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25th March 2021

25/3/2021

late edition 26th march 2021

A quick extra from Noreen, with a watercolour of Walberswick from several years ago that fits with the umbrella theme of this week. A very British scene of intrepid trippers out in blustery weather. See below for her take on the picture Frances gave us as inspiration last week.

First of all, I want to remind everyone that Noreen is back on Blog duties from next week, for the whole of April, so anything you want included should be sent to her.
Then let me thank the members who have already sent me their self-portraits:- Avril, Carolyn,Diana, Frances, Harriet, Hilary, Ian, Rachel, Richard, Sally L. and Sally T. There will be a round up of names each week, so you will know your pictures have reached me safely.

So let's start this week with the pictures that Lesley has chosen to give you some ideas and inspiration for the week. First, reflections, boats, mud and water from the River Dart - and second, for those who enjoy painting and drawing animals, the last two photos are of a Suffolk Punch at Gressenhall Museum in Norfolk.

Carolyn had fun throwing everything but the kitchen sink (by the sound of it) at Jane's picture of 4th March, on which she loosely based this abstract. She said, 'I have tried to include as many gimmicks as possible; salt, cling film, spatter, sponge, masking and scratching. I wanted to include wax crayons but they were all green so didn't fit colour wise. I am hoping to do something sensible from the garden next week.' I think it works very well, with lots of texture and interest.

Next Angela, who wasn't able to Zoom this week because of a power cut, but told us last week about the course she is doing online with Newlyn School of Art - Abstracting the Landscape, which had certainly kept her busy - as you can see here. She has been working in a lovely zig zag book sketching over painted areas which has been great fun, and these may get worked up into paintings, but not, she says, the self portrait. I love the reflections in the glasses and the detail of the bag hanging behind - good likeness too.

Also busy this week has been Harriet, who had trouble with her internet connection this morning, and wasn't able (during the time I was there) to be seen. So here is the work she couldn't show, and her description of it.
'In the Pond 2 is my next project, based on a photo I took a while ago, In the Pond 1 is the sketch where I'm trying to work out what I wanted to include in my picture.
'Also I have included Rose 3rd dog portrait which I have finished and also In the Conservatory which I have been working on for a long time and have nearly finished.'
It is always interesting to see someone's process as they work through making a picture. The texture of the brush strokes used to describe the fur (and therefore the face) in the dog portrait is very successful and expressive.

Diana looks back from this March to the two previous. March 2021, Moth and umbrellas, March 2020, looking forward to Spring, and a reminder of Life Before Covid - March 2019 at the Bowls Club - how life used to be!

From Sally P. first an acrylic abstract taken from Jane's photos. 'It still needs work doing to it and I'm struggling to get some depth. The second was painted several years ago at a life class. The figure wasn't going too well and I became more interested in the parasol. It's not accurate but I liked some of the effects with the paint'

This painting by Noreen, inspired by Frances' umbrellas, started as watercolour, but then drifted into mixed media. I like the sense of the wet below being wetter than the wet above.

And a different handling of the same inspiration is at work here; Sally T's umbrellas, with a much more abstract treatment.

From Frances, 'First, oil pastel and ink of the moth. Second, sketch done on Wednesday at Redgrave Fen, third the oil of winter sunset from my studio window.Fourth Just finished this one. Acrylic and charcoal.

As for me, what is it with my chin?! Every time I try at a self portrait, I get the proportion wrong! So her I have shortened it, using computer imaging software, but, because it is coloured pencil, it does not seem to be amenable to erasing and redoing - though I may try tomorrow.
By the way, for those on Zoom, Oscar is OK. Probably an infection from a bite - so expensive antibiotics, etc...

So, just a gentle reminder - send your contributions to the blog to Noreen during April. The self portraits should still come to me, by post. Have a productive week!

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18th March 2021

18/3/2021

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Thank you to the six members who have so far sent their self-portraits to me, What good likenesses! I thought I would play a game of opening without looking at the packaging details or any note, to see if I knew who it was, and so far - 6 for 6! From Sally L. two, back to back,
This week's jobs on the house have included demolishing a long run of fitted wardrobes that must have been put in in the 1970s (judging by the anaglypta behind it) dark brown and then painted cream later. Under the cupboards were ethernet cables snaking everywhere, some old, but not that old coins, and a cache of singles, mostly The Smiths, but including Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks. We too used to meet at Waterloo Station every Friday night, so this seems like a good omen! The pinkish shape in the third pic is old wallpaper, maybe 1940s?

Anyway, some of you have been busy this week with self-portraits and other pictures. I am going to find it hard going getting back into practice!
Here for a start is Frances - 'Two self portraits. Image one, I decided to put acrylic colours on paper then charcoal drawing from mirror on top. Enjoyed doing this. Second, acrylic from photo. Third picture messing with inks, Art Graf on Yupo paper inspired by Harriet’s photo. Finally another owl resting on a photo from newspaper for possible background.'
Frances also supplied this week's inspiration, see below.

Sally T. has also sent a self portrait, and work inspired by last week's aeroplane image from Harriet.

Three colourful mixed media images from Ian's sketchbook.

Sally P. worked from Harriet's Allium and Iris photo in acrylic on a 50 x 50 cm canvas. She underpainted the canvas in Payne’s grey. Then she added the dark greens and blues before starting on the flowers. There was no drawing done first, to keep the work loose. There is a little more work needed, but she is pleased with the result so far.

Diana says,
'I spent most of the week working on self portrait until I felt sick looking at it. It went through several incarnations-Harry Potter,John Lennon, even the Queen.Everyone thinks it’s creepy, I shall be glad to send it off. [Now I am very intrigued to see it! Hannah]
So two old ones,the Iris was started sitting in a field of Howard’s nurseries at Wortham about 15 years ago and the aircraft at Flixton with everyone more recently.

Avril was also inspired by the old aircraft, and produced two linocuts, of which she was more satisfied by the black and white one, which was printed onto fabric. She may go on to embellish it with stitching, etc.

Carolyn says,
'I have found it difficult to get back to normal after a month of pencil portraits! I have attached 2 doodles for consideration today. The Coach House at Brockdish has been a popular summer venue in the past and the larch cones are attractive and come from the lawn here. It has rather attractive lichen on it.'

Sally L. joined us late on Zoom and told us of all the work she was intending to tear up, which led to discussion about keeping torn up pieces to use for collage and mixed media. It was obviously an idea that spurred her on.
'I’ve just spent a happy hour ripping up my cog wheel picture and ‘up cycling’ it into Happy Harry the Camouflaged Flat Fish! Completely obvious to me, but probably a bit of a mystery to anyone else!'

Noreen has sent a charming corner of her garden for us to enjoy - hellebores painted in acrylic. I particularly like the busyness of the shade under the flowers.

Harriet has used her photo from last week of the Alliums and Iris for this painting.

And this is Lesley's take on Samuel Palmer’s Apple Tree, in watercolour and oil pastel.
And a textile piece, utilising silk, velvet and needle cord, representing bark.

Finally, here are the images Frances has chosen to inspire us all.
'Umbrellas from a festival in Brittany. Icicles on my neighbour’s thatch (red branches in foreground work well.) An Angle Shades moth I found on a timber in the kitchen about a fortnight ago, a subtle challenge.'

Seeing some of the abstracts made in recent weeks I am looking forward to seeing what these will create.

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March 11th, 2021

11/3/2021

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Hello from far-flung Brundall in the sunny?? (we actually had hail today!) Norfolk Broads. Hannah here, with, finally a good enough broadband connection to do the blog again. Thank you so much to Noreen for stepping into the breech - as elegantly as ever she did, and thanks to all the contributors for the continuing high standard of their work.

Moving was interesting. I knew we were in for fun when they packed the shoes I had been slipping in and out of all day, without asking; and my knitting, the garment, not the spare wool or bag, was packed with some cushions that haven't turned up yet. Most of it was OK apart from that, but on the Monday when they returned with the rest of the stuff, they wedged their lorry between the front of the house and the fence, and had to get a recovery vehicle to pull them sideways. Red faces all round!

First this week we have Maggie-Anne, with a self portrait and a painting of spring flowers. This is the third, and she says she has now had enough and wants to get back to wildlife, dogs cats horses etc. This is a fine likeness, though, so the time was well spent.
She decided to do a spring flower picture and took some photos of the daffs and primroses in the garden but it wasn't a sunny day and the photos were disappointing. So this is based on a picture she liked on line, cropped and done in pastels. She found the hyacinth very tricky but really enjoyed the colours.

Now for Diana, with something completely different. She says, 'Got nowhere this week although I did try .So the first two are son Charlie’s, he even made my studio wall look amazing. The last one is mine from a couple of years ago ,based on a Shropshire hill.

A couple more self portraits, I think we will all know who, as the likeness is very good*. More stern in the one done from looking in the mirror, but I think we are all finding that the concentration of observing yourself does that to your expression.

*That was Carolyn, of course.

Next is John Walters, who has also given us a self portrait, complete with camellia buds, to herald the spring.

Sally P. wasn't able to join us this week for Zoom, because she was doing a Michaelangelo at home (explanation below). She sent these cards and said, 'Painted using Aldi Premium(!!!) acrylic paints! The colours and colour mixing are a bit dodgy and they dry very quickly! They have a satin and a metallic finish, which is rather nice.' The stairs set up looks very professional - are you available to do a quote, Sally?

Here is a very recognisable face, showing the same concentration as Carolyn's picture, but with a bit of a Noreen twinkle! She has also suggested that her palette contains some most interesting abstract painting - as you can see, she is right!

Frances took her previous work inspired by Sally L's icy puddle of a few weeks ago, and mounted a linocut of an owl printed on tracing paper onto it; the first in a series? She showed us another on Zoom.
The second picture is an oil done in fit of frustration after unpicking knitting about three times!!!

Jackie's first this week is an evening scene at Redgrave and Lopham Fen, with colourful sunset and the birds going home to roost. The second is from a photo taken in Westhorpe Church a couple of years ago, where she was struck by the sense of calm and serenity, which is well conveyed in a deceptively simple image.

Jane has supplemented a painting from the photo she provided last week, with another from a similar subject also taken on holiday in France. Both acrylics, she commented on Zoom on the difference she felt the two canvases had made to the process, one linen, one cotton - the linen much the better.

Lesley has been really productive this week.
1. My final attempt at a self portrait, in watercolour using a photo taken In 2019. Not enough jowls and wrinkles, but strangely they didn’t show in the photo.
2. An experiment with using a candle as a wax resist, Quink ink and watercolour on mixed media paper. I shall have another go, planning a composition rather random marks- it’s difficult to see white candle marks on white paper.
3. My interpretation of Jane’s wonderful photo of her mineral collection. I decided not to be realistic but go slightly abstract. A hotchpotch of acrylic inks, wax crayons, oil pastels and metallic acrylic paint. I enjoyed doing this, thinking about a previous life as I painted.
And finally, a photo of an unusual cloud formation over my house at lunch time. It’s called mammatus, because it’s supposed to look like mammaries hanging down! It indicates really violent weather which seems right for today.

And so has Harriet, who has also provided this week's inspiration, which you will find below her week's work. Another very good likeness in the self portrait, though she does look rather worried, but perhaps this is concentration again.

More images for abstracts as well as realism or impressionist treatment. Full files below for bigger images. Nothing from me as the limited painting I have done this week was of the same variety as Sally P's stairs (though nothing like as impressive!). Have a good week. Enjoy the beginnings of spring - only a couple of weeks to go before people can meet outside in gardens again, and then in April, hopefully even more freedom!

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Thursday 4th March + PS Fri 5th + PPS Sat 6th !

2/3/2021

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Hi Everyone from Noreen. Nice to be back.

Let's start with the inspiration photos for next week's artwork. They are from Jane who, after some discussion with Hannah about abstraction, has chosen a couple of them with that in mind. Whatever you decide to do, I know we shall all be pleased to see your picture(s) and hear what you have been up to, so please keep in touch.

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Sally P has taken inspiration from the funny goat photo last week and produced six(!) versions, of which three are shown here:
(1) in charcoal (2) in watercolour and (3) in pastel. I think they're all great. Click to enlarge and view.

We didn't see Sally on Zoom this week, as she has been detailed to help her son with his house move.

Diana says, the floods were amazing; you can see why it's called Eye (no.1). For her picture (no.2) she worked with felt tip scribbles plus collage. In no.3 Diana abandoned a self-portrait and cut her hair instead (a kind of self portrait?)

Sally T has given us two watercolour pictures on paper. They are views of a pond in Mellis, one in recent cold weather and the other in bright sunshine

Jackie has completed a very sympathetic portrait of Sally from last week's photo - in watercolour. I think it is so much harder to do portraits in watercolour than in some other medium and this is beautifully done.

Harriet is still doing portraits of her dogs, that she feels a close relationship to. The first one here is Chester, a rescue/rehome dog.

The other two are of Cherry who is no longer with them, and this is the first time, after 4 years that she has felt like having a go at a painting her. They now have another dog, Rose, as yet unpainted.

Sally L thinks this is her final attempt at a self-portrait (5th, 6th ?)
That's a shame, don't you think, as it's so lively and a fascinating rendering?

Hilary has sent us a picture of, as she says, “the wonderful snowdrops in my garden”. Great to see something from you, Hilary! Keep in touch.

Finally, from me: these Hyacinths flowered earlier in the year and have now been relegated to my garden.

We had a good Zoom today, except for a few technical difficulties. We saw more of Les Br. this time (loved to see his L-plate in his place when he disappeared), but June came and went a few times, evidently because she didn't get the appropriate email with the link. Let's hope they can all be sorted out before next week.
PS (Friday) I should have waited a little longer before posting the above. Jane had had a hectic day and was a bit late in sending her excellent work in - see below.

Jane's pen and ink drawing of hyacinths and another houseplant this week.

PPS (Saturday) Here are some further additions, with apologies for lateness.

From Avril we have a happy goat in pen and ink, plus a beautiful horse in watercolour and pastel.

Lesley has sent us two more attempts at a self-portrait. The first was painted in the morning. Lesley liked the shading but felt it didn't look like her. She realised at lunchtime that the face was too long so had another go in the afternoon. She thinks the proportions are better but is still not happy ...

The self-portrait in pencil and watercolour is from - need I say? - Frances.
The linocut is in the making. Frances hopes that this turns out to her liking and she doesn't have to throw it in the bin, as she did the last time.

This is definitely the last for this week. Thank you all for your contributions - which I know keep many of us going through bad weather and difficult times. Noreen

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25th March 2021

late edition 26th march 2021

18th March 2021

March 11th, 2021

Thursday 4th March + PS Fri 5th + PPS Sat 6th !

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