the error/s in the drawing. Anyway here is where we are at!

Afraid the photos are a little dull due to lighting (we have rain again!)

2009-08-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

Have progressed some, and I think this is going where I want.

Her face needs some adjusting around the nose area but I will do it as I get to it.

2009-08-19T01:42:00.001-07:00

A bit late starting my latest project, as real life keeps getting in the way, including an accident with a coffee table this morning, that means at least another hour or so to try and fix it! So thought I would post where I am at......

This is a personal portrait of my cat Maisie in her favorite tree, an old Bramley at the bottom of our garden.

I am using the reference photo mainly just for composition, and will adapt the colours to my liking and also to her true colour as the tree shadows make her look greeny/grey as opposed to the creamy /sepia/grey that she really is, and as its my cat, my tree and my picture I can have it anyway I like ;-)

I have spent a couple of days trying to decide what medium/support to use, as I want to give Coloured pencils another go, but I have decided to play safe and use pastels and pastel pencils for this one as it has elements in the picture that I don't usually draw/paint (namely everything except the cat!) and also I would like it to be hung near my portrait of Oskar (my J.R.T) which I did a while ago, also in pastels on mount board (its the one of him sat on a wooden chair on the website)

As the mount board is a grey/brown I have transferred my drawing using white graphite so that I can see it, my main worry at the moment is that the trunk of the tree doesent over power the cat, I originally planned on just a wash of soft pastels suggesting them, but it did not really work so have gone in with stronger colours and a little detail.

My normal way of working in pastels is to underpaint the whole thing with soft pastel and then build layers with increasingly hard pastels, finishing with pastel pencils for details, but I have deviated from this as I want to get the trees in first, so that I can then judge the values for the cat! Anyway enough waffle for now, will update soon.

BUSTER/FINISHED/adjustments made

2009-08-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

or NOT AS THE CASE MAY BE !

2009-08-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Have been looking at this all day as I can see something is "off" and have just realised I have committed the cardinal sin of rendering what I think I see instead of what is actually there.

I had problems with the far front leg and now realise why, the near front foot is too big! so correction is in order.

BUSTER/FINISHED

2009-08-10T07:02:00.001-07:00

Pretty much done, but Buster will be left upright on my drawing table for a couple of days in case there is anything that needs doing, then he will be placed in a mount ready to give to his owners. I am not sure why I can't seem to get a good clear pic, without the "foggyness"around the leg and foot, might be the poor light as once again it is raining.

Buster update

2009-08-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Thought I had better show that I have been doing some work, I have had a few problems with the far, front leg, due to my poor photography it doesn't really show well on photos , that will teach me to be more careful picking refs, I have just realised that the batch of photos I took of Maisie in the Apple tree make her look rather green too...... but will have to cross that when I get to it, maybe some more pics with a different background, I could just sketch her in the tree, IF she stayed still long enough!!!!

Buster is nearly finished, we have a wedding to attend tomorrow and sunday is "family/grandchildren" day so Hopefully will get to finish him off next week.

Buster update

2009-08-05T12:33:00.001-07:00

still looking a bit rough but

the layers are going down well,

hoping to smooth out

and get some detail in tomorrow

BUSTER/TERRIER

2009-08-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

After transferring my initial drawing

to mount board (cream), Buster has been blocked in
with soft pastels, this looks a bit odd to begin with as the colours tend to be rough and patchy.

Further layers are built up and refined, the top layers in pastel pencils to provide fineness of line and affording more control.

I normally work from top left to bottom right, covering the work with layout paper as I go to avoid smudging.

I have started to work on some of the head and neck detail, and will work down through the body, to legs and feet.

BANKSY EXHIBITION

2009-08-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I spent a very interesting day at the Bristol museum, as Bristol is barely an hour away from us, we really felt that we could not miss the Banksy Exhibition, especially as we have seen and heard so much of the hype surrounding it!

After queuing for over two hours, we decided to have some lunch before browsing the museum (I am ashamed to say it is the first time we have visited it) and enjoyed many of the exhibits that are on display in addition to Banksy. Some very beautiful traditional paintings including some pre-Raphaelite work (my favorite along with art Nouveau/Deco) Paintings by local artists, as well as Ceramics, pottery, glass, Egyptian carvings, sarcophagus's, Dinosaur fossils, wildlife etc

August 1 09

2009-08-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Another wet summer day! Maisie our Bengal cat is driving us nuts with her too-ing and fro-ing from back door to front door, hoping that the weather has improved between each journey I presume! Her favorite spot is an old Bramley down the bottom of the garden, not so inviting when dripping with rain!

Joey has been delivered and well received, and now resides on the graphite page of my website.

July 09

2009-07-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

The last day of the month finds me about to start a new dog portrait, Having just finished two portraits of one dog (a memorial for a boxer dog) working from the same photograph, head alone /full body in graphite, I am ready for a change of mood and medium.

This next picture is not a commission as such but a thank you gift for my lovely friends and neighbours Sally and Paul who keep a check on my two, Maisie (Bengal cat) and Oskar (JRT) when I am not at home.

The portrait is a full body pastel painting of Buster their tri-coloured JRT, quite a bit larger than my Oskar, this dog is full of character and spirit and I am looking forward to creating this picture