Chinecole, coins and landscapes

I got back into mark marking and mixed media this week. I also learned to stretch a canvas, using, amongst other tricks, the mighty mitre. Our lovely technician Emma helped me with the whole process and my resulting picture (partly created using coin rubbing) is a whopping 1x1.8m. The rest of the time I spent happily tinkering away in the print room.

Whopper

Bosham marsh

Hornberg runs

Savoldo's Wilderness with Chinecole

I'm spending the weekend in Hackney - looking forward to having a bit of time to catch up with myself and with friends. Fingers crossed that the weather stays as beautiful as it is today.

A Wales of a Time

The boy and I went to Wales last weekend (lucky us) to our much-beloved haunt, the Gower. The weather was beautiful, as was the light. We had a fantastic surf on Sunday - well, it was fantastic for me on account of being small and clean... we even saw a seal playing in the waves! Our trip, I think,  affected my images this week - I couldn't stop thinking about landscapes and light.

Gower sunset

Gower sketch

Swiss Alps in oils - Uncle Tony's view down the valley

Happy to be back in the print room

The storm we've been experiencing seems wild. I hope all my friends and family in the west country haven't been too battered by its force.

Scribbles in the British Museum

We did glass work this week (so cool) but the kiln is now misbehaving so I'll have to wait till next week to see, and share, my first attempts in glass. In the meantime, here are some scribbles done in the British Museum last Friday.

Elgin Marble horse charging

Goya's meaty bulls

God-ward man in spit and ink

I'm doing some more product photography for the wonderful Marshmallowists who were featured in the Sunday Times Style magazine on page 7 this week. Go The Marshmallowists! I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on with snapping their luscious creations.

Jaguars

This week saw me doing a 2D design project, with the somewhat unusual brief of a marketable design derived from an image seen at the Pre-Raphaelite Avant Garde exhibition. I won't bore y'all with how my project developed but my issue with the exhibition's rigid depiction of nature, coupled with a bronze jaguar found in the V&A, ended eventually in this:

Wallpaper design

I then knocked off a few prints to use as cards. Speaking of which, thanks loads to those of you who have bought etchings - your support is much appreciated.

Cats abound

I love lino.

Oh Eden

Here is my version of the Garden of Eden (as described by Milton) for my diorama project. I ended up making an animation of the snake entering the garden through a cunning little snake hole in the wall. Apparently, 'paradise' comes from Persian and means 'walled garden', hence the back wall of the model is made to look like a brick wall in texture.

Latex tree and the start of the story

Here comes trouble

Paradise lost

 I really enjoyed creating my visual version of Eden - and learning the skills needed to do so. The mirrored pool you might be able to see is a nod to the Islamic version of paradise.

Apple a day

It's taken me ages to get round to writing this (more on why anon) but here is one of the paintings I did last week. I worked hard to make the apple as shiny as it was in reality.

I'm writing this from bed listening to the news and my thoughts are very much with all those on the other side of the Atlantic.

Etching

I could write pages about how cool using Intaglio etching and printing is - but I won't. It's a complicated and exact process (used to great effect by Rembrandt, Goya and Picasso) but seems akin to alchemy when you peel the first printed piece of paper from your etched plate. I really clicked with this way of working and here are four of the prints I made over the last week.

French Surf

Lighthouse Coastline

 

 

 

Autumn Leaves

View of Burgh Island

Finally, here is a funny strip of the boy and I at Muffin and Nick's wedding on my birthday. I'm a bowler-hatted tiger, while he appears to be some sort of cow-bear-butterfly concoction. What a party that was.