Gillian Ayres

Feeling starved of paint and colour at the moment, and  in need of a vibrant painterly lift, I went looking for the work of abstract painter Gillian Ayres. Bright, bold, patterned and thick luscious paint, I love them.

Also found a video of three paintings that were displayed at Tate Britain to celebrate her 80th Birthday in 2010. Watch it on YouTube on full screen it's well worth it the paint is amazing.

You can see her work here and here

Bits and Pieces

I have been having a bit of a clear out today emptying the drawers and cupboards in my studio, I realised that I keep far to many bits and pieces and I need to be ruthless.

I keep a lot of jars with bits of paint residue on them, I like the colours on this one.

Bits of paint that collect on my knives.

A dried rose.

An old piece of machine embroidery.

The rose reminds me of a few lines from one of my favourite poems.

That the future is a faded song, a royal rose or a lavender spray
Of wistful regret for those who are not yet here to regret,
Pressed between yellow leaves of a book that has never been opened.
And the way up is the way down, the way forward is the way back.


From Four Quartets, The Dry Salvages, T.S. Eliot

I think I will put this all back in my cupboard and leave the decision until another day.!!