Blog Archives

May 27th, 2021 + PS 28th

27/5/2021

Hello all from Noreen
I hope you enjoyed your day at Abbey Farm. I seriously thought of joinning you, but a walk round my garden told me it was too cold to sit outside for any length of time. As Lesley said, although it was a little warmer than last week, there was still a need for multple layers of clothing. So I stayed at home and did a pen drawing from an old photograph (see right). Then I had a very welcome visit from Avril.
Perhaps I'll manage to come next week, but meanwhile I must tell you that Hannah will be taking over the blog again for the month of June. So please remember to send your artwork to her next Thursday.

Click to enlage images.

Carolyn was first with her work for this week, namely of Taz, who was on holiday in the area. He is apparently a lively 13-year old rescue dog now settled in a happy home after a bad start. His owner liked the picture very much, which has led to a commission for another dog, a springer spaniel. Good for you, Carolyn - keep up the winning streak.

John has done a very good drawing at Abbey Farm today, shown above, capturing a lot of interesting fine detail of the old house.

Diana didn’t get to Hoxne today but has dug out some old ones: first from 2010 at Hoxne, the top of Watermill Lane looking across the Waveney Valley towards the North; the second from 2012 up on the hill behind Becky’s house at Brockdish, looking across the Waveney Valley from the other direction towards the South. Takes us back!

Sally P found this subect very difficult to draw! She took her photo of the actual door from a different angle on purpose so that we can’t tell how inaccurate hers is! Crafty - although we don't really need to know if it's an accurate depiction or not!!

Hannah, for this week’s contribution, has finished her cherry tree drawing. She says she has tried to warm it up, and thinks it needs more depth of colour too, but some of that is the limitations of coloured pencil, “and some of it me!” (I know what Hannah means as I too thought I’d try the Derwent Procolour pencils and was rather disappointed with the depth of colour.N )

Avril sent two offerings from this morning - two completely different subjects: a very nice plant drawing (not sure what it is) and an excellent, strong painting detail of the Abbey Farm house.

From Lesley: "I decided to concentrate on the garden door at Abbey Farm: this is a mix of pencil, watercolour pencil and watercolour on cartridge paper. It’s rather flat, we had another overcast day with no shadows. The promised sun didn’t materialise....."

Sally T (re second picture above) says: I need to do a bit more to today's picture. Beautiful building but complicated to draw.

Emily sent some photos in last week, including some from the Friday Inkie Printers sessions she has been hosting at The Bank Eye. Here is an image of one display.

Images from Harriet: her offerings are: one from last week, another from earlier this week and two from today. She says, "One of those is not finished, it is a picture of a wisteria, which was a very beautiful blue and white one, I spent quite a long time drawing it and then decided to mask it and put a wash over it, the masking fluid has pulled off some of the drawing, especially the colour. I think it looks interesting enough for the blog but I do intend to do some more work on it." Apologies for the rather unclear reproduction - N.

Sally P has sent the following general photos from today; note that the first one includes the door referred to above by Sally. She tells us that nine of you dropped in and out throughout the day. Those of you who didn’t make it to Hoxne may like to use such photos for drawing practice and send them in next time?

Hannah will be looking forward to hearing from you.

PS This is from Jackie, unfortunately not seen until too late for inclusion yesterday, sorry Jackie.

She says there is still lots to do but it was so good to be painting outside again.

Have a very good week, with fingers crossed for some warm days and more sunshine. Noreen

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Thursday 20th May

20/5/2021

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The weather forecast today wasn’t very promising, so how many of you turned up at the old coach house this morning for the first outing of our Summer Programme 2021? More of that later.

Meanwhile, the first report came in from Sally P with an on location sketch from Les (Bragg). Very good, Les, pleased to see you back in the fold ! This was closely followed by a photo of Josie sitting on her portable collapsible seat. People were very impressed after the great hilarity about it on Zoom last week. (Doesn’t look terribly safe to me!)

Please click to enlarge images

Sally is still working on her picture; the morning started with a committee meeting then she did far more talking than artwork, she says. (Now there’s a surprise!)

Diana says it was lovely to see everyone. She sat at a picnic table at Brockdish this morning until she froze, then finished her excellent drawing off in the warm at home. “Very enjoyable” she says.

I joined you in spirit and continued with a painting in acrylics, started earlier in the week. It was with the help of a photo taken on a previous visit. (Noreen)

Hannah kindly sent in a report on the outing, saying I didn’t miss much as far as the weather was concerned: dull, duller and increasingly cold. Ten people came in all, Maggie-Anne and Ian left after the committee meeting, and Josie and Hilary arrived much later, primarily to say Hello! The hardy souls still at work by the river were Lesley, Les and Sally L.
Location views here show Sally, Richard and Frances, the beginning of the long pathway down to the river, the river with reflections and a stream.

Hannah’s own work comprises ‘a view along the river’, reflections in the water, and the excellent “The Artist at Work” (the artist being Les, of course).

About the first image, Sally L says: I tried to make sense of the layers of landscape behind the river by adding a bit of wash when I got home. It does rather give the impression of sunshine, - not a glimmer!
Of the second image she says: I liked the old basin hanging on the wall, but too chilly to linger for more than a quick sketch

Sally P says: Photo taken from different angle to where I was sitting! Classic!

Lesley says it's just as well I didn't join the group today as it was soooo cold. She was chilled to the bone by the time she went home after 2 hours, even with a padded jacket hat and gloves. It was very overcast and threatening rain, so the river and valley landscape lacked shadows and much contrast. The second one is looking across the Waveney into Suffolk and is in pen and ink. Both lovely drawings.

Well, we do have some hardy souls in the EAG, even to venture forth and stick it out for a while. And talented too, to produce such good artwork in very cold, dull and miserable conditions.
It's 7pm now and I think that's all for today. The meeting is in Hoxne next week at Abbey Hall Farm, with its Tudor house and gardens. See the instructions about parking and please note that the loos are going to be at Jackie's, not at Abbey Hall Farm.
The following week, Carolyn will be providing the makings for tea and coffee and providing the loo at her venue.
Noreen

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PS Friday 14 May

14/5/2021

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Hannah sent these in yesterday, but my brain stopped working before I could include them in the Blog - sorry, Hannah.
She says, "I started this drawing of the wonderful cherry tree in my garden that now has a path of pink petals underneath it, but have not got far, so I also attach a photo of the real thing. I love the contrast of the deep shade under the tree and the light in the blossom, but my version needs much more depth of colour and warmth (somehow the colours are too cold, which I have only noticed on photoing). I will persevere!"

I'm very interested in seeing (from the photo) the development of the picture in Hannah's style of painting and I hope to see the result of her perseverance in due course. N

ZOOM yesterday - I was sorry to miss the meeting. Hannah says, "There was quite lively discussion about the things we buy with good intentions but never use, and Josie showed us the wonders of her pop-up stool, rather like the Japanese water containers for plein air that concertina! Hopefully we will see it in action on one of the summer outings." And Sally P I showed her failed attempts at making cards with her all singing and dancing new printer. Like Hannah, she is persevering.

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Thursday 13th May

13/5/2021

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Diana sent us photos she took at The Old Coach House in Brockdish a couple of years ago. She also remembers us being there all wrapped up and it snowed. I do hope it will not be like that for our outing there next Thursday, the first of the Summer Programme 2021 - and thanks Diana for the reminder. Get your easels, paints and brushes ready, check your sunglasses and umbrellas and dust the cobwebs off your folding chairs. For Summer Programme details, look under EVENTS.

Click to enlarge images

Diana says, “Sally’s bridge (shown last week) nearly defeated me, but ended up with collage plus ink and biro. I’ve also spent time preparing a sketch book with bits of old collage , white acrylic for texture and felt tip colour chart ready for next week.

"The lovely thing about collage is that you can cheat. It's a lesson for painting and drawing I think that you don’t have to be too careful, which suits my impatience.”

Carolyn reminds us too that this is the last of the winter programme!
About her paintings she says, “As you will surmise, I am not happy with either one of the attached. The apple blossom is lovely and has such delicate colours. The Easter cactus is very vivid and equally difficult to capture, and it also closes in the evening light.”

Carolyn is looking ahead and has taken photos in the garden (which we shall no doubt see later) so that people can see what is around. She has also done a sketch ready to use on June 3.

Emily has a message for us - click here.

It was nice to hear from Emily again last week. However, the website was playing up again a bit, so I had to delay putting her work on until today.
So here now are the photos to show us what she has been working on and what has been occupying her creative side! First is Emily herself with pictures she showed at the Nature Group exhibition at The Bank. The second one is a detail of ‘an Ayuvedic Clock’ which Sophie is studying (had to look that one up - it’s apparently all to do with the rhythms of nature). This oil painting was commissioned by Sophie of the Little Gift Shop and Eco Store in Thornham Walks. Emily’s favourite bit was the ‘cute’ snails which she added. Next is Morning Glory, a linocut of the field she walks daily near her home; the meadow is very beautiful all year round, she says.

I have been delighted by the lovely pink flowers of my wild strawberries popping up all over the garden, like little jewels. It’s hard to capture their casual beauty - I tried, but nature wins every time. (Noreen)

Frances says the geese arrived (first picture) and she has sent something else in mid construction,...down Cowpasture Lane in Mellis last month.

Avril has worked with Sally’s photo of the window cleaners. She has done it on sugar paper with pastels, to good effect I think.

From June: "Just a sketch, breakfast, tea, coffee and egg. l don't think Morandi would think much of this!" Maybe ... but he didn't carry on painting till he was 90, er almost 91! (Noreen)

Harriet says, Here is my sketch for the week: the last of the daffodils from my garden - and they are very small.

From Sally T: Here is my picture for today. It is work in progress. I was a bit concerned about the paleness and wanted to create more contrast. Will see how it develops. Medium is oil on canvas

Jane is away again this week so unfortunately missed the zoom call. But just in time she has sent us her lovely pencil drawing of Tulips and Freesias in a jug.

Sally P has not been able to send us any artwork this week, but she has provided three photos to inspire any of those people not going to the old Coach House at Brockdish for an outdoor session next week:
1. Poorly Chick 2. Birthday Bouquet 3. Fred the Tread

Sally also has a letter for us. Please go to Messages to read it. Click here.

That's all for now. I hope to hear from you again next week, whether from the outing to Brockdish or from your working at home. Noreen.

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Thursday 6th May

5/5/2021

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Sally L has supplied the photos for this week’s inspiration. Much food for thought … not sure how I’d tackle them. It will be interesting to see how others do. They are: Brooklyn Bridge, Tower Block Window Cleaners and Palma old town.

Click to enlarge images

Sunset at Clevedon

Carolyn has sent in a lovely watercolour of a sunset at Clevedon. Needless to say, she is disappointed with it, but she shouldn’t be as the result is quite striking. I like the way the lights twinkle along the pier and in the building at the end.

Diana is disconcerted by the tidiness shown by Avril in her shoes photo. But it has inspired Diana to draw just one of six piles of shoes around her house which have accumulated - in spite of her thinking that lockdown would have enabled her to reduce the mess! But thank you, Diana, for an excellent drawing.
She adds: I know where I go wrong, when I think I am tidying up I'm just moving and rearranging piles of clothes or shoes or whatever.

A Mess of Shoes

Still Life, fruit

June combined still life in pastel with lunch. A beautiful representation in pastel, completed at The Bank's Wednesday morning meeting yesterday, before being scoffed.

I continued with my acrylic painting of last week, now finished. It was inspired by Diana’s excellent photo a couple of weeks ago of the Shropshire hills, in sunshine and cloud. Otherwise I've just been toying with ideas for the coming week. (Noreen)

Shropshire Hills

Avril thought she had better do one of her suggested pieces, using water soluble pencils - although she has not applied any water. She likes the sketchy feel - which was approved of by others on Zoom today.

From Frances we have first her fritillaries converted into acrylic on a 5"x5" block canvas, second a sketch of tulips she had in a vase and thirdly her Minsmere oil moving along from last week, "Now awaiting some Canada geese to appear."

Lesley tells us, this is still a work in progress; it’s the view across the Dove Valley from Park Lane in acrylic. She mentioned at the Zoom meeting her difficulty in indicating that the foreground land slopes away, then rises beyond the river - tricky. She has taken up Frances’s suggestion of looking at Sisley’s work to see how to improve the Spring trees….

Jane says, "I’m sorry I couldn’t make the Zoom call today. I’m back to my old favourite of black ink drawing this week, still plenty to do on it. It’ll keep me occupied for a while yet."

Sally L has sent us two fine pictures. The first is from Sally T's photo, which she's called "St George Displeased by Tulips"(!) and includes painting and collage, I believe. The second picture is of a wind battered selection from her garden, which has a sense of freedom about it I feel.

Finally, here are Harriet's two pictures: her blue iris is mixed media, coloured pencils and watercolour mostly), and the other, Waveney, is a sketch for an idea in oil paints. This is likely to be quite a challenge, she says. She added the birds without deciding what they were exactly, maybe geese. We look forward to seeing it.

NOTICE: We had a discussion on Zoom this morning about using the blog during the Summer Programme. Firstly, do please keep sending us your pictures every Thursday. If you can get to the venue, we would very much appreciate it if you would each photograph your own work and send it to whoever is doing the blog, rather than have one person photographing everybody's at the end. If you are not at the venue, please just send us any work you recently completed. For inspiration for those not out with the group, a photograph of the location will be posted on the blog for you to work on - if you so wish - for the following week.

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May 27th, 2021 + PS 28th

Thursday 20th May

PS Friday 14 May

Thursday 13th May

Thursday 6th May

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