Of Autumn and Something New

And so Autumn finally arrives after a few false starts and this morning we are buffeted up the hill to school in a tornado of fallen leaves as above, a watery sun shines in a patchwork sky of dark grey and bright blue.

I must confess, after the hot weekend in London that we experienced, I'm actually relieved to be able to wrap up in layers and feel the energy of the storms that lash down on our village.  The high wind is invigorating and awakens the senses, leading one to suddenley notice Autumn in all her glorious technicolour.  I see scarlets, vivid and bright and dull faded reds; I see acidic lemon yellows and vibrant lime greens as well as amber, nutmeg, paprika and gold.  Nature puts on a rainbow of a display, yet it's so fleeting.  I enjoy it enormously.

So yes, where was I - London! Oh my, a bustling place if ever there was one!  It's not that I dislike London, in fact I think I quite like it - I just feel utterly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, the constant, never-ending rush, the energy and the expanse of the place.  I find it a curious place too, one that I feel I'm a little in love with, but yet cannot wait to escape back to my peaceful little corner of normality from; where sheep graze in the nearby fields and pheasants land randomly in the garden.

We travelled to London to see a show - Mamma Mia (which was absolutley out of this world) - to celebrate my Mum and Dad turning 65 and 70 respectively and all the family travelled down for the weekend.  The strange thing was, that for mid October it felt more like mid August.  Many layers were shed as the day wore on and we bore the stifling heat of the underground begrudgingly.  At this time of year, as nice as the warm weather is, it also feels a little out of place.

So, this speaking of seasons leads me nicely towards sharing a very beautiful new product that is now available in my online gallery shop, and which I am so very proud of.  For the first time this year, I decided I would design my very own calendar, put together using carefully selected images that takes the viewer on a journey through each of the four seasons. 

I have never, ever done anything like this before and it took several attempts to get it just right....even then, just to be 100% certain, I had my graphic design chum look it over and put it in a presentable order for the printing people.

Well, I had the proofs back at the weekend, and oh my, how lovely they are too!

 

The paper is very luxurious, and the print of each image is bright and cheery - in fact, you would well be able to frame up some of these I think, once you'd finished using it as a calendar.

If you are interested in making a purchase of a calendar, they will be available exclusively through my website at the price of £10.50.  There is a pre-order facility set up in the gallery shop and I'm hoping to have the first batch ready to ship out by mid November.  If you live overseas, you too can order from the website, just remember to choose the correct shipping destination!  Please click here for more information on the calendars.

And so now, I look on to the next season - the Festive one - as I begin to create a handful of limited edition hand painted decorations that I've been asked to do.  These were very popular last year, and so I have agreed to create some new designs especially for 2015.

Back to the paints then...and to steaming mugs of tea, arm warmers, chunky scarves and wellington boots.

Have a lovely day.

Julia x

Memories from Cornwall

The weeks of the summer seem to have whizzed by, and yet they have been slow and happy too, melodious days with a holiday rythmn about them; carefree days full of ordinary and yet memorable moments.

My family and I went to Cornwall for the last week of the school holidays.  We stayed in a riverside cottage just outside Fowey.  It was a peaceful place of cool, clear green water, moored boats gently bobbing on the tide, of herons and egrets.  Here at night you could see so many stars, a sky full of glitter.  You could hear a robin sing and the splash of an oar.  It was a tonic to be so very quiet.

As ever on my travels to the coast, I am always soaking up my surroundings, unconciously taking notes of colour and shape, of light and shadow, of objects and places.  I store all these details away to use in future paintings.  I write down things that I don't wish to forget, fleeting feelings, a particular event and take photographs...many, many photographs for fear perhaps of forgetting this precious time in this special place too quickly.

The towns of Cornwall were bulging with tourists.  August is a busy month and traders plied their wares with enticing displays in shop windows that lured people in to spend their cash.  Tantalising, mouth watering scents from the restaurants drew hungry  crowds to the door to enquire after a table for that evening, a chance to enjoy an authentic seafood dish alongside a glass of crisp, cold white wine at a table which looked out over the harbour, out to the faraway coastline and the comforting blink of the lighthouse in the gathering dusk.

We managed to squeeze in a couple of beach days but unfortunately the weather was rather inclement and we alternated between summer dresses and waterproof coats and jumpers.  I took a swim in the chilly sea at Carbis Bay and joined my daughter in a spot of body boarding; riding the foamy white tipped waves into the sandy shore and laughing out loud because it reminded me of being 11, on the beach at Porth with my sister where we would spend hours riding our California King surfboards together.  We had to wear old t-shirts over our swimming costumes because the sand would give you a rash on your belly.  We forget these things as we grow up.  It's good to let yourself go, to be a child again.

So, home again and the little one (who seems not so little any longer in her grown up Junior school uniform) heads off to her new school.  Once again, all is silence.  I wander around my house and wonder what to do with myself...during the noise and fun of the holidays I have craved peace such as this to carve out some creative time, or just read a book....now its here, I don't know what to do with it.  It's almost too much.

But routine gently enfolds us and we once again fall into it's familiar step like a well known waltz.  Noisy breakfasts and school runs give way to a few sacred hours in which I tentatively pick up my paints again, I unwrap a new canvas and begin.  As the days roll on I fall back into this comforting way of living again with surprising ease.  A cup of ginger tea to start my mornings work....the radio playing...a jar of clean water, the clink of the brush against the glass as I swirl away one shade of paint for another.

I finished this painting yesterday, it's called 'Over to Fowy' and is a big canvas - well, lets say its big for me, a soul who usually gravitates to working on small pieces.  At 50 x 50cm this is much bigger than much of my other work, but I am enjoying the freedom the bigger space brings.  I can afford to be more exuberant, make bigger strokes and experience a new way of painting that smaller work does not provide. 

So, my ginger tea awaits, and a jar of clean water sits next to my palette as I prepare to begin another large canvas, this time of Kynance Cove. 

Have a lovely day, and thanks for stopping by.
J x

Summer Cottage

I found a rare afternoon by myself, when the little one was away at her friend's house for a play and I was left with a sudden space in my day to fill.  Not inclined to tackle the usual chores (which mysteriously manage to get happily ignored during the holidays) I moved towards my paints - such a while since I did any painting - and I ended up finishing this summer scene of a cottage and it's garden, bursting with colourful blooms.

I worked on Hahnemuhle paper using acrylic and collage.  With Six Music on in the background, the sun streaming through the window and a generous mug of green tea to hand, I had a rather lovely afternoon of it.  I sometimes forget the joys that working with paint brings, and after an absence it is always a delicious feeling to be squeezing out honey thick paint onto my palette, to dunk a brush into a jam jar of clean water, to make those first marks on the paper.

I think it would be nice to offer this image as prints, so look out on the website soon for these, as well as the original which will also be availalbe to purchase. 

See you soon,
J x