New Year Thoughts

Another new year...time to think about painting again. The Vannin Sound series still holds promise so I shall have to review the individual paintings - at least two are finished but the others need work. Four square paintings of Skye are in progress and need only a few tweaks. I've also resumed sketching from the car whilst travelling as a passenger to produce some interesting drawings - will these develop into paintings? Do they need to be paintings? Painting as a response to something and painting to produce an image - is there a difference?

Exhibition at Tregaron

A very busy time - an unexpected exhibition opportunity came along after a friend had to withdraw late on. So I have put together 'Horizons' at Rhiannon (Welsh Gold Centre) in Tregaron. It is a collection of paintings from the past five years, including one from my BA Extended Study, one from the very beginning of the PhD which marked the end of my MA themes and several that I have been working on since. There are also some small framed studies which show how the theme of 'Horizon' is developing, from initial ideas to finished paintings. I notice a trend to minimalism and geometric lines - this may be my interest in grids coming through. My recent burst of painting activity will no doubt move the next series on further - for me this is what it is all about.

ProMakers and Paint

Yesterday was a visiting family and shopping day. I called in at Crafty Bunch, a very new craft shop open in Ketley, Telford, to buy a couple of ProMarker pens. I find these useful for sketching as a range of greys are available (and some good landscape colours too). As for painting...it is progressing well, with six new canvases underway. How many of these will ever reach completion remains to be seen, but the process of painting has once again brightened my life during the snowy season. Photos to be posted soon, I hope!

Once More Unto The Blog

Sorry all you followers (I won't mention the number just yet - let's say it could grow a bit more before I do that) for the extremely long gap between posts. Today blogs were mentioned in a class I attended and that inspired me to write a few words before I watch a film and put my feet up for a while. So, what's new? Well, I am in the flow of teaching now and I am enjoying it very much. That's not to say that it can't be nerve-wracking at times but meeting new people from different walks of life and hopefully assisting them on their own journey to making art is something I find rewarding. I have boxes of books and materials in my painting room, all packed up and ready to go - either to Newtown or Welshpool where I am teaching 'Sketchbook Studies'. The title gives it away really, but I like to include some of the basic principles of composition and colour theory so that it encompasses some essential information for anyone wishing to embark on producing artwork.
As for my own work, I gave a talk recently at a PhD seminar entitled "Landscape Blots and Spots of Time" which enabled me to focus on my work so far. It seems that the mirco/macro element is a theme, not only with subject matter but in the scale of work. I have also finally managed to complete two acrylic semi-abstract paintings after a long time thrashing about without success. These have been exhibited in Tregaron with the Aberystwyth Picturemakers group and I feel I have made something of a breakthrough with the medium. Why is it so difficult? I will ponder this question over the coming days, no doubt...

Morlan Exhibition

I thought I'd upload a few images from the Morlan Centre exhibition in Aberystwyth...

Back from the North...

Below and right: Views from where we stayed

I'm back from the Lake District after a short break. Lovely scenery but a tad cold for sketching out of doors but that didn't stop me. I did a few oil studies and some sketches - no doubt they will be fodder for some future work, but the process of doing them is valuable too. This time I was keen to try and match the colour of what I could see to what I painted. Often I sketch with pencil and don't use colour but make colour notes. However, after sessions with my students recently I decided to brush up my observational skills, because time spent observing is never wasted. It is more difficult than we realise, too!
There were winter colours everywhere, punctuated by the fresh yellow-green of the first flush of new foliage. Blossoms added a softness to the scenes and Steve remarked that he could see why the Japanese are so fond of the Lake District - Wabi Sabi (very roughly, the beauty of the imperfect, as explained in a recent tv programme) - twisted trees and rocky outcrops with a backdrop of mountains prevail.
One of our best days was a trip to Wastwater to see the rock screes. I did two studies here even though it was windy and cold. The light was ever-changing, consequently the colours were amazing and I felt I couldn't do them justice in a quick sketch. But it was the experience of doing

it which was important - I believe something seeps into the subconscious every time we draw and paint.
Today, I popped in to the Morlan Centre to see Dot and Harry who were stewarding the Picture Makers 'Cwm' exhibition to fill them in on my break and to catch up on what I'd missed.

Dot stewarding at Morlan

Morlan Exhibition in Aberystwyth

Today I helped hang the Picture Makers exhibition at the Morlan Centre in Aberystwyth. Heulwen Davies is curating this show with work by both professional and amateur artists living in the area.
Several of my 'micro' series are on display as well as one of my collage pieces. I had the thought that the micro pieces would be interesting as 'One Hundred Views Of...', following the Japanese printmakers Hiroshige and Hokusai. Or what about one thousand? I wonder how it would progress between the first and the last...maybe I'll give it a go.
Also I'm thinking about scaling up the process and materials to make large pieces in this manner, though I imagine it would be difficult to achieve. One thing I have rediscovered is that it is simpler to work with a limited palette (which is quite possibly why I tend not to most of the time!), and this seems appropriate for the subject matter of remembered winter landscapes.