Studio Notes 213
Green Days & more
Crow visits the forget-me-nots (21.5cm x 17.5cm)
A new painting featuring a crow/jackdaw visitor to a wild garden. I spotted a new patch of forget-me-nots flowering in the churchyard and said ‘yes - forget-me-nots time!’ Which allows makes me happy. Now the daffodil season is just about over.
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are well. We are enjoying fine sunny weather here - and many of us can’t quite believe the forecast as it seems the sunshine is here to stay for a while yet. Will this be the best stretch of weather this spring into summer? I cannot fathom how it will be May very soon.
This week I thought I would take you on one of my walks close to home. Despite living in the heart of a busy town, I am fortunate to have green spaces near where I live.
Yes the sky was really that blue. Here is a meadow area, where small cattle have grazed over the years. The church in the distance is the one I see from my kitchen window.
But what I am interested in is the smaller details, the wild beauty like these dandelions growing by an old wall. The way light and shade works, the greens and the mix of plants.
So if you should see a woman photographing ‘weeds’…..
In the churchyard there are forget-me-nots, dandelions and buttercup varieties thriving in the uncut grasses. I hope the churchyard maintenance team will not cut things back too soon. This is one of my favourite old stone graves in the churchyard - can you see the face peering out?
Back home and I am inspired to paint. I won’t work from photographs directly, they are just on my phone for prompts. I will literally glance at them now and then, if and when I feel the need.
First washes -
I like to think of the earth below the greens and how that gives a good grounding. All my recent painting on brown paper has also taught me how brown can be a good starting point. I am working in designer gouache paint on watercolour paper.
Happy with the sky and here’s a detail of first marks. Keeping it loose and playful.
Finding plants and mixing greens - dock leaves in the foreground help to lend a contrast with all the smaller stems and leaves.
More leaves! More green please
And then, what’s this - a bird you say? Well also many yellow flowers. This painting is more about the greens and yellows than anything else. But the bird adds a sense of a moment in time - the invitation to dive in…
The completed painting - crabapple blossom in the meadow - 29cm x 26cm gouche on watercolour paper.
And then, many, many brushstrokes later - the crab apple blossom has appeared and I feel like I am almost back in the meadow. This is my imagined version of the space. I am not a painter of a specific place, more a painter of a chance mood.
I hope you enjoyed seeing how this painting evolved. I am particularly happy with all those yellow wild plants and how they work together. Of course I could have shared more steps and photos but this is not a tutorial and that world of sharing is not my thing - but I am grateful to know, from your comments, that you like to see some of my ‘in progress’. So I am happy to share and thank you.
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SHOP NEWS
I will be updating my shop this coming Wednesday. 29th April, at 7pm UK time - with preview from 4pm. Expect to see a mix of new artwork including the two paintings I have share with you here. I hope to have new book page paintings also.
Free postage within in the UK continues - and I am going to extend this into May. I am grateful to everyone for your interest and kind support. There is a link to my shop at the end of these notes.
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New Writing
A poem and a story/observation for you this week. I hope you enjoy reading and thanks always for your kind encouragement. A poetry workshop is coming soon - hopefully at the end of May. More infor soon.
Multitudes
One shade of green
is an impossibility.
Quietly, quietly give me
hands together, dancing greens -
a little yellowredblackblue
will allow a small multitude
of green, and not quite green
and with a flourish,
light care and chance
more green, more green
unto the green sky.
Yes, the sky feels green today.
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The next generation goes shopping
Three lads in the bread section of the supermarket and one of them reading the ingredients of a sliced loaf. E147a, the boys says, sounds like a fighter jet. His friends agree. I have no idea why they are so concerned with the contents of a loaf of bread. I get a feeling they could either have been told to look at it for a school project, or they are simply killing time whilst their friend chooses a box of cereal. When I encounter them again it is at the self-checkout, where they are paying with cash because they have never paid with cash before and want to see how it works. They all contribute, adding coins into the machine as if about to win a jackpot.
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And finally, I thought I would share with you some of the paper vessel making that quietly goes on alongside everything else. I like to make the most of a book! Over the years I have made many paper vessels, mostly small cups and jugs. Some are painted, others have embroidery included or monoprint drawings. These days I am inclined to keep them just as they are, concerning myself with the shape and texture. But we will see. The small jug to the left is complete - but the larger jug still needs a little work. The vessel on the right is still very much in progress. I am experimenting with rounder, different shapes. My starting point is usually a piece of lightweight card twisted and formed into a 3D shape and this is covered with layers of book paper and glue. The process takes time but now we have warmer days at least the drying time is quicker… I will share more with you soon.
Thanks always for reading. I send these studio notes to all subscribers on Sundays. My midweek notes go out on Thursdays to paid subscribers. I have recently been sharing a mixed media book.
A happy sunny Sunday to you Cathy 🌞🪻I really enjoyed seeing the layers of your painting and hooray for the forget-me-nots! In our garden they are mingled with the bluebells which have wandered out onto the lawn… I’ve always had the urge to peek in the cracks of old tombs in the churchyard, when we were about ten I remember one of the boys in my class telling us all how he had seen a skeleton hand poking out! What a terrible thrill daring each other to look in!💀😳🖤
Good Morning Cathy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your words this morning. How generous of you to show us your process, I love your work as you know, and always look forwards to how you work with the seasons. Forget me knots always remind me of my late grandmother, so a lovely flower. It would be nice to think the boys were checking the bread for E numbers, but what a great little tale. I think the vessels you make are gorgeous, and its almost like working with clay isnt it. That same satisfaction, without the firing drama. I too like to photograph things on my walks for later, but struggle with order so I am now popping things into files on the pc finally, so maybe theres hope for me yet. I still have many of your early poetry zines, thank you for including a poem today, it is beautiful and very timely. I adore green :) Wishing you a lovely creative week ahead in this glorious weather. Im debating weather to place a geranium or two out side, its like we are having our summer now in Wales, which we possibly are, lol. Much love and thanks as always for the joy and inspiration that you bring x