a drawing a day - sketches from Leros

"The important thing is to do, and nothing else: be what it may" - Pablo Picasso

Last time I blogged about my drawing a day project, I was doing pencil sketches in and around the home. This taught me a lot, even though I don't really enjoy working in pencil;  years ago I did an evening class in Life Drawing at Central St Martins and found I much preferred charcoal - only really coming alive when the tutor let me use ink and a brush!

Zig pens and Hahnemühle sketch diary
© Teresa Newham

At Christmas I was given One Drawing a Day  - a book by Veronica Lawlor, which places the emphasis on working quickly and playfully, rather than on the result, and encourages experimentation with different media. I treated myself to two or three Zig Brushables, and quickly became hooked.  I'd also been given a Hahnemühle Sketch Diary, and decided to use these to record our holiday.

Chora town square, Patmos
© Teresa Newham

In the past I've done watercolour sketches on location in Ireland, usually with my friend Sue and often from the comfort of a car; wide open spaces with nobody else around.  But my husband and I were travelling to the Dodecanese island of Leros, via Kos - a day trip to Patmos was also in the mix - popular holiday destinations.  As soon as I got my sketchbook and pens out, fellow tourists started to take an interest, so I had to get over my self-consciousness pretty quickly . . .

family on Panteli beach, Leros
© Teresa Newham

I was keen to practice drawing figures, but didn't want to intrude on anybody's privacy; so I often found myself sketching people some distance away.  Of course, they kept moving: by the time I finished the little illustration above, the young boy in black was sitting somewhere completely different.  I needed to rely on memory as well as speed!

the ridge above Panteli, Leros
© Teresa Newham

I tried various ways of capturing the hillsides and vegetation of Leros, but short of carrying dozens of pens of varying shades I had to improvise.  A black and white sketch will remind me of what the place looked like just as well, particularly if time is short.

diners at the next taverna
© Teresa Newham

I also discovered that by and large tourists don't wear brightly coloured clothes; blues, whites and greys proliferated.  Flesh tones might have been a problem, but as everyone was tanned I was able to use orange, which contrasted nicely with the blue!

yacht in Lakki harbour, Leros
© Teresa Newham

Having time to spare over a sketch wasn't always an advantage, as the temptation was to overwork it: I can't help thinking this yacht would have looked better without the background hills (or just their outlines). Ironically, for someone who is scared of water, I love drawing boats . . .

on the ferry from Leros to Kos
© Teresa Newham

I even got a bit twitchy on the ferry, so to take my mind off things I tried to immortalise some of my fellow passengers.  They, however, were busy exploring the boat;  I'd only half got this chap's hat down on paper when he left the rails and I had to try and remember what his back view looked like.

view from the terrace
© Teresa Newham

You can probably tell I had a lot of fun with these sketches.  And there's the small matter of 400 photos to attend to.  I trust that the spirit of Leros will be with me for a long time!

two weeks in May

Methodist Church Hall art & craft fair:
an early version of my table layout
© Teresa Newham

For the last two weeks I've been preparing for - and taking part in - two local art events; which has meant my feet have hardly touched the ground.  The first was one of the regular Art & Craft fairs at the Methodist Church Hall in Harpenden High Street; I was sharing the stage area with five other local members of Herts Visual Arts.

Methodist Church Hall art & craft fair:
photos by Bel Bluemel and oil painting by Fiona Gaskell
© Teresa Newham

The six of us were showing and selling a variety of watercolours, oils, prints, photos, drawings and ceramics; our steady stream of visitors had plenty of work to choose from!

Methodist Church Hall art & craft fair:
drawings by Hillary Taylor and ceramics by Elspeth Keith
© Teresa Newham

There was a huge selection of various craft items in the main part of the hall, ranging from the lovely cakes you can see below in the foreground, to copper ornaments, jazzy handbags, baby clothes, sewing accessories and more.  The fairs are eagerly anticipated by their regular clients, and there is always a lot of interest.

Methodist Church Hall art & craft fair: the view from the stage
© Teresa Newham

I had some excellent feedback and good sales; I'm looking forward to doing the next one on Saturday 5th July.   Other dates in the series are 20th September (which I'm missing due to Open Studios), 18th October and 8th November.

Methodist Church Hall art & craft fair:
Sue Wookey's watercolours, two of my pieces & my prints in the browser
© Teresa Newham

As soon as I recovered from the first event, it was time to get my exhibits ready for Art@StJohns - Facebook users can visit their page here.   This was an exhibition hosted by St John's church in Southdown; I'd visited their previous show three years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

Art@St Johns: my three framed exhibits
© Teresa Newham

As well as a variety of paintings and photos there was a selection of crafts, plus the opportunity for visitors to buy cards and bookmarks.

Art@St Johns: the cards & crafts corner
© Teresa Newham

I spent a happy - and extremely busy - Sunday afternoon stewarding and meeting some lovely people, while my husband took a good look round and enjoyed one of the excellent cream teas available - a thoroughly civilised touch - and along with many other exhibitors I had some very pleasing sales. All in all a successful and popular local event!

Art@St Johns: the view from the steward's table
© Teresa Newham

My next chance to meet more art lovers will be at Art on the Common in Harpenden - hope to see you there.  Fingers crossed for the weather . . .

Saturday 14th/ Sunday 15th June
Art on the Common
open air exhibition on Harpenden Common ~ the Saturday coincides with Harpenden Common Discovery Day. Something for everyone!
10am - 5pm (Sat)
11am - 5pm (Sun)

into the woods

A recent reorganisation of my studio unearthed two blank canvases purchased last Autumn when I was planning to try out some acrylics on a larger scale than the mini designs I created at last year's Open Studios. So I laid them out on my bench, retrieved the acrylic brush starter set I'd bought at the same time, and printed out some reference photos, which I also uploaded to my digital photo frame:

two blank canvases, new brushes, reference photos
© Teresa Newham

Despite the damp and drizzle on Easter Sunday afternoon, we'd dragged the family out on a walk as far as the little wood and discovered to our joy that it was full of bluebells - blooming earlier than we might have expected, they spread as far as the eye could see.  I had my mobile phone with me and took a few snaps; they don't do justice to the scene because it was breathtakingly indescribable:

real English bluebells . . . .
© Teresa Newham

My cousin thought it might be a piece of ancient woodland; there was what looked like a ditch running round the edge of it, and what might have been the entrance to a badger sett.  When we first came across this wood a few months ago, I'd had a feeling it was special - perhaps I'd picked up on the age of it!  One of the trees had what looked remarkably like a face on the trunk:

. . . . as far as the eye could see!
© Teresa Newham

Although the day had been dull I wanted the paintings to convey my vivid first impressions of the bluebells, so I covered the canvases with an orange wash mixed from Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red.  I was using what colours I had to hand:  the rest of the palette was Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green and Titanium White.

initial wash
© Teresa Newham

The next step was to block out some general areas of colour - I didn't necessarily intend to stick to them, but  had to start somewhere!  I haven't painted like this since I dabbled in oils as a child (a very long time ago), so I was feeling my way rather:

blocking out some colours
© Teresa Newham

I put in some trees at the back of the wood, added some blue for the bluebells, and then some more trees, using the same flat brush which had laid down the washes.  My instinct was to keep everything loose, to give a general impression of the scene.

background trees
© Teresa Newham

Once I added the large trees to the foreground, the paintings came together.  I didn't intend them to be a set - they don't match up exactly - but laid side by side they do give a sense of depth to the woodland, which reminds me how I felt when I was there.

the two painting side by side
© Teresa Newham

 Not bad for a first try of acrylics at this size, so now I have to decide whether to exhibit them or not, and if so, where!  If I do show them, there's also the question of how: although I painted the edges, these are not chunky canvases, and would probably look better with some kind of frame.

into the woods I
acrylic on canvas
© Teresa Newham 

The acrylics were a lot of fun to do - I loved the texture I was able to build into the paintings, and working in this medium reminded me how much I enjoyed using oils when I was young.  Although I prefer watercolour for certain subjects, I hope to do more on canvas from time to time!

into the woods II
acrylic on canvas
© Teresa Newham 

He is Risen II

He is Risen II
original linocut print
© Teresa Newham

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went towards the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed . . .

the Gospel of John Chapter 20 vv 1 - 8

"We have the same duty to give witness to the fact that Christ is risen from the dead. Death has lost its hold over mankind. Death is not for us, the end of the story. It is the beginning of a new chapter. There is life after death; it is life with God. Our present life is to prepare for that."

Cardinal Basil Hume (from A Turning to God)

A walk round the corner - February, March, April

It's time to update the photo diary of our countryside walks, last posted on this blog back in January.  For a while I thought we might not get outside in February at all, what with the weather being so bad, but some sunshine did eventually arrive, and we duly made our way across the mud in the first field:

the first field - February
© Teresa Newham

The storms had removed the last of the old leaves from the trees but everything was still looking pretty bare - at least the sky was blue!

the old oak - February
© Teresa Newham

At the entrance to the second field the catkins had gone - the farmer had been out managing his hedges.  I imagine that left untrimmed they would look a right mess! We have discovered that this little track is called Mud Lane, and it was certainly living up to its name:

the second field - February
© Teresa Newham

The only sign of life in the hedgerows at this point was some gorse making a welcome splash of colour along the railway line:

flowering gorse - February
© Teresa Newham

By March things had dried out a bit, but at first glance everything seemed still disappointingly dormant:

the first field - March
© Teresa Newham

Some of the hedges near the old oak had sprung into life but the tree itself wasn't showing visible signs of life yet, at least, not from the ground . . . .

the old oak - March
© Teresa Newham

. . .  and not much to see in the second field either.  At least the track was dry, so we were able to go along it without getting our feet wet.  No more wellies!

the second field - March
© Teresa Newham

However life was stirring in the hedgerows, as this blossom shows!

hedgerow in bloom - March
© Teresa Newham

On our most recent walk everything looked much fresher and greener, especially along the railway line:

the first field - April
© Teresa Newham

The old oak itself still looks leafless against the light, but the hedgerows are starting to fill out!

the old oak - April
© Teresa Newham

At the entrance to the second field, all the trees along Mud Lane and the edge of the field are coming into leaf:

the second field - April
© Teresa Newham

And to my delight there are bluebells growing in the hedgerows.  Spring is finally here!

bluebells in the hedgerow - April
© Teresa Newham

second time around

A massive printmaking session this past week saw me going back to various pieces of work first created a couple of years ago.  I recently put some cards based on my piece Signs into the repository (shop) at my church (along with a couple of other designs), so I needed to make some more to sell at the various fairs and exhibitions coming up.

another card-making session . . .
© Teresa Newham

While I was about it, I decided to make some more prints of Signs  itself.  I'd previously made four separate prints and collated them in a mount but to make things a bit easier I hacked off part of the lino round two of the edges of each plate so that I could fit the four of them together to make the artwork, and still be able to use them separately for card-making:

the lino blocks for 'Signs' - newly trimmed to fit together!
© Teresa Newham

For the first time I was making the black-and-white cards and prints using black Caligo Safe Wash relief ink. The results  were excellent, as long as I managed to modify the ink correctly with tack reducer and Safewash Oil!  And I managed to position them in the right place so that they came out in the same order as the original, too:

'Signs' printed up as one piece
© Teresa Newham

Next I turned my attention to my most popular linocuts - the two Winter Birds.   Given my struggle the last time I tried to print them up with a background, I thought I'd be more scientific the second time around; so I part-inked each of the two plates with yellow . . . .

Winter Birds: part-inking a plate for registration . . .
© Teresa Newham

. . . which produced a ghostly image showing me where the background ought to be.  I should come clean right now and explain that if I was printing these properly, I would have made a background plate for each bird at the outset (ie two years ago), thus avoiding all this malarkey.  Another lesson learned . . . !

. . . which gives the ghost of an outline
© Teresa Newham

Next, I cut out a paper mask to fit  around the the outline, plus another circle of paper for the moon.  Then I prepared some red and yellow ink, rollering them together on the inking glass so that they blended in the middle, and applied the ink direct to the masked-out paper:

some backgrounds in need of a bird . . .
© Teresa Newham 

The next step was to print the first bird in black on top of its background.  The registration has worked OK for three out of the four, and even the one on the wonk isn't too bad (I need to keep at least one for reference purposes anyway!!).

. . . . which ended up looking like this!
© Teresa Newham

I did the same for the other bird, using yellow and blue ink.   One I can't use, because the colours are upside down and the moon got printed over when its mask moved during the rollering.  And the main mask moved slightly on the other three; next time, I will make the mask out of heavier paper, or thin card.  Yet another lesson . . . ! Still, I'm really pleased with the colours, and a bit of judicious mounting will conceal any blurred edges.

a different colourway for the other bird
© Teresa Newham

Now, of course, my house is full of drying prints.  And at last the weather is improving.  Just as well, because at this rate I think I'm going to have to start drying prints off in the garage!

Venice revisited

total watercolour - painting two at once
© Teresa Newham

The longer days and arrival of some Spring sunshine have finally wooed me away from my printmaking inks!  To make up for lost time (I've done no watercolour work since Christmas) I decided to make two paintings, going back to the photos I took on our honeymoon three years ago in Venice.

Venice I - early washes and reference material . . .
© Teresa Newham

Hoping to portray something a little more vivid than the February light of my original shots, I printed out the reference photos using Lomo mode in Picasa, to bring out the colours before I chose my palette.

. . .  and for Venice II
© Teresa Newham

The photos fell into two rough groups - one set brighter than the other - so I used different tinted paper for each.  However, I decided to stick with the same palette for both of them: Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Gold, Winsor Blue Green Shade, Viridian and Dioxazine Violet - not my usual  choice at all - along with some Titanium White. 

more layers . . .
© Teresa Newham

 When I painted up the colour swatches I realised that I'd unwittingly picked the colours of Venetian glass - that's what comes of looking back through old photos . . . and Winsor Blue Green shade is the equivalent of  Phthalo Green - which I've been using in my printmaking.   My subconscious must have been working overtime!

. . .  and some embellishments
© Teresa Newham

I built the paintings up in layers, trying to remember that I was painting the light as well as the buildings, bridges and canals.  Deciding to keep everything simple, I left out a lot of the street furniture (landing stages, other boats, mooring poles) and only hinted at the complex decoration on the houses.

the gondoliers appear . . .
© Teresa Newham

I left the figures until last of all - despite the brightness of the colours it's still clearly February in the paintings as both the gondoliers are wearing their winter gear!  At this stage I had not added the water of the canals, so the gondolas appeared to be skating on ice.  

. . .  but where are the canals?
© Teresa Newham

I carefully painted in a Viridian wash, deliberately leaving a lot of white and blue areas.  I could have made it darker, but I liked the reflections, which had been made using wet on wet runbacks, and some dry brush strokes.

Venice I
© Teresa Newham

I still had no names for these paintings - unusual for me, as I often know the title before the painting is started - so I opted for the obvious: Venice I and Venice II.  The titles may not be particularly inspiring but I hope the results hint at the tranquility of this lovely place!

Venice II
© Teresa Newham