Studio Tour

I was so pleased to welcome Alison and Tom from Bespoke Framing into my ‘studio’ the other day.

The result was a lovely two-minute film from Alison

She commented 

Tim Baynes opens his studio in Beaconsfield to us – what a treat! My son has just taken art as a GCSE option in school and we thought a visit to an artists’ studio would be a perfect inspiration.  We asked Tim if he wouldn’t mind us visiting him – his response was “We can do a studio tour and pour through sketchbooks, drawings and prints – turn the world upside down and be better for it”which is exactly what we did!

Here is the film : http://bit.ly/2timsstudio

Discover Bespoke Framing www.bespokeframing.com

Monster Wood

All  sorts of exciting things being discovered in the garage/studio with the builders gone!
A remarkable piece of wood which we must have collected from a beach combing walk, this has and almost primordial feel to it. 

Wet Whittenham

Whittenham Clumps Rain makes useful marks

A wet Wednesday, as evidenced by the rain's contribution to this drawing. Again Rosie and I met up with cousin Wendy for a walk round the clumps.

To the left on the drawing is Castle Hill. Once up there we found the big uprooted tree on the south side of the woods. Its roots show sandy gravels that 'arrived there' during one of the earlier Ice Ages when these hills were under water. Since then erosion has since cut down through the landscape on either side of Castle Hill.

Castle Hill, I have also discovered  is Late Iron Age settlement and saved from Victorian destruction by General Pitt Rivers (1870). This set in play a national system to protect Ancient Monuments in Britain!  Good old Pitt Rivers.

The Common Whelk

I am counting our haul of treasures from a visit to Pendine Beach a week or so ago ! A cache of whelk shells sparked my curiosity into the cooking of a whelk.

Buyer's guide

They are usually sold already cooked and shelled and can be eaten with a sprinkling of vinegar or with slices of bread and butter. The chewy flesh is quite juicy and salty. They’re available year-round but are at their best from September to February.

Preparation

If you do cook them from fresh then make sure you wash them thoroughly in several changes of water then leave them to soak for a couple of hours. They only need minimal cooking of about 10 to 15 minutes in boiling salted water, otherwise the flesh will be rubbery.

Thank you to https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/whelk

Pendine Beach near Carmathen

Tollesbury Creek and the fishermen's shed

Tollesbury Morning    31 X 49 cm   Oil on Board

In my art class the other day I returned to that nagging leitmotif, Tollesbury in Essex.

This time I was applying my paint with just a spatula and carving it back with my palette knife.
The result is dangerously close to being exciting.

And worthy of the place I have been to so often with my father, the ashes of whom I scattered close to here at the turn of the year.

A place I often refer to as the edge of the known world and give thanks if it and my having written about it so often here 2011 - 12 when on visits with my father.

Working just a spatula, paired back with a palette knife

Tollesbury - this leitmotif

Amo l'Amarone

With Lent nearly behind us it is close to appropriate to sing the praises of a wonderful wine: Amarone; or to give it is proper name Amarone della Valpolicella. This is a Italian dry to the point of irony, garnet red, rich and lovely.

We were very introduced to Amarone by good friend and carpenter Mark Lomas.  

This raisiny voluptuous wine, who's 15% vol. demands respect and then adoration. This nectar is rarely released until five years after the vintage. 

Drink Responsibly. (I had to make this drawing in homage so after the first glass).

That Whittenham walk with Wendy and Rosie

That Whittenham Walk with Wendy

The afternoon walk in the February sunshine continues to inspire. 

And with my ‘studio’ now temporarily a store for builders’ equipment the Tuesday Art Group has become a really important time to get work done – Tuesday 9:45 – 12:30.

Works like this . . . 

1 My outline in acrylic on primed paper 

2  Now in with the oil paint. Setting the stage  - the hill.

3  adding hedgerows and those lonely trees 

3  nearly complete

4  Whittenham walking with Wendy and Rosie Oil on Paper 17 x 33 cm