Life has been so full and busy, so here is an update.

Firstly a new exhibition of mine is up at St Columba's; this collection of works has a humorous side as well as showing serious works. It comprises of 30 sketches of mine from around the world in six frames, it is all about "Edith", a lady who has mysteriously appeared in so many of my works  over the years. Alongside this are several of my recent A2 ink tree works. Due to the sensitive nature of much of the work done at St. Columba's, please remember to ring 01483 766498 before attending.

Also the drawing above has been accepted to be in the Guildford Festival this year, that is being delivered to the organisers this morning, where it will be hung I do not know yet, but I will let you know. These large A2 arboreal ink drawings  are so exciting to produce, as well as being challenging. Being larger the ability to show texture and detail is much increased; also the time taken in their production makes the emotional involvement in their production quite a large undertaking.  Both of these exhibitions show these recent A2 ink works.

Lots more is happening, but that is enough for now.

 

Well it has been quite a while since my last post. Life has been challenging, hard but on the whole good and my work has again been changing direction, but more of that for another blog.

Liz and I have just returned from one of our summer jaunts; this time to Devon, Somerset and then Lincoln, a bit of a meander all over the place. It started with a holiday, Devon and more specifically Wembury, a deeply wooded ravine leading to the sea, it was a bit like living in the rain forest, lovely. Then it all moved to the New Wine festival, near Shepton Mallet, before traversing over to Lincoln and our youngest son's marriage to Penney, again all rather lovely, she is a rather pleasant and agreeable young woman.

So today's picture is of the Penneyless porch at Wells, where I assume beggars hassled worshipers on their way into the cathedral. Our trip to Wells also involved money; Liz's favorite shoe shop and it was a successful jaunt. 

My next exhibition goes up in two weeks, more about that in a few days.

 

 

Well it has been a good while since I sketched on the London streets; so with Liz going to a girlie thing the other day, off I trundled. The weather was on the hottish side, so walking and sitting in the shade with lots of water was the order of the day. Winding my way to Trafalgar Square and finding a shaded spot near the South African Embassy I seated myself on the pavement, leaning against a dolphin lamp post; very comfortable and out of the flow of pedestrians, so not in any bodies way. It was good fun, several people leaned over my shoulder to have a look, lots of friendly interchanges; very pleasant. 

The picture is of St Martin's in the Field from the South African Embassy side and it is the first street sketch produced by me for many months.

As an older person, I feel that there should be a compulsory coarse for the elderly; How to get up of the floor in the event of a fall. That I can manage, with absolutely no problem, so sitting on the ground is problem free and surprisingly rather comfortable.

This was followed by a couple of hours in the National Gallery. I loved Constable's painting "The Cornfield". 

I must get into London more often! Good fun.

My exhibition at St Columba's comes down on Friday, so last chance to see it.

Regards Duncan

 

Well it has been a while since my last blog, to be honest we have both gone through a tough time; as a result there has been little spare time or effort left to produce my blog. So lets put that right.

Still during the last few months, it has not been an idle time; those of you who follow my blogs will be aware that my ink work has moved up a mighty step to A2 size. That is big, for ink, very big indeed and the results are amazing me. Detail and impression of detail has leapt up in quantity and I hope you feel that is reflected in the quality as well. The time factor has increased as well, the above took three weeks and several hours each day to produce. 

I personally, am certainly very pleased with the work coming out of my pen at the moment. As this is all so new, your comments and input would be highly valued and listened to. 

My exhibition at St Columba's has only one week left to run, so this is a last chance to see my maritine look at the slow demise of ancient fishing vessels around our coasts. A warm welcome is always given there, but remember to ring before attending, because St Columba's often have sensitive events happening, as such the doors need to be closed.

Kindest regards Duncan

 

This is what its about.

I am always saying that art is not exclusive, for the clever, nor for the middle class peoples. Art must be for everybody at every level of ability whether artistic or intellect or age. There is a right place for excellence in art, but not as a way of exclusivity; rather for fun expression and involving all in the fun. Today in church was a good example of this in action.

It was mother's day and the plan was for a big thank you to all the mothers in our church; so I was asked to help produce a painting during the service, looking at the sun and everything lovely on this earth. About 10 children and I think 3 adults took part. I did very little painting, instead giving children brush's and paints then making suggestions and encouraging. Things like, I like that, more blue there and how about some flowers there. Amazingly there was no spilt paint (well not much) and the idea of painting each other did not arise; at the end of about 20 minuets the above was created by us all.

Very worthwhile and what art is all about.

Well at last the exhibition is up and running at St Columba's. It runs until the 3rd. of June and comprises of 24 images, in ink, watercolor and mixed media.

It is looking around the British coasts and all the small inshore vessels which operate therein. In the past and still today, when a small boat has ceased to have any practical use, often they were simply abandoned and left for nature to recycle. These images are looking at the boats and their transition from usefulness to utter uselessness, or in other words watching them become rotting hulks. However looking at this process is wonderful; rotting, flaking and rusting. It sounds crazy, but there is great beauty in the whole process. The project took about a year and involves work produced during many treks over the years; it was all such good fun.

The picture on the invite is of a coble (small northern fishing craft) abandoned on a beach on the Northumbrian coast, that was a magical afternoon even if it was a tad bleak and wind swept.

Remember the sensitive work done at St Columba's, so phone before you visit. Thanks.

Charles 

 

Well it has been about three months since my last blog post, to put it simply I've gone through a rough patch, but am now feeling much better, improving and now firing on 95% again; not long till I will be 100%.

My last blog was about the Hoo peninsular in Kent; now thankfully all that work in looking at small fishing types of boats round our coasts is done; the exhibition goes up at St. Columba's in a few weeks. I think many of you will like the works, at least I hope so; but more about that nearer the date.

Todays picture is from our trip from the Wash to LIndisfarne last Autumn, and what a trip it was, meeting lots of shall we say "interesting" people, mixed with many normal people; it was quite an adventure.

There were a several of highlights. First for me was to visit the High Force water fall in Durham, which I have never been able to visit before, it did not disappoint. Sat on rocks and sketching away, a lovely couple were seated next to me. he was a prison officer and she a full time mother; that was a very pleasant time, but the rock I was seated on was a little sharp and not to good in the comfort stakes. 

The second high point was Lindisfarne, spending three nights there in the Ship Inn, very welcoming and excellent food. I seemed to paint from dawn to dusk; whilst with Liz having some super adventures, which I will tell you about when we meet up. The tidal island has a very relaxed spiritual excellence about itself. Each morning we found some group or other to pray with, when leaving for home we left refreshed.

So now I am back with trees and producing exciting stuff, but more of that also later.

So for now, Regards Charles

 

 Life is so busy, but fantastic, the work on the decaying old fishing boats around our coast is coming along just fine and the work for the exhibition in March is almost done. 

A couple of weeks ago Liz and myself ventured to the Hoo peninsula in the Medway estuary (Kent) for a short break and some fun research. We found the above; a graveyard of old Thames trading barges. They were challenging to approach, very muddy and I mean, very muddy indeed; this was about as close as it was possible to get. In total there were at a guess about 10 or 12 old barges there, and just along the other side of the graveyard there is work going on to restore two of them to full working order. Fantastic!

So they were a super few days and we relaxes a little as well; finding an ancient abbey in a small place called Minster. It was all very thinking inspiring.

Hope you like the painting

Duncan

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last blog, sorry about my absence, but life has been good fun but rather hectic. A short break and research trip to the Medway Estuary in Kent occured and lots and lots of all sorts of events; Well here I am now taking a deep breath or two.

The old boats project is coming along very well, with my even finding time and being able to lapse back into some tree work. The above is the direction in which I seem to be moving at present; A2 sized images showing much more of the texture of the vegetations. The work is so challenging, it realy needs to be seen in reality, to be appreciated or understand, with it encompassing both negative and positive drawing, incorporating contrasts, textures and wide ranges of tonal variations in their production; whatever, it is very trying but also so rewarding in the conclusions. I will in the future be showing this work, but one thing at a time; old coastal boats decaying is my current primary aim.

My next blog I intent to show where my watercolours are moving to.

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

 

Well at last we are home, that is always so very nice. A few evenings just watching a DVD while being seated together on the settee; we are going through Foyles War at the moment.

We spent a few hours in Tewkesbury and loved the place.

Above is a quick sketch of the West door of Tewkesbury Abbey; it is not a highly polished and finished piece of work. It was produced whilst sitting on a sharp corner of a grave stone, not very comfortable, believe me, but it was the only possible seating which gave this view! It is only two and a half inch's square, but it captures the feeling of a corner of this ancient stone work. Although maybe the smallest and not the cleverest work of this recent trip, my feelings are that it says the most. Maybe it is my favorite.

So clever and big are not always the most meaningful.

 

 

You might be thinking, why has there been no blog for a few days; the answer is simple as there had been before an almighty, hectic few weeks. The culmination of this was a hotel in a barge, holiday on the River Severn, where we had a lovely time, with lots of tales to tell. Amongst the places visited were Worcester; the sun was blistering, perfect for a watercolor painting, so what transpired? See above and below. 

Thankfully I like people of all types.

I sat on a raised curb stone and relaxed, soon my solitude was broken by an unhappy lady whose marriage had just fallen apart. So I listened for a short while and wished her well. Next a friendly chap appeared with an even friendlier, massive, slobbering canine, they decided to come and join me. We chatted whilst I protected the painting from slobber damage. Then lastly a so called commercial expert joined me advising me as to how salable my work was. It was explained to him that I was on holiday and the idea was to relax a little. Others stopped and chatted a while, but no more experts, needy, or canine slobber drip owners appeared. Seriously I had a good time; Liz had been meeting an old friend for the day.

Next a while was spent in the cathedral, a short time to stop and pray was a good idea. I left the place calm, relaxed and ready for my next adventure.

We had a lovely break, more tales to follow.

 

I have said in the past that moving up from A4 sized images to A2 would present a few challenges; well it has. principally has been the digital scanning. having an excellent A4 scanner, scanning is  normally straight-forward, that is in simple terms. Oh dear: computers are not that simple!

The above A2 water colour, enhanced with a little ink work comes to mind. Four scans across the bottom, which were digitally joined. Then four scans across the top which were also digitally joined. Then those two images were digitally joined manually. The computer did not like me taking control. It took me a couple of hours; good grief!! The result doesn't look bad either.

I plan to produce several watercolor images of this size in my present project, Oh Dear! Maybe I will find a simpler way around this scanning malarky. 

The picture is of the coble landing at Filey, which is called "A jolly good read". Note the book worm on the extreme right.

Well my exhibition at St Columba's is over; it is always a pleasant feeling, having had an exhibition ending which was such a success: thank you all.

So onwards and upwards, so to speak; there is now an invitation only summer exhibition at St. Columba's which I was pleased to be invited to show in. Showing are three of my A2 ink woodland paintings, the above is one of them, it is of Hangar Woods near Newlands Corner, just to the north of one of our favorite walks along this ancient pilgrims trail from Winchester to Canterbury. Incidentally a friend of ours has just done the walk as a pilgrimage, I was a little jealous, the walk sounds super. This show is for two months and has just started.

 

When visiting please remember the sensitivity of much of the work being done at St. Columba's, so please give them a ring first. A warm welcome always awaits visitors. The number is, 01483766498.

My current project work now is looking at the British decaying fishing sea craft, which is great fun. At present my struggles are with a coil of chain on a shingle beach; that is realy stretching me a little. Keeps me out of mischief.