Greek Boats and marine related items

I love old boats almost as much as crumbly doors but  not so many have made it into   paintings or textiles ( yet!) although I've made  a  few journal quilts.
Gythion   is a working port and  our hotel room looked out over the harbour.  Sunrise was accompanied by the gentle put-put-put of small fishing boats heading out to sea.  We enjoyed eating their catch (  fish soup, octopus marinated in red wine  and  grilled sardines  were among our favourite dishes)

Greek Doors

Regular readers will know that I have a bit of a thing ( ok , obsession) about  crumbly doors, Greece being a particularly fertile  hunting ground and source of inspiration for many watercolours and quilts.  This visit was no exception! I didn't get the chance to pay homage to my favourite in Anavriti  due to tight schedule but I made some new discoveries.

A different kind of door, the entrance to Hades at  Tenaro !

Greek Orchids and other wildlife

A week ago  we  had just landed back at Heathrow  (1/2 an hour early) after a fantastic week in Gythion in the far South of Greece.   I posted photos every day on Facebook ( people probably got bored of all the sunrise shots but I didn't!)   but life having taken over again and Ian being off sick with a horrible bug  I haven't had much of  a chance to select ones to blog about

I'd thought I'd start off with the flowers, particularly the orchids which we saw in abundance.  It took me several days to work out that surprisingly my phone took better pictures than my camera in low light levels - I have lots of blurred shots of Anacamptis and Serapias which I'm not going to share with you!  
The last day's walk was the highlight, walking up the Anavriti Gorge. Saw literally hundreds of  Orchis quadripunctata which despite its name, more usually has 2 spots rather than 4. Mixed in with Cyclamen  they were a spectacular sight, photos just don't do them justice.

Orchis italica

At least 5 different Ophrys species ( above)

Aceras anthropophrum

Neotinia maculata (in fruit)

Birthday orchid spotter

Dactylorhiza romana (probably)

Lots of wildlife around - spiders, petal-eating beetles, birds of prey and heard cuckoos

But it's that magical combination of  pink cyclamen and orchids in profusion  that will remain with me for a very long time.

Ways Into Abstract Painting Week 1

 Week 1 of 'Ways into Abstract Painting'  at City Lit   started in the morning with mark-making with  dry media : charcoal, graphite , oil pastel  and pens ( above) - we were allowed to play with ink after tea break ( below) . The idea was to make each area distinctive from another and there was frequent  'waltzing with easels' as in the previous class I did with Lucinda Oestreicher , to see what other people had done.

  My favourite marks  were with charcoal and eraser ( above)  and a bunch of pencils used together ( below)

 We then chose a detail/techniques from our 'palette of marks' and di a large version ( I had the usual issue of   not stopping soon enough - the centre was better when it was blank)

 After lunch we divided paper into 4 and chose an object to draw using the marks we'd developed in the morning. The idea was  that these drawings would become more abstracted and simplified like Picasso's bulls ( above) using different viewpoints and scales. I chose a red teapot which  is an old friend from many a still life class  and like many in the group found it difficult to apply the  free mark-making  to an object - like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.  Next week colour!

Contemporary Drawing Sketchbook : final results

I'm rather pleased with  the artists' book  based on the theme of positive/negative I produced as a result of the Contemporary Drawing Sketchbook  course at City Lit. I'd done a lot of preparation in advance of the class : painting the cover and stitching and drawing a variety of pages  so what I did in the final session  was draw with white ink on the cover and tracing the same pattern on the reverse but write the text associated with 'the elusive spark'.  

cover -  based on  fold out etching in book from 1787

inside

inside showing pamphlets attached to accordion

cover folded up

cover laid out flat

Inside with pamphlets towards centre

Inside  with left hand pamphlet opened

Inside with right hand pamphlet opened ( showing reverse of stitched page)

inside with text

However my sketchbook practise  itself hasn't altered that much from the start. Seeing what other  students  had achieved in their sketchbooks was very interesting, with  one page leading  to another, inserts, collage,  space left to add additional material , pages altered.  Overwhelmed with all the techniques demonstrated  and  with so many ideas to explore I tended to work on large separate bits of paper rather than in the sketchbook itself. I'd do it differently if I did it again!

 One of the reasons I chose this course was to bridge the gap ( ok chasm!) making links  between my observational drawings and paintings and the design work for my textile pieces .  It's certainly given me a lot  to think about in regards to my sketchbook practice. I've written before  comparing my lab book  records to my sketchbooks. Now I'm no longer working as a scientist , I'm not sure the lab book approach is as appropriate and I'm in the process of reviewing  how to make my sketchbooks work better for me as I develop as an artist.