#drawabirdaday

What do you get when you put 1 artist, 1 A5 sketch book and a month without classes together?

#drawabirdaday

Now when I announced that I would draw a bird a day over August it seemed a good idea at the time.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Instagram,

will recognize these images.

I drew and posted, 

drew and posted.

And here are a few for those of you who missed all

this ornithological activity... 

Now this was a discipline for me and very time consuming, but

it has really fed my creativity and as you will see in the next post I have really hit September running...

ANOTHER HOLLY DAY

The lovely Mr Brown and I decided to have a Saturday visit to the great metropolis. We are lucky to have Holly living in Forest Hill, walking distance to the Horniman Museum.

Off we trotted via Havelock Walk, an 

extraordinary mews area,  

full of artistic

indications. 

I have already penciled in the end of May next year when they have an open studio event.

A few minutes walk away and we were at the imposing  Horniman Museum and Gardens.

What a gorgeous place,

with an amazing view of the City from the gardens.

Flowers and squash everywhere, it 

was hard to believe that we were in London.

Inside the Museum itself is the most comprehensive collection 

of natural history exhibits I have seen

since the Oxford Natural History Museum.

Case after case of taxidermy exhibits including the famous, over stuffed walrus. All just a prelude to what is underneath the building.

An aquarium full of watery jewels, jelly fish,

tropical fish,

corals and 

tank after tank of exotica.

Blissfully relaxing.

We ended an excellent day at a local hostelry before heading back to Cheltenham.

Thank you Holly for showing us around! 

SUMMER BREAK

Term at the yard:ARTspace has finished for the summer, now I have a little bit of time to experiment and make new work.

I have been having fun with fabric using the steel shapes from my enamelled pieces to pop rust patterns into fabric.

Gum arabic transfer images into the cynotypes I made with Lesley and

make a few more, experimenting with chemicals in 

the shed while the sun is out.

I have got time to finish off a couple of

fabric collages.

making them into cushions.

Rusted fabric, free machine embroidery, gum arabic transfer and hand embellished making them functional art, not just cushions.

I also have time to develop some drawings in several sketchbooks.

Shutting myself away with radio 4

experimenting with paint,

ink and bleach, trying hard to put into practice everything I preach.

Looking forward to next week to see what work develops from all this preparation.

ANOTHER ACADEMIC YEAR OVER.

The last event of the academic year at the yard:ARTspace was the Summer Exhibition.

A chance to celebrate the printmaking of the Solo Groups that work at the yard on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon

The yard is spruced up and becomes a gallery setting for 3 days. 

An opportunity for people to see the yard and find out what we do here. 

Also for friends and 

family to celebrate the creativity of their nearest and dearest.

 With 8 artists showing it was collagraph in all its varied plate making forms 

and inking techniques. 

Thank you to everyone who came, commented and bought. 

It was a lively end to a busy year at the yard:ARTspace.

Now I am off to enjoy some of my own creativity and have a summer break. But do look at the yard:ARTspace website for the courses and workshops on offer in the Autumn and 2018 terms.

www.theyardartsapce.com