Just 'do' ...

I have tried to be more active this month - not a New Year resolution as such, but when you reach a certain age you realize how important your physical well-being is and I have never been a lover of exercise.  I have some physio exercises for my back and I am getting custom made orthotics for my fallen arches, so I wonder where February will see me!  Marvin, the cat, is doing well after my panic on his diagnosis of diabetes.  He drinks a couple of pints of water a day, but he has a good appetite and doesn't appear to have lost any more weight. 

Thank you to all who ask after him.

My February pages are rather simple at the moment.  Wax resist plus washes of red and yellow for the background and green squares with a bit of white gesso stencilled on.  I was influenced by a bit of 50's fabric for the colour scheme.  I am sure the pages will  liven up by the end of the month. I do hope that those of you who have joined in are enjoying the challenge.  Kate has organized a link on her blog - I have yet to suss that one out.

For all of you who kindly comment on my journal pages, here is another one.  I have been having a paisley moment or two, I find this sort of thing quite mindless and when I am not feeling inspired to be creative I can just start with a glorified doodle.  I may add to it over several days. The internet is a wonderful font of fact, and as I have a mind like a sieve, writing down what I find out is a must.  I just sarted by writing in some paisley shapes and the patterns grew.  You may also notice from the top of the  page that I have joined the Artist Network Bedfordshire. My friend has invited me to join her in the open studio event in June so we have had to do some planning - but more about that much nearer the time.

Here is a page from my little watercolour moleskine.  I did think I would try and draw something from my garden in it every month, but I started it about 18 months ago and it has some big gaps. Perhaps I will do better this year.  Here I drew winter flowering heather, which is a bit tardy this year as it often starts to open before the new year and Christmas box which has the most heavenly sweet scent, if somewhat insignificant flowers.  I have managed to cut this back hard every summer and keep it small enough to stay by my back door. If you long some winter perfume I hightly recommend it.

Well that is January wrapped up, spring is really waiting in the wings. The sun has shone today, the birds singing and it is five o'clock and the sky is still pink! That's progress

Glorious September

I am feeling much better and this glorious weather is helping. I'm back to the land of the living after a few days of a cold and I have been enjoying sitting in the garden with my pen and water colours. This is what I was looking forward to when I retired, last year's miserable autumn was such a disappointment. So far we have had mostly blue skies for at least a couple of weeks. I feel obliged to make the most of every hour so I have been gardening and out with my camera, cleaning windows and doing plenty of laundry. The garden seems to be having a last flush of flowers and there are plenty of insects about. I want to plant bulbs and move some shrubs, but the ground is so dry I am postponing these jobs 'till we've had some rain. I'll share some of the photographs I have been taking later.

I'm a bit disappointed wth the way this has come out even though I adjusted the colours in photoshop they seem to be really unsubtle - I just need to experiment.

Thinking time

I am supposed to be working on my final assignment for OCA Photography 2, Landscape. I have to compile twelve photographs taken in the style of my chosen photographer, Fay Godwin. Although she was well known for her black and white landscape work, it was her collection of more intimate colour photographs she took of gardens which attracted me. My tutor gave me the go ahead and I have been working on this collection for 6 months but cannot come to a decision at to whether I have a good enough pool to start selecting or whether I should be taking more photographs. This time has also coincided with my rediscovery of painting. I have always drawn, but I haven't had my paints out for years. I am in a creative rush at the moment, indulging myself in a frenzy of picture making inspired by the art journals kept by many bloggers and flickrites. I have been trying to 'let go' and really let myself be as emtional, sentimental, messy, fiddly and so on as I feel. I always worry about what others may think, that I mustn't be self-centred or indulgent, so this is a bit of self applied art therapy and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I am finding it quite difficult to give myself 'me time' since I retired - something I longed for when working full time.
But I want to start seriously thinking about my photography assignment, but to end this blog I shall post a couple of flower paintings I started my art journal with - before going a little more wayward.


This is a very conventional watercolour study of an aquilegia...

...whereas this study of 'snow-in-summer' is beginning to loosen up!