sea blue sky abstracts

Looking West with Clodgy point in the distance. Low growing wild flowers and lichen. St Ives Bay with Porthminster point and Carbis Bay beyond. Pinks or thrift, they don't last for long and are so pretty. Pinks and blue elvan (rocks) below. Godrevy Lighthouse in the distance, with St Agnes Beacon behind. Wild Carrot - love the way the flowers start off a dusky pink colour before turning creamy white. Glorious weather again on the last day of May, 2009 and even warmer than yesterday. I worked (not flat out, there were plenty of tea breaks and I had a lie in) trying to complete 2 paintings in time for submission to St Ives Society of Artists on Wednesday. So the dog had to wait until this evening for her walk. The air was still balmy and cloudless and we headed off to 'The Island'/St Ives Head or 'dog heaven' because she can run free off the lead and scramble down onto the rocks and - there are no adders.

Pictured are six of my small paintings all newly framed ready to be transported to Yorkshire - along with a similar number coming from colleagues at Art Space (hope to post pics of their work on the Art Space blog soon) for exhibition at the Clare White Gallery , Elsecar Heritage Centre, Barnsley from 12 June - 31 July 2009. Just need to get them labelled, measured and wrapped and they're ready to go! We have had the most glorious day here in St Ives, the colours of the sand and sea just amazing. Steve McIntosh's St Ives blog entry includes a short video of a very peaceful view of St Ives bay yesterday evening, click here to see it. The sun's starting to set now but it's still lovely - could be fine weather for the bank holiday weekend!

This lovely parcel arrived in the post today - shame to open it really! By express mail, my prize winning giveaway from My Baboo Look at those colours - 100% pure Aran wool. I couldn't decide between the green or grey flower brooch, so let Lynne decide. Isn't it beautiful. Thank you so much Lynne, I've been wearing it all day!!! Click here to visit My Baboo's website, a feast of contemporary products, made in Scotland from traditional materials.

'Arbour' mixed media on 12" x 12" square canvas. SOLD 'Petals & Wings' mixed media on 12" x 12" square canvas

Readers of the Art Space Gallery blog will already know of our Black & White themed window exhibition, which opened today. We have each produced at least 2 12" square artworks with a free choice of subject matter. My plan for this blog was to show every stage of my paintings from start to finish. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph the 1st stage, remembered the 2nd stage and again forgot to capture the 3rd stage before progressing onto the 4th - oh dear, back to the drawing board! To compensate, I have taken some very close up shots of 'Petals & Wings' and 'Arbour' and will also try to describe the process: I have definitely been influenced by the decorative nature of blog backgrounds and the wonderful craft and art seen on so many blogs, and started off by glueing a rectangle of anaglypta to each canvas, which I overpainted with at least 2 coats of white acrylic. Once dry, I used a rudimentary screen printing set and cut out paper shapes to print onto th...

My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Bristol yesterday when we attended the 2009 Affordable Art Fair preview. The evening was very well attended, with a wide range of good quality art on display and masses of sales! Fifty galleries are participating in the annual event, which runs until 5 pm Sunday 17 May Most of the pics below were taken shortly before closing, apologies for not getting the names of the galleries featured, who kindly allowed me to photograph them.

Sue of Seascape (left) and Angela (my sis) on the Seascape Gallery stand. That's me in the middle with proprietors of Seascape Gallery, Sue and Gary. All smiles. Just before 9pm, it's raining outside and the light is starting to go - poor man, I did take ages to get this picture! Decisions, decisions..... A chance to sit down after a busy evening! My sis - delighted with her purchase. A long view of one of the aisles, visitors were able to revive themselves with refreshments -tables and plenty of seating on the right.

Oh my goodness, have just watched the most amazing programme on BBC2 - 'South Pacific' - the first in a series to air on Sunday evenings from 8.30-9.30pm. I really want to go there (Hawaii preferrably). Sadly I don't like fish, well, I think they're beautiful, but don't like eating them. I do like unusual plants and they're found in abundance in the many archipelagos scattered across the region. Terrific photography, especially the underwater filming of monster waves off (sounded like) Pompeii Island, also the usual life and gory death in the animal kingdom - could have done without the carnivorous caterpillars and had to shut my eyes to the graphically recorded, predictably short lives of adorable Albatross chicks. Can't wait for next week's episode! I always like to add an image and today's shows bluebells and cow parsley growing at a nearby park.

Everything's looking gorgeous here, as it's such a lovely day. Shouldn't be blogging really - but I have got the door to the back garden open! Anyway, being desperate for some new togs meant that I had to go shopping this morning and on the way, with the countryside and colours looking beautiful - bluebells, cow parsley, red (why red when they are actually PINK) campions in the hedges and the lime green, warm gold and soft rusty reds of new leaves on the trees, was kicking myself for not having a camera to hand. What did create a sense of achievement though was getting what I needed, bought and paid for, in less than two hours. The top photo shows the view from my bedroom window (excuse the washing on the line) and the 'top rugby field' where I spotted a fox this morning, lying quite contentedly in the long grass for a while in the sun. That's all for now, time for a cup of tea, reading just a few more posts and then a walk with the dog.

Oops, I accidentally published this post with just a picture and nothing else - sorry if this caused confusion. Anyway, I have a few invitations to the Bristol Affordable Art Fair Private View available (should there be someone out there who'd like to attend) on Thursday 14 May 2009 from 6-9pm. Each invitation admits 2 people. Please let me know asap so that I can get them in the post. Alternatively the invitation can be used instead to gain free admission to the Fair between Friday 15-Sunday 17 May. I also have quite a few invitations which allow half price entry for up to two people from the Friday - Sunday. If you do go, please call on Gary & Sue at the Seascape Gallery stand (A9). They were in St Ives yesterday collecting work for the show and are hoping it's going to be as busy and successful as last year's event. Artists represented: Simeon Stafford, Irene McCann, Sheila Meeks, Lesley Ninnes, Siddy Langley, Jenny Wheatley, Julia Brooks, Jonathan Middlem...

Yesterday was spent printing cards ready to take down to Art Space today, a job that always takes ages because the printer is not that fast and then labels have to be added, envelopes, wraps and finally price labels. I also managed to work on the two canvases for our 'Black & White' themed window exhibition, which opens on 18 May 2009. They are so much fun - blogging has influenced the evolution of these canvases, especially the decorative nature of various blog backgrounds and the methodology of so many talented, diverse makers - resulting in a mix of collage, charcoal, screen printing and paint work. There's still some way to go and I'm hoping that they turn out OK!

'Colour Fission' sold today. The photo shows the diptych before framing, otherwise reflection can be a problem. The painting - rendered in watercolour, gouache and acrylic on 300lb Arches rough w/c paper - is held in a white double window mount within a glazed white wooden frame and its new home will be in London!

I've had fun making these small paintings on primed mdf - unfortunately the colour and contrast are wildly inaccurate and probably an improvement! The largest is 11 x 8.5 inches and the smallest 7.5 x 6 inches. Starting from the bottom is 'Godrevy Breakers' - Godrevy is the name of the point and lighthouse pictured - the one above is 'Snow Peak', painting no 3 is untitled, next is 'Sunlit Sky', then 'Tropical Blue', another untitled and at the top 'St Ives Bay Rough Sea'. Some of the underpainted texture was created by slathering paint onto a square of anaglypta wall paper - a technique gleaned from Carol Parsons watercolour workshop held at Newlyn Gallery in March - and then pressing onto the board. I also used it on the surface of 'Snow Peak' and the untitled painting 2nd from the top, as well as 'printing' the pattern on the cut out paper shape which was then glued to the artwork.

Although not painting right now because I'm blogging (reading, commenting and posting actually, that's a bit decadent in the middle of the afternoon, don't you think?) I have been and am continuing to work on a painting which, with 3 others 'Aurora', 'Undercurrent 2008' and 'Colours of West Penwith' - see wall picture below - will be going to London at the beginning of May. David Upton, who has links with St Ives and whose parents and grandparents live in the area, has asked Art Space Gallery to provide artwork for his new seafood restaurant 'Coast' in Camden, North London, which opens on 7 May 2009, with a grand launch planned for 19 May. Loosely based on the theme 'Coast', paintings by Art Space artists will hang on the walls of both levels and the stairwell of the restaurant. So if you're in the area after 7 May, why not pop in and have a look. Have got to go now, to cut the grass - it's a jungle out there!