Seedheads and Boats ~ A New Painting

'Seedheads and Boats' acrylic on paper ~ 34cm x 34cm


Hello friends,

I've just had the nicest possible morning ~ I managed to get a little time to myself in which to finish this painting that I've been working on in fits and starts over the summer.  It seems a long time ago since I began this one, and if you recall, it all started with a little drawing in my sketchbook...

I had been happily inspired by a book I had purchased round about this time called Plants and Places by the talented print maker, Angie Lewin.  I have long been a fan of her work and had coveted this book for ages before it finally came to live with me.  There is page upon page of her print work, featuring her trademark seedheads and other native flora; and peeks into her sketchbook which are themselves beyond beautiful.

I myself have rather a love affair with the latter end of summer, when the dry stone walls here become fantastically enhanced by the skeletal shapes of teasels and cow parsley.  I've been known to stop the car suddenley on quiet country lanes to collect small armfuls of them to bring home and draw.

So anyway, I think what I'm getting round to saying is that Angie's book was the catalyst for this particular painting.  I decided I wanted to paint a late summer window scene with found objects from the shore on the ledge, overlooking a harbour.  I also wanted to focus (unusually for me) on a limited colour palette.  The colours I worked with mainly on this painting were:

Titanium White
Yellow Ochre
Raw Umber
Paynes Grey
Cobalt Blue (hue)
Buff Titanium
Cobalt Teal
Cadmium Red

These paints are from the Daler Rowney Artist Acrylics, and Golden Acrylics ranges. 

 

I also use Derwent watercolour crayons to add texture and detail.

As the painting progressed, I was reminded of a time I had spent in St Ives one October a few years ago.  We stayed in a little fisherman's cottage just up from the harbour, and although there were still plenty of people about, the town seemed much quieter since the summer hoardes had returned home.  It also had a beautiful light to it.  I remember there being a warmth to the days too, warm enough to sit down the harbour and catch the sun, but which turned to an unmistakeable autumnal coolness come teatime.

I hope I've managed to convey a feeling of this time of year in this painting.  

As well as using my imagination to create the layout and Angie's book as inspiration, I also wandered down the riverbank beyond my house to collect some real seedheads to use in the work (alongside the ones I had drawn in my sketchbook).  It was a bonus to discover a huge undiscovered bank of blackberry bushes as I went foraging and I shall be going back down there later on with a big bowl to fill up!! I feel a blackberry and apple tarte tatin coming on!! (something else that is very much a part of this time of year).

So once more I am at the point of feeling euphoric that another work is done, but am also on the brink of 'what next?'  It's a bitter sweet feeling to complete a painting; I've probably said so a hundred times but the journey through a painting is so deep and involved, there are highs and lows, there are absences and intense periods spent together...it is really like a love affair and I miss it when the journey is over.

However, I have a few small ideas I'm keen to start on so the fact I have projects lined up is a good thing at least!  I recently ordered some tiny canvas boards and have Great Plans for those, not to mention designs for new Christmas cards which are already happily percolating away!

 

The painting will be available shortly in my gallery, in both original and printed format. 
I hope you all have a glorious weekend, sending love and thanks for visiting ~

Julia x x x

Seedheads and Seashore

Hello friends,

I'm in the middle of a new painting which was inspired by seedheads, I started to notice them on my travels as July melted warmly into August.  There are architectural shapes appearing in the hedgerows and the skeltons of cow parsley sway in the sunshine next to the first (early) blackberries.  There are voluptuous poppy seedheads in my garden, full to bursting with next years harvest and I don't know about you, but I am all of a sudden finding myself caught unawares some mornings by the whisperings of late summers arrival.  It's a gentle infiltration of feelings and signs that come now and then; a slightly lower sun casting shorter shadows, leaves turning that dry, faded green, and a wistfulness that passes in a moment so brief, you wondered if you imagined it as another warm and dry August day unfolds...

So all this got me thinking about my next painting; out came the sketchbook and a coastal drawing emerged from my imagination.  I'm working on a much larger scale for this painting, and after marking out my space I put down a rough background wash:

I like having a base colour to work from. There are two reasons for this: the first is that it is easier for me to start work on a coloured background rather than a stark white one, and secondly it provides a wonderful depth to the painting on top.  You could try it yourself, using different colours.  


Once the background colour is dry, I draw my picture onto it using watercolour crayon.  This allows any lines to dissolve into the work as I paint.  Here's a glimpse of the work in progress, I'm really pleased with how it's coming along and I'm also enjoying working with a slightly limited colour palette for a change!

 Maybe some of you will see this painting and feel that you recognise the location.  I have a habit of doing this with some of my work; integrating my memory of a place into the painting so that although it is not the actual place (as in that it's not drawn exactly from a picture or photograph), you get a strong feel for where it might be all the same.


This picture is being painted in acrylics.  I find myself using a rather dry, almost scrubby way of painting in places, and then layering over with almost translucent, watered down paint to create luminous glazes.  I'll share more with you as the work unfolds :)


Most of you who are familiar with my little blog, will know that I have a weakness and a love affair with the coast, and despite being landlocked in a village just north of Sheffield I like to go as often as I possibly can to get my 'fix'.
Last week I stayed with my sister in Suffolk, and we took ourselves off to the beach for the day...

...can any of you guess where this might be?


It's a tiny little place called Sea Palling in Norfolk and it reminded me very much of childhood holidays on the east coast. There's a long and winding lane, flanked by tipsy old fashioned telegraph poles that leads into the heart of the village which is a cluster of little buildings nestling at the base of the dunes.  There's a couple of houses, a B&B, a small amusement arcade, a chip shop and caravan park, and then there is a ramp leading right off the road which you walk up and then there is the beach.

Norfolk has the most amazing beaches.  Most people tend to grimace slightly when you mention the North Sea, imagining it to be a cold, disgustingly brown affair that you wouldn't let your dog paddle in.  This part of the coast has mile upon mile of creamy, fudgy coloured sand, and crystal clear water.  I was utterly seduced by the simplicity of the place: dune grasses, sand, a huge expanse of sky, and turquoise water as far as the eye could see.

There were lots of starfish on the beach, beautiful peachy orange ones of all sizes.  It was one of those days where we paddled too deep and got our dresses wet, but didn't care too much; and we went home late with sand in our hair and didn't mind too much about that either.


It was one of those days I shall remember for a long time.


Well, I think I've gone on long enough!  Before I end, I'd just like to tell you about my little Book Shop which you can see in the sidebar there.  I've put together a collection of my most inspiring and favourite books and you can now buy them directly through my little 'shop' via Amazon!  


I wish you all a happy, and sunny weekend.  Looking forward to catching up with you and your blogs, and to seeing what the participants of the Being Creative Project Group have posted in the gallery so far!


Thanks for stopping by today, hugs and love
Julia x x x