Where angels fear to tread

What's happened to Summer? I'm not feeling the love for this mediocre weather. I operate best in tropical temperatures. A valid reason for migrating south, me thinks.

Last few days I have been trying to finish up a couple of works. I like to have a few things on the go, so I don't waste time waiting for things to dry.....the down side is it takes ages to finalise a piece ! Wanting to get a  semblance of sea spay without having to use minute brush strokes.....In comes an old tooth brush in true 'Blue Peter' style. (I'm sure I gave a Tracy Island the same treatment!) to splatter some colour about. Obviously areas not wanting to be paint covered needed a covering of newspaper and masking tape. (It's a pity I didn't think of moving/covering my laptop too..Hmm). Anyway a face full of paint and a studio resembling an 'after Jackson Pollock' on a mushroom trip later...here are the results.

Having the attention span of a flea, I also have to keep changing the size of my canvas and techniques used.....lest I get bored. I quite like using these small 12"x12" boards, it requires a different mind set to working on large canvases. I'm going to screw the boards onto paint washed panels as before.

I love this image, below, captured one evening on St Martins. This guy was emptying crab shells into water, when out of nowhere a flock of  shite hawks, as they are endearingly referred to on the Scilly's, appeared. I wasn't quick enough to capture the initial onslaught, but I like it anyway.

It brings me to mind of how seemingly accidental meetings or incidents can prove to be, just the situation you had been looking for. Instead of trying to control a situation to fit in with what we think we want or need (although I do appreciate that at times we need to) and instead, be open to whatever happens along. Allowing instinct to play an important role and go where angels fear to tread. A bit like instinctively reaching behind your head for a pillow in the night.  Anyway this was just one of a few bizarre encounters I had whilst on these lovely islands, and I'm sure because my mind was open, I was able to see the specialness of a fleeting moment.

So initial pencil drawing, changing the position of a few of the gulls for artistic licence! Not sure how I'm going to treat this yet, but will probably start by laying down some colour washes and go from there.

Between times

Exciting news....Green Pebble have just come back to me with the images they have provisionally selected for greetings cards (above). Woop woop ! They look great, so hope all goes to plan and they will be for sale in art galleries and shops some time soon.

The original fishy ones are currently hanging in The Treble Tile restaurant, West Bergholt.

Slow work in the studio. I'm still formulating ideas and dong lots of sketchy work. It will come in time, it can't be rushed. At the moment my job is to just turn up and sometime time soon the ideas will come together!

A bit like the tiny spider in my tent. 

Notes from Monday 20th June:

'Bardo' a Tibetan word meaning between. Between life and death, death and life. Mist so thick I can't see the Off islands. A hot Cornish pasty from the Deli, steaming and sweet. Clang, clang of the Bouy out at sea. Myriad raindrops on my tent roof. A tiny spider above my head, busying herself making a web. Teasing out the silk, attaching it to the fabric, running out a long line to the other side, methodically wrapping it round and round. She waits patiently, legs spread out over the web, feeling the tension. Waiting...... in bardo..... 1 hr, then 2. The tent rocks in the storm and part of the web comes loose, she scurries to mend the tear. Small flies venture close, but not close enough. She waits, not knowing tomorrow I shall be moving and likely she will die as I bag up my tent. Her life, and mine, is in this moment. Now.

'Meditation is like doing nothing, looking at nothing in particular. Relishing the plainness, the life in between' John Tarrant

Lessons learned

Green Pebble   Art magazine for East Anglia had asked me to submit some images of my work for greetings cards. Yesterday I started to gather the images they asked for from the recesses of my laptop, only to find ..shock, horror....I had deleted the originals...Argh! In my enthusiasm to clear up my computer a few months ago, of all the detritus, They must have been in a folder hidden away. Blimey, what a nuisance. This means I only have copies of much reduced image size to offer. Will just have to wait and see if they are good enough to go to print. *Note to self* Be more organised !!!

This series of works based on my stay on the Scilly Isles, will, I think, take the shape of a diary or sketch book. Notes of thoughts, snippets of ideas, the things that caught my attention, day dreams. A box of sea urchin shells, a stone balancing in the evening sun, a view through the sand dunes as I lay on my tummy., a tangle of seaweed. Today, making a start, I've used very watery paint and scribbled with pen. Letting it dry and will continue tomorrow.

A red thread runs through my life

Well, I'm back ! What an amazing time I had. The Scilly Isles are beautiful and inspiring, the time on my own meant I was able to focus on details. The smallness of things we take for granted and how everything pulls together to make this a beautiful planet. I took over 600 photos ! It will take me some time to sift through them all. Not only do they evoke memories of a moment but they are also a useful 'sketch book'. I don't bother to take a set of paints any more, finding a camera a more instant and useful tool. 

I became obsessed with the ever changing sky, the glistening sands which look like some one has spilled a pot of glitter on it, my shadow, the worn and peeling paint on doors and boats, the balancing of stones, and in my final week a bizarre encounter with two very lovely people.

I think it was Picasso who said 'Without great stillness, there is no great creativity'. How true. It's not until we stop, stop moving, stop talking that we start to notice the things in between. The detail.

My tent became the focus of my first week. The sky was changeable, cold and dark, sunny and bright, and although I walked my socks off, there were times when I sat out the showers in my tent! Counting raindrops, watching a spider make and remake its tiny web. 

I did much stone balancing, which wasn't easy in the wind! Most of them didn't balance long enough for me to take a pic..but no matter that wasn't really the point.

Peeling paint always holds a fascination for me....I lurve shabby chic!!

The changing skies were amazing and I have many photos of chocolate boxy sunsets. Not something I would ever make a painting out of , but as a reference for colour...essential.

I'm not sure yet how all this will be interpreted into some art works, and I expect it will take a little time for it all to filter through. I wrote a sort of a diary and I may concentrate on making a series of paintings that have the feel of a diary. Snippets of a day in words colours and feelings....Oooh exciting!

Just take the next step.

I watched a film last night, 'The Way Back', about the arduous trek out of Russia, through Mongolia, China, and Tibet into India by a group of escapees from a Siberian gulag. Most of them didn't make it. But along the way they all learnt a lot about themselves through the hardships they endured. In order to get through the ordeal, they just took the next step. Step, step, step.

By the time you read this I will be on my own trek, on a 3 week retreat. Not a sesshin with others, but on my own, in a tent, on an island. I don't know what I expect, nothing, I hope. I'm not looking for anything, just time on my own, making a little space inside.

I have packed and re-packed the bag, it's still too heavy, but there's not much else I can leave behind. I've un-cluttered my head, sent all the emails I need to, nothing to worry about,......Catchya in July.

Step, step, step, step, step,step.

The only way is Essex

All is quiet in the studio this week, I've had a truck load of other things to do. I did, however finish the large board,along with seagulls to go on the hoarding at Brightlingsea Marina. It hasn't been put up yet so am unable to show it in situ.

In 10 days I'm off on my travels. My large bag is organised ish with all the paraphernalia needed for almost a month away from home on a camping trip. I think this may well turn out to be an exercise in endurance and how to pare one's life down to the bare essentials! Anyway I'm well excited.

I've prepared 5 boards for my return, so that I can get cracking with all the ideas that I'm sure will be bubbling to the surface. Full of light and sounds and smells of the sea, I hope my paintings will reflect the experience.

As there is a lack of art work to show this week, I'll post some photos taken today as Tilly and I strolled the half a mile down to the river.

Contrary to popular belief Essex is a lovely place to live. The sunshine coast. Maybe Saaaff End is not quite so picturesque but there is certainly a beauty in the more bleak lanscape in the south of the county. Here we are in the 'North', in much revered 'Constable Country' I hate that title but I suppose it gives an idea of what to expect! 

Looking longingly over the river to Suffolk.

Behind, the steep incline up to the church and Hall, (where we lived many moons ago, and where no 2 child was born. We now live on the Farm just behind that) Norfolk eat your heart out. I'm pretty sure this is the highest point in Essex.....could be wrong though!

I think the black smudge is the blinkin horse fly that had followed me all the way down the hill.....What a lovely June day it is.....PS On closer inspection....it's a damsel fly !

I'll be back some time in July......toodle pip.

Tender

A couple of jobs needed doing today.....finish the small painting on wood I started the other day, and to start something on a 4'x 4' board, destined for Brightlingsea Marina. There is an expanse of hoarding there, needing covering. Local artists have been invited to do their stuff.

All done.

 It was difficult for me to decide what to paint on this large board. Other pictures already in situ are beautifully colourful and wide ranging subject matter. from a Mexican style desert view, bathing beauties and abstract flowers  I wanted to do something of a local theme but really wasn't too sure until I started. I have employed usual techniques using a mix of collage, house paint and acrylic.

 The boat and beach huts in the distance are newsprint and tissue.

 The colours are not showing up too well in the photo. The boat has a good dash of vivid green and yellow

Time flew. It took me about 5 hrs to get to this point. Had to stop as the colours were beginning to muddy up. So I've left it until tomorrow and will tackle it then with a fresh eye.

Hope I'll finish it this week and take it down at the weekend. PS. No prizes for noticing I used my photo of a Maltese tender as a model. The water is not such a vibrant turquoise in Brightlingsea !

I thought THIS was a wkd idea for part of the hoarding !

Thought for the day ! 

(from Buddhist offerings 365)

Busy Busy

Making a start on this Maltese doorway, painted on wood. I probably shouldn't show work until it's finished, but I quite like the ongoing process. The wood makes a lovely surface to work on, really grainy, especially for  a wooden door and stone walls. The colours are subdued like the dusty peeling green paint and sun washed stone. I loved the architecture in Malta and took endless photos of doors and balconies. A constant supply of inspiration. Oh to go back... a flat in Valletta would be just perfect!....dream... 

This small painting (approx 40x60cm) is to add to a couple of others, I hope will be chosen to hang in the Colchester Art Society show, at Layer Marney Tower . The show in July. Three works can be submitted and  all, some or none are selected!  We'll see.

I now have work hanging in The Treble Tile restaurant in West Bergholt, so get along and sample their fab food whilst perusing my paintings!

Great excitements,  Jardine Bistro in Wivenhoe have offered me a slot next year to show my work, in their stunning restaurant. It's such a great space for art work, and they have showcased some amazing artists, so I'm very excited. There is quite a lot of hanging space so I had better start work now !

Southend Festival is running a competition for artists, if you would like to vote for my work (or someone else's ) go to my Facebook page click on the link and 'LIKE' my painting. Thanks.

Willow The Wisp

This week I spent a day with Debbie Hall, a willow artist, having some one to one tuition in how to create willow sculptures.  Well, the basics really, it takes a long time to master the art of weaving willow well. I had first been inspired by Laura Ellen Bacon's work at the basketry exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. Wow I thought I must learn how to do that. Laura produces amazing, flowing organic shapes from the willow, stunning. Anyway, Debbie was a very patient teacher (and superb willow weaver) and managed to drum in some fundamental techniques in a short space of time.

These are just a few pieces dotted around her garden. More examples of her work can be seen on her website Salix Arts. I particularly like the fish, which were made using very branchy, branches! Parts of the coppiced willow that was too uneven to use in the more structured pieces. 

              

The willow in buckets of water to keep fresh, has been harvested to be used in 'living' willow structures. Things like garden arbours or 'growing' garden chairs. Normally for basketry and sculpture, the willow is harvested in the winter when the trees are dormant and the sap is not rising. This gives the finished sculpture lastability and it is more supple and easier to work.

So, here are fruits of my labours ! No...don't laugh... the intention was not to make a finished piece, but learn all  I could in the time, using the basics for developing a sculpture. Circles slotted inside each other can be made into globes, many globes can then be  lashed together. The start of  many structures. 

The next basic shape is a sort of a tower. this can be used to give height/length. The shape of it can be altered as you go along. So for example, I could  have given the tower a waist, stuck a globe on the top and already you have the makings of a simple figure. Or horizontally, it could be the start of an animal. All that is need then is to weave more and more withies in to the structure, until the desired effect is reached.

This (above) is a very useful knot for lashing pieces together and also has decorative qualities that can be utilized in the design.  Obviously a great deal more practise is need but I'm very excited about working on this. I went down to our lake this afternoon to cut some withies, just so that I can have something to work on, before I spend a lot of money on buying in bundles of willow! I hope that in the Autumn I will get round to planting up some different varieties for future harvesting. Looks like a long term project!

Grrrrrrr Bloody Grrrrrr

The washing machine has packed up and the last remaining knob on the cooker looks set to curl up it's toes. I walked into my studio, after a couple of weeks, with the intention of completing a painting. I hated the picture immediately. The place was a mess. Hmmmm. I sat and turned the pages of  THIS  to 4th May. Aaaaahhhh !

Sat for a while then painted over the picture with white paint. There is still a ghost of an image, but I feel a lot happier!

In other news. I'm off on a jaunt next month. A solitary retreat to an island. People keep asking me if I will be painting. I don't think I will. I don't want to get bogged down with painting what I see. I want to just be open to ideas........Balancing stones maybe, like THIS

Or This !

It's a start LOL.