I’m teaching myself how to edition what previously seemed quite complicated prints to repeat. I’ve tended to get to the point where I’ve taken an idea to a place that satisfied me..getting the feel I was after, but then not following through on the editioning. With a rise in understanding of what my brother has...
revisiting crowned cranes, Senegal
In dark, wet December UK revisiting these crowned cranes on the Djoudj marshes in Senegal. I’m trying to better juggle some of the elements that I’ve found interesting in woodcut printing… using floating elements and masks. Really this now a pretext to resume blogging…
fox cub and mining bee
First sighting of fox cub on the allotment, basking in the sun with its mother. We’ve been seeing her quite a bit, heavily pregnant when snow was on the ground and then a couple of weeks ago with distended teats. They were at the far end of somebody’s garden surrounded by dandelion clocks and forget-me-nots....
8th-17th June – Curlew Festival, Bolton Castle
I’m sending 3 pieces to an exhibition of artwork, part of the Second North Of England Curlew Festival in the Great Chamber, Bolton Castle in Wensleydale. That will focus on Curlew and other waders that are currently under threat. https://www.boltoncastle.co.uk/tc-events/curlew-festival-8th-10th-june/
garden pond rebirth
After the big freeze I thought the pond might be a desert. There has been carnage amongst the amphibians. The pond was iced up for days and i could see frogs still coupled up under the ice but I figured they knew what they were up to. I broke the ice a couple of times...
Ud i det blå – ‘the great outdoors’ – Field Painting course on Bornholm, with Ben Woodhams and Greg Poole 9th -15th September 2018
(picture: Ben Woodhams)Drawing and painting outside can be both exhilarating and daunting. This course will use drawing as a way of ‘active looking’. Staying with our subject and getting to know it more intimately. Testing our understanding and exploring different means of interpreting what we see and feel. As long as this process is part...
ground work writings
Friend Tim Dee has compiled and introduced a great set of writings based on peoples thoughts/connections to a place they know intimately. He suggested I might write about my micro meadow. I struggled to stammer out some of my learnings/experiences. Amazing to read/see how others flew with the same brief. It was launched last week...
kitchen table printmaking workshop
Places still available on kitchen table printmaking workshop, Sunday 22nd October at the Mall galleries behind the scenes at @swlanaturaleye exhibition. More details here
Pembrokeshire
A few days in Pembrokeshire, a break after weeks of framing and domestic exigencies. The highlight watching seals, especially a pup being suckled. Other than that the sad sight of a dead young common dolphin with a gash in its back that looked boat related. Unusual chance for sketching though, the movements of the sea...
common blue studies
There were only three blues on the meadow, a male and female common along with the brown argus. I decided to give more time to the common blues as my understanding of the ‘benchmark’ species still seemed woolly. Brain struggling to take in the subtleties of form at the same time as retaining the bold...
