Landscape and Seascape private view

Here I am at the Landscape and Seascape group show at The Open Gallery in Halifax. The show itself is a great mix of 2D and 3D work along with textile and stitch responses. I was really pleased that I made the effort to go. We got the train this time and only had to change at Blackburn. The whole thing worked very well! My other recent experiences with British Rail have not been so good. However, must not dwell on negatives! We really liked discovering Halifax too and had a great Italian meal after the show. My pieces were a diptych of Yesnaby cliffs in Orkney ,a mix of dye, stitch and oil-bar marks. I made the pieces last year from a sketch made on the spot. You can read about it’s development on this blog, just scroll down…

Dieppe diptych sewing so far

Here is a little detail of the stitch work that I have done so far on this piece. I would like to do more in various zones across the piece before I go in with the size as this makes it much more difficult to hand sew. I have a little sketch I have been using to work from which I will share anon.

Dieppe diptych

Well I have started a new little diptych based on a sketch made from our holiday flat in Dieppe France. I have made two little bespoke stretchers with a little help it has to be said! Then I stretched the very last of the canvas from dad over them and dyed the canvas in Pebeo dye before beginning to stitch. I will then size the canvas and add oil-bar to selected areas. I’m really excited that I can make bespoke stretchers with the clamps I was given as part of my Christmas pressie! Watch this space for progress. My last little diptych has been selected for a show in Halifax in March under the title ‘Landscape and Seascape’ . I will let you know more in future blog posts!,

The Art of Tea sketch

I went to this little cafe in Didsbury Manchester the other day. I made a little fine liner sketch whilst I was waiting for my order. The cafe has been there for a long while I think, but I have only just found it now that my son and his wife and baby have moved near there. It has a great atmosphere and I love all the books and wood. You can sense all the conversations that have happened and feel all those going on around you. It is the first time I’ve wanted to draw over the Christmas period. I find it all such a strange holiday and feel almost in suspended animation with regard to my own work. That feeling is receding now, which I am grateful for! I have stretched up a little dyp-tych with canvas and now have the right dyes to begin. So onward and upward again!

Yesnaby cliffs sketch June ’23

Here is the sketch I made on the spot at the top of the cliffs in Orkney. It was such a dramatic surprise coming to the edge of the cliff from the carpark. I knew straight away that I wanted to draw them. I used soft pastel and pencil for this. It was this sketch that I used for my recent diptych shared on this blog using dye and stitch on canvas as well as some oilbar.

Yesnaby cliffs Orkney diptich

It is a sad day for me as am coming to the close of this little piece. I never like endings and this particular response is no different. However, you have to know when to leave something alone and not just keep going for the sake of it as it were. Click to enlarge as usual. I have used a little oil-bar on here as well as the stitch and pebeo dyes on sized rough canvas. It was made from a small sketch created on the spot which I will share soon…

Yesnaby cliffs Orkney diptich : second panel

Am sharing this second panel with hand stitching so far. This is incredibly slow work but I don’t mind that! The action is satisfying, meditative and stays with me as I think about marks. It is drawing in a different media afterall. I am not finished yet and will introduce some other media soon I think. I split the threads even down to a single strand to provide different effects.

Yesnaby cliffs Orkney sketch

This little study was made in a small sketchbook (A5) on the spot in this spectacular location. I used it for the oIl-bar, dye and stitch piece I have recently shared on this blog. I knew straight away that I wanted to draw when I saw this and sat down with my pencil and pastels The cover from my pastels box blew away and there was a hairy moment when I had to retrieve it from near the edge of the cliff. All was good though, and my friends who went walking whilst I drew found me again and we were all happy to return to our holiday cottage to exchange stories.

I am now on with another dip-tich in the same media of another sketch I made at this location. I won’t share the sketch yet as there is a very real danger that I stop working on it if I share such things too soon. The stitching itself doesn’t seem to mind being shared, and I will continue to do so as I go along as with previous work. Onward and upward. This is a super slow process and will keep me going for quite some time I think.

Yesnaby cliffs Orkeny new embrodiery /oilbar piece

Well, l I have started this new diptych on dyed stretched rough canvas. It’s the last of the canvas that came from my dad. I had just enough to stretch onto two little wooden rectangles. I sized them and dyed them with my pebeo dyes. Then I started stitching from a little sketch made on the spot at Yesnaby cliffs Orkney. The stitching is taking ages as it is so slow but I quite like that. I also like separating the strands of thread to different thicknesses. It is drawing, but meditatively and super slowly! Time takes on a new dimension! Will post the sketches for this and the last piece when I am ready which isn’t yet…