Photo: recent sketchbook pages
Hello everyone, I hope you are keeping well. It has been a mild and rainy autumn here, with sunshine and showers shaping each day. The erratic light is not so good for taking photos of artwork - I have been learning where and when to take photos, by which window etc.. up here in the attic. I definitely have the benefit of more sunshine and am grateful, also optimistic that going into winter the dark won’t be quite so dark as it was in our old place.
I’ve been going out for brief walks a few times a day but have neglected the park. I’ll blame the rain. Despite the damp days I have sniffed a few bonfires, seen the curling smoke coming from gardens and the nearby park. All the way through autumn and winter there will be bonfire moments, I am sure. I love the smell, do you? That is I love the smell of a leafy bonfire - (not the burning of toxic waste). There are fewer fires than I remember from childhood.
Bonfires, leaping flames, ashes and fireworks. I’ve been exploring ideas in my sketchbooks as you can see here. The fireworks not so much - yet - but I expect they might appear. Painting fire is a tricky thing - one of getting your contrasts and mood just so.
photo: recent sketchbook pages
Angels have featured in my sketchbooks on and off for many years. They are an archetype I explore often in my artwork. To me they can take various forms and are not limited to one style or manifestation. They are about hope, friendship, connectivity and moments of epiphany. I like to paint and draw angels to tell stories and to allow people to find out what they think.
Shop News
This Sunday (today) I will be having a special update of angel-themed paintings and drawings in my shop. I hope you enjoy seeing everything. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to tell a variety of stories, or at least hint at. I made a basic video clip whilst working on one of the drawings and will post a link to YouTube at the end. (Still so much I want to learn about video making - but that’s for the future).
Here is the completed drawing ‘angel dolls’
photo: a new drawing for my angel-themed update
next update: Sunday 29th October 7pm UK time. Please note: the clocks have gone back an hour here in the UK - so please check timings.
Please also note: there will be no Wednesday update on the 1st November. I am busy with painting and stitching, preparing things for the rush toward the end of the year. There will be a Wednesday update the following week, as usual.
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A few small stories
My son and I visit a local artists market. We have both been looking forward to going as the rain has scuppered other recent plans. Thankfully the market is indoors and though there is just a modest number of stalls everyone has something interesting to offer. I always feel I want to support other artists but my support/budget is modest: just a few cards. I am reminded of how much work goes into showing publicly in a market setting. I won’t ever forget that hot day I took a long bus ride to a market in Wimborne, where I sold bead jewellery to Morris dancers. It was a terrific day. But back then I had dud days at markets, just as most makers do. That feels like a lifetime ago and was a different life. I am not sure if I could cope now spending a whole day interacting with people with my wares on display - for showing your work publicly is making yourself vulnerable in a way that is different to sharing online. So used am I to my quiet space. It would take me at least a week to decompress…
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Walking about town I so often overhear snippets of conversation - enigmatic phrases, tit-bits and confessions. I arrive home and earnestly try to remember, scribble things down. I try my best not to embroider on things but it’s worth noting context. A simple phrase like: he’s going to have it coming to him! I know I will look back and wonder why I thought it worth recording. I have to write a side note: said by a small girl no more than four years old. She seemed rather cross. She was dawdling behind a family group moving through the church yard. Extra side note: A flash of sunlight between yew trees and she was gone.
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Two women in the haberdashery/wool shop are talking about knitting vs crochet. They talk about a project one is knitting for the other. The knitter turns to me and asks: are you a knitter or a crocheter, or both? I say knitter. So, the woman asks me, if someone described your knitting as crochet you would be offended, wouldn’t you? She asks me with a twinkle in her eye. I would hope they might get it right, I say. See, the woman says to her friend, two different things, two different things!
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Thanks always for reading here for your kind comments and support. If you would like to buy me a coffee that is much appreciated.
Ah, I'm right with you there about bonfires! Our Norway maples have finally decided to turn color, weeks after all the sugar maples have made their show and shed their leaves. My dad used to burn piles of leaves but here in New England on rural properties we use them for mulch in our gardens to keep tender perennials from freezing when the temps get into the minuses. Often we'll get an early snowstorm right on top of all the color on the ground. That is magical!
I have mixed feelings about bonfires, I have such a fear of fire that if I smell smoke I panic. Too often the smell is acrid and I feel headachy as well as panicked. But I do enjoy catching whiffs of distant smoke whilst out on a walk.
Did anyone else think that the small girl is a ghost plotting her revenge?