cats, cows and conversation

Hillary, Sue & Pauline giving demonstrations at Artscape during #HertsOpenStudios
© Teresa Newham

What exactly do people think when they see our demonstrations for #HertsOpenStudios?  Do they wonder why the results don't look like the art on the walls?  we're always keen to discuss our work with visitors and they often have questions, so any demo needs to be easily interruptable; which rules out anything requiring deep concentration.

 

visitors - we like visitors!

© Teresa Newham

Sue uses watercolour sketches to plan out future paintings, Pauline demonstrates her restoration work, Judi shows how she prepares glass for firing (and then has to clear it away to take it home!), while Hillary weaves paper into textured sheets and baskets or colours  her graphics on a tablet.  I prefer to use the time to try out new media or practice my drawing skills.   And, if we're not chatting to visitors, we chat amongst ourselves.

animal crackers . . . my first cow
© Teresa Newham

- I took these lovely photos of cows near Redbournbury the other day, I'm going to try drawing one.  
- She's got a thing about cows, you know . . .
- Animals can be tricky things to portray.
- Yes, I once painted a sheep which looked more like a dog. Not sure about cows . . . 
- You need to discover what makes a cow a cow.  Its essential cow-ness.  Then your drawing will look like a cow.

And this advice worked - eventually I drew a cow which looked like a cow.  I usually avoid portraying animals, but, emboldened by the success of the cow, I decided to try a cat:

first attempt at a cat ~ in pencil
© Teresa Newham

Perhaps because I'm more familiar with cats than with cows, making these drawings felt more natural.  The pencil sketch took up one complete Open Studios session.  Next time I moved on to using chalk pastel pencils.  I've only just started using these regularly, and enjoyed exploring the various ways they could be used to express long and short fur.

second version of cat ~ chalk pastel pencil
© Teresa Newham

With half an hour left at the end, I dashed off the pen and wash sketch below.  Ironically this quick little drawing is my favourite - I like the way the colour has dried on her face - to me, it has the most character of the three.

ten-minute watercolour cat
© Teresa Newham

At the time of writing there are still four Open Studios sessions to come at Artscape: we'll be there between 1pm - 4.30pm on Friday 19th & Saturday 20th September, Friday 26th & Saturday 27th September at Artscape, 8 Southdown Industrial Estate, Marlborough Road (off Southdown Road), Harpenden AL5 1PW.  Our exhibition in the upstairs room is open during shop hours unless there is a class on. Do come along and see us if you can!

All set at Artscape!

my linocuts, watercolours & photos
© Teresa Newham

Our exhibition at Artscape is finally open!  we spent most of Saturday in their upstairs room, hanging art on the walls and displaying pieces on tabletops, in a glass cabinet, and in browsers.  As usual I thought I wouldn't have much to exhibit; and as usual I had plenty - so much, in fact, that I thought I wouldn't be able to fit everything into my display:  framed and unframed linocuts, watercolours, acrylics and photos - plus cards, gift tags, and bookmarks.

Sue's watercolours
© Teresa Newham

Sue Wookey is showing her mystic watercolours inspired by nature, symbols, dreams and inner journeys: along with unframed originals, photos, prints & cards.  As you can see, she has two browsers of delights for visitors to look at!

some of Hillary's canvases and drawings
© Teresa Newham

Hillary Taylor's display includes her popular line drawings of local landmarks and her latest mixed media tapestries, some of which incorporate calligraphy.  She also has cards and smaller items available.

some of Judi's glass and Pauline's raku ceramics
© Teresa Newham

Judi Menges has some colourful glass bowls and wall art on display, along with glass jewellery and cards; while Pauline Ashley is showing her delicate raku pottery and some jolly ceramic frogs.  Pauline also undertakes amazing restoration work.

miscellaneous pieces
© Teresa Newham

The exhibition will run alongside Herts Open Studios, which starts this Saturday 6th September; you can find information about the whole event here.  At Artscape Arts we are running eight Open Studios sessions, during which you will have the opportunity to meet us and watch us at work.  And while you're in the area, why not drop in on some of the many other artists taking part in and around Harpenden? - see details below.  Hope to see you there!

Artscape Arts Exhibition  1st - 27th September 2014
Artscape, 8 Southdown Industrial Estate,
Marlborough Road (off Southdown Road)
Harpenden AL5 1PW
9.30pm - 4.30pm ~ not Sundays or during classes
we regret that the exhibition does not have wheelchair access
Artscape Arts Open Studios sessions:
Saturdays 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm
Thursday 11th ~ 1pm - 8pm
Wednesday 17th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm
Fridays 19th, 26th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm

Download the Harpenden Art Trail brochure below for full details of participating artists in and around the Harpenden area:

flowers, flowers, flowers . . .

During my recent watercolour frenzy I decided to make a flower painting based on an exercise in one of the art mags I subscribe to - not my usual style at all, but I thought it would be worth a go.  The subject was pink geraniums in a vase, so I turned them into red geraniums in a pot, which resulted in this:

geraniums in a pot
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

Good enough, I thought, to make into a greetings card, or mount up for Herts Open Studios!  so ideally I needed a couple of similar paintings to go with it.   Taking a vase of sunflowers off the dining room table, I laid down some initial washes:

early washes for 'sunflowers in a jug'
© Teresa Newham

And, using a similar set of processes, turned them into this - which is arguably more my style:

sunflowers in a jug
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

 For my third flower painting, I started out with a rough idea based on a photo I'd taken earlier in the Summer.  I had no idea where this one was going . . . :

early washes for 'poppy meadow'
© Teresa Newham

. . . .and it ended up as a rather abstract rendition of some poppies!

poppy meadow
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

Which also works cropped down for the greetings card:

'poppy meadow' cropped for a greetings card
© Teresa Newham

It was great fun to experiment in this way, and I ended up with three mounted pieces and designs for three greetings cards - not bad for a few days' work!

heat and light

An intense burst of creativity towards the end of June into July has resulted in a number of watercolours!  Here are two scenes based on some of my favourite holiday memories.

photos at Panteli Beach, Leros
© Teresa Newham

As reference material I had photos and the odd sketch made on the spot of the things that particularly struck me.  In the case of Panteli Beach, this was the tiny fisherman's chapel overlooking the bay, and the castle and windmills on the skyline:

sketch of Panteli Beach
© Teresa Newham

I incorporated these into a sketch layout for the painting, editing out detail as I went.  As the main focus for the painting was to be the chapel, I knew that once I started painting, even more detail would have to go!

sketch for the painting of Panteli
© Teresa Newham

The Kos harbour painting would also need to be severely pared down, as I didn't want to detract from the fish seller and his wares - it was his umbrellas which had originally caught my eye:

photos taken at Kos Harbour
© Teresa Newham

On looking at the sketch and the photos together, however, I decided that the painting would need some context, perhaps the suggestion of some boats in the background.

sketch of the fish seller
© Teresa Newham

I had photos of the fish seller standing up and sitting down, so I was able to choose what he should be doing in the painting.  I decided to show him keeping the fish cool by hosing them down with seawater:

sketch for the Kos Harbour painting
© Teresa Newham

The two paintings are a joyful reminder of a happy holiday; in painting them I was reminded of things which delighted me while I was there!

Wayside Chapel, Panteli
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

The cross next to the chapel is a sailing mast, and the blue sails and stripes on the umbrellas at Kos Harbour echo the Greek flag:

Kos Harbour, 9am
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

In these paintings I have tried to capture the warmth and brightness of the Dodecanese Islands and the Aegean, choosing a vivd palette to counteract the way bright sunlight drains the colours from a photo.  This is how I remember Kos and Panteli.  I wonder how much of that is memory and how much is to do with the way I feel about them?

a walk round the corner - May, June, July

We're now on the final lap of the countryside diary I started to keep in August 2013.  When I last posted in this series in April, we were just seeing the first signs of Spring, so by May things had moved on quite a bit. In the first field what I had originally assumed to be grass was becoming a proper crop:

the first field - May
© Teresa Newham

And on the oak at the edge of the field, the first leaves were unfurling!

the old oak - May
© Teresa Newham

In the second field, and along Mud Lane, things were looking green:

the second field - May
© Teresa Newham

And the hedgerows were full of cow parsley.  It was everywhere!

cow parsley - May
© Teresa Newham

By June, the crop in the first field was springing up:

the first field - June
© Teresa Newham

The old oak was fully in leaf:

the old oak - June
© Teresa Newham

Ferns were now growing at the entrance to the second field:

the second field - June
© Teresa Newham

And wild honeysuckle was beginning to bloom in the hedges:

honeysuckle - June
© Teresa Newham

July, and the wheat in the first field now has ears.  It's definitely Summer and the sun is out!

the first field - July
© Teresa Newham

The cow parsley in the hedges under the old oak is far taller than I am:

the old oak - July
© Teresa Newham

Wheat is also in evidence in the second field.

the second field - July
© Teresa Newham

The hedgerows are full of this pink flower.  It looks a bit like phlox but I think it's called rosebay willowherb!

rosebay willowherb? - July
© Teresa Newham

Well, that brings the year full circle.  We'll definitely continue our walks - I'm keen to see how that wheat ripens up - so watch out for an update here from time to time!

A Nice Dilemma

A nice dilemma we have here

That calls for all our wit, for all our wit . . . 

- Gilbert & Sullivan, Trial by Jury

Sometimes it's good to take your watercolours and just experiment - particularly when you haven't used them for some time and need to loosen up.  Last week I decided to re-interpret the two Venice paintings I made back in March, just going with the flow to see what happened.  On two consecutive days, with Vivaldi's Gloria in the CD player (is there a more Venetian composer?) and the same Venetian glass colour palette as previously, I mixed up some thin washes.

the most exciting colours always end up in the brush water!
© Teresa Newham

I applied these to a block of Hahnemühle Andalucia paper with a wide brush . . .

Venice III initial washes
© Teresa Newham

. . .  waited for them to dry and added stronger colours, holding the block upright now and again so they ran down the paper.

Venice IV after the second set of washes
© Teresa Newham

Finally I added a gondolier, a misty bridge in the distance, and some shadows at the top and outer edges:

Venice III & IV 
original watercolours © Teresa Newham

So I now have four paintings of Venice - two sets of two each!  I'd like to exhibit a couple of them at Open Studios in September, but my dilemma is - which ones?

come wind and weather

our pitch, ready and waiting first thing on Saturday morning!
© Teresa Newham

Given my previous experiences with Art on the Common, regular readers of this blog won't be surprised to learn that I stalked the weather forecast obsessively last week. My co-exhibitor Hillary Taylor and I set up with high hopes; there was only a 5% chance of rain, after all!  I'd even decided to bring along some original watercolours rather than playing it safe with prints.

Harpenden Common Discovery Day
© Teresa Newham

A few spots of rain as we opened didn't daunt us; plenty of folk were out and about visiting the show, or on their way to and from the Harpenden Common Discovery Day, which was taking place further down the Common.

down came the rain . . .
© Teresa Newham

So we were quite relaxed; and when the heavens did open (of course) we just moved everything under cover.  Then the rain started blowing in horizontally through the open sides of the gazebo . . .

. . .  and soon everything was getting extremely wet!
© Teresa Newham

We started to wipe everything down as the rain slackened off. Even though the exhibits were dumped in the middle of our former display, people were coming in to take a look; at one point I sold an Acer Leaf monoprint from a mini browser perched on a soaking wet tablecloth.  We started to lay it all out again and down came the rain for a second time; I hastily moved my pieces back into the centre, virtually prising boxes of postcards and bookmarks out of somebody's hands as the rain blew in.

revised layout, with everything on central tables
© Teresa Newham

When we finally dried it all off once more and surveyed the damage, there was surprisingly little.  Our framed stuff was virtually unscathed, and everything else was damp but OK (so glad I brought along some kitchen roll!).  We dragged all the tables to the middle, covered them with the driest cloths, and set up for a third time . .

some of Hillary's drawings, with the City of London at the front
© Teresa Newham

The new layout enabled visitors to walk around the outside of the whole display while we sat at the back, and was a vast improvement on our original idea.  We liked it so much that on Sunday we set up like that from the outset, with only a light drizzle to contend with.  The wind, however, was stronger today: a couple of my taller exhibits fell over and had to be relocated onto the grass.

the second day - re-arranged again to guard against the wind!
© Teresa Newham

We both made some encouraging sales; my watercolour painting May Evening, Harpenden Common has found a new home - and two Winter Bird monoprints are on their way to Dorset!  so it was a good morning, even though I had to ask my husband to bring me some trainers and socks as my feet were getting cold in some ill-advised sandals!

some of the other art on show
© Teresa Newham

The weather hadn't kept the crowds away - there were plenty of art-lovers walking up and down looking at the work on show.  The wind was still playing havoc - I had to re-arrange my cards in the rack to stop them blowing about - and as a final sting in the tail while we were packing up, a gust tore at the gazebo canopy just as we'd removed the tent pegs. It could have been a Mary Poppins moment . . .

cards jammed in tight to stop them blowing about
© Teresa Newham

I've learned a lot this weekend: sales can happen in the most appalling weather and the right person for the right painting can appear out of the blue.  Well-framed or well-wrapped items can survive a shower or two.  Always pack appropriate footwear.  And never, ever trust the weather forecast . . . !

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who visited Hillary and me at Art on the Common last weekend, and to Joy for organising it.  To see more photos from this event, visit my Facebook Page.