Stages of development – spot the difference

Collage workshop

Beautiful collages created in only 3 hours in our collage workshop yesterday. The next one is a Sketchbook workshop 23rd November in Cambridge.

Off the Wall Gallery

Three collages currently on display in the beautiful Off the Wall Gallery www.offthewallgallery.com in Cardiff. They are not all joined together, but I quite like it!

All the buzz of the fair

What a fantastic, friendly event the second Cambridge City Art Fair was this weekend. Lots of buying visitors and new contacts. Now it is back to the studio – trying to see if I can work without the colour  orange!

Beautiful work by fellow artists

Friday night was the opening night of the very first Cambridge Original Printmakers exhibition, what a turn out and what a fantastic exhibition! It is on all week Pitt Building on Trumpington Street. Above are some of the prints on display by Tracey Ashman, gorgeous.www.facebook.com/tracey.ashman

Clare Wood www.claremariawood.co.uk is another talented printmaker and arty friend, hopefully showing with Cambridge Original Printmakers next year! Here is a series from her sketchbook.Still on arty friends Lesly Birch www.lesleybirchartist.com Her beautiful atmospheric paintings and lively sketchbooks are always a  joy to look at.

Cambridge Art Fair

Really excited about exhibiting at the Cambridge Artfair 10-12th October. I am exhibiting with with Primavera Gallery. Stand E2 in the large hall. Here is a sneak preview. www.cambridgeartfair.com

Cambridge railway station collages

Last Autumn, I decided to dedicate much more time to drawing. All my years of travelling I have always sketched people, so I went back to my roots – people on the move, going about their daily business. I naturally gravitated towards the railway station, still on the travel theme . People are focused on their journey and give me little attention – even when they sit in my sketch!

I have an A4 moleskin sketchbook, handful of pens and pencils and a small bag of collage papers and glue. Cambridge station has some good window sills and benches to perch for a while but generally I keep moving – as do my subjects. I do love the strong lines and shapes silhoutted in the station. Here are examples of the first stage.

Back in my studio I  work into theses sketches with more collage papers, charcoal, paint and pencil.

Cambridge commuters

I  took the drawings to into monoprints with paper stencils and hand drawn lines and more collage.

I am really enjoying working in this way but intend to get back into some big colour work very soon!

You can see some of station monoprints and drawings at the Cambridge Art Fair (Primavera Gallery stand E2)  October 10 -12th  2014

Big Commission

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!

Art holidays in the south of France

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.

Circus

Starting to develop some collages from my circus sketchbook.  It did all start will Matisse in my art college days..

Circus sketchbook