I recently went to Brussels again to visit my son. Here are some shots from the trip. I enjoyed the diagonals in the view from the terrace of the flat as you can see, along with the repeating verticals of the chimneys. There was also a wonderful Bonnard that mesmerised me ‘ Nu a contre jour’ which you can also see. Ideas for a painting are mergling away with me so that may become my next project. To see the master’s brushwork up close and personal is spine-tingling! Click images to enlarge.

I made this pencil sketch sat outside in the sunshine, tough work but somebody’s got to do it! Click to enlarge images and see marks more clearly folks!

I have been looking after my brother’s pottery and gallery in Askham Cumbria for the last week and took the opportunity to make some experimental clay heads for my puppetry Artshealth MA which I am underway with at the moment. I have made many such heads with Year 9 when I was art teaching and wanted to do some playing with scale and expression to see where it takes me. Some are quite small and some larger, but all would work as glove puppets. I want to make the most successful into a string puppet. One reminded me of Francis Bacon whose work I love. Two more were based on the Edward Lear nonsense verse ‘ The Dong with the Luminouse Nose’, which my dad read to me whilst I was in the gallery.  Stuart my brother is going to fire them when he can and I will get on to the next stages once he has done that.

I began this large oil painting last month after our short break in Staithes on the east coast of Yorkshire, England. I found the slabs of stone near the cliffs pulled me towards them. Maybe they reminded me of the cliffs at St. Bees my home village. However these were mostly blue/grey horizontal slabs on the ground as I have shared in the photos on this blog. There were one or two lumps of red sandstone that looked very familiar as if stranded amongst these alien rocks.My father told me it is the same seam of sandstone that stretches across the north of England and all but peters out on the east coast. The isolated orange/red of the rock spoke to me. I made a sketch on the spot which you can see here, and the oil painting from it back in the studio. I stopped much sooner than I usually do. I had said all I wanted to. I hope this will be dry enough to go in the show  at The Plough in Cambridgeshire with my friend Mo De Rome in October. The glazes are quite thin with only one or two thicker brushstrokes, so it should be. Don’t forget to click images to enlarge folks!

Chuffed to bits that we have our final artists for the proposed show at Neoartists in Bolton, for the summer of 2018. They are Emma Renold and Richard Cross. Both very exciting practitioners. I will keep you all posted as to the progress of our proposal on this blog. We really do have some great people, a mix of painters , sculptors and poets, 14 in all, divided equally between male and female creatives. Keep your fingers crossed that the committee gives us the thumbs up!  The form is just being completed as I write this by my co-curator Jasmine Renold.

Recently had my oil painting made in response to a beautiful and very hot garden in Brittany framed. I am absolutely thrilled at how it has come out. I chose a chunky and rebated ‘shabby chic’ frame which was more expensive than usual, but Graeme at Richmond Framing in Clitheroe has made a fantastic job of it. There were some bubbles at the corners that he even managed to eliminate. It’s for a show with my good friend Mo De Rome in October at The Plough in Cambridgeshire. Really looking forward to it. I’m including the original sketch made ‘plein air’ which I used for the painting along with my memory of the garden.

It’s back to the studio and the drawing board. Here is the latest in my series of studies from around our house. Of course the studio is central, a retreat and a place to travel from at the same time. I didn’t think I’d be able to paint or draw as have been feeling frozen as a result of the aftermath of Brexit. I am staying with my feelings and putting one foot in front of the other as it were. I’ve run out of my special paper now, must get some more but all sense of urgency seems to have left me, sad. The last thing I drew was my windowledge with brushes. I kind of didn’t deliberately choose to do this it just happened. Click images to enlarge.

Absolutely chuffed to bits that the painter David Storey, and fellow Cumbrian, has agreed to be our final male artist for the proposed group show based on the theme ‘Self and Other’  at Neoartists in Bolton for the summer of 2018. His painting is very much in tune with the work of the creatives we already have. Onward and upward! Here are my little paintings from around our house all together. Hopefully more bringing together will happen and this is just the beginning! Click to enlarge and see marks more clearly:-)

Had a great break at Staithes by the sea for three days just before the referendum. I did some sketching on the beach at Runswick Bay and have an idea for a big oil in the series for the proposed ‘Self and Other’ show at Neoartists in Bolton for 2018. Can’t share my sketch as am guarding the gold so you’ll have to wait and see! I’m so pleased that the poet and musician Simon Beavis is on board, Love his work, it is very relational and makes you rethink stuff. We are now waiting for our final male artist. This is very important and I’m letting go of outcomes, he will come through when he’s meant to and it will be the right person. Here are some Staithes shots for your delectation. I feel so out of my comfort zone with all this exhibition curating not to mention my Artshealth MA writing which is due in August, yikes! Just taken a painting to be framed as well for show with Mo De Rome down in Cambridgeshire in October which I’m also very excited about. Watch this space for further info about private view dates etc.

I finished this study in our bathroom today looking towards the door and blue cupboard. I wait and see what comes into my awareness with regards to motifs from around my house. It can be a slow process to realise what is resonating with me at any given moment especially as I am so familiar with it all and the way I interact with the space and its history. I’m still referring to Bachelard’s Poetics of Space as I move through the house and my days. This may just continue to grow as a series or become something more large scale I’m not sure yet. I quite like the idea of a series like a diary. Then maybe I could put them all together.