Inspiration

I frequently check out the Porthmeor Studios renovation site, I find the photographs by Graham Gaunt really inspiring the empty worn spaces are so evocative of a time passed and so full of history. Interestingly I find the earlier photographs before the renovation started more beautiful than the more recent photographs, I just love all those worn surfaces, rusty nails and broken windows. The film below is by Graham Gaunt and shows the studios in November 2011.

Surprise in the Post

Last week I received a little surprise in the post from the Beside The Wave Gallery in Cornwall, it was a catalogue of their most recent exhibition by Emma Dunbar "down at the allotments". I must be on their mailing list, and I had no idea this exhibition was on, it finishes on the 29th August so not much time left to see it.

Not great images it's quite hard to photograph a catalogue and keep the colours looking correct. There is also a fun competition to enter on the gallery website or at the gallery itself to win a framed print.

Another Palette

More sketching and just having fun, not trying to think to much about the actual paintings but trying to get the colours and composition right. I am working on some paintings and will post some photos soon.

Colour Palette

Had a back to basics day yesterday, sketching with pencil, charcoal, ink and graphite, and then working on some colour palettes. It was a beautiful day sitting outside surrounded by all my lovely paints and pastels.

Kurt Jackson: The Trees of Cornwall

Whilst I was in Cornwall over the summer I visited the lovely Lemon Street Gallery in Truro. They were getting ready for the new Kurt Jackson exhibition TREE: GWEDHEN The Trees of Cornwall, unfortunately I will not get to see it, however there were a few paintings stacked up against a wall and I did have a little peek. I decided to buy the catalogue and it arrived in the post this weekend. Kurt Jackson is a prolific painter and I admire the enthusiasm and joy for painting that he has, if I could produce a fraction of the paintings he does I would be very happy. For this latest exhibition he has focused on the tree population of Cornwall, it is not an encyclopaedic survey it is more an observation of favourite trees which have been followed through the seasons, some are the rarest trees in Britain and some the oldest planted by his own family in the orchard. The exhibition is on now and finishes on the 8th October 2011.

Maggie Matthews

I have long been a fan of the welsh artist Maggie Matthews. Now based in Cornwall she is one of the areas leading abstract painters. Inspired by the coastline, indigenous and exotic plant life, and collections of pebbles and shells, Maggie sketches while out on cliff walks, recording the shapes and patterns below her. Returning to the studio she works on abstracting her experience reducing her sketches down to flat areas of space and colour. You can see more of Maggie's work at Cornwall Contemporary Penzance.

Sketchbook

I have had another good day in my studio working from the photographs of my recent holiday to Cornwall. These small sketches have been worked in watercolour and pastels.

Sketchbook

I managed to do some sketchbook work today, working from photographs and memory.

Abstracts

Here are just a few photographs taken whilst sitting on the beach or on the harbour front. My main focus was looking at colour, pattern and texture for future inspiration.

Cornwall Part 2: St Ives

We arrived at St Ives on not one of the best days of the week weather wise, it wasn't raining but it was a little dull. Throughout the day there were moments when the sun made a brief appearance but on the whole it was very lovely. We decided to use the park and ride and after parking discovered that the ride bit was by train, which took us along the coast with fabulous views of Carbis bay. The picture above is of Porthminster beach which is where the train stops. It is just a short walk from here along the many little bays to the main harbour.

The busy town is full of shops, galleries and tea rooms and is a real hive of activity. I think it would be nice to see it out of season when there are a fewer people about. Walking out beyond the harbour you come to Porthmeor beach which is where the Porthmeor artist studios are, and which are currently under renovation.

We went to see how the renovations were going and managed to get some photos of the studio doors.

It was a lovely day and St Ives does have a very special feel to it. We walked back to the train and had one last look towards the harbour.

Cornwall Part 1

I have just come back from a lovely week in Cornwall, the weather was good and the scenery as you would expect was gorgeous. I had lots of plans of places I wanted to visit, gallery visits, and things to keep us busy, but when we arrived the sun was shining and all we wanted to do was just be outside soaking up the soft sun and gentle breeze.

The first thing we decided to do was the coastal path walk from the village to the next bay, the view was lovely, sea one side and gently swaying grasses the other.

As usual I found some dead plants that I thought looked beautiful silhouetted against the soft colour of the sea.

We were staying in the small village of Charlestown on the south coast it was very quiet with the odd boat bobbing in the harbour.

The following day we visited the much busier town of Fowey, with it's narrow hilly streets, brightly coloured bunting, flowers growing in the street walls, busy harbour, and very lovely cream teas!!

I think that's enough for my first post, my one regret is that I should have taken more photographs, but maybe it's nice that some things only exist in your memory.

Holiday Memories

We often go to Cornwall for our summer holidays and are hoping to go again this year. With this in mind I have been browsing the internet and planning my many gallery visits. Today I came across two paintings that made me smile and evoked memories of sitting on the beach or harbour watching the boats bobbing up and down.

They are by self taught artist David Pearce and you can find more of his work at Padstow Fine Art.

Kurt Jackson

Badger  path through the hay up the field

I have long been a fan of the painter Kurt Jackson. I remember the first time I came across his work, I was on my art foundation course and doing research for my end of year project, looking through an art magazine I saw an advert for an exhibition by Kurt Jackson called The Long Field. The painting used in the advert was Badger path through the hay up the field. I loved everything about this painting, the colours, it's abstractness, the composition and the drips giving it a great linear quality. A few years later on a trip to Cornwall I visited the Lemon Street Gallery in Truro, it was their summer exhibition and there were a few of Kurt Jacksons paintings in the exhibition. One was a very large abstract landscape that was a deep orange and browns, the colour and depth of the painting was wonderful, two others were mixed media paintings of vases of flowers that had been collected on a walk with his family, I thought these were particularly lovely.

Zinzi's Flowers

Caroline's flowers

Currently Kurt Jackson is one of Britain's leading painters. His subjects are mostly the places he knows well, that he visits over and over again sketching all the time, and sometimes completing paintings outside capturing a specific moment in time. On his website you will find all the most recent exhibitions he has had and also some great videos which follow him on sketching trips out at sea and along river banks, a really good interview in his studio and a painting en plein air.