Still Life with Pots and Spoon

 Still Life with Pots and Spoon

(Collage and acrylic on watercolour paper, 12x12 in)

Some playing around with card shapes left over from my recent “Door” painting turned them into this still life.

Madonna of the Pots

 

Madonna of the Pots

(acrylic on mountboard, 10x10 in.)

This painting has been hanging around for a while, awaiting a resolution. Somehow it resolved itself, almost by accident. While it’s not what I expected it to be, I’m pleased with it and am offering it for sale under the Artist Support Pledge. It’s £200, including UK postage. If you’re interested, please leave a comment or email me.

The Winged Vase

The Winged Vase

(mixed media on board, 9x9 in)

Finished yesterday, this is my contribution to the week's Shipley Art Gallery Challenge. It was painted over an abandoned painting that revealed the pots when turned upside down.

Now offered for sale under the Artist Support Pledge scheme, this unframed painting is priced at £90, (incl. P&P in the UK). To buy, or ask for more details, contact me.

Sketch-Together : The Arches and the Hatton

The Boiler House, Newcastle University

(markers in A5 sketchbook)

To accommodate a visiting Luigi, who wouldn't be in Newcastle for any of our scheduled Sketch Crawls, Bob, Alan, Mark and I met up next to The Arches of Newcastle University. Waiting for Luigi to finish his breakfast, the rest of us started to draw, but he arrived soon after.

I know this view very well from my time at the University in the late 90s, but I've never drawn it, so I leaned against a convenient tree and made this drawing. Just as I finished, the heavens opened and we were forced to escape the rivers running across the pavement by sheltering under a tent left over from the recent Degree Congregations.

Even the tent began to leak and we ran round the corner to try for better shelter under a building overhang, though the spray still reached us.

Taking advantage of a brief lull in the rain, we trotted across to the Hatton Gallery. Although I could barely drag the others away from my two astounding artworks hanging in the Friends of the Hatton Summer Exhibition in the Long Gallery (see previous post), some of us did eventually settle down to draw the giant pots that Andrew Burton had previously shown at Gibside. 

While we drew, the "Gogmagog" sound installation by Matt Stokes filled the room with bells, voices and a brass band. 

I'm afraid either the giant pots or the sound installation had proven too much for the guest of honour, because by the time we were finished sketching and were ready for coffee, we couldn't find Luigi. I learned later he'd failed to find us and had gone off to watch the city's Pride Parade.

Sketch Crawl - The Hancock Museum and McKenna's Cafe

Bardon Mike @ McKenna's

(Pitt fine marker in A5 sketchbook)

Saturday dawned grey and snowy, Michael was sensibly in bed with a cold, but I braved the chill wind and met the other members of Urban Sketchers Tyne and Wear huddling in the entrance to Haymarket Metro.

The plan had been to draw in and around the campus of Newcastle University but the weather made that deeply unattractive, so we opted instead for a return to the Great North Museum : Hancock. 

This would be our third visit to the Hancock and for me yet another chance to draw pots. Annoyingly, I discovered I'd left my pencil case at home, but found a pack of Pitt pens in the bottom of my bag.

Attic Amphora and Funerary Pots

(Pitt fine marker in A4 sketchbook)

Cypriot Jug with Sphinxes c 600 BC

(Pitt marker in A4 sketchbook)

Sadly, the Hancock has a policy of closing its cafe at 3.30 so while some of us managed to snatch a coffee and a scone before they closed, Richard was reduced to drinking my little jug of milk. 

In need of further caffeine we upped sticks and moved to McKenna's Cafe, just across the road. There we were able to sit and watch the snow being blown around outside, draw the Students' Union Building or simply draw one another.

Unusually for me, I opted for the latter and Bardon Mike, who'd joined us for the day from Berwick Sketchers, helpfully sat very still while I obsessed over the folds in his hoodie to such an extent that I can't help feeling he looks a little like a character drawn by Dürer (see top of post).

I thought the time round the table in McKenna's, laughing and sketching one another was a lovely way to round out the day and Kim even managed to get a photo of me smiling with Jenny (but then it was nice to see Jenny back with the group!).

(Photo: Kim Willis)

Next sketch crawl : 28th April, venue to be decided.