Friday, February 25, 2011

Next Blog Post 13 March

We had a wonderful day out on Sunday with good friends H, K and A in Oxfordshire. They entertained us beautifully but didn't arrange the weather very well and we all got an unbelievable drenching. On our way home from a geocache walk we had our backs to the wind and the rain and it felt as if someone had sneaked up behind us and thrown buckets of water at us. Where were my waterproof trousers? In the car of course. I remained quite chilled until I had a piping hot bath hours later. Where is all this rain coming from? Don't answer that.

This is the detail of my latest drypoint etching - Friendship And Understanding. I enjoy depicting my idea of the relationship and interaction of people and birds. I am wondering about painting the leaves with watercolour but leaving the rest unpainted.


Complete etching

I have only got as far as a pen and ink drawing at the moment but this is destined to be a painting eventually.


The usual quandary here - is it a hare or a rabbit? A soapstone lagomorph anyway. That will cover them both. I found it in a charity shop and it took a shine to me and asked if it could come home with me. Of course I agreed.


Meet Smudge - she is the softest, silkiest and nicest natured cat you could ever meet, and I have met a lot of cats. Sadly she doesn't belong to us but to some (very nice) neighbours who adore her. I also love her for her potential as a photographic model and her extremely low fees. The only problem with photographing her is that as soon as you squat down to take a shot she walks up to you for a cuddle. Still, you cannot have everything.


On a recent walk we discovered this interesting beast. It is a poor photo due to the deer being perched up high and the sky very bright in comparison but you can see that it only has half its antler rack. The corresponding half is on the deer on the other side of the gateway. I think it is a uni-antlered deer. I quite like it - quirky.


No one could call contemporary Scottish artist Margaretanne Bennett's work "pretty". Her paintings are a combination of realism and abstract with a definite hint of darkness to them. She uses a subtle palette with lots of texture. On her "about" page on her website she talks about being inspired after a visit to France and seeing old cemeteries. She is obviously fascinated by decay and rust and the sense of sadness and abandonment connected to such places - very similar to someone else I know. Anyway, pop over to her website here and have a look. I absolutely love everything about the painting beneath including the scrappy, almost grafitti-like, bits of text.

Harbinger


Wraiths


Well, we are into March now and we have had the full gamut of weather as usual.

Some frosts...

some sunshine...


some mists...


and a whole shed full of rain.

In the fields we have seen beasts gathered in brotherhood...

some familiar ones staring with beady eyes


and some not so familiar but with beady eyes and beady beaks. (I didn't venture too close) PS I know this is in twice but I like it)


Who could resist tea time in the country with these gorgeous jugs by Stacey Manser-Knight. Lots of lovely colour and detail. Stacey was born in America but has lived most of her adult life in Brighton and has participated in the Brighton Festival Artist Open Studios event in May. She mentions being at the Dragonfly House which hosts participating artists' work and is somewhere I visited myself. They are famous for the wonderful displays of art they exhibit and the intriguing dragonfly on the outside wall of the building. I exhibited my work during the festival for two years running quite a long time ago now in the home of my nephew and his wife. It was great fun but even more than that I enjoyed visiting all the other artists studios and having a good nose around. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Brighton during the spring. You can see more of Stacey's work here on her website and here at The Castle Gallery.




I first came across Rita Kearton's lovely work when I saw her exhibiting at the Art In Action event at Waterperry several years ago. She was in the printmakers' marquee. I was very drawn to her use of figurative folkloric and naive style imagery. She creates collagraphs and drypoint etchings and they draw you into her imaginary world very easily. You can find Rita's website here for more delicious artwork.

Songbird

The King



Sleeping Dog


The Man And The Woman

20 comments:

Gretel said...

I MUST have something by Stacey! (That's my birthday present sorted out then) What utterly gorgeous work, I adore her clocks.
I think just painting the leaves on your etching would work really well, I'd be tempted to colour up the stripes on the skirt too, not in anything brash, maybe just one pale colour alternating with the natural paper.

Cathy said...

Hi Gretel. Yes Stacey's work is wonderful. I love the brilliant colours she uses. I would love to be able to make beautiful ceramics like that but I think I had better stick to drawing and painting etc. I cannot have too many sticks in the fire.

Funnily enough painting alternate stripes on the skirt occurred to me too. Great minds think alike.

Acornmoon said...

I really like your dear drawing. Etching is a wonderful medium, something magic happens during the process.

Cathy said...

Thanks Valerie. I agree about etching. I love the process but do tend to make a bit of a mess with the ink. The results are worth the trouble though.

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Cathy, your photography is such an inspiration. Love the fog, trees and mists. You have such lovely places to photograph. Glad you had a lovely time Sunday (except for the rain)
Hugs ♡

Cathy said...

Thanks Phyllis. We are very lucky in this country to have so many beautiful places on our doorstep, although you have some gorgeous ones too. I guess we are all lucky then..haha.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Oh what a lovely soapstone lagomorph, I'd say rabbit as it seems to be more of a rabbit pose!

Smudge is gorgeous, what beautiful colours!

andamento said...

I love your etching - it's my favourite thing this week, plus of course the photo of Smudge, very handsome.

You've made me buy some books! One illustrated by Jane Ray and one by Mary Fedden, I like them both very much, thank you.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

So slack about visiting lately, life seems like a bit of a whirl - so lovely as always Cathy, stimulating, uplifting imagery.

Love Mary Fedden's 'Oystercatcher' on the previous post too, as I find them particularly appealing in reality, something to do with their colouring and amusing mannerisms? Have a good week. Lesley x

Cathy said...

Hi Juliet. Yes, I think it is a rabbit now I have had another look at it.

Cathy said...

Hi Anne, I bet you will love them both. Fantastic artists both and they couldn't be more different. Glad you like the etching. I really like that one myself. Must do some more.

Cathy said...

Thanks Lesley. I am always attracted to oystercatchers too. Perhaps it is their black and whiteness and odd appearance with their very long beaks. Apparently they are also know as Sea pies which is lovely.

rossichka said...

Dear Cathy, reading your posts is always an adventure for me! Everything is interesting and inspiring! From your drawings, through your experiences to the artists you present.
I like Rita Kearton's "images" as she calls them. They are like stories about places unseen and reveal the magic in everyday situations!
Stacey's bowls and jars are so pretty, but my favourites are her clocks!
I find quite interesting your idea of colouring the leaves of the tree - thus they'll turn into an accent... I think I've told you that I had seen your works in Internet long before having my own blog and they had impressed me so much, that seeing them again, I recognized your style at once and thus I began following your blog...
I wish you to say good-bye to the rain and mists and welcome Spring with a smile!:)

ArtPropelled said...

We had rain for months and then all the rain clouds fled to Britain I think because we're now having a heat wave. My favourite in this post is Harbinger and I also love your header, but then I love everything you do.

Cathy said...

Hi Rossichka. You say such nice things. I am pleased you like my choice of artists. Rita Kearton has always been a huge favourite of mine. I love narrative artwork particularly. Stacey's work is gorgeous too. I never think that I have a particular style but I suppose I must have. Spring is definitely in the air here too.

Cathy said...

Hi Robyn. Please don't send the heatwave over this way. I don't mind a bit of warmth and sun but heatwaves don't agree with me...haha. I love everything about Harbinger too. Such a great composition and palette.

Debrina said...

I just love your postings, Cathy! You are so inspiring and so too are all your clever muses! I love all your animals :-)
I have been out in my garden big time and today I decided to let my chooks have a bit of a roam through it. It is so nice listening to them squabble and cluck and scratch. Where would we be without our animal friends? It makes me sad to think.

Cathy said...

Thanks so much Debrina. Lucky you listening to hens. I love those little noises they make. They are so comforting. I agree about animals. I would hate not to have animals around me. Let us hope we never have too.

Caroline said...

What beautiful photos, Cathy - I love all the animals and I'd love to cuddle up with Smudge! I do like your new etching - how talented you are!

Cathy said...

Thanks Caroline. You would love Smudge. She is so friendly and cuddly and her fur is just like the most gorgeous silk you could imagine. She makes Jack's fur feel rough by comparison.