Odds and ends

Still in a bit of a post SAW 2014 trance: I realised when I picked up my bag to go over to the Church Hall for our Moorlinch Art Group this morning that everything was as it was when I brought the bag back last time! In other words I hadn’t done anything! I have been to a couple of really good exhibitions : paintings of Han Schwarz over at the Lynda Cotton Gallery at Watchet; and Ray Balkwill’s open studio event in Exmouth.

The best I can offer is refer you to my poppy paintings I completed recently for a special Poppy Only Exhibition at Bridgwater Arts Centre in November – here’s the one I liked best, a collage – something rare for me:

And I was asked last week to produce a drawing as a gift for Canon Mike Peters who edits the parish magazine. I produce a monthly black and white drawing for the cover. I wasn’t happy with any of the ones I had by me, so I started again with a typical Somerset Moors pollarded willow scene, which seemed to go down well:

Finally, I made another Kangeroo card for grandson Max: Kangeroo is getting ever more organised for the Lake District holiday when she will be reunited with her owner. Definitely ready to take the road to the North:

Val – my new Anchorwoman

The most exciting thing that’s happened on the Artistic front since I counted the SAW 2014 takings on Sunday and discovered I did quite a lot better than last year (phew, time for a main verb) was a ring on the door a couple of days ago. There stood Val, a SAW visitor from Bridgwater, who had noticedlast week that I had a beach instead of a front garden.

She threw open her car boot to reveal a treasury of marine bits and pieces: first and foremost this beautiful little anchor:

 

She had had the same idea as me many years ago but is now moving from a house to a flat. Would I give these a good home?

 

Well of course I would – and these:

 

Lucky me! And Val has promised to drop off some bits of fishing net soo, Too.

On a side issue – I’m experimenting with a new camera which is very clever. More than a match for me…

 

Cezanne meets Van Gogh

Today…the penultinate day of Somerset Art Weeks 2014…I have been mainly playing about with fruit and flowers.

Despit my protestations of ‘I haven’y got time’ ‘It’s somerset Art Weeks’ and ‘I’m unproductive in the gardening department’ our Moorlinch Village Church Rota Organiser didn’t take no for an answer I. tried a final ‘The chuch will be locked by the time I’ve finished’ upon which she entrusted to my care this wonderful key:

 

Result:I am required to produce ‘something’ to grace one of the Church windows and yet yield some saleable produce when it all gets taken down to the Ring O’ Bells for the Annual Harvest Festival Auction.

This year a certain Nancy Farmer is to be in charge of the gaveI and do her best to coax we villagers to cough up the loot for the stuff we provided in the first place. Yes I know, but it’s a tiny village and we have to make our own amusement.

So  in a series of two-minute bursts from the command centre of my gallery I’ve: dispatched my husband to Sainsbury’s for sunflowers;  grabbed a few apples from the tree;  raided my fruitbowl and vegetable rack; ferreted about in the cuboard that houses bins, oil store and bits and pieces we should have taken to the tip and found a suitable receptacle. Suitable, that is, once disguised with the aforementioned ivy.

Sunflowers – that worked for Van Gogh. And apples – well, hello, Cezanne! Can I get them to work with each other?

 

No, the sunflowers were definitely keeping themselves aloof from the fruit. So without so much as a ‘back in five minutes’ Ileft the gallery and charged up the hill to a handy hedgerow whivh provided ivy flowers and berries. I think that did the trick :’ Vincent: meet Paul!’ But you may not agree!