All change

Looking over my site, I see I have failed to keep up with everything. So instead of trying to do the ATC page, the Diary page etc. etc. I will just put everything here as a post and maybe I shall do better. The disadvantages of age have stopped me getting to as many exhibitions as I once did for my Diary entries but our ATC group has kept going through the seasons and the international friends I write to seem familiar even though I have only met two of the group. I have also done a few courses and enjoy those that have Facebook groups where others can also post their results. These are both things that online connection has made possible – international contacts and working from home are both so marvellous. So from now I intend to keep up with something even if it’s a ragbag!

I did make it to the near final day of Sussex Modernism in Eastbourne which was great. My art magazines tell me there are lots of lovely sounding exhibitions around so I hope to get to some of them.

I have just finished a colour revision course and am now taking part in one on Kandinsky.

Our latest ATC topic was for QIII JULY-SEPT 2025:

Using letters somehow might be nice.  So there we have it.  Letters is the theme.  That is very broad and so be it.  Of course, as usual, if you do not like the theme go ahead with anything you like.

As usual members have interpreted this in different ways which is what makes it fun.

So here’s to a future for my site with more posts even if all the topics are now jumbled together!

Lydia Rink Art Mixed Media Festival

I have been participating in this: 10 artists’ lessons and a Facebook page to show my results. Not everyone who was signed up posted their work which was a shame as it was nice to see what other people made of the demos. Here are the pieces I posted which I did in my A4 concertina sketchbook to keep them in one place. One demo was intended to be folded into a minibook and another was to make a triptych but otherwise it was okay done this size and the paper of the book is surprisingly resilient to gesso, ink, glue etc.

Concertina sketchbooks

I’ve been following some online workshops with Karen Stamper using these books. So far I’ve found the smallest too small, A5 just about right and A4 too big as it takes so long to do a spread and I can’t fit many pages on my table at once. I could turn each book over and complete the other side as well but I think I will just start a new book.

Good morning Mr Drogo

A detail from this new painting of a man at a gate. Castle Drogo is an incredibly unlikely building – a 20th century castle overlooking the Teign Gorge in Devon with gardens, views, everything! (The title was too tempting as a steal from Gauguin!)

For sale. 30x30cm, varnished and ready to frame.

Take out window

Harking back to the days when lockdown was sort of over and cafes were re-opening with measures to avoid people entering the premises! Drinks would appear at a hatch and a voice would yell out a number or what the offering was. Not very friendly but it was better than nothing.

Acrylic on panel. For sale.

Boudoir

My mother did not speak French but she had a selection of words she would employ, using a rather overdone stress. I can recall boudoir and mouchoir – heaven knows why she chose these words or where she learnt them! So here is a picture inspired by that:

It is for sale.