New Painting - In the Forge

This is a picture I started quite some time ago, but it got put aside while I dealt with other things.  The variety of textures interested me, the blue denim, the battered old wall, the metal and wood.  It's in pastels and is 17 x 42 inches (23 x 58 cm)

I've also switched from Windows to Mac, which has been a bit of a learning curve!  Still wrestling a bit with organising the nuts and bolts of image processing, but no way would I go back to Windows, the Mac is a beautiful machine.

I've got some more images to add once I've resized them, so watch this space.

My Textile Art

Although painting is my passion, my hobby is similar in a way in that I enjoy making textile art.  When I moved to Scotland I joined the local textile art club, and have learned a lot from the various workshops I've been on, and from the help of lots of friendly stitchers.  I've now added some of my work in a new gallery - just click on 'Textile Art' in the bar at the top of my blog page.  I'll be adding more pics in due course.

I've tried quite a few of the many varieties of textile work, some I like more than others.  I love working with silk because of the jewel-like colours, and I like to paint or dye my own fabric.  I find that many of my pieces end up quite painterly, can't help it!  I love machine quilting, free machine embroidery and contemporary textural work.  Hand embroidery is so soothing to do in the evenings.  I love beads and sparkly things too.

I shall be taking part in Angus Open Studios this year, and will have some of my textiles on display along with my artwork.

Picking Up the Threads

It's been a long time, and much has happened in the last couple of years.  After losing my mother, one of our dogs got cancer and was very sick, and we lost him, and then my brother was taken into hospital, where he stayed for some months until finally passing away two years almost to the day after our mum.  It was difficult as he lived 300 miles away from us.  Then there was all the hassle with selling his house and the legal stuff, which unnecessary complications made more traumatic.  I wasn't very creative during this period, and didn't have the heart to write on the blog.  It's very hard to be imaginative when you are heartsick, and levels of concentration and motivation are sorely diminished.

Still, one picks oneself up, as we all have too, and try to get back into the stream of life.  I was honoured to be asked to be one of the three judges of the annual UKCPS Open Exhibition last year, a humbling and responsible task.  There were some amazing paintings, and it's so heartening to see how far coloured pencil art has progressed in the few years the Society has been running.



















http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artist-Journal-Workshop-Cathy-Johnson/dp/1440308683/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391510442&sr=1-1&keywords=cathy+johnson

I got Cathy Johnson's book 'The Artists Journal Workshop' .  This is a super book, which encouraged me start drawing again as I wasn't able to manage to finish large paintings.  I found  that making small pictures, with no pressure to exhibit, and recording events and observations, was just the thing to gradually get me going again.  I really recommend this if you are stuck with that awful 'artist's block'.  I've been keeping little sketchbooks about our travels in our motorhome, and also illustrating poetry. I'll put some pics up soon.

So, I have started painting again, and will begin to upload some pics of my work.  I shall be taking part in Angus Open Studios this May after a gap of two years http://www.angusopenstudios.com.  Spring is coming and the old mojo is stirring again!  

Guardians of the Pass

Guardians of the Pass

Watercolour  12" x 10.5"

Been a while since I posted, stuff happens when you are making other plans, they say.  Have a couple of pastels almost ready to upload, but in the meantime here is a fantasy watercolour I just finished.  It's part of my 'Portal' series (you can see more of these paintings at http://gaia-art.co.uk/catalog.php?category=6 ).  My fantasy work often seems to involve pathways through gates and dooways leading to otherwordly country.  Often the terrain is difficult or forbidding, with distant mountains and steep climbing paths.  Make of that what you will!

UKCPS Exhibition, Westminster Gallery, London

I'm pleased that both the pictures I entered for this exhibition have been accepted. 
'Gatekeeper'

Gatekeeper - this is for the pure coloured pencil section.  This picture is about the gateway to the next world, based on Celtic mythology.  The knotwork symbolises eternity, and the little boat is the soul travelling to the Blessed lands in the west.  The oak and the raven are symbols of death and eternity, and the hare is for the moon.  The salmon has the pearl of knowledge in his mouth.

'Moonhare'

Moonhare - this is for the mixed media section, being watercolour and coloured pencil.  If you look at the full moon you can see the image of the hare , and the hare is associated with the moon in many mythologies.

Sea Lace

Mostly Unison pastels on pastelmat.  Have long wanted to tackle a close up seascape, and I'm pleased with the result.  13.5 x 11.5 inches.  All it needs now is smellyvision!

Stac Pollaidh

This is Stac Pollaidh, a very well-known mountain in Wester Ross.  It was a lovely bright breezy day when I was there last summer.  The single track winding road leads on to Achiltibuie and the beautiful Summer Isles.