Sofa Dwellers

Not so much to report about these drawings, other than just how great ink is, both for drawing, and making your hands/house/dog black.

Some summer colour

Felt like we could all do with some cheering up, so here's some paintings of nice bright things...I am fairly proud of the fact I've succeeded in creating a back garden of flowers which actually clash.

The last two paintings are of bright purple aubergines, and a giant tomato. I bought them at a market in Vienna because I thought they were amazing. Haven't seen aubergines like this in the UK.

Orange bricks, grey sky: summer view of Galgate

The new windows have been installed at the studio, and we're enjoying being able to see out properly. This watercolour sketch shows a view of the Silk Mill, orange bricks and standard issue slate grey summer sky. Wouldn't look nearly so authentic with a blue sky.

The other painting is a detail from the large scale acrylic I'm working on, showing Australian eucalyptus bush. The red birds are Crimson Rosellas.

New website for Ellel Artists' Studios

So (finally) Ellel Artists' Studios has a website: http://www.ellelartists.org/

You'll see on the website that we are holding our first Open Studio weekend on the 3rd and 4th of September. It would be lovely to see you.

We will soon be getting new windows installed in the studio, to replace the ancient cracking and crumbling ones. The old ones look amazing but I can't say we will miss them, last winter the water froze solid in the kettle a few times! I took this photo of a summer storm cloud through the old windows last week.

Bush

These pictures are of eucalypt forest in Australia, or bush - a totally underwhelming term for the reality of this plant lovers paradise. I found the colours, shapes, smells and textures unfamiliar and beautiful. Particularly the smell of the eucalyptus oil, I wish my paintings could capture that.

I'm thinking/planning a new painting, which will be large, tall and thin, based on these forests. I painted the watercolour from the balcony of my boyfriends' uncle and aunts' house, they live near Woy Woy on the Central Coast, which is basically unbroken forest and gorgeous coast a couple of hours north of Sydney. The second drawing was done recently, from memory and photos; recollecting particular trees and plants. The way that plants in Australia are adapted to fire is amazing. I particularly want to try and capture the feel of the peeling bark. We saw a lot of trees which had been burned, the most impressive were in the Blue Mountains. Enormous trees which are smooth white or silver grey underneath, with ribbons of cinnamon coloured bark hanging down. Even the photos make you want to reach out and touch them.

Recent life drawings

The three drawings were made with charcoal and a putty rubber taking 5 mins (pink paper), 10 mins (blue) and 15 mins (yellow). I covered the paper in charcoal, drew in the main lines, then drew in the highlights using a putty rubber. The older and mankier the putty rubber is, the better; accrued dog hair and dirt gives added strength to it, allowing you to make sharper lines.

I spent about 2 hours on the painting, although I think I overworked it a bit. The 'brief' I set myself was to go back to basics and paint with just three colours, using it tonally rather than realistically. I cheated a bit and used two blues, (in order to get a nicer green), however, I like the colours a lot. I'm less sure about the finished picture, I took it home and stuck it on the mantlepiece for a while and realised it looks like an illustration for a Mills and Boons novel. Woops.

Challenging 'challenging' art

A quote by artist John Keane in the June edition of the A-N Magazine:

"...Who is going to challenge the hegemony of 'challenging art'? I long for the day when a commissioned artist, out of sheer perverse bravado, might fill the lofty and intimidating Turbine Hall of Tate Modern with delicately crafted watercolours...'

Me too! Why is contemporary art only considered worthwhile when it is 'challenging'? Why is figurative art still looked down upon, undervalued - art which is based upon hard work and skill developed over years of practice and study? Why are artists who make a living by selling their work considered of less artistic merit than conceptual artists?

Jonathon Jones recently discussed this in his article 'Painted into a corner'. Worth pondering upon, especially if you are stuck at home feeling bitter with a cold and unable to actually paint!