Art Class

It has been a lifetime since I last had an art class at school so it was a bit daunting to start one as an evening class. The group is mixed. Mixed people. Mixed experience. Mixed expectations. But I like it. I felt a bit intimidated that others arrived with boxes of materials and reams of paper. Sitting at the table in the classroom felt alien and strange. But trying to paint a nasturtium using only the primary colours in watercolour became all absorbing. The stresses of the working day slipped away from me and my mind was occupied with trying to work the paint and the paper. It felt strange and I was so critical of what I had done. But as it dried I felt different. It did look like a nasturtium. It did have some colour and texture. It wasn't too bad after all.

The still life was another challenge. Fruit arranged on a cloth. As Cezanne did. The work is unfinished. I started the watercolour on paper that was too thin so it wrinkled and was difficult to work with. Then I was given thick rough paper and it was so different. I loved it. I could put paint on and take it off. The colours blended and flowed from one to the next. The shadows and folds in the cloth started to have form and shape as I worked on it. I was struggling with the red of the apple. Add blue said the teacher. I looked baffled. But its red. Add blue and you will see. I added it. Tentatively. And then by some twist of science and art the apple became the red I wanted. Intriguing and quite enchanting too. Inspired by the paper I have bought a pad and long to add colour to its clean surface already. Am I getting hooked on this?

Rosemoor Gardens

Rosemoor Gardens looked absolutely stunning today. It was windy but sunny too and the clouds were racing across the sky. Walking through the grounds and drinking in all the colours was overwhelming. To sit in a shelter from the wind and watch as trees swayed and leaves cascaded down like colourful confetti, was just mesmerising. A place to return to again and again and again.

An archway walk with decorative gourds hanging like lanterns

The golden leaves of this huge tree rustled and sang in the wind

The view towards the lake was an artists palette of colour and texture

The rosy red leaves of an acer covered

the ground beneath like some exotic carpet

Looking from the gardens to the woodland

was simply stunning with colours layered

against the bark of autumn trees

Halloween

It was a dark, windy wild night and there was a sharp knock at the door. It creaked as I opened it and looked out. Nothing. Then I looked down and there was a miniature dracula grinning at me. Hi I'm Charlie said Dracula. And its Halloween! Wow you look scarey I said (although secretly thinking this is the cutest Dracula ever seen). Do you eat biscuits? With chocolate? Mmmm yummy said Charlie/dracula. So he left munching a pack of mini hob-nobs. Obviously a Dracula delight.

Rainy and wild

The last day of summertime before the clocks go back tonight. Mild but blustery with cascades of autumn leaves falling from the trees. Showers of heavy rain and then brilliant sunshine so rainbows wherever you choose to look. Oscar remains curled in his bed close to the radiator all snuggled and warm. Time to draw the curtains against the night and to light the candles that stand on the hearth. I have the saturday Guardian to indulge in, Satie playing on the stereo and a chilled glass of wine to relax with in my cosy cottage tonight.

Starry starry night

It is the most stunning starry night. I came back from my art class tonight and just stood looking up at the sky. And the longer I looked the more stars there were. Scattered like diamonds on velvet, thousands of them, thousands of miles away. It makes you feel very small and not terribly significant. It isn't too cold either so it just feels calm and beautiful. I like the way the sky looks on a night like this, as if I am in some huge dome that spreads so far away. Van Gogh painted this stunning picture and on a night like tonight the stars have that swirliness and glitter high above the village.

Just some Autumn images: a tree draped in soft hairy lichen; the symmetry of fern fronds against the earthy colours and the beech leaves turning from green through yellow to brown as Autumn takes hold

Rustling through the leaves

The little lane along the back of the village looks so pretty in its autumnal colours. The beech leaves lie curled along the roadside and the ferns are peeking out from the banks. Leaves flutter gracefully down and settle amongst others until a breeze lifts them and they rustle along. Further along the lane there is a bridle path and as it hasn't rained for a while the mud is hard and unyielding and the leaves lie undisturbed. The temptation to kick through them is irresistable and for a few moments I am a child again, with only the sheep in the fields as my witness. Soon there will be no leaves and the branches will lie bare against the sky.