By Stephie, on Sunday 16th January, 2011 at 03:33 am
I’ve been off-line for a few days. It was unexpected and very annoying; our BT Broadband connection disappeared as mysteriously as it came back, more than 48 hours later. As a result my on-line ‘jobs’ are a little behind, including updating my Draw365 gallery. But I thought I could still show you my favourite sketch of the week. I’ve been looking at the sycamore tree outside my kitchen window each day. Sometimes I look and think nothing’s changed: the silhouette is exactly the same. Everything around it does change though – the weather, the light… And of course my focus changes. Sometimes I want to look close at the way the branches twist about and other times I’m just interested in the fleeting shapes moving in the wind. The sketches I’ve made this week are brief and small (in an A5 sketchbook). The plan for the coming week is to get some larger paper and spend some time really looking, I think I might get a more interesting drawing that way. This week’s efforts are preliminary sketches – the best is yet to come!
 Windy day (pastel on paper) I’d also like to share some of my favourite drawings other Draw365 artists have added to the Flickr gallery this week. I love these particular ones for lots of reasons – the marks, the subject matter, the different media. They’re all inspiring, don’t you think? (Follow the links below to see each image at a larger scale – it’s well worth it!)
Left to right and top to bottom:
- iPad drawing 43 – I See Visions – Alison Jardine
- Dag 015 : 15-01-2011 – Dennis Happé
- Parking lot in Long Island and crooked pencil – Nik Ira
- My Art Journal 2010-12-01 #155 – Peter Seelig
Hopefully my broadband trifles have been remedied now and I’ll be able to get back on track over the next day or two, so I’ll be back again to bother you soon!
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Saturday 8th January, 2011 at 15:50 pm
Do you remember that I decided to take part in #draw365, a drawing a day for a year? You do? Good! Well I thought I’d show you my favourite drawing or sketch of the week, one for each week of the year.
At the end of this first week I feel like I’m still ‘loosening up’ and finding my way. I’ve got no particular theme or subject matter in mind at the moment, but this week’s sketches have all been from observation: self-portraits, my cat and a view through my kitchen window. It’s this particular drawing that’s my favourite at the end of week 1. It was a very quick sketch and I like the simplicity of the marks and colours. The bright Eleagnus pungens was like a wonderful light on a dull grey day and I think this sketch captures that feeling well. It’s not strong on detail, but I think it’s strong on atmosphere, which for me is one of the most important things to get right in any drawing really. I want to draw this tree properly – make some studies of it. I love its shape in winter and just recently the starlings have been using it to roost in at dusk. I find myself standing there watching them for ages. Hmmm, that’s given me an idea. Maybe next week’s one a day could be a drawing of the tree each day? We shall see…
 Grey Day 2011 Did you realise that I’ve put a gallery of my one a day drawings on this blog? It’s on the ‘art’ page: if you hover over ‘art’ in the menu at the top of the page, you’ll see Draw 365 in the drop down menu, click on that to get to it. I’ve been updating it daily, so you’ll always find something new here. Go and take a look and let me know which drawing was your favourite this week!
Check out the Flickr group to see the gallery of everyone’s drawings, some lovely work there!
Hope you’re having a great weekend! Now where did I put my sketchbook…
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Sunday 2nd January, 2011 at 03:37 am
I was so lucky to be given a box of wonderful soft chalks for Christmas. They’re my favourite sort, crumbly and sensual. When you rub them between your fingers they feel really silky and you know they’ll just glide across the paper. Even the box they come in is gorgeous, all dark and promising. You lift off the lid and nestled inside, protected, cosseted, are 18 sticks of intense colour that will be as pleasurable to use as they are to look at. I decided to christen them in the first minutes of New Year’s Day.
 First self-portrait of 2011  Detail My first creative act of 2011. A fair start I think. What’ve you been up to? I’d love to know!
Stephie x
By Stephie, on Friday 19th November, 2010 at 23:41 pm
 Look at this... Something reminded me I used to be a painter. I’d forgotten. It seems so long ago that it feels disconnected from me somehow. But then I was given a roll of paper that had been stashed in an attic for 20 years. Continue reading I remember I was a painter
By Stephie, on Monday 1st November, 2010 at 02:32 am
 Towards Falmouth - and the clouds drift by... Oh me oh my. It’s been almost three weeks. Three very long weeks without a computer. I felt like I’d lost my right arm…
I don’t know where to begin today, except to say hello and that I’ve missed you all very much. My beloved Macbook had a funny turn and needed a new hard-drive. The third one in its relatively short life. Unusual for a Mac, but despite the traumas I still wouldn’t go back to a PC. No, instead I’m going to spend what for me is a small fortune on an upgrade to the latest OS, iWork and iLife, and at a later date another gig of RAM. I just hope this new hard-drive can keep it together until then…
I wonder what you’ve been up to over the last few weeks? I can barely remember what I’ve been doing, though I recollect a lot of ruminating and soul searching. And depression. Depression that isn’t Mac related I have to point out. It’s the other sort that’s been dragging me down. Again. Walking in treacle they say. More like drowning in it if you ask me. I’ve been trying to do things, keep moving, keep getting out of bed, but I look back and I can’t see anything that I’ve actually done, achieved, completed. The house is a tip, the garden is overgrown, the allotment is undug, onions not planted, gloves knitted and unknitted, a quilt unfinished, ignoring the pain in my knees and ankles just to keep running, keep going, keep alive. Look for the beauty I tell myself, stay in the moment. But moments pass, fleeting and misty. But I still look. Hoping.
I think I’ll try and get back into the blogging groove by showing you some of the things I’ve looked at over the last couple of weeks. They’re significant to me, but generally it’s not the looking that’s kept me going, it’s the people; the close and supportive friends, the ones that give you a hug for no reason, other than they seem to know you need one, and the new friends from afar that you feel you know already 
 Out for a run. Looking at the textures.  And contrasts.  Remembering the sheep in the snow.
 Grateful for the escape. And knowing they're loved.  A lot.  Seeing the change.  Watching the squirrels.  Thinking of blood.  And veins.  Hoping for inspiration
 And colour through the grey.
Continue reading Looking. And missing.
By Stephie, on Saturday 7th August, 2010 at 10:05 am
Fancy a train journey? Do what we did last week and ride up to Lanhydrock House, when you get to Bodmin Parkway station (you can take a steam train journey from here) there’s the most beautiful level walk up to an old and quirky looking house. You can imagine yourself in a grand carriage rolling sedately up the long drive, or you can do what Kim does and nag to go in the modern day equivalent: the golf buggy! The lazy toad didn’t get his way and I forced him to walk! He had to walk yesterday too when we went to Trelissick Garden, which is only a few miles from home. To spare you from my rabbiting on, here’s a few photos from Trelissick.
 Panoramic views of the River Fal  A quick watercolour sketch of the River Fal. Kim would probably disagree with the word 'quick'!  Spot the strange flower in the grass!  A standing stone to mark the turning of the millennium  Colour in the flower borders. I enjoyed taking my watercolours out with me, must remember to take them next time. You never know I might even get better at it! I used to be really good with watercolours (get me!), but I’m a bit out of practice. It’s still my favourite painting medium though
Right, I’m off now – got some things to list for From the Loft, my Etsy shop! May have a bowl of porridge first though.
See you later
love Stephie x
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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