Laura

So long since I last posted!

I can't believe how long its been since I last posted! And have I been busy in that time? Well, probably not in comparison with some, but a new job has taken my concentration for the last three weeks or so until this morning, when I realised how much I'd missed picking up a pencil or a stick of pastel!

So when a very hungry cat woke me up this morning at half past six and as I obviously wasnt going to be allowed to go back to sleep until I remedied her rumbly tummy, I decided to stay out of my lovely warm bed and get cracking.
This was the result.

A2 orange cartridge paper, pastel, charcoal, coloured pencils, markers & ink.

I'm still working on the abstract theme for my OCA project and this piece started well with the irises but rapidly moved away from anything remotely looking abstract!

I beginning to understand that this tendancy to wander off course is my biggest challenge, to keep my work in as abstract a format as possible as I progress through every stage of the drawing. I get so involved and carried away as I'm working that I forget my original intentions, and considering I've spent the last 18 months trying to produce as realistic a piece of work as possible, its proving very difficult to 'retrain' myself.

But I havent really been totally 'artless' during the last few weeks. Here are some of the sketches that I've been playing around with.

I love this. I felt so pleased with myself for having got the perspective so very nearly right! And I just love the heaviness of the grey pencil/pastel lines with the added touches of skin toned pastel and brown highlights in her hair.

This is probably one my favourites. I think it has a good sense of solidity and the pale highlights really suggest light from an unseen light source coming from the left side of the figure.

And this is just another sketch which I find very pleasing to look at. I think it has something to do with the dip in her waistline and shape of her bottom!

Updated abstract

My second abstract attempt and I'm very pleased with how this has come out. I'm still a bit undecided as to whether this is totally finished so I'm going to put it away for a few days. Hopefully when I come back to it I'll find I'll know whether to keep working on it or not!

My first abstract, finished. Unfortunately I find I'm not so pleased with this as I was originally, but I still enjoyed doing it, which is of course the main point!

New materials and my first abstract

Its ages since I last posted and so much has been going on! I know I should have posted long before now but a trip South to see my sister has taken much of that time up. I had a fantastic time, a day out to Merriments Gardens, a fabulous birthday meal and of course a trip to the art shop in Tunbridge Wells to spend my birthday money! I couldnt have asked for a better time!

And now its back home and time to concentrate on some drawing.

Its ages since I did something I really like and enjoy doing and this is it.

Done on red cartridge paper with pastel and black ink. Obviously its a long way from finished but I am just loving the colours ......my new pastels are great! Unfortunately my camera hasnt taken the best picture, the colours in reality are much, much sharper and brighter, but I'll try to get a better image when I take the next shots. Initial thoughts would be welcome!

I also promise the next time I post I will make sure I have more time and can do justice to my recent trip, new purchases and some sample paper which Derek Jones very kindly posted to me.

Herbs

I saw this cute little Herb Box for 50p at a car boot a few weeks ago and having bought some seeds a few days later, I thought I'd go ahead and get it planted. Seeds never cease to amaze me, such a simple thing but so much energy and life packed into the tiniest of things!

Its a dreary day today, rain is in the air... but my garden desperately needs it, so I'm not complaining. I just look at the seedlings on my kitchen windowsill! If I can't be outside, then its time to get some paper out and start drawing.

Have a great day!

Catch Up

At last I'm back on line. Apologies for my silence but I was unexpectedly unable to access the internet due to service provider problems. Isnt it amazing how quickly we get attached to technology? And I was surprised at how much I missed blogging, reading my emails and generally using the internet.

So to keep busy I've been spending my normal internet time in my garden instead and I'm really pleased with how its coming along. When I moved in to my flat just over a year ago the garden was a tip (literally!) but is now looking almost civilised. I've managed to get most of my pots filled with various flowers for the summer, I've planted some sweatpeas and a few other bits and pieces and made a good start on my veggie garden. I've planted some radish, lettuce and beetroot seeds. I've also put in some artichokes, courgette and tomato plants and the peas are well on their way to producing a fine crop. I'm also really pleased to see that my Bonsai tree has survived the winter (I forgot to find a friendly greenhouse to winter it in and thought I'd killed it off in the cold weather we had)

Above: The view down into my garden from my flat window

I've also been trying to get some more drawing done but I'm dissappointed still to find I'm still hitting all sorts of walls. In an effort to draw something enjoyable and therefore refind some confidence, I did this piece in pastel. Now I'm not really a 'flower' sort of person (those of you who know me will testify to that I'm sure!) but I dont find flowers very difficult and although I'm sure this could have been better, it was only a bit of therapy for me.

This is A2 in size, pastel on a pale lime green sugar paper. I found my existing supply of pastels very limiting and will hopefully put this right at the weekend. I hope to buy a set of 36 Sennelier assorted pastels as well as some Conte and some new types of paper. I do like the Sennelier pastels but they dont last long! I need to start experimenting with different papers and makes of medium. Thats assuming I can find my 'drawing abilities' again!

I did this at the figure drawing group I sometimes go to. This is an untutored group and its fun but sometimes frustrating for me. I made myself slow down during this session, in all about 2 hours of drawing, but theres things about this that I really dont like (although I've been told that I am definitely getting better) but as yet I cant identify what it is that I dont like about it. This is a pencil and coloured pencil drawing on A2 cartridge paper. How I see the drawing in my head is miles away from what comes out! Still, I'm stubborn so I'll keep trying.

Back to some art at last!

It seems like an age since I last blogged some of my art work (at least anything that I am pleased with anyway!)

So here is my latest....something I've been working on for the last few days. I think its finished, although the next few days will show up anything I've missed whilst I've been working on it or anything I want to change.

This is done for an OCA assignment 'Figures in an Interior' in mixed media and I've used pastel and dip pen & ink on grey paper.

This is a totally different style for me and on the whole I really like the end result. My initial intention was to draw this in a much loser style than my normal and although I've achieved it to some degree, its not as much as I initially wanted.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on this, the style, composition and any other ideas you get when you look at it.

Barnsdale Gardens

Another glorious day drove me outside again, this time for a leasurely drive over to Barnsdale Gardens near Oakham in the county of Rutland. Perhaps you've been yourself but for those that havent, Barnsdale Gardens was the dream garden of Geoff Hamilton.

He bought Barnsdale in 1984 with approx 5 acres of land, of which most was laid to pasture, so he asked a local farmer to plough most of it up and after planting one or two mature trees and shrubs, he set about on the first garden project for the BBC's TV program Gardeners World.

Over the years the gardens have been developed into seperate small segments, each with their own theme, like the Town Paradise Garden, the Cottage Garden, the Japanese Garden and many more, in fact neary 40 themed areas!

It was another lovely spring day and seeing all the blossom and plants well and truly waking up definitely made my trip worth while.

Latest OCA work

My most recent OCA assignment has been to create 3, A4 sized pictures from a sketch in my sketch book. All to be done in mixed media, or rather using a combination of dip pen & ink, pastels, markers or coloured pencils.

It has been an interesting exercise so I thought I'd share it with you.

This one of the flowers in a blue jug is my favourite! Done in pastels with dip pen & ink.

This was done in pastels and markers

And this was done in markers and dip pen & ink

An inspiring and peaceful day at Burghley

What a glorious day its been! From the moment I got up this morning the sun has been singing out its colours and I decided instantly that it was just too tempting to stay indoors. So I drove over to Stamford in Lincolnshire to Burghley House to wander around and soak up the warm spring day.

I've been inside Burghley House quite a few times and being indoors wasnt on my agenda today, so I headed straight to the spectacular Sculpture Gardens and the new Garden of Surprises. I've seen bits of this new garden on the TV and I wasnt dissappointed. The whole garden is full of troughs of water, fountains, curtains of water and generally its the ideal paradise for small children, who are actively encouraged to don swinsuits and play in the water spouts, wander through a mirror maze, touch everything and generally have a great time.

But my real aim was the Sculpture Garden and I'd been told they've been adding a great deal more sculptures so I was keen to get in and explore. I wasnt dissappointed either, along with the old favourites, there were some very interesting new ones, as well as ones that are more difficult to interpret!

I spent a good couple of hours meandering aimlessly about, totally engrossed in the sculptures, of which there must be over 50, most of which are very obvious but occassionally spotting one hidden away.

I've never had more than a passing interest in sculpture, although occassionally I'll see something that has more than average appeal, but its not something that holds great sway over me.

I then spent some time ambling around in the South Garden, normally closed and the private domain of the the Rock family who live at Burghley.

I had a lovely day, sunburn included (poor ol' skin, even with sun block on, its burns so quickly!) and got some nice pictures and a few sketches as well.

Snake's Head Fritillary - a spectacular display

A trip to the seaside.....

Yesterday found me in Sunny Huni......aka Hunstanton (and not so sunny as it turned out!) This visit had been planned for several weeks and one which I'd been anticpating with enthusiasm because I havent been on a beach for literally years.

I wasnt to be dissappointed.
My day started as I picked up a friend and her 12 year old son and then a leasurely drive with much laughter, finally arriving and parking up in Hunstanton.

Not long after making our way down to the shore line and savouring those first magical smells of the sea, we found ourselves being cajouled into visiting the Sea Life Sanctuary, a birthday treat for a certain young person, and peering with fascination and intense curiosity into large tanks full of weird and wonderful creatures! We oohed and ahhed over the otters, seals and penguins....well actually the penguins were a bit smelly so the appropriate noises werent very complimentary!

Having had more than enough of the weird and wonderful we eventually made our way back into the day light and sauntered our way along the prom and up in to Hunstanton High Street, casually making our way to a plate of the best fish and chips ever at Fishers of Hunstanton restaurant!

....Now feeling considerably heavier and rather bloated, we finally got our walk along the sand as the sea withdrew on the receding tide. Although it was windy, and there was certainly a nip in the air, it was so invigourating! I hadnt realised how much I missed the sea and the beach, but its very true.
We walked for about a mile, right up to the multi-coloured cliffs,
which are a real sight to see......
"They show an amazing slice of Britain’s history over many million years. Here is the geology - White Chalk from the Upper Cretaceous era forms the top layer, followed by a layer of limestone, known as red chalk from the Lower Cretaceous period formed over a period of 15 million years and finally beneath is grey/green Carstone. As both the red and white chalk contains fossils the beach below is a magnet for keen fossil hunters."
information taken from:
http://www.tournorfolk.co.uk/hunstanton.html)

During our walk on the beach and with lots of splashing in various rock pools along the way, I collected a load of mussel shells......I have the idea of making a wind chime out of them for my bathroom.

You see I've got an old wind chime thats seen better days but I dont really want to throw it way. So I came up with the idea to re-use the small metal chimes off it, varnish my shells and re-hang them, although I will need to source a small metal hoop first. I'll let you know how I get on with it....assuming I ever get started that is!
After an obligatory visit to the fun fair and two rides later, we rounded the day off with a quick visit to Hunstanton Lighthouse, which dates back to 1844 and was in operation until 1922, although the first lighthouse was built on this site in 1666. Next to the lighthouse are the remains of St Edmund's Chapel, which dates back to 1272 and conveniently makes a nice surround to my photograph!

Unfortunately we didnt have enough time to walk up to Old Hunstanton where there are some wonderfully coloured beach huts and some of the best (and blissfully quiet) beaches along this part of the Norfolk coast. It was getting cold, the wind was starting to get the best of us, so we headed home.

I had a lovely time, definitey a day to remember,

and my photo album has already been updated with some great shots!

Finished!

I've finished my dressing gown! Quite an achievement for me...I've never tried to make clothes before.

I'm really pleased with it, fits well and still in love with the pattern!

Trip to Ikea

Yesterday found me and a friend at Ikea in Milton Keynes. I went to Ikea in Nottingham many years ago, but the one at Milton Keynes is massive in comparison and of course being a bank holiday it was typically packed with people.

But we were not to be deterred! And we had a great time, so much to look at, touch and exclaim over. Going to Ikea is such a different experience with instructions on the wall in the entrance to explain 'How to shop at Ikea', a creche for the kids and all sorts of other novelty extras, and I found I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but truthfully it didnt take me long to get into the swing of things.

Strangely I didnt have a huge shopping list (this amazed me considerably!), just a few little things for my flat, but for this visit my top priority was to look at the material that Ikea sell. I hadnt realised they sell it uncut and you can buy as many metres you need and at very reasonable prices too.

I couldnt resist the patterns on offer!

I plan to use the orange and pink patterned material for a summer dressing gown/robe and the small flower material is actually a duvet cover set I bought. I havent quite decided what to use the brown and white bird material for but I loved it so bought 2 metres of it. Perhaps you can suggest something? Otherwise I think it may just end up as cushion covers if my imagination doesnt kick in soon!

I made a start on the dressing gown this afternoon, in fact I hope to have it finished tomorrow, so I'll post a picture of it if it turns out the way I hope it does!

Recent sketch book stuff

A working figure in coloured pencils

This is my last OCA project in coloured pencils before I move onto the last stage and start working in mixed media. I dont think I'll be very sorry to say goodbye to the pencils, I've found them limited (and mine constantly keep breaking!) and the overall effect is somewhat subdued in comparison to ink, markers or pastels. I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me and indeed those who can make the pencils work so much more effectively than I've been able to, however having said that I have enjoyed working on this assignment.

I've been having problems keeping up with my sketchbook work. This last project has shown me that I'm just lacking in 'book' discipline and in fact most of my sketching is done without thought, on loose sheets of paper. And of course it really makes absolutely no difference whether its in a bound book or on bits of paper. A bit disorganised perhaps, but the end result is the same. So I'm going to stop worrying about drawing specifically in my sketchbook and concentrate on just getting the sketches done, in or on whatever I want!