Staying at The Chetwood, an artist’s residency in Oakland, California, and evaluating my art with fresh eyes as it hangs at Subrosa Coffee, also in Oakland, is an interesting process. It is all thanks to photographer, Terri Lowenthal, who has hosted me here at The Chetwood.
Read MoreRevisiting Earlier Drawings /
The tang of mint, the fragility of a lily - botanical drawing teaches about so many aspects of plants. Yet it is interesting to measure that as I have evolved as an artist, those earlier drawings have led me on to learning so much more about trees, rocks, environments, places. Seeing two exhibitions of my botanical metalpoint drawings up now in Berkeley and Oakland at the same time is both a celebration and a realisation of how the world can teach us artists so much more, all the time.
Read MoreFastening your robe, 17th century style /
As I looked at portraits of 17th century Spanish royal ladies in the Prado, they suddenly offered a fascinating sampling of how women fasten their dresses. Not for them a simple method of closing their dress. Rather, the fastening became part of the bold, imaginative design of the gown, part of the message of power, wealth and circumstance that was so dazzlingly recorded in paint by Court painters.
Read MoreOut and About, Drawing Book in Hand /
Having a drawing book with one when out and about rewards, not only at the time as one hones drawing skills, but also later,.Then a drawing becomes a passport to remembering the sights, sounds and sensations experienced at that time. Yet, for me at least, I have realised that these drawings are a world apart from my usual metalpoint drawings. Does that matter? Who knows!
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