sea blue sky abstracts

More photos of wintry seas at Porthmeor - the source of endless inspiration and also somewhere to walk the dog (she loves it)! This first I'm delighted with, having captured a seagull in flight - made possible because I finally got around to reading the camera manual!! The 'continuous' option automatically takes 3 pics every 2 seconds while the shutter release button is depressed. 'Porthmeor Sunset' painted in 2008. Taken this afternoon on Porthmeor Beach - that wind was strong! Although not painting today because of a rehang at Art Space Gallery and other jobs, I'm currently busy working on a body of work (semi-abstract) for a shared exhibition in January 2010, at the Seascape Gallery , Godalming. Seascape has been run by Sue McAllister and Gary Thomas as a successful online gallery for some time now and represents artists countrywide at Art Fairs throughout the calendar year, so opening gallery premises proved to be the next logical step for this clever and...

Computers - wonderful when they work but when they don't ooooohhhh! Mine is not working - again. This time the monitor is playing up and now the whole caboodle has had to be taken to the nearest computer repair shop and I'm bereft because that means no blogging and no commenting. I haven't been able to properly for a couple of days anyway, as the problem started to manifest itself. This post is coming via my parents computer to let you all know the score and that I will be back, as soon as is technically possible. In the meantime, Bye For Now. Lesley x

Timing walking the dog between heavy showers, the roar of the waves could be heard before reaching Porthmeor Beach and an unbroken line of white edged St Ives Bay, bright against dark sea and sky. A stiff Westerly wind lifted spray from the breakers and those swells were roaring in. At almost high tide, surges were taking the sea right up to the buildings at the Eastern end of the cove, so it wasn't really possible to walk the length of the beach - well, not without risking getting seriously wet! These photos convey neither the size, force or noise. Some of the larger rollers, just before breaking, must have been at least 8-10 feet high and the thrust was enough to flip at least one surfer into a somersault. Sadly, I didn't manage any action shots, but take it from me, they were flying! Click the pictures for a better view - note the horizon, broken by swells. Luckily there was somewhere to shelter from the fast moving squalls and the dog and I made it back home before a...

Having joined Etsy in June 2009, I was beginning to despair of ever making a sale, when all around me others were selling with gusto, it seemed!! Anyway, phew, it's happened at last and a parcel is on its way to my first ever Etsy buyer as I write. More prints have been added to the shop - from the golden oldie range, including a very twee kitty - sorry, but I've always been pleased with the accompanying bluebells, red campions and buttercups! Plus, there's a special offer on at the moment - buy one print and get one free! The only stipulation is that both prints be delivered to the same address. Orders can be for 2 of the same image or 2 different images. Please have a look and tell me what you think. Any feedback or advice is welcomed. Bye for now. Lesley x

What? What is it? I was having a lovely dream - do I have to wake up! You want to take a photo because the 'two little angels' are missing me? Well, I'm flattered of course and I miss them too - I'm not getting nearly as many treats and there's no one to make a fuss of me! The big eyed look always works. This'll make them go 'aaahhhhh................. More? Now that's it - you've got plenty to choose from. We'll finish with a profile shot. No, I'm not going to say cheese! Hope they'll be pleased. And no, the weather is not that good here right now- this pic was taken on a lovely, fine midsummer's evening.

Here's another 'golden oldie' painted around a decade ago, I think, using watercolour and gouache on NOT or Cold Pressed - which is somewhere between supersmooth Hot Pressed and ROUGH - watercolour paper. The drawing was made on cartridge paper first, with lots of rubbing out and correcting of lines before being transferred using tracing paper onto the stretched watercolour paper. Flowers have always been a struggle to represent, whereas I love painting leaves and stems. Having said that, I am pleased with these cheerful red poppies! Have a great weekend everyone. x

Having been a bit slow to post, again, I have included quite a few photos by way of compensation, starting with an unexpected gift from a return visitor to Art Space. Tomoko first called in at the gallery earlier in the year and came back a couple of weeks ago - with her daughter this time. She brought some art cards, including a view of Mount Fuji........ A blank canvas for me to paint..............(click the pic to view the Japanese script on the back of the postcards) And what do we have here? Wow! What a wonderful piece of material, measuring 44 x 41 inches, I'm bowled over by the design and colours. What to do with this gorgeous stuff? My preferred option is to get it hemmed for use as a tablecloth to be arranged diamond fashion over a plain white rectangular cloth on special occasions, like Christmas for example. Beautiful design, screen printed onto 100% cotton. Thank you Tomoko, it was great to meet you again, and your daughter. Interestingly, a little investigation v...

I'm wide awake when I should be asleep, so now is as good a time as any to post! Yesterday's rain, and did it rain, non stop for hours - has been followed by a day of bright sunshine. Quite brisk and breezy, good for drying the washing though and warm in little spots out of the wind. Walking the dog at around 4pm and passing through one of those sheltered spots, I was delighted to see an absolutely perfect Red Admiral, flawless and richly coloured, with wings spread resting on a bramble and soaking up the sun - having surely just emerged from its crysalis. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera, so by way of compensation have included a small painting completed many years ago depicting a Red Admiral feeding on a fallen apple. Night, night.

Yes, where has the time gone? Blogging in September - following, reading, commenting - yes, posting - no, not once! Life has been turbulent, personally and professionally, for weeks and weeks, so I'm hopeful that October brings a period of calm. Soothing and comforting, like the photos below taken on Porthmeor Beach today, at around 5.30 pm. There would have been more, but guess who forgot to charge the battery! That's not all, the best pic - which showed the leaden sky in the West also included an area of sunlit blue sky and blue water to the East - couldn't be included because of a badly sloping horizon. Does anyone know of a programme that can correct this? Using old photo editing software for my camera, it was possible to tilt and crop the image a little at a time until the horizon was straight (Fotostation Easy for Nikon) but it doesn't seem to be compatible with Vista. Any advice will be much appreciated. Talk again soon, Lesley x

My Etsy shop has been updated with some additional photos and artwork. This first is an A4 giclee print, 'Sunrise' taken from a watercolour/gouache diptych. This print is entitled 'Porthmeor Rocks'. 'Let's Dance'! 'Lucid' The next is an original painted on primed card and is called 'Gannet Seas', because we often see Gannets diving here in such conditions. This too is an original on primed card - 'Seascape & Headland' - I'm not always so imaginative when it comes to titles! I forgot to include close ups of 'St Ives Harbour & Godrevy' in the previous post, so here they are (below) - makes it easier to see brushstrokes, texture and the grain of the wooden support.

Oh I have had so much fun with this painting, though am unsure as to the title, something along the lines of 'Floral -Planters' or 'Floral - Patio' , what do you think? It's not framed yet, is rendered on canvas board and started out as a figure study! The figure wasn't coming together at all, so I rashly slathered black paint onto anaglypta and printed onto the surface and then glued a piece of the wallpaper on for good measure, as in the collages featured earlier in this blog. Next came the green paint applied with a knife, which made me think of leaves, the leaves of Montbretia, so I mixed a lovely orange and tried creating flowers, again using a knife. Later I picked some Montbretia flowers and painted them (the two on the right hand side of the painting). Then, my daughter gave me some beautiful magenta coloured Gladioli and so they were incorporated too, it was such a pleasure to watch them open out from deep, red buds. 'Summer Bay' or 'St Iv...

Walking in soft rain: Birds sing Wet vegetation gleams Earthy scents sweeten the air. I think of those who cannot share The quiet joy Bound to beds without ties Imprisoned in rooms with open doors. There is no reason to complain when Walking in soft rain.

Well, it's a bit embarrassing - warning that I might be offline for quite sometime, possibly a week and here I am, back after less than 24 hours! Luckily, after half heartedly trying again in the hope that some computer miracle would happen e.g. switch on, wait 30 seconds and hey presto windows desktop appears, displaying most importantly the Internet Explorer shortcut icon (didn't happen) I realised that there were some options open to me, thanks to those little F keys - no, I'm not swearing - F9 I think, allowed me to opt for a 'System Restore'. So that's what I did, restored the computer to its factory condition. Wonderful! Everything's so fast, because, apart from the Internet connection, the computer has no files! I'm not too worried because there should be some back up via PCWorld. So for now, the sea-blue-sky-abstracts Etsy shop will remain in Vacation mode until I can ensure that the relevant image files are back on my computer. Thanks for ...

Dear All, I am unable to get into my computer (why do these things always happen at the weekend?) - the hard drive I think - and am quickly writing this post on the laptop at my parents house. So please don't think I'm ignoring visitors or not interested in the posts of all the terrific blogs I follow because that's not the case, it's all the computer's fault and I'm effectively silenced for a while, boo hoo. Have a great weekend everyone and hopefully I'll be back soon! Lesley x

Today, we headed off to picturesque Portscatho on the South coast of Cornwall, to visit the long awaited Home Spun Fair . Although quite cloudy, the weather was bright and warm - the village is much quieter than hectic St Ives, too. Here's Jane who organised the event with Christine of 'The Sea Garden' Portscatho. Pictured here are some examples of the wonderful wares that Christine has for sale in her shop - including lovely sewn pieces by Gertrud Strahl. Truly beautiful hats by Clare of Daisy Darling millinery. Abundant bunting on the left and Niki's 'Vintage Magpie stall on the right - her home-made mohair teddies are adorable. Cynthia of the Spindrift Gallery, Portscatho, with examples of her lovely artwork. Here she is, the one, the only, Viv of Hens Teeth fame ! It was great to actually meet Viv and the other bloggers today and I hope it won't be long before we have a chance to meet up again. Viv chatting to other stall holders. Clare with her t...