Two images today, firstly a sketch from Hayling Island, where I went with Liz for a weekends rest about two weeks ago.

It was rather cold, so lengthy outdoor work was not practical, therefore a five minuet pencil sketch was appropriate, followed by an ink work up later in the hotel bar of the hotel over a relaxing drink. The moral behind that is; cold and inclement weather are not stoppers to your art adventures.

Then secondly a Christmas greeting to you all. We all need encouragment and followers of my blog greatly encourage me; so thank you. And quickly from an arty point of view, have you ever tried monochromic painting, that is painting with only one colour (in this case two), it is good fun, why not try it over Christmas.

I am now shutting down for two weeks, so in the mean time have a wonderful,  blessed Christmas.

Charles.

Yesterday was super, one of those rare days when we were both free, so off we went to London. After a little business work we ended in Covent Garden, a place we both love. We went to Gudrums a Swedish clothing retailer which produces stunning designs, which also look good on Liz. So her Christmas present was easy to choose.

For various reasons this was my first trip into London for several months, so a sketch was a must. The above is of the junction of Garrick Street, Cranbourne Street and St Martins Lane. There was no chance of Liz hanging around in the cold for me to enjoy my art, so a photo had to do and then to work it up later.

I would always say that working in the open air, whilst looking at the subject is always the best by far, but sometimes that just is not possible. On those occasions, such as when your wife says no!working from a photo is acceptable. A word of caution; if the work is going to be sold or displayed, to copy another persons photo is plagiary and not then permissible as original and your work. The simple answer is, carry a camera with you, and work from your own photos. The sketch is of

P.S. Liz got a lovely top, slacks and necklace.

On my blog the other day I remarked as to how diverse Hayling Island was. Church wise we found Elim Pentecostal churches right through to High Church. A Romanoff Princess's grave to simple wooden memorials; likewise church widows covered the whole spectrum. Finding modern windows, which were probably replacements, following bomb damage, resulting from the WW11 and also several exquisite Victorian glass lights, the example above was one of my favourites. In my humble opinion the Victorians were the masters of this art form. Whatever your stance with regards to faith, windows like this show an astounding, understanding of form, light and colour; with an astonishing ability to place these insights onto representations on glass.

With regards to photographing these windows, try to take these images when the window is in a shaded situation with even light covering the whole window, often an overcast, cloudy day is best; the time of day (the suns position) can be a factor. The exposure is best measured from the brightest area of the light; if taken from another area, detail will be lost to burn out. Then lastly take great care that the camera is as close to square on (right angles)to the widow as is possible. A tripod helps, but often I place my camera on a pew or something else which is available.

We just took three days off and went to Hayling Island for no better reason than neither of us had been there before and we were due a few days rest; it was also Liz's birthday.

Hayling Island is one of contrasts, to the south a little like out of season Blackpool, whilst the north east (where we were staying), could better be compared with the Suffolk countryside and Constable paintings. Everybody was very friendly and food was available at very reasonable prices. We highly recommend the Barley Mow, which we came to call disrespectfully and unfairly the miserable cow.

It was a little chilly for lengthy outdoor painting sessions, so I was limited to short pencil sketch's, which were worked up later on in the evenings. The above, called the Kench, is where rather old boats in a muddy inlet have been converted into homes.

As I said the Isle was an area of contrasts, more in a few days.

Well life is getting back to normal again. Residencies are over for the year, planned exhibitions for this year are finished and tidied away. So I can now take it a little easier for a short while; but that does not mean stoping painting.

Above is view of the boggy area half way between Guildford and Godalming on the Wey Navigation.

A studio piece and it took hours to do, but gave a feeling of satisfaction upon its completion. Enlarge the drawing and you will see that there is very little tradition shape drawing, the majority of the work is all sorts of marks and squiggles, which end up as a representative image. Try it, scratch's, wiggles, circles and sorts of lines, marks and blots, but no actual representative marks; its good fun and it works.

There was a slight omission to last nights blog. I forgot to say where the exhibition was in Guildford.

Well it is at the Guildford Institute, opposite the friends meeting house just off North Street until the 24th of this month.

There are eight pieces on display and the subject is all the about bright things in our lives. Like music, leaves, fossils; many media are used, including water colour, acrylic, ink, mixed media, coloured pencil and the first showing of one of my copper wire sculptures. We need to keep exploring, experimenting and trying new things. Hope if you can get there, you enjoy it.

Oh by the way the institute does super veggie food at lunch time. I am not a veggie, but their food is super; the desserts and cakes are heavenly, I would recommend it to anybody.

Some of you may have noticed my absence over the last few weeks, well, sorry but I was rather poorly. Thankfully now I am well on the mend.

Sadly the exhibition in Fordingbridge had to be cancelled, however the gallery were pleasantly understanding and are giving me a fresh date later in the new year. Thankfully the Guildford exhibition was all framed and ready, so a very good friend hung it for me; thanks John.

Slowly I am getting back to normal thankfully and am back working with Mind and other organisations.

As a cold snap it with us at present I thought that a coloured pencil mountain snow sketch from the Peak District would be appropriate. It was done some years ago whilst sitting in my car right on the top of Stannage Edge. It was even to cold for me. The wind was howling, the snow flying and I just was not prepare to rough it enough and sit outside. So this was produced from the relative comfort of my little Skoda.

Well tomorrow is the Epsom mental health week set up and start day, so this morning and this afternoon have been normal business;  and now it is get everything together and make sure nothing is forgotten day.

The above is one of my images which will be on display.

The next seven days will be hard work, but normally so very rewarding and I will enjoy the experience of it all. If you are around Epsom drop into St. Barnabas Church, Temple Road, I will be there and have a chat and a coffee. The weeks events are aimed at the inquisitive, the users, clients, carers and the professional lot; so you should fit in somewhere.

So now that my blog is written, my computer can be packed away and then to finish packing and put my feet up for while. That sounds good.

Well the first of three showing this autumn of my work, is now only a week and a bit away. The show is taking place throughout the Epsom Mental health Week, which has the title of "Love Me Love My Mind". It takes place at St Barnabas Church, Temple Road Epson from the 7th of October this year until the 15th of the same. As my role there is a residential artist I will be there 9 till 3ish each day and will be free and pleased to chat. Lots of other super things are happening as well.

The show this year is called bright things, because it is looking at the colour and vibrancy within nature and music; see the above image. For Epsom the picture framing is finished, there are only all the little bits to do, which you forget about until the last minuet. This morning, after finishing this, my plan is to relax and do nothing much of consequence. Has my wife other plans?

The image is of a typical village church in the Normandy corner of France; they are so tall and narrow. Sketching as you go is a special way of seeing a country, as this sketch was produced, three local ladies who were working in the grave yard came over and just spent the time of day with me. They were pleased that their church was worthy of my attention.

Just occasionally you see something and say, "Whoooo", or something like that. Well at one of my groups yesterday a chap was doing pontalistic (dots) ink work. he had two bottles of ink open, different colours and a pen in each hand. I suddenly noticed that he was working with both hands and two pens at the same time. Now that is co-ordination. He was doing  a drawing of a sea shell and it was pretty good as well. Impressed is the word.

Well its back home now for a short while and I might try to take it a tad easier; just for a day or two. My next event is in Epsom in about four weeks time, most of the preparation work is done, so all that wants doing really, it to tidy up everything which has been happening over the past few months and at the moment is making my desk look rather untidy.

The above drawing is of a farm in Normandy about half a mile from where we were staying. It was a lovely afternoon and Liz and myself just sat in the car, a long way down this very rural, wild and rustic lane. Liz was reading, whilst I was sketching; very peaceful.

You might have noticed my absence over the last week, the reason was simple. With fifteen others we decamped to Normandy and stayed for a week in the above delightful chateau. Lots of time and chances to spend with friends and just purely by chance, opportunities to paint and sketch.

Although a little tired and weary the building was marvellous and owed by a super guy called Mark and his wife. The chateau has become Marks purpose in life, he spends all his time doing electrical, wood, gardening and whatever else needs doing. Nothing was to much trouble, we were made to feel very welcome and we had a rather palatial time. Lots of adventures as well, but those are other stories. 

Just occasionally, although very serious, art can be good fun. I paint with some friends every other week in a local pub, we have done this for a while and it is a very pleasant way of meeting up, having a drink and chatting for an hour or so,

A few weeks ago I showed them a photo, we all agreed that it was almost impossible to draw; so the gauntlet was thrown down: draw it!! Three weeks later the above is the result.

It is nice being back home and simply enjoying my art for a few days, that is until my next adventure!

Well back home again after a superb week, the weather was mixed but on the whole very good and ideal for water colour work, so to a large extent, but not completely, my pens were laid aside for a while. It did me good and allowed me to rest from ink work, because to be honest, ink work is hard. and demanding, although very rewarding and fulfilling; occasionally I do need to rest. So this week that chance was taken, it did me a great deal of good, it was the right thing to do. I am back home and working on an ink with fresh vigour.

The above water colour is of Polzeath beach. the cottage we stayed in was about half a mile to the right of the headland

Yesterday was one of those days which you will remember, we walked a short part of the Cornish Coastal path around the Pentire headland; it was a tad ruff underfoot, but we managed.

 The above ink is of the Rumps Point, in ancient times a part of a Neolithic fort; the earthworks are still visible. The wind dropped, the sun blazed and it was all rather pleasant. We sat here for what seemed hours, it was so special.

Sunday was a special day, we found a church down in Polzeath called the Tube Church. It is a surfing and beach/community church in partnership with the Methodists; you might say, a little different, well I would agree with that. Everybody was welcomed, including dogs and children, and they were very welcome indeed; noise was not an issue. There are not many churches were you are warmly welcomed at the door with a coffee and cake. Kids were give small activity packs, dogs behaved excellently, everybody was just accepted as they were. Worship was super, lead by good, if simple music; Liz loved the violin. People sat every where, widow ledges, the floor, and some on chairs, even outside on the veranda and standing room only in the porch. With a basic challenging message thrown in; result, a very special Sunday morning.

Well now the art side of things. I could have taken a 10 mm lens with me, but I wanted to travel light so only my short zoom (18-55) would have to do. There are two ways of doing this very wide multi type of short of shot with a standard sort of lens. The first is with a tripod and then overlapping shots by a third,  before stitching them together with great care by hand, or with photomerge in Photoshop. The alternative and fun way is to shoot a whole load of shots at differing angles and then to put them together in layers (Photoshop) in a crudeish almost haphazard way, giving only cursory worry about accurate framing. Remember with both methods to take all the shots on manual exposure, with all the photos being at the same exposure; this sort of photo just doesn't work very well on auto exposure.

Out of interest and a point of caution, always ask permission before taking a photo of the above sort, especially if they involve children.

For a few days Liz and myself have moved sideways to Cornwall and are staying with friends in a super house near Polzeath, on the Camel estuary.

In the morning my bedroom window over looks the River Camel estuary, which lies between the Pentire Point and the Stepper Point; truly amazing by any standards.The above drawing is of the Stepper point from Polzeath. The image is only about 4 by 2 inch's. Working at such a small scale means that images can be produced fairly rapidly, which is quite important when traveling with family or friends who want to move on.

From a technical point of view it is rather difficult to produce really deep, dark blacks on paper without going over and over the area and damaging the paper surface. The answer is to shade the area twice then leave it until later in the day when it has dried out properly, and then shade it again. That way lovely deep black appear without damage occurring to the paper.

We all had a super time in Brighton.  The weather was stunning and almost everybody was friendly.

One restraunt manager was not happy at having a scruffy artist painting outside, a grumpy miserable owner came out to me voicing his displeasure. No point in responding, I moved two yards down the road and carried, on just ignoring him; he gave up and went away.

Everything else was lovely, did two water-colours and on ink.

Being an artist is to me, being able to partake in a wonderful way of living. Last night an admirer of my work was round; a pleasant evening.

Then today four of us who meet once a week to paint, talk and occasionally have a whisky together: met up and went sketching along the canal bank, near the above bridge. We drew until the light became too weak, no great works of art produced, but great fun, then we moved to Sue's house and had haggis and a wee dram. During the evening, Colin drew my shirt ( a colourful one), Hue sketched me painting and Sue worked on the trees; you know with all that added up, it was a very pleasant evening. Thank you all.

Tomorrow is a MIND trip to Brighton, Liz is coming as well. I hope to get a couple of us to sketch a little in the lanes; Should be good.

Lets see what happens.

Saturday morning and the lovely Liz went into the studio and stamped her feet in an exceedingly petulant manner. She expressed the view that the room was a tad untidy. The result is that I am banned from going out until it is tidied up, not a little, but a lot, Two hours later and a transformation has occurred; how long will it remain as such?

The drawing is of the coal quay at Battersea Power station.

I love going into London when it is warm enough to try my hand at water colour. Yesterday was one of those days.

A carful finicky style just does not work when on the street. The method I find most effective and enjoyable which works for me, is a sketchy sort of style.

This method is, a very light pencil sketch, followed by placing very loose amounts of colour onto the paper, before pushing it around with a pencil. Repeat this circle many times. Amazingly it works and some of these seem to be ok. The above is Henrietta Street near Covent Garden.

The usual rich mixture of people spoke to me during the day, people from Indonesia, China, South Africa and a few city types. An art student stopped for a while to chat, it was lovely having  a tech sort of conversation with her.

Now it is summer, are any of you going to try doing a sketch out of doors, have a go. it is fun.

Next trip to North Cornwall, only a few days away!!!

Well back home again and settling down to usual routines. One last image of Wells, it is the one I tried  and failed to post a week or two ago; I succeeded today. It is of the chapter house steps in the cathedral. It was drawn some years ago and it remains one of my favourite images of Wells. It is a studio ink piece, worked up from sketches and one of my photos.

The New Wine exhibition went well. As usual good interest being shown in my work and lots of rely useful networking. So now lots of sorting out of images, a trip to Brighton this week  and trip to Cornwall next week; so I need to clear the backlog on my desk.

Moved on from Wells now and am now in Sheffield , seeing sons grandchildren and lots of friends, we are both having a super time.

The above image is from a corner of Wells near to the Cathedral. It was one of those days when everybody is nice and friendly. The house to my left: the lady is moving to Devon next week; how can she leave Wells, never mind. Sorry about the quality of the image but the photography was done in a hotel lounge, with no scanner and very uneven light. It will be scanned properly when we get home.

Another poor rendition image below, this time of Lythe Cary in Somerset, and yet another pleasant corner, this time a few miles away from Wells. We found a friendly pub nearby for supper before going to the New Wine for the evening.

In the Waitrose carpark just met a lovey young lad, he had obviously just had a fall, his forehead was cut and he had bruising around his face. He is homeless, schizophrenic and epileptic; very politely he asked for money, we gave him a proper meal and chatted a while. When we left to get back into the car he asked me to pray with him; which I did. The uncaringness of our society really makes me mad at times.

Arrived and settled in at Sheptom Mallet; The exhibition at New Wine is framed, up and the display completed, all the paper work for being at N/W was completed (always a drag) after which Liz and myself wandered into Wells for lunch and some chill time.

A request from a follower to draw St Cuthbert's church in Wells, so here it is. It started poring with rain as soon I started, therefore the decision was made to sketch lightly in pencil, then when it was dry, to rework it in ink. No scanner available, so this is a photo of the work, I will scan it properly when we get home. I think something bumped into the lamppost, it really is like that.

Today is Liz's day so we are off to Castle Gary. Small shops, cafes and peaceful, nice.

Our usual busy and full lives continue: tomorrow we are off to Somerset and the New Wine festival for a week. I will be exhibiting there and the work on show will be displaying the colour of life. My exhibition can be found in the exhibitors gallery on the balcony of the market place.

The festival is at Sheptom Mallet near Wells, one of my favourite of the small British cities. Hence todays images of the market square and also the steps leading up to the chapter house in the cathedral. However as the chapter house image refuses to transfer, that must be for another day.

Maybe see you there. Charles.

I worked in London yesterday and decided to explore a little around St Paul's. This is he right hand tower of the west frontage, just in front of Queen Anne's statue. It is not really a sketch as considerable care and concentration was used in drawing this rather complex building. But notice the very sparing use of colour, just the gold highlights and a touch of blue in the sky; enough to give the image a lift, without overdoing it.

Met a couple from Bologna in Italy, a second couple from Lyon in France and then a further couple from Brisbane in Australia, then to end it a lady from Brighton; quite an international day.

And the second image; it has again been a busy week, meeting lots of interesting people and today I am still thinking about sketching.
The other night whilst at a party I met a pleasant young man who is at the age of choosing and starting a career. We spent a pleasant half hour or so talking about steam engines of which he is a devotee ; so this image is for him.. It was draw a while ago at York railway museum whilst having a cup of coffee and a bun in the museum café. The café and tables were beside the Mallard, sort of track side. Six coloured pencils (2 blues, a grey, a yellow, a brown and a black) were used, then with a few touches from a pen just to tighten it up. Not an attempt at a classical rendition, but rather an attempt to capture the speed and grandeur of this mighty beast of an engine; I was relaxed having a pleasant play day out and I think it works.

A note for your diary; any of you attending New Wine this year, a week to go and my work will be on display in the gallery.

W

Well a good if rather busy week; all the framing etc., for the New Wine exhibition is finished as is all the writing, business cards etc. So that is a weight of my shoulders. Epson mental health week had a planning meeting and that went very well; so----. 

As the weather was wonderful we decided to celebrate, we took a few hours off, it was Sunday afternoon and we wandered down the footpaths near Purford (Surrey). Halfway to Ripley we came across this broken style. We stopped, sat on the grass, ate our picnic, then Liz read whilst I did the above sketch; short episodes like that are so precious.

Two sketches today, the above of Ely Market, we were there for a friends ordination this morning and below, of St. Pauls Cathedral London; done very quickly whilst in the city on Monday.

About sketch's, they are not an attempt at a finished or highly polished piece of work, but rather a bit of controlled, even if rough and ready work, sometimes the draughtsmanship can be lacking, as in the lower drawing; but they do convey the moment and a feeling of the place. By the way that girl was real, she was sat there. When out drawing don't be put off by what you may consider to be second rate drawings. So get out there, enjoy your art, draw away and remember that the rough and ready drawing are memories and a part of you mental library. They are also fun.

 

Well nice things keep happening to me and they have again. Tomorrow morning is my birthday and I have reached the grand age of 70. Yesterday we had a drop in at the flat and many, many people turned up; for a day I was rather special. So for the image today I have sent myself a bunch of flowers and as I just love dandelions, they seemed the right choice.

Tomorrow the day starts with breakfast with friends, then drop into the Corner-house (MIND) and after that to wander in the direction of London and the South Bank, one of my favourite places to relax and chill out; plus maybe a sketch or two, lets see what happens.

 

A few of things of interest, Firstly I forgot to say why we were at the Bishops palace on Sunday; it was about the voluntary work which we both do on the chaplaincy team at St. Peter's Hospital.

 

And secondly I received a super e-mail yesterday; I have been accepted to exhibit at New Wine again this year.

 

Add to that, it looks like another trip is in the offing, this time to Cornwall in August, but more about that later.

 

The above image is of the Hoe Valley about 200 yards from the Wyevale garden centre on the Guildford road Woking. Several people saw me producing it and wanted to see the finished item.

Had a rather nice afternoon on Sunday, Liz and myself were invited to afternoon tea at the Bishop's Place in Guildford. It was blisteringly hot, beautiful grounds, lots of nice people and the Bishop gave us all leave to raid his rhubarb patch in the veg. garden. The Bishop has a lovely Labrador, probably the best pastoral worker on his staff.

 So we came home with a sketch, always find time to do that, a splendid afternoon tea and grand bundle of rhubarb. I love rhubarb.

 

Thank you for a lovely afternoon.

Well a very busy and successful week has just finished. The Thames work, a digital and hard copy has been finished and also the France 2017 work has been digitalised with a hard copy as well completed.

 

The image is of the Art Deco in the early morning light at Marlow.

 

For the Thames work a slightly textured heavy weight paper was chosen and the usual pen (a pilot g tec.) used. However the technique of using the pen was with a negative pressure method. Simply, that is by rather then pressing the pen onto the paper, lifting the pen so that it only lightly glazes over the surface. This produces a very light broken line. Repeated over and over, a light textural effect is gained.

 

By using the above method and keeping the sketches small in size, rapid meaningful images could be produced.

 

Time for sketching was limited as when going through the many locks I was acting as deckhand number 2; very good fun, even if not very wise. But a super five days.

 

Liz and myself as you know have just been away for a few days, we were sailing on a barge up the Thames from Staines to Reading. Our ship, the Art Décor, crewed by David and Joyce, is equipped for only two passengers and the crew. On Suite accommodation was provided with superlative food. I enjoyed being a deck hand for a while; whilst we were being spoilt rotten for a few days. Joyce is one almighty good, I will call her a chef!

 

But the important bit, I sketched and sketched; nearly forty pieces in all. The one above is of the village from Marlow lock. No carrying of paper, pens and cameras; the floating hotel did that for us, as a result work poured from my hands; Liz relaxed, reading and relaxing.

 

Home again and back to more routine work tomorrow.

One of the highlights of the recent French trip was sailing at dawn through the Camargue  nature reserve. This area is a massive delta estuary where the River Rhone flows into the Mediterranean.  We saw no wildlife, as it was all sacred of by the big boat which we were all traveling in, notwithstanding to sit on the upper deck and just take everything in was a privilege and an experience which will stay with me for a long time. The mist bank which we can see in the photo totally enveloped is a minuet or so after this shot was taken, all we could then see was the low sun and the tree tops; stunning.

 

Tomorrow is the start of another trip, this time on a Thames barge starting at Staines and going up river for a few days. Paints, pens, papers and cameras await; lets see what transpires.

 

Well back home properly now and all of life hiccup's as usual have appeared. I got home to a computer collapse which has only just been fixed, but all is ok now. I have a super computer wizard friend, thanks.

 

France was amazing, I learnt so much. Especially about the use of photography and painting and how they work together. Water colour and inks seemed to work well on the vista type scenes, the water colours when it was warmer; because of the dying time. The photos worked better for record shots and close up details. That worked well even if the rule wasn't totally rigid, an exception to that rule might appear here in a few days.

 

Liz and myself came home with about 55/60 inks, 12 water-colours, and many photos to be edited down to about 20 images; a satisfying volume of work . It all just needs putting together into volume form, the digital record is almost complete.

 

The MIND exhibition is behind me now, as are a couple of commissions, so for a week or so, maybe it will be allowed to take life a tad slower and relax. The last few days have been spent working on the tree project, I always enjoy that.

 



Well and truly back from France now and back into our usual routine, lovely.

So now the process of working up a few of the images begins. The above is of a back street in St. George in Lyon. A lovely friendly city, people were super and we had several adventures including being on a tram which had to do an emergency halt to avoid being in an accident. My oh my, can those trams stop quickly, everybody left their seats, amazingly nobody was hurt.

Many of you will have noticed (I hope) an absence of  a blog entry over the last few days, well the reason is simple, I was traveling and painting my way all over France.  I arrived home last night around midnight exhausted and have worked all day today, so an early bedtime is in order. The above image was drawn from the hotel steps in the Opera district of Paris at the start of the trip. More soon.

Liz and I were out strolling the other day in the woods near to Shamley Greenl, just south of Guildford. We found these amazing ancient woods and not at all far away another wood which was simply full to the top with bluebells; talk of wall to wall colour.

At the moment I am attempting to do an A3 ink rendering of the above photo, a challenging subject. By using negative pressure with the pen, it is possible to draw very soft ink lines, By doing this process repeatedly over the same area it is possible to produce a very complex drawing which isn't to dark.

By negative pressure I mean, slightly lifting the pen during use, so that the nib only touches the paper in a glancing and light manner. It takes a great deal of concentration whilst at the same time producing very soft broken lines. By using these lines and marks repeatedly in an abstract way, wonderfully representative images can be produced.  

Lets see what transpires.

Today has been one of those rather busy sort of days. In spite of that I still managed to finish two pieces which have been worked on for a while and that was bothering me somewhat. However I still managed to look around and see super things all over the place. On the way home this evening Liz and myself stopped in a car park in the middle of nowhere to relax a little and enjoy a Magnum ice cream; lovely!

The woods around the car park were so vibrant, all the leaves are freshly green and new. Then my mind wondered to Brookwood a historical cemetery near Woking. Cemeteries are often beautiful places of rest and peace;  Brookwood fits that mould. I did this sketch last year  on a brief visit there one sunny afternoon in the late summer; it was a super chill out hour or so.

Last week I was working in London around Waterloo Station and came across these streets just to the east of the station; they were straight out of the Victorian age, just beautiful and the people so friendly. Met a very pleasant young family with two kids, about 8 and the other about 10. They were off sketching to Green park as a family day out. I like that idea. After this sketch my wanderings took me to Sandel Street, just behind the above pub, where amazingly there was  music studio in the arches below the railway; I wonder how they soundproofed the place. A chap came out of the studio to chat, not famous, at least I hadn't heard of him.

Worked hard over the last few days, finished a commission and well on with another, tie that in with a super Easter week end and a day off tomorrow; not bad.

Those of you who know me personally, will be aware of my Christianity; with this week being Holy Week it seemed an appropriate idea to place an image of Jerusalem on my blog.

Remembering the Passion events and how the Middle Eastern countries are still in conflict, it seemed right to show you this image of the Zion Gate, an entry into the old city of Jerusalem. . Today this is a beautifully quiet corner where I spent a very pleasant half hour sketching; yet during past troubles it was a scene of much trouble and many deaths. Let us hope that from all faiths and ideologies peoples can learn to talk together and live at peace again.

Well and truly back in Woking again and as usual lots is happening. Yesterday I posted my application to exhibit at New Wine again this year, so lets see what transpires. This year I am going for colour in two ways, one looking at music; how we appreciate the sounds through the materials of the instruments and how they are made, the above image is trying to capture the wildness, freedom and  jazziness of the saxophone. Then secondly a few nature still life's; maybe one of those next week.

The weather is gorgeous and the plan so far is to work in London, that would be nice. I have a few ideas, one is to photograph the concourse of Waterloo station with a 220 degree image and minimal distortion, that will be fun and maybe impossible. Lets see what happens.

Sometimes a quick sketch under trying conditions such as rain works; you met people also sheltering from the rain and talk; the above lightening sketch of buildings in the cathedral close at Exeter falls into that category.

  It was windy and spitting rain, the type of rain which just does not work with ink. So there I was stood under an awning, sheltering and sketching away. There was a "Big Issue" seller under the awning as well, trying to keep dry. We chatted, he was a really ok guy, late forties, just divorced, lost is job, down on his luck. He wasn't feeling sorry for himself, he will recover, but at the moment life is tough.

Most of my friends, including myself are very fortunate; we live such privileged lives.

Well back home again after a super trip. Lots of sketching in Sidmouth with also two hours working in Exeter squeezed in for good measure.

Apart from much enjoyment and a super time with my wife and a friend, the trip was also quite significant in other ways.

Street sketching is always a difficult discipline, which needs to be practised regularly to keep the necessary skills up to scratch.  Firstly the use of the pen in the open air, then secondly being able to recognise and draw perspective in a flash, without to much thought. To sharpen myself up, I did not allow the use of a pencil. Therefore incorrect lines cannot be erased, that is demanding as forethought is required for every line before its application. It worked, even if it is the hard way of doing things; it is a good way of learning and to boot, I am relatively pleased with the work done.

A commission was given to me as I sat on the pavement in Sidmouth, promptly I toddled round to his house and drew it for him. One very pleased customer; its nice to be appreciated.  

Lots of folk chatted to me as I sketched; made many friends and generally feel encouraged; we all need that. 

Sketching in Exeter presented different challenges, read my next blog.

Sidmouth is it's usual relaxing friendly self. Yesterday was spent sketching in the village, did eight nice ones, picked up a commission to sketch a locals cottage; that's done and handed over to a very happy client.

Today went for a short walk in the local woodland, saw an amazing old oak tree trunk; it was massive. That was a very big and old tree before it's demise.

Joan Collins and Pixie Lock are filming a musical by the Connaught Gardens, so we are seeing lots of film crew and eating caravan units at that end of the seafront. Haven't seen either of them; but to be honest I didn't look very hard.

Tomorrow looks like a little rain may appear, so we are planning a standby wet weather program.

The above water-colour which was painted last year, it shows the beginning of the Jurassic coast as it leaves Sidmouth towards the east.

Occasionally milestones are reached and today was one of those days. This project of looking at trees and the amazingly complex symbiotic relationship which they have with their surroundings has reached the grand number of 225 completed images. Today book number five was filled and the project gets bigger and bigger all the time; where will it lead me. Maybe I should join the Aborealist Artistic Society.

A couple of days ago Liz and myself went for a short canal path stroll along the Basingstoke canal to break in a new pair of walking shoes; the result a big blister over my right great toe.

However being positive, a couple of super tree related photos occurred; after being worked up, the above is the end game of one of them. It is of the canal as it passes West by Fleet.

Liz and myself lead busy lives, as such in a couple of days we are off to Sidmouth for a very short spell of r and r. It is an old fashioned, quaint, Devonshire seaside village, at the Western end of the Jurassic Coast; we never tire of the place. We will relax, Liz will read and talk endlessly with a friend who is traveling with us; whilst I sketch and take photographs. Reading will be apart of my stay as well; my current book is a lovely thick one about the Plantagenet's, Henry the second and all that! Nice relaxing stuff.