Angry Art?
A long time ago, when I first began teaching art, I suggested to a class that we try our hand at abstracts. I remember one student staring hard at her paper in silence for about twenty minutes and then, setting to with the…
When the bubble pops…
La Finca Paradiso is a green oasis in the Almerian desert; a 33 acre bubble of tranquility where we make time stand still so you can concentrate on your painting and drawing... oh, and your tan... and swimming... and breakfast, lunch and supper of…
Look To Your Paper
JMW Turner painted one of his most famous sunsets* on tinted paper, so I thought I'd have a go, too! The experience, however, turned all my ideas about watercolour painting upside down. I mean, whoever heard of putting all those…
Straining wistful eyes into vacancy…
It's about that time when the New Year starts to feel a lot like the old one and I'm tempted to consign my resolutions to the bin along with the Christmas tree. It's easy to feel that way about your art,…
The Art Before Christmas
It's the last art class before Christmas and everyone has that 'end of term' feeling - you know, when you're unsure if you can concentrate on your art or not? You have a squillion and one things to do at…
The Big Hole In My Blog
When I browsed the blog pages on my website the other day, I was shocked to discover that I hadn't posted a thing in seven months. Time was, when my monthly blog seemed so empowering. No longer was my artistic…
Gesso Stories
As the Christmas season approached, we tried something very different at my watercolour classes. By prepping the paper with gesso and then scratching and scoring texture into it, we were able to create the ideal surface for these faux stained glass panels…
Exhibition?
I did this drawing somewhere between Lugo and Ferreira. I can't remember where exactly because the roadsigns were unreliable and the villages, tiny; sometimes with a population of one... or none. But it was about two thirds of the way into…