early one morning

flowers and plants
© Teresa Newham 2011

Recently I had to take my car to be serviced in St Albans.  Rather than spend several hours in the 'hospitality suite' of the garage (two sofas and a vending machine) I hopped on a bus and found myself in the town centre at around 9am.  I love markets first thing in the morning before they get too crowded;  it was a lovely day, perfect for browsing and nosing about.  All the vendors take a great deal of care in the way they display their goods, and it wasn't long before I had my mobile phone out, snapping away as discreetly as I could!  which is why the theme for October's Photos on the Run is St Albans market.  Enjoy!

Work in progress I

living water
© Teresa Newham 2011

During Open Studios I started a series of linocuts based on some insights which were given to me through reading Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists.  This is well worth a look if you take a spiritual approach to your art, be it through a religious framework or not.  Having become a Catholic earlier this year I'd been wondering how to reflect this in my art (without necessarily taking religion as my theme all the time).  I found what JP2 had to say extremely inspiring, and one phrase stuck in my mind:

Who does not recall the symbols which marked the first appearance of an art both pictorial and plastic? The fish, the loaves, the shepherd: in evoking the mystery, they became almost imperceptibly the first traces of a new art.

So, the fish, the loaves, the shepherd:  and what about some of the other signs of Christ?  living water, the vine?  these symbols crop up time and time again in the Gospels.  How to depict them? how even to start?  well:  I drew my four designs (I need four for a particular layout, more of which another time) while commuting on the train.  They would be simple, strong black and white linocuts - nothing fancy!

loaves & fish I & II
© Teresa Newham 2011

I did struggle with the loaves & fish a bit, drawing them several times and dithering about whether the bread should be leavened or not (it is); the first version is shown on the left above. I found the scales too distracting so this weekend I cut them out and did the print again  (but as I won't know for sure what works with the other images until I see all four together, I'm keeping the lot for now LOL).  It was the first time I'd produced anything in my makeshift studio at the new house, and very satisfying it was too.  Even the studio itself is a work in progress!  at the moment it looks like this:

studio, October 2011
© Teresa Newham 2011

 It will be interesting to see how these linocuts evolve - and how the studio itself evolves, come to that.  But I've also had some inspiration for a linocut Christmas card, which will keep me busy for a few weeks!

Poppy Fields

Half way through July we visited the Rhythms of the World festival in Hitchin. On the way we passed the most wonderful field of poppies near Pirton, bright red against the ripening wheatfields. The following week we went that way again, and this time I had my camera ready - but - no poppies! they'd finished flowering, but the impression they made on me was so strong that I quickly snapped a few shots of the wheatfields for reference, and also some poppies on Harpenden Common which I could use as a guide. Time was short (we were about to move house) so I laid down some loose washes and left the painting alone to see what would happen.

initial washes and source material
© Teresa Newham 2011

It looked quite effective, so I pulled out some clouds with kitchen roll, painted up some grasses using the four colours I'd used for the washes (cerulean blue, ultramarine, cadmium red and raw sienna), and scattered a lot of water around the centre of the painting, dropping in some cad red as I did so.

overpainted, but not finished
© Teresa Newham 2011

Next, I touched in some shadows and the centres of the flowers with ultramarine; and when all that had dried off I spattered cad red, cerulean and ultramarine across the raw sienna wheatfield.  The finished result is hanging in my Open Studios exhibition right now.  Oh, and the theme for September's Photos on the Run is reflections in windows.  Hope you enjoy them!

Poppy Fields
© Teresa Newham 2011

Up and Running

my corner of the exhibition at Artscape: two of Helen's canvases in the foreground
and  Sue's watercolours to the right of my photos
© Teresa Newham 2011

Yes, it's time for Open Studios again! I spent last Saturday afternoon attempting to hang my bit of the Artscape exhibition with a streaming cold. It went up fairly easily thanks to my other half - and due to the fact that I bagged a bit of wall which already had most of the hooks I needed in place.  My co-exhibitors also managed their hanging with the minimum of fuss:  Sue Wookey's mystical watercolours, Hillary Taylor's mixed media and photography and Helen Griffin's striking figurative canvases were on the wall before you could shake a stick.  We even had time to put up a display of greetings cards and brochures!

early arrivals for the Open Evening enjoy a snack
in front of Helen Griffin's amazing canvases
© Teresa Newham 2011

By Friday we were still trying to work out how many people were coming to that night's Open Evening.  Quite a few, as it turned out, but there was still enough room to breathe, move around, have a drink and a nibble and admire the art.  The Deputy Town Mayor came along and mingled with various local artists, dignitaries, our friends and family members.  It wasn't long before I was putting a red dot on one of my Acer Leaf prints for a buyer, cards were selling like hot cakes, and money changed hands for a couple of items from my browser too.

Some of Hillary's photos and cards
© Teresa Newham 2011

By the end of the evening we had all made sales and/or discussed possible commissions; which is pretty good going in the current climate!  Needless to say I got some lovely comments about the painting I liked the least and none at all about my favourite, which just shows I have no idea what people really like LOL.  The Venice photos got a lot of good feedback and I was glad I'd got some Venice cards on sale.

Station Road display: Cardinal's Wharf centre left and
one of my sunflower photos far right
© Teresa Newham 2011

Yesterday we had our first Open Studio afternoon - it was great just to have an excuse to sit and do some art.  I got down to some linocutting (hurrah!), Sue worked on one of the series of small watercolour animal paintings she's currently doing, and Hillary did some seriously detailed drawing.  As usual the visitors came in fits and starts, but we were just happy to have made it through to the bit we enjoy the most - doing the art and talking to people about it.

my Swan painting as part of the Harpenden OS display
at Wesley's Cafe in the High Street
© Teresa Newham 2011

The Harpenden artists taking part in Open Studios this year also have work on show in Allders Opticians, Station Road, to promote the event - and at Wesley's Café at the Methodist Church in the High Street.  So if you're in the area, please take a look!

A huge thank you to Gurmeet, David, Chris and all the team at Artscape for their support in this venture!

Why can't the Buddha vacuum under the sofa?

The end of August can only mean one thing - it's time to promote Herts Open Studios!  So we spent the morning at the Farmers' Market, arriving at 8.30am to transform a bare and windswept stall (mercifully with an awning on it in case we had another bout of torrential rain) into a credible and attractive promotion for Harpenden-based artists opening their studios to the public next month.

Harpenden Artists' stall at the Farmers Market . . .

I'm pleased to say we generated a lot of interest;  given the amount of publicity we do each year both locally and county-wide, it's surprising how many people don't know about the event.  We even found some potential new members for Herts Visual Arts, who organise the Open Studios and support Hertfordshire artists in other ways.  What's more, the sun came out and the rain stayed away for the first time in days!

. . . with my sunflower photo and a print of Cardinal's Wharf on show

This year I'm exhibiting at Artscape again, with three other artists.  Our exhibition is running alongside Open Studios, from 5th Sept - 1st Oct, and from Saturday 10th Sept at least some of us will be at Artscape to meet and chat to visitors from 1pm - 5pm every Friday & Saturday.  You can find more details and get a feel for the work on show here.

As for the riddle in the title above: for the answer to that you'll have to visit my photos on the run page on my website.  The theme is things which have made me smile in August.  We could do with a laugh in the wet weather!

matching and making

In the midst of preparing to move house, I've been working on a commission which arose out of my exhibition at Art on the Common.  My client saw one of my Acer Leaf monoprints and contacted me shortly afterwards to find out if I could produce one using specific colours.  She sent me a sample of wallpaper and I set about making colour swatches to ensure that I could match it.

wallpaper sample and colour swatches

I'd made the original monoprints in a couple of days apiece, but as this was a commission it needed to be done properly, so I laid down the base colour (lightening it as I went to get the correct shade) and left it to dry for a week before attempting to work on any leaves.  I had to make sure that the first leaf matched the wallpaper but remained dark enough to be seen against the white background:

first leaf laid down

Then I had to be patient again for a week while that dried completely!  however, working this way did mean that the printing fitted in well in around my other commitments.  The wallpaper included a silver stripe so a metallic silver was the next colour to go on.

applying metallic silver to the Acer leaf

The following weekend things got really exciting as it was time for the final colour.  I had a total of six prints - necessary in case any got spoiled - and decided to try three with gold and three with copper.  Then I hung them to dry for the last time.

makeshift drying rack

The client has chosen one of the prints with a copper leaf - which I also preferred.  Here is one of its companions to give an idea of what the finished prints are like:

one of the final prints with metallic copper and silver

As I'd never done anything as a commission before, I was relieved that the client liked the result.  In fact I don't know which of us was more pleased with the outcome!

bikes to blog about

red bike, yellow door

Who said getting married and moving house within the space of a few months was a good idea?  yes, it was me.  This punishing schedule has played havoc with my creativity already this year and we haven't even got into our new home yet . . . so I've cheated for this month's photos on the run and used a mixture of old and new photos;  some from my regular walks along the Thames and some from various trips I've made to Oxford.  I did have more, but can I lay my hands on them? don't ask . . .

The photo above is the one which gave me the idea for the July photos.  I knew I had plenty of bike pics taken in Oxford, but I needed some more recent ones.  So I started to look for bikes - there are plenty in London, too, but they're not necessarily going to make a decent photo.  So last Friday I was delighted to find the one below - I think somebody up there must have known I was looking!

bike, boat, bridge, St Paul's

Trailing Along

source photo for Backwater, Venice

Life is so chaotic at the moment it was no surprise to me when I realised that I hadn't yet blogged about my latest painting, Backwater, Venice.  I finished it a couple of months ago (I think -  I've lost track!) and since then I've been trying to decide whether I like it or not.  The painting itself was long overdue - I meant to paint several Venice subjects this year after our honeymoon back in February - but various things including an impending house move have thrown everything out of sync for some time now.

early washes for Backwater, Venice

I began by blocking in the scene with raw sienna, adding in some turquoise for the water and sky.  Elements of these initial washes were very pale, as even at that time of year the sunlight was quite strong,  and I made sure I kept the runbacks to add some watery atmosphere!

Viridian wash added

The next wash was of viridian green.  I'm attracted to this colour, although it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it added a lot of depth to the reflections in the canal.  Plus it was close to the original colour of the shutters on the buildings.  I also used it to add texture to the walls.  I was tempted to leave the painting alone after this, but it didn't have enough contrast.  So I added a final wash of ultramarine, to bring out the deepest shadows and reflections of the buildings in the water:

Backwater, Venice

This is the result - and I really can't make my mind up about it. Still, there's plenty of time to decide whether it's worth framing between now and Open Studios in September - isn't there?

* * * * * *

Elderly Couple in the window of Shephard & Akay

At the moment I have two paintings on show as part of the Hitchin Art Trail, which runs alongside the Hitchin Festival throughout July.  Elderly Couple at Rossbeigh Beach has been hung in Shephard & Akay Optometrists, Churchyard.  It's part of a seaside-themed display and I like the idea that the couple might be enjoying the view thanks to specs supplied by the business.

Breakfast at the Brown Box Cafe
in Tim's Art Supplies

My other entry,  Breakfast at the Brown Box Cafe, was one of around twenty pieces not shown by any of the participating shops.  The art trail organiser, Tim of Tim's Art Supplies in Tilehouse Street, thought they deserved to be seen so he's hung them in his own shop - some in the window, some in the art section and some (including this one) in the haberdashery & knitting wool section, which gets a lot of visitors.  My husband and I did the Art Trail on Saturday - it took two hours (!) - and it was extremely interesting to see how some businesses obviously choose by subject - music-themed paintings in music shops, the fish-and-chip shop showing a study of sea creatures - and others by size.   Maybe next year I'll be more organised and enter something relevant to specific shops.  Maybe  . . .

Statues in the City

Paternoster (Dame Elisabeth Frink), Paternoster Square
© Teresa Newham 2011

Sometimes changing your regular routine can lead to unexpected discoveries.  I recently took a slightly different route on my way to the office and found myself wandering across Paternoster Square, the other side of St Paul's Cathedral to the way I usually go; in the middle of the square is the most beautiful sculpture by Dame Elisabeth Frink, entitled Paternoster, depicting Our Lord as the Good Shepherd.   Another small detour revealed further treasures  -  the young lovers (a sculpture by Georg Ehrlich) cuddling up to one another in the shadow of the Cathedral itself, and further into the gardens a dramatic representation of Becket  by Bainbridge Copnall.

the UK Firefighters' Memorial, near St Paul's
© Teresa Newham 2011

 It should therefore come as no surprise that the subject I've chosen for June's Photos on the Run  (see separate page on my website) is Statues in the City.  As often with these things, it began with three and is now a series of eight photos.  I couldn't ignore the compelling UK Firefighters' National Memorial, which stands across the road from the South Door of St Paul's;  a magnet for tourists passing on their way to the Millennium Bridge, it eloquently conveys the intensity of their work during the London Blitz, and since - memorial wreaths adorn its base.  And when I venture along Walbrook I see Stephen Melton's life-size, lifelike statue of a yuppie LIFFE Trader.  At the moment he's carefully surrounded by scaffolding due to building works; usually he's lost in a scrum of commuters rushing from Cannon Street station to their offices in the heart of the City.  Once or twice I've almost apologized for bumping into him!   Not far from Walbrook is Whittington Gardens, named after the City's Lord Mayor Dick Whittington, who is buried nearby.  Here I found two Cambellotti sculptures of horsemen, given to the City of London by the Italian President during a state visit in 2005, which I hadn't really noticed before, although I visit the garden frequently. 

the Cordwainer (Alma Boyes), Watling Street
© Teresa Newham 2011

If I walk to the office along Watling Street (reputed to be the oldest street in London), I eventually come to The Cordwainer, a statue by Alma Boyes unveiled in 2002 to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Cordwainer Ward Club.  Cordwainers made shoes or other articles from fine soft leather sourced from Cordoba, in Spain - hence the name.   A famous cordwainer can be found round the corner in Cheapside - Captain John Smith, who set up a colony in America in the early 17th Century.  The statue is a copy of an original by the American sculptor William Couper which stands in Jamestown, Virginia.   I must have walked past him a dozen times, and only saw him when I started really looking!

what a difference a day makes . . .



Art on the Common 2011
© Teresa Newham 2011















June means that it's time for Art on the Common again, and sure enough around forty hopeful artists arrived at 8am last Saturday to set up their gazebos and pitches on Harpenden Common for the first day of what we hoped would be the usual two-day local art event in aid of Cancer Research.  It was cool, but sunny, and we were relieved (after last year) that there was a gentle breeze rather than a howling gale.

my set-up, thanks to my husband's help
© Teresa Newham 2011

Because S had other commitments, I'd decided to brave the first day exhibiting on my own; of course my husband kept me company (and set up the gazebo and did the general dogsbodying, bless him!), but all the art was mine.  I managed to put together what I hoped was a reasonable exhibition of watercolours, prints and photos, and because we weren't fighting the weather like last year, everything was up and organised in time for the 10am opening.



I even had room to show some old photos . . . !
© Teresa Newham 2011



The Harpenden Common Discovery Day opened at around the same time, and we spent the day sitting in the sunshine and listening to the various events going on nearby (ferret-racing, birds of prey, dog show).  My husband read while I sketched and painted and resisted the urge to pluck at my visitors' sleeves and ask if they liked what they were looking at (quite a few said nice things without prompting, which was of course much better!).  We chatted to a lovely couple who knew Portmagee, and gorged ourselves on tea and buns supplied at minimal cost by the local Scouts.  Friends came and went, and my volume of card sales crept up steadily.  By 4.30 the passers-by were on their way home and some clouds were threatening; sure enough, as we packed up some rain began to fall but we managed to get everything into the cars without it getting wet, and dashed off to six o-clock mass, ahead of the second day of exhibiting tomorrow.



Discovery Day, Harpenden Common
© Teresa Newham 2011





We knew that some people had been put off exhibiting on the second day by a poor weather forecast.  Even so, around twenty were expected for Sunday's session, and we met S on the Common as arranged at 9am.  It was windy, wet and  miserable, and only seven exhibitors had turned up.  It only took a few minutes of struggling (unsuccessfully) with the gazebo to convince us to pack up and go home again.  What bliss to sit in the warm and dry with a cup of tea!  I was sorry that S hadn't had the chance to take part this year, but she didn't seem too bothered as she'd just had a highly successful Open Studios week in Dunstable.  And I was only just starting to realise how tired I was . . .

After we'd dried out and unpacked everything my husband went into town.  Only four gazebos were braving it in the driving, constant rain and by the time he came home again barely half an hour later, only two were left. 

Ah, the English summer!