At the moment I just can't believe how busy life has become. Another exhibition, this time at the Mill at Elstead, near Farnham; I am showing two of my tree works there until February. In the meantime work continues on the old fishing boats around our coasts. Above is an old "Coble", (small northern fishing boat), lying almost deserted on the Northumbrian coast. That was a magical find. St Columba's have requested it to hang as an advertisement for my exhibition there next March; the work for that is well under way.

We went for a walk at  Polsden Lacey a couple of days ago, it looked like it might be cool before we left home, so jackets were worn. As soon as we started walking it became obvious that we had judged the weather incorrectly, the wind disappeared and it became so warm; we nearly melted, but the plus bits were thousands, literally, thousands of ladybirds everywhere, all over us and our rucksacks; then there were the butterflies, late flowers and the gorgeous autumnal colours everywhere. The picnic was rather nice as well. If it was a tad on the warm side, it was still a lovely day out.

 

 Guildford Arts Festival

There will be three chances to see this exhibition, the first showing is at the gallery above the Jigsaw ladies clothes shop in High Street, Guildford, from tomorrow for three days. having a look at the works this morning the standard of work being shown is exceptionally high; it is a privilege to be exhibiting amongst them; I feel that is well worth a visit. I will keep you posted of the other venues for this show.

 Well Liz and myself are back home and settled again; but what a trip we had. The above was one of those moments; having driven a fair distance and briefly visited quite a few venues, as we approached Filey, Humingby Gap offered a pleasant break in the middle of nowhere; we were getting a tad tired and road weary, so the Gap offered a rather good place to take a break.

A few families were on the beach, not by any means was it crowded, so I sat on the sand and relaxed for a moment or two. Surprisingly out came my paper and a pen!

The family in the centre were lovely and friendly; they absolutely loved being in the sketch. We never got round to exchanging names, there wasn't time as we were chatting to much. I hope all three of you had a super holiday.

Not a brilliant piece of art, that doesn't mater, however those kind of moments are what travel is about, painting or sketching helps in the making of those meetings. They are normally so easy, so relaxed and so trusting.

The essay is finished, the photos sorted, the paintings and sketches, all digitally stored and placed into a large A3 acid free archival book; it will be picked up and on occasions to share with another; it was all rather good fun and for the future a memory of pleasant times.

Well at last we are home again, everything is happening this year!

We have just traveled up the East Coast from the Wash up to Lindisfarne, awe inspiring, was maybe the best way to describe it all.

 It was a holiday because we were both tired, however it was also research on my recently started project, looking at how old fishing boats, when deserted slowly decay back towards nature. Paint flakes, wood rots and metal rusts. if you look closely there is great beauty there. So it was good fun poking around all sorts of deserted little estuaries, havens, ports and even farm yards, Boats end up dumped everywhere, such good fun finding these out of the way places.

Lindisfarne was awesome, the above image was painted whilst being seated on the grass just above the old jetty. It was late afternoon, warm, with a gentle breeze, which had a slight nip in it, very pleasant. Nobody around, just peaceful and relaxing. 
 

 

Liz and myself have just returned from New Wine and so you know--- we had a superb time. We both experienced and leant a great deal; very formative. unfortunately I also came back cooking Covid. Liz seems to have skipped it. We are both fine now, all tested and clear, just a few days taking it a tad easier seems like a good idea to get my puff back.

But now the arts, to give you an idea of the challenges involved in the ink A2 work, above is an A3 drawing, it took about 30/40 hours and worked out very well: but that's not the finnish as it was meant as a preparatory drawing for a larger A2 drawing, firstly exploring the problems in draughtsmanship, tone, contrast, text, etc, etc. The A2 drawing is now well under way and thanks to all the prep work is starting to work our rather well. I feel that it is at the half-way point and so far I have emptied a pen and a half getting there. 

I will show you the finished piece in a few weeks.

 

Just a very quick information piece for today. The flier above is one of two current exhibitions of my work running at the moment. It is a first chance to see some of my new work, which is looking at the great beauty in the gradual decay of old fishing boats around our coasts.

We have been away, lots is happening, lots to do, will send a blog of more substance very soon. Duncan

At the moment life is rather hectic, having just returned from a holiday trip and organising and delivering work for two exhibitions.

But first the holiday, it was on the River Seven on a hotel barge, very nice indeed. One of the places visited was Gloucester and in particular the docks; these ancient docks were amazing. The above picture is of a mooring ring, with goodness knows how many boats tied up to it. I am sure health and safety would like a little impout there, but it does make an interesting picture.

So now two plugs for my exhibitions. 

First;  Guildford Arts at the Lockwood studios, on the Slyfield industrial estate, GU1IRR. A shared, Summer Exhibition, weekends only from the 2nd of August until the 31st of August. This is a first chance to see some of my new ands current project work, based on the returning to nature through decay of old fishing boats around our coasts.

And secondly; St Columbas Christian Conference Centre, Woking GU228AB, week days, office hours. All are welcome, however due to the sensitivity of much of the work done here it would be a good idea to ring first on, 01483766498.

Now I will put my feet up for a while.

Duncan