Friday, June 5, 2009

Next Post - 21st June

An extra long blog this week as I won't be blogging next week. I have a million things to sort out and need some time to get organised. Hope you enjoy what I have posted.

This is a pen and ink and watercolour picture which I gave a black digital background. There is also a white version but I think this one shows up the flowers better. It is called Flora. Looks better if you click for the larger version.


Pen and ink drawing called A Precious Handful. Lots of birds in this post as usual
This is my pen and ink artwork with a digitally coloured background. It is called Her Favourite Bird.

This lovely picture is by Katherina Goncharova. It is called Live As A Miracle. None of us would mind being near snails if they were as decorative as this one. There are stacks of images by Katharina at ArtNow.ru.


This is Rooster by Jennifer Davis. She has some lovely contemporary acrylic images like this at her website here. She also has a blog here with lots more of her work on display.


These amazingly colourful oil paintings are by Leonid Afremov. He is a very well known and collected artist whose canvases live and breathe colour. His style may not be to everyones taste but I could image one of his paintings acting as a focal point in a very neutrally decorated home. They would be amazing as the only point of colour in an all white room. If you like his work pop over to the Deviant Art Site here and take a look at no less than 20 pages of paintings.

Dark Rain


Invitation 2

Winter
Below are two embroideries by the late and much lamented Constance Howard. She was born in England in 1910 and became one of the greatest contemporary embroiders of the twentieth century. Jean Littlejohn and Jan Beaney, themselves well known textile artists, produced a book of her life and work called Conversations With Constance. She produced some amazing work during her very long life. My real favourite is the Doves below. She had a wonderful sense of design.

Doves
The Balcony
Detail of embroidery from Constance Howard's book "Inspiration for Embroidery". This book, which I bought from a charity shop, is full of wonderful illustrations meant to provide inspiration for embroiderers but it is just as inspiring to artists.


The two beautiful etchings below are the work of printmaker Fiona Watson. Fiona is a Canadian who now lives and works in Scotland. You can find some of her work at The Castle Gallery. She also has a website of her own full of her lovely images here. She is particularly interested in nature - her colours, patterns and rhythms. She has lots of beautiful images of pebbles and stones. My favourites are her moody angels though. She has two Flickr sites full of delicous things - here and here.

Wind Blown
Honesty
This delightful fellow is created by Cynthia Toops using polymer clay. Amazingly it is actually a teapot with the hat as the lid and the spout at the shoulder. Very inventive. It is actually composed of tiny pieces of clay in the shape of mosaic.
I remember this walk I took with my family about twenty years ago. Yes, it is a very old photo and the quality isn't brilliant compared to today's photos. It was a little village somewhere in north Bucks and I wish I could remember where it was. We walked here one beautiful spring day when the trees and hedges and fields were that lovely fresh, bright green you only get in springtime. Perhaps if I could remember and revisted I would find this idyllic scene changed and be very disappointed. Sometimes it is better to remember things as they were. Then again, it could still look exactly like this.....!

Beautiful detail on this black oxide torso by sculptress Alison Dix. It reminds me of a very detailed pen and ink drawing or an etching. Alison Dix shares a web gallery with Anthony Dix who is also a ceramicist. Two very talented people together. You can find their work here.



You can find some wonderful things on Flickr. This photo is in the stream of Uncle Shoe and is called Tree Hive. It is part of a contemporary sculptural installation. I think it is amazing but it would be a bit draughty living there...ha ha. I have always been fascinated since childhood by tree houses. There are some seriously enormous ones around with very sturdy trees to match. My favourites are the ones that are completely enclosed with the tree trunk growing up through the middle. As a person who loves trees, that would be the ultimate.



I have seen Sophie Smith many times at various craft fairs in the south-east of England. Her ceramics are delightfully whimsical and very popular. She produces lots of different items with lovely greeny blue and white and cream glazes. I would love to post a couple of links connected with her ceramics but there is practically nothing about her on an Internet search. It never ceases to amaze me that artist and crafts people who are so popular and sell well are so poorly represented on the Internet.


The images below are all the work of Scottish artist Madeleine Hand. She has a wonderful colour sense and produces lovely whimsical work of, often, everyday subjects and people doing ordinary things, but she adds something very special to them. Her work can be found here, here and here at Frames Gallery. She produces oil, watercolours and very detailed paper cuts. A very talented lady.

Hollyhocks
Bird Talk (papercut)

Spring Is In The Air
A Little Bird Told Me
Flower Girl (papercut)
Forest Moves
Bird Man
Hand In Hand
Planning a very busy week next week with many, many things to do that I have put off. They cannot be put off forever though and it is best to dive in and get them done. The worst part is always the thinking about it. Once you have started it is not such a problem. That is what I find anyway. Here goes...diving in...!

26 comments:

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Hi Cathy
Good luck with your busy week.
I love Flora. All the multi-color flowers are beautiful.
The picture where you took a walk with your family reminds me of farmland in Kentucky. It looks so peaceful.
That tree house is something. Wouldn't you love to have a studio in a very tall tree? How inspiring that would be to look out over the land.

Sandy Mastroni said...

I just love your drawings
A precious handful and ....
oh no .... I forget the other name but she has a bird too
My favorite Bird ?
both > very good
I joined Flickr . we will have to connect there too !

Whatever you think you can do
or beleive you can do ...
BEGIN it
for
in action
there is
Magic
Grace
and Power

Have a good productive happy fulfilling wonderful week

Gillian said...

Lovely post - really like the bird in your drawing "Her Favourite Bird". Best of luck with getting all your work done! G

Cathy said...

Thanks Phyllis. I hope I get done everything I want to. Things never go according to plan though. Kentucky must be very beautiful in spring if it looks like my photo. A tree house studio would be wonderful. You could be right up a tall tree with fantastic views and be able to watch the rooks raising their young. I think if I won the lottery that you be one of my first things on my list of wants...ha ha.

Cathy said...

Hi Sandy. You art and crafts look stunning all together on Flickr. I will send you a contact invite. Will pop over to see your blog shortly.

Cathy said...

Thanks Gillian. I have made a good start so I will have to see how I get on. What I mustn't do is spend all day on the computer..ha ha.

Flora said...

Really love "her favourite bird" and of course "Flora"!

Hope you get all your jobs done next week!

Cathy said...

Thanks Flora. I have made a good start anyway.

Anonymous said...

Hi Cathy, I adora 'Flora', that skirt is amazing, and your drawings are gorgeous! I also love the paintings by Leonid Afremov, I must click the link and look at the others! They would look stunning in our stairway, which is totally white like you said. Bet they don't come cheap though! Good luck with your busy week.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Every image is just enchanting. I am sure I will come back to study them all many times till your return. Have a productive time!

Acornmoon said...

I hope you manage to get it all done,whatever it is!

I love your line drawing, in fact there is so much here to admire I don't know where to start.

Holly Zemak said...

I hope you get a lot done on your week off and enjoy it a bit. Love "Her Favourite Bird" Have a great one.

Cathy said...

Thanks Omi. Very nice of you to say so. The week is progressing well for me so far. Going too fast though...ha ha.

Cathy said...

Thank you Pamela.

Cathy said...

Thanks Valerie. It took a while to find all these treats but it was worth it.

Cathy said...

Thanks Holly. You too.

Nicola said...

Always great to stop by here and see your beautiful collections, including your own work.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Nicola.

GalleryJuana said...

Wow, first time to visit your blogs.
Lots of inspiration here and I like your style of drawing!

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Gallery Juana. Glad you like the blog.

ArtPropelled said...

Cynthia's teapot is such fun and I love your bird illustrations. Hope you get the chores behind you quickly. As you say the worst part is the build up before actually doing them. I tend to put things off too.....especially if I want to get down to some art.

Cathy said...

Same here Robyn. Art is so much nicer than chores...ha ha.

jamjar said...

Hope your busy week went well. Love your 'favourite bird' drawing and the work of Madeline Hand is enchanting, thanks for the link. Joy

Cathy said...

Thanks Joy - it did. Glad you like Madeline Hand. Her work is really lovely.

Anonymous said...

Hi, glad I found your blog. That last piece by Madeleine Hand has pride of place on our wall at home alongside some pieces she did for our wedding anniversary. She has such a personal style. I hope your blog helps spread the word.
Thanks. Bryan and Marji, Perth.

Cathy said...

Thanks Bryan and Marji. She has a wonderful style and I love her work too. Lucky you two in having her work on your walls.