After my week of teaching at La Maison Verte I just had time to complete this collage before returning to the UK for a ‘holiday’
View of L Maison Verte from my studio
Check this for a borrowed studio space! Yoga mat to the left,collage to the right.
Final piece delivered to Berrie and Roberto in Montpellier. They loved it!
July is always a busy month for me. The first two weekends are Open Studios and then I drive to the South of France where I run two art and yoga holidays in July and August.
It was another successful Open Studios for me. My sketchbook collage/drawings were received really well as were the cheeky burlesque ladies. It is always a pleasant time catching up with visitors. This one was a favorite.
I have just finished the first art/yoga week at La Maison Verte www.lamaisonverte.co.uk This is a truly wonderful house full of character with a big studio space. A fantastic venue for artists and musicians alike (it is for sale if anyone is looking for new adventures..) My company, www.acy-holiday.com has been operating for ten years. Three years ago I invited Francis Boag www.francisboag.com to join me with his teaching group, this has been a huge success. Artists and novices alike have produced beautiful ‘Boagart’ My group work in a more independent way, responding to the beautiful environment of Maison Verte. Here is some artwork produced by our creative guests.
Starting to develop some collages from my circus sketchbook. It did all start will Matisse in my art college days..
Circus sketchbook
Questo! Bello! The words still ringing in my head the day after returning from Naples. What an inspirational, exciting and exhausting four days! Only four days but seems so much longer – the distance we covered, the places we sketched and the friends we made. Simo and Carolina are a double act of creativity, energy, information, patience and calm in the chaos of Napoli’s back streets, parks, museums, theatres and cafes. They obviously put in a lot of time to get the group(13 nationalities,100’s of pens, brushes, paints, stools, hats and sketchbooks) into the secret places of this facinating city. Behind the scenes in the museums – where dusty sculpture wait to be promoted upstairs; in the restoration lab where paintings are cleaned and stories revealed; tiny streets draped in fresh washing; an intimate theatre performance; private balconies….
Every day was filled with walking, sketching and sharing drawing tips and ideas – and finally a well earned beer and pizza! It was so uplifting to be with a group of lovely generous like minded peopls with one strong bond – to observe and record the sights, sounds and smells of Italy.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrbanSketchersNapoli/?fref=ts
Here’s a collage that I am working on at the moment. Underneath there is a collage from last year that I wasn’t too happy with. You can see the layers of tissue, newspaper, paint, packaging and print. The placing, moving and replacing stages can take minutes…or days!
I am really loving sketching on the move, alas I am often the driver (not the train!) This way of drawing forces me to capture the details in seconds and, of course, each image is made up of many views.
