During my week in France I wanted to complete my challenge of a sketchbook in a day. I failed. Talking with a friend on my return, she said “I’m not surprised you didn’t have much time to sketch on a family holiday; don’t be too harsh!” And she’s right – finding time was hard. We […]
I seem to be surrounded by articles and courses that all encourage you to do something everyday for 30 days. There’s no denying that drawing everyday is a good habit to get into. Some of us manage it. Some of us don’t. I’m not telling you which group I fall into! Although you can probably […]
This exercise should help you simplify your seeing into drawing. I found this pasted into a sketchbook of mine and wanted to share it with you. The aim is to try to encourage you to think in tonal areas. My natural habit is to draw in a linear way; I think most of us do […]
I’ve just come home from a glorious weekend in Dartmoor; blue skies, fresh grass, the English countryside at its best. Great for an afternoon relaxing with a book, but not so good for me looking for new inspiration for paintings. It can feel wonderfully restorative being in such beautiful natural surroundings but a pictorial representation […]
This project is 98% logistics and 2% creativity said artist Joshua Sofaer on Radio 4 this morning. He was talking about his current project ‘The Rubbish Collection’ which is one entire month’s worth of the museum’s rubbish laid out to demonstrate its inherent beauty. It is estimated to be over 28 tonnes of material. The […]
I know everyone has been raving about the Matisse Cut-Outs exhibition which is currently showing at Tate Modern but I have to admit I wasn’t that tempted. Matisse isn’t one of my favourite artits; although I love the simplicity of many of his drawings, his colours are too bright for me and some of his […]
As I was preparing for the recent Open House event I knew that one of the things people enjoy about it is the chance to find out more about the way an artist approaches their work. I always have sketchbooks on show, this time I also wanted to show people how a print is made […]
Wow! What a weekend. Thanks to all who came to visit us at Artists at Home this weekend – it was a record number of visitors. Whether this was due to the weather (not too hot, not too wet!) or the fact that I had Louise Richards showing her wonderful enamel jewellery with me, I […]
The last time I showed at Artists at Home my work was mainly landscape paintings. I had started to incorporate printed line and collage and was keen to try printmaking techniques to explore the mix between a controlled and gestural mark in a medium which can be very technical. I’ve had a great couple of […]
So today I have been sorting through work and framing up selected prints. The past few years has been a time of many experiments as I work my way through the print studio like a child in a sweet shop! I have generated a lot of work on paper with all the techniques, tests and […]
This weekend I went along to the Untitled Artists Fair at Chelsea old townhall. It’s always inspiring to see work that other people are creating and it usually sparks new ideas of your own. One of the first displays that caught my attention was Urte Balcaite’s work. I’m often drawn to work that inspires me […]
Almost a decade ago I was a frustrated artist. At home with two small children I just never had the time to pursue what I wanted, and I couldn’t see anyway I could make it possible. It was simply beyond the realm of my possibilities; no time for life drawing classes or location drawing for […]