Wednesday 13 June 2012

Perfect Day

Today was a beautiful Spring day and the first time in ages I've been at liberty to make the most of it. And we did. We took the faithful hound and set off along the old railway line to Ravenscar - it was glorious.


Through trees, banks of cow parsley and magical, dappled sunlight, we walked onwards until we emerged on to the hillside and bright blue skies and warm sunshine.
The hedgerows were full of buttercups, vetch, red campion, white campion, speedwell, lady's mantle - and many more that I couldn't name (but this year is the year I am going to learn the names of all the wild flowers in my wildflower book...!)
I know it sounds fanciful, but it felt like an enchanted place.





There were swallows wheeling and swooping in the sky and we heard the cuckoo - the first time this year.

It was breathtakingly beautiful - one of those days when you feel immeasurably fortunate just to be there. So we drank it all in. And possibly the one who enjoyed it most was............

.....dog!

Friday 1 June 2012

The End of the Beginning....?



So, that's it. The last piece of work handed in, the last touches put to our displays. After three years of hard work, frustration, elation, discovery, experimentation and learning, our degree course draws to a close and the question 'what next?' looms large.
It's been a rollercoaster ride, but I'm so glad (and so lucky) to have had the opportunity to do it - and I've met some lovely people and made some good friends.




The studio spaces looked very different cleared and painted, and now the work has been hung and displayed ready for the preview, it looks amazing! Please come and see the work if you get the opportunity, it's in Scarborough and it's well worth a visit.



Here's to the end of the beginning.....and the beginning of the future. Thanks to my fellow students for sharing all the fun, stress, support and laughter - that has been the best part!

Monday 14 May 2012

Inside/Outside

Today the sun shone, the wind blew and the countryside looked so beautiful with all the trees bursting into leaf, gorse flowers blazing on the moor top and cow parsley starting to show its delicate face in the hedgerows. Just being outside feels like being dazzled with colour and life and energy and I want to be out there soaking it all in.
I also want to be in the studio painting or else I'm not going to get my work for the Degree Show finished in time! So, I'm trying to compromise by working hard and then having a breath of fresh air to keep me fresh and alert (that's the theory anyway)                              
I've made some progress with this painting.........




....and with this one.........................


....but I've got a way to go yet. So I'll be inside the studio tomorrow with a head full of those stunning visual images outside, all tumbling over each other and catching hold somewhere in the brushwood of my mind. Hopefully they will resurface when they are needed. Hope you are managing to get out and enjoy this glorious time of the season too.

Thursday 10 May 2012

The Disappearing Muse

Well, I really wanted to spend the day painting today, but sadly the rapidly approaching deadline for our Extended Statements meant I spent the day hunched over the laptop grumping and grousing! Why is it when things are going (reasonably) well in the studio, something intervenes? Howard Hodgkin referred to his muse as sometimes disappearing round the next corner - I hope mine is still in the room when I get back! She's a very elusive creature....
Anyway, here's a detail from one of the paintings I'm working on at the moment, inspired by the glorious acid yellow of the rapeflowers which can be seen in fields everywhere at the moment. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it in the next few days. Wish me luck.

Monday 30 April 2012

Beachcombing

One of the (many) lovely things about living by the sea is the opportunity for walks on the beach, combined with a spot of beachcombing. After all the wet and wild weather we've had recently, the beach was covered in mounds of seaweed and driftwood and I spent a happy hour searching for treasure......      Bits of blue and white pottery, pieces of clay pipe, shells, jet, fossils and interesting pebbles are all eagerly sought and today I was ridiculously excited to find a fragment of spongeware pottery......small pleasures!



I was so absorbed in my task I almost didn't notice these little birds hurrying busily back and forth along the shoreline, their plumage blended so beautifully into the colours of the sand and the seaweed. I think they are dunlins (?) - even on the photograph they are quite hard to distinguish from their surroundings.
It was great to have such a mellow start to what will be a busy week. Definitely good for the soul.







Tuesday 24 April 2012

Laine & Co Art Gallery - Student Fundraising Exhibition

Fundraising for a final degree show is an added pressure on top of the already immense pressure to produce the work for the show in the first place. Luckily, those of us in our final year at Westwood have the enormous advantage of having a friendly gallery prepared to host our student fundraising art exhibition. Newly opened on Victoria Road, Scarborough, fellow student Janilaine Mainprize's excellent gallery Laine & Co is currently showcasing not only work by students, but paintings and prints kindly donated by lecturers Kane Cunningham, Steve Whitehead, Andy Black and Debbie Bell.
Jane Sullivan


Kane Cunningham


The exhibition is open to view tomorrow, Thursday and Friday 10 - 6 and their work is open to bid for by sealed auction. Visit if you can!

Sunday 22 April 2012

Kindled Passions

The results of two delightful and productive days spent this weekend at Jade Monserrat's excellent  Kindled Passions workshop at Crescent Arts in Scarborough. We learned how to make books from scratch, recycling and re-using all kinds of paper and incorporating our own material. I used some paper I had marbled on a previous workshop, pieces of an old map, handmade paper, bits of graph paper - the possibilities are endless. And I learnt so much - the whole weekend was a great pleasure. Thanks Jade!