120420 new blog launch

I am finding inks a very fast and immediate way of working; handy if you’re short of time and need quick results. I like the combination of line and wash and in the drawing on the left I worked over an old drawing hence the added richness; a good way to recycle old works. If you double click on the drawing you can just about make out the scalloped edge of an Earl of Coventry Royal Worcester Porcelain piece. As always I started slightly out of control with my left hand then continue adding in finer detail with my right hand.

I have also started a new blog; weareworcester.wordpress.com about the people of Worcester.  It involves an interview where the same set of questions are asked of people; eg what do you most like about Worcester, which living person do you most admire and why. The answers are really interesting and I hope the participants and online readers will find it revealing also. It helps us understand one another. The questions are inspired by a similar interview I read each week in Saturday’s Guardian magazine and are normally answered by celebrities; in the case of my blog the common denominator is that all the interviewees are from the Worcester area, and hopefully eventually from Worcesters further afield. Long term I’d like to open it up o the people of Worcester, Masachusetts, USA, and Worcester, South Africa (where incidentally the author J.M.Coetzee hailed  from). I hope to interview people from all walks of life, young and old, male and female. If you’re interested in participating and are from Worcester(shire) please get in touch via the blog or email. I’d love to hear from you.

110626 It’s All Go!

Well, what a week. I am well and truly cream crackered but happily so. I have participated as much as possible in the inaugural Literary Festival, reading out my own satirical piece as well as someone else’s where I played the Queen (as One does) as part of the Worcester Writers’ Circle Lampoon evening at Drummonds last Wednesday, read my short story “Whistler’s Mother” as part of the Sinister Shorts evening at the University on Friday, as well as run a Picture Book workshop with children’s book author Karen King in the very beautiful St Swithun’s Church ( I have lived in Worcester for twenty three years and am ashamed to say this was the first time I had stepped inside this beautiful interior).

As well as “performing” I have also enjoyed hearing Tony Judge talk about the writing of his first novel Sirocco Express in an interview with Peter Spalton, attended a mesmerising book binding workshop where I hand stitched two small booklets under the expert eye of Angela Sutton, heard about the writing of the play “Elgar and Alice” about Elgar’s life by Peter Sutton at the Swan Theatre, and nearly, I repeat nearly, heard William Cash talk about his book about Graham Greene’s affair which inspired “The End of the Affair” (unfortunately we turned up not realising he had cancelled. Gggrrr, William Cash, gggrrrr!)

This afternoon I am off for cake and bubbly to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Worcester Writers’ Circle and shall no doubt read a few of my haiku, and tonight I am off to read more haiku at Malvern Theatre as a member of Malvern Writers’ Circle. Today and tomorrow are the last two days to catch our Literary Portraits exhibition here at our Battenhall studios. Oh! and I’ve got toothache. It’s all go!

So what now? Well, I have started writing a non fiction book about life drawing so watch this space and I’ll keep you informed. If and when it’s published you’ll be the first to know and I’ll encourage you to buy a half a dozen copies to keep the bare wolf from this door.

110408 standing figure

This is a two colour drawing in grey and brown wash created with a brush. I began the study in the lighter colour then changed to the dark for key accents. I think the essence of the standing pose is captured effectively with little interest in detail.

This evening went to a private view at Worcester City Museum & Art Gallery. Interesting talk by Lucy Bayley of the Contemporary Art Society and Nathaniel Pitt of Worcestershire Contemporary Artists. Images and videos were interesting, wine was flowing, the crowd were good, canapes even better, what’s not to like?

sketch book study in medical dictionary: Comrie, J.D 1931 News Chronicle Home Doctor Morrison and Gibb Ltd., London

110324 head study I

I deliberately work quickly to encapsulate plenty of energy into this drawing. The portrait study is created using broad brushmarks and expressive markmaking to capture the figure’s unerring gaze.

sketch book study in medical dictionary: Comrie, J.D 1931 News Chronicle Home Doctor Morrison and Gibb Ltd., London

nothing 1079

draw every day

write something every day -

nothing is wasted

urban jungle (haiku 1041)

thick pier of green

leads through urban jungle grey

boxed in by yew buoys

haiku 1035

lamp reflects in glass

like a half moon suspended

halfway up the hedge

treading on eggshells….

What do James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Jacques-Auguste- Dominique Ingres, Vincent Van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Sir Francis Gran, Edward Hopper, Robert Rauschenberg, Morandi and Ben Nicholson and Eastman Johnson all have in common apart from their splendid names and most being American?  Well, they were all artists who created predominantly white paintings at some time in their artistic careers.

There are probably thousands of other good examples too.  I’ve just  looked at these artists prior to giving a  Painting in White crit this Thursday for Kidderminster Art Society; a fixture that has been in the diary for many years and to which only now am I giving serious thought. What will they have produced, I wonder, what will I think, and more importantly – what will I say?  I’ll tell you on Friday. I am really looking forward it; lots of white on white surprises. Naturally I shall be my diplomatic self; aware that constructive criticism is the key.

Have I ever used white only? Well, I once produced a series of very subtle embossed portraits of Worcester Porcelain jugs and teapots. From the other side of the gallery there was barely anything to see but take a step closer and the shallow shadows revealed the exquisite profiles of the Worcester pots. My pen and ink drawings of the collection had been transposd into a completely different medium: embossing. They were produced on pre-dampened Somerset  paper and were created on my Harry Rochat press using plastic templates I had cut by hand. Quiet and understated they mirrored Royal Worcester’s  unpainted and unglazed white ware. Quietly beautiful, they were understated, clean.

I could quite happily paint a white painting; a simple still life with paper creased and gentle touch.

A thousand shades of white. Imagine sunshine on snow, light flickering over egg shells, dazzling a virgin bride. Brilliant yet  pale -illuminated from within; shadows cast.

St. Ives – sun, sea, sand and….. more sand….. everywhere….

Down on the coast gravity takes on new meaning; the usual doesn’t occur and the unusual is a regular occurence.

What am I on about? Sand of course. Coastal sand is ocean washed, golden and clean, and should remain safely on the beach where it belongs; but to the occasional visitor it behaves differently, has a mind of its own and gets everywhere and into everything; kicked up by feet, the wind, the rushing sea it flicks up into every conceivable nook and cranny; I found it in my clothes, my bag,  my hair, my ears, even after a near vertical climb “home” it defied gravity and ended up on the sofa, the rug, the carpet, the mattress of our apartment. Even the winter Olympics got a bucketful. Ah well, c’est la vie, and at least I wasn’t cleaning up at the end of our visit.

The walks in the wintry sunshine along Porthminster, Porthmeor and Porthqwidden beaches of St Ives were fantastic if not hairy (with our lurcher dog running along side us, I might not have let him off so quickly had I known there would be so many bitches on heat; do they all “come on” together I wonder. A regular en masse half term doggy menstruation? Let’s hope we don’t leave a plethora of little lurchers behind.) It was good so early in the new year to touch base with the sea, to run wild and play games, tread the same beach that Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson trod.

The sea did everything it should, it sparkled, it glistened turquoise, it came in, it went out; it was in the air too making my hair thick and salty. The beaches were coated in the fresh tidal deposits of seaweed, shells and the odd trainer; they were mostly litter free, and pleasingly empty.  Brisk walks were the menu of the day; heartily filling and great value. We’d sit supping our cappucinos on hotel terraces until the low sun disappeared over the horizon and we retreated back to the warmth of our hidihole. We could not grumble since we had achieved our objective – blown away the winter cobwebs, breathed in fresh sea air and – most importantly -  seen no snow. Our little red noses concealed a healthy tan, proof of an outdoor existance – even though the rest of our bodies remained deathly pale. We were out to play when we should have been in; over running playtime, like a bunch of naughty school kids.

With rumours of bad snow up north and Cornish daffs peeping above ground, it was both hard and easy to imagine Spring fast approaching. Just as it was a bit of a surprise to find grains of sand on my pillow every morning, sand, like Spring, gets everywhere eventually.

Travel posters by Leonard Cusden and Jack Merriott

I showed my illustration students a selection of travel posters today by the likes of Leonard Cusden and Jack Merriott; they introduced a flavour of summer to a bitter cold February Monday morning.

I love the simplicity, composition and limited palette. They are all classic and timeless; the way typography and image hang together so effortlessly is beguiling.

The posters really made me want to jump on a train and head on down right away to St.Ives. A fix of the Barbara Hepworth Museum, Tate Gallery, and a meander round Downalong wouldn’t need much persuasion.  Twice before we’ve enjoyed  breaks  at this time of year with weather sunny and mild enough to sit on the beach and read the Guardian. It sometimes catches the Gulf stream so you can be lucky with better weather than in high summer. It can be quieter too.

Unfortunately some of my students were  so eager to press on with their travel posters they forgot to let the ink dry sufficiently before adding chalk pastel and I had to remind them to watch their language as swear words streamed effortlessly from their mouths. Fortunately we were in the life room so couldn’t be heard and at least some of them were able to dry their illustrations in front of the heaters.

The results looked good; they had taken on board the simple, powerful compositions of the travel posters and responded really well to postcards I had brought along. Places like Beer, St Ives, Budleigh Salterton, Santa Ponsa and San Diego were all covered confidently and lent themselves beautifully to the travel poster format. I’m sure even the most stay at home tourist would be tempted,.