SUSAN JANE LEES

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T16:31:00.001Z

Already the end of the first week of the New Year is almost upon us. There is a change to what has become normal for me over the last 8 years after Christmas and New Year. I have changed the time I have off from the zoo around. Instead of the three month period running Jan, Feb and March now it is split into two blocks- January and then September/October. This will hopefully benefit the zoo in that I shall be at work there in the run up to Easter and the Summer Season (the busiest time for me) and my time away will coincide more with the quieter times of my work calendar. From a personal view it should help me financially and the light in Sept and Oct will be better for painting. Also as I have been doing my artist in residency in Oct these last two years, it means I don’t need to use paid holiday from the zoo to do that. So, hopefully better all round.

At the moment I have my head stuck in a pile of receipts etc preparing my accounts, trying to get them done so I can get on with some painting. And just today a new superdooper light has arrived for me to clamp to my easel. I have invested in a new daylight tube lamp which a few of my friends use and have recommended to me. I am keen to try it out; it should help enormously at this time of year with bad light from gloomy weather and nights drawing in around 3.30-4pm.

Of course the cats are enjoying the fact that I am home; and right now I have one sat on my lap as I am sat here at the computer and the other has only just settled down to sleep after pestering me on and off all day to brush and play with him!

2011-12-10T13:38:00.004Z

In my role as Wildlife Illustrator, at Bristol Zoo Gardens, I not only have the illustrations to do for the zoo’s animal identification signage, but the general up keep of them as well. Apart from painting and drawing, this involves a lot of computer work; where I have to have a basic working knowledge of the design software applications of Freehand, Quark and Photoshop (I have just recently started to learn to use Adobe Illustrator, as well, as we are switching over all IDs from Quark and Freehand). I also often do a lot of other little jobs, sometimes connected with the ID signage, sometimes not.

My work on the computer involves compiling new ID signs and editing information (putting distribution ranges on maps and dropping in animal information text, scanning in illustrations and editing size, blemishes, colour, backgrounds etc). After printing completed signs from the computer, they then need to be trimmed to size and after being sealed in laminate (which we have a machine for and I do myself), trimmed to size again, strips of adhesive put on the back and then putting the signs up on/by their respective enclosures.

This is an old pic of me (hair colour and length since changed) but it shows me changing ID signs in situ.

I do regular “sweeps” of the zoo to check the signage for missing, damaged or faded signs that I then need to replace. This year I have tried to do a “sweep” every 2 months to try and keep up with the ravages of weather, wear and mischievous imps.

So my work is really quite varied and far removed from just drawing or painting all day, every day.

To give you an idea.. This is what I have been doing over the last three weeks….

*Screwed ID holder to exterior of a bird aviary.
*Observing and taking close up anatomical detail photos of an Indian violin mantis – transferring details to drawing already done of the animal.
*Drawing a mega mantis.
*Painting a mega mantis – getting it checked and ok’d by animal dept. Scanned illustration on computer and picture file incorporated onto ID sign file.
*Learning to use Adobe Illustrator and rebuilding old Quark and Freehand ID sign templates in Adobe Illustrator.
*One morning spent sketching and photoing out at the Hollywood Towers Estate.
*Walking zoo grounds checking Christmas animal light shape displays for any that are bent and mis-shapen.
*Walking zoo grounds doing an ID sign check - “sweep”.
*Photoing and observing Madagascan blue stick insects ready for when I am to illustrate them.
*Several “Maintenance job request forms” done for work required on ID sign related stuff.
*Removed old sign board from an animal enclosure.
*Rescrewed into place an amenities sign blown down by wind.
*Overseeing rebending of mis-shapen Christmas animal light shapes.
*Painting background for Indian violin mantis.
*Hole punched and hammered in metal eyelets into laminate on some bird ID signs.
*30 ID signs printed, trimmed, laminated, trimmed and put up on respective animal enclosures.

Workshops at Nature In Art

2011-12-02T15:25:00.004Z

Just been booked for another workshop next year and one for possibly January 2013; both at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire.

In Sept next year I shall be tutoring a two day workshop for batik on the weekend of 29th & 30th. It has been a while since I have done a workshop at this wonderful venue, so I am looking forward to it enormously. This ties in nicely with my Artist in Residence week that follows there shortly afterwards from Oct 8th - 14th.

Butterfly fish batik I did in between helping my students on the 5 day workshop I tutored earlier this year.

And if the other workshop goes ahead as planned that will be the following January, although I have no dates as yet. The workshop will be held for 2 days over a weekend and it will be focusing on how to paint fur in oils. Although this workshop is very probable, I haven't had a confirmation for this as yet; but as soon as I do, I will post the dates.

For enquiries on booking a place on either of these workshops, please contact Nature In Art... found in my "Links" on the left hand side of this page.

Wildlife Prints to buy

2011-11-19T13:14:00.002Z

I have added a new page (top right) that show the prints I have available. I shall be adding more when I can so do keep checking in to see what I have there. They are linked to their listing on ebay; just by clicking the image title name takes you there. I hope you like this new feature and take a look... who knows, you may even find a suitable Christmas/Birthday present there for someone.

Workshops coming up in 2012

2011-11-18T19:47:00.003Z

I've just added a couple of workshops that I have been booked to do in 2012. These workshops are open to all. I shall post details shortly on both of these workshops giving links on who to contact etc should you wish to participate.

But just to give you a flavour.... Mandy, the Biodiversity Education Officer with the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project has asked me back to do another drawing workshop on Saturday 17 March. Aiming at the beginner and improver in this workshop I will show you some techniques for drawing and sketching birds using both an array of stuffed specimens and then wild live subjects in the zoo grounds.

And I am very happy to say that I shall also be back at the Gloucester Summer School in July next year for another 5 day batik workshop organised by the Gloucester Arts & Crafts Group. My course will have a maximum of 10 people so it is best to book early just in case.

Artist and Illustrators MasterClass article

2011-11-14T17:46:00.002Z

Just found out that the "MasterClass" article I did for the Artists & Illustrators magazine is now viewable online; click here to see it.

Sketching project at Hollywood

2011-11-12T19:50:00.006Z

As part of my "in-house" training at the zoo, I get to have one morning a fortnight (work load permitting) in which to sketch - not what I need to get a job done, but what I feel I like. The zoo as part of its Investors in People programme encourages staff to develop their skills either through formal or informal training. My sketch mornings are very informal and the fact that I can go out on the morning and sketch whatever I want makes such a difference. Most of my work at the zoo in recent years has concentrated on fish and invertebrates, so it does my soul good to get out and sketch the lions or mongooses or whatever else I fancy. For these morning's in the past I have always sketched the animals within the zoo, but this year I decided it would be a different challenge to go out to the zoo's land just outside Bristol called the Hollywood Towers Estate (H.T.E.).

I wanted to do this for a few reasons... but the main one was that during the summer months when the zoo is busy - sitting in front of an animal enclosure to sketch is problematic on several counts. Firstly I could be potentially blocking a visitor's view, secondly it is easy to get jostled and knocked and lastly, as nice as it is, people start talking to me as I sit there and with only a couple of precious hours in which to sketch freely I found that sometimes I would not get much sketching done. By going out to the H.T.E. I could not only sketch something different but I wouldn't be in anyone's way, get knocked and could work undisturbed for those few hours.

Since going out there another reason to go has arisen. As the site is the proposed land on which the zoo's new project- the National Wildlife Conservation Park- is to be developed... it's become a bit of a project to sketch the site at various times of the year, the old buildings, trees and other features before the development starts. A kind of artistic archive of the site.

My work colleague Anna, a graphic designer, has been doing a photography project for her "in-house" training/development and has come out to the site with me on a few occasions. I too have been taking photos whilst there and an album with my photo's and sketches can be viewed here. I shall update it as soon as I can after each visit, but now that winter is upon us and it is quieter in the zoo I am likely to sketch there more often. However, I hope to go in the next week to see if I can catch the last of the Autumnal colours before the last leaves fall from the trees.

Artist in Residence Week - work done

2011-10-22T20:56:00.026+01:00

Unfortunately, for reasons I cannot yet figure out, when I am away and using my small notebook computer, my blogsite allows me one post to it before then giving me a whole host of awkwardness that ultimately results in me being unable to do any more posts to it! Hence the reason this post is posted after the end of my residency week.

I worked on two paintings during my residency week... I started off by continuing to work on my kudu oil painting, adding more foliage and grasses to the right hand side.

I started this piece a few months ago and it has been painted and put to one side a number of times whilst I get on with other small paintings and various other jobs. So it was good to get back to it again. The plan was to paint in the last of the back foliage and then to start on the kudu calf. So I started the week by painting in the details of the dark area towards the lower part of the canvas (mainly on the right of the composition), adding leaves grasses, twigs etc. This was done with a small rigger - 1" rigger brush size 1 - flicking in strokes for grasses and dabs for leaves, twisting the bristles to resemble the leaf shapes of the vegetation in my reference photos. I'm not putting in a great deal of detail here as it will eventually be overlaid with long grasses in the foreground but I want just enough to provide the suggestion of grasses, twigs and leaves. Once I got to a stage where I would next start work on the kudu calf, I needed to allow the paint to dry; so once again it was put aside.

I decided to start another loose piece... a companion to the painting I did of Moti the Asiatic lioness recently.

This is to be of Chandra, the male Asiatic lion that was Moti's companion for about 14 years at Bristol Zoo.

I started the piece by sketching out his face using a 1" rigger brush size 1 loaded with a warm brown mix of colour diluted with liquin. I then blocked in some form with the same colour and a dark tone made of ultramarine, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson. I usually draw up such a sketch seperately and spend some time getting proportions looking right but as I want to try this loose approach I have been trying the process of sketching directly onto the canvas with paint. It's quite challenging, but fun also.

Then I paint in a backdrop of warm purples, mauves and orangey browns. I used the darker tones up behind his left ear to create contrast, as that will be back lit and showing a lot of light. I also start laying in colour and form on his mane... again as I always do working from the more distant surface of the subject and coming forward. I am using a round brush size 4 to work with on an 8" x 10" board.

Once I reasonably happy with his mane I then start to build the left side of his face and muzzle. I'm using a lot of orange and purple tones, these are complimentary colours and so work well together. They also add a feel of warmth and heat.

Then I put in some work on his ear, the mane at the apex of his head and the lights and darks on the bridge of his nose. Chandra had a "bumpy" nose with quite a rounded bump down to his nose.

Next I work on his face, mane round the top of his head and put in his eyes. First I block in the colour and lights and darks then I go back over to refine the moulding and features. I am still having to keep myself in check to stop myself going in too much with detail and fine brush work. Although Chandra was cross-eyed, I decided on this occasion not to paint him as such. After all... how many people looking at a painting of a cross-eyed lion would actually think that was how he was. They will probably just assume I had got the eyes wrong.

It was at this stage that I decided I had drawn his eyes too small so I enlarged them and repainted the areas around the eyes. I also worked on the area of mane on the far side of his head and under his chin.

Then I work on his muzzle and chin before waiting for it to dry and using the 1" rigger brush I drew on his whiskers using pale orange and yellows. I have deliberately kept the sides "unfinished" as I like the look of this and have seen it done extremely well to great effect by other artists and judging from a number of the comments I had over the week it seems to be something other people like too.

At home this piece would have been done in a day to stop me from "fiddling" with it too much. I worked on it over 4 days, between chatting to folk who visited us, at Nature In Art.

Chandra crops up a lot in my paintings as he's a very special lion to me. I saw him grow from a 2½ yr old scrawny youngster into a magnificent big prime male; until at the age of 14 he went to the Cotswold Wildlife Park for his retirement. He may have been cross-eyed but he was one handsome dude and had plenty of attitude. Sadly, I don't think he is alive now, but he lived to a good age and I will certainly never forget him and probably paint many more pictures of him in the years to come.

I finished the week back on the kudu piece but only got as far as putting in a base coat on the calf. So I will leave it until later when I have done more to it to post a progress pic of that painting.

Click here to view some of my photos from the week

Artist in Residence Day 1

2011-10-18T20:08:00.005+01:00

For me this is really day 2 of being Artist in Residence at Nature In Art, but for the visitors of course, it is definitely Day 1.

Yesterday I looked at the large pile of paintings, equipment and a myriad of other bits and pieces standing in the living room... how on earth was that all going to fit in the car! Half an hour later, somehow, I had managed to squeeze it all in. Looking into the boot and back seat of the car I had to pack it a bit like one of those wooden puzzle balls where each piece slots into a very specific position. Was my car actually a TARDIS?

A 50min drive up to Gloucester to Wallsworth Hall where Nature in Art is and I had to unpack it all again. Frances had also just arrived and her car looked much the same as mine... packed to the hilt! Our afternoon was then spent setting up the tables with cards, prints, merchandise etc etc and hanging paintings on the walls. By 6pm we were pretty tired out and so it was back to Frances' home (where I would be staying for the week) to pretty much collapse for the evening.

Today we both spent some time in the morning just rounding off the displays and making sure everything was to our liking before settling down to work. Both tasks of which were interrupted in the best way by people coming to the studio to see what we were doing and to talk about our work and sometimes their paintings too. It was very busy and the stream of visitors seemed non stop through the day, which was brilliant. Neither of us got much work done but then that is secondary to chatting to folks, which is what we are there for.

I did have some pictures to post too but I have no photo editing software on this little notebook... so perhaps I can post some piccies when I get home after Sunday.

I will try and keep up with regular posting through the week.

Palm nuts!

2011-10-16T16:56:00.004+01:00

Well, as this evening draws in, I am thinking I am now all done on the preparations for all my art and merchandise that I shall have on display at Nature In Art for the next week. I have only myself to sort out now, clothes etc to be packed and, all being well, I can set off in good time tomorrow morning to set up the studio with Frances ready for visitors from Tuesday.

There has been much to do and for a while I just never thought I'd get to the end of the ever growing list. Suffice to say it's has been a bit full on and hectic these last few weeks getting everything up together. But glad to say I think I can now breathe easy... of course there is that nagging doubt that things can't possibly be all done... surely I have forgotten something! I'm never this well organised to be ready at this point!

It can all but drive you nuts....

... which leads me to the painting of palm nut trees at sunset.

This little painting (roughly 8" x 7") on canvas board is of my favourite trees in the Okavango Delta. They have such a beautiful shape and feel to them, so I couldn't resist doing this little piece of them in silhouette. I managed to get it done in between endless computer work, printing, cutting, packing and putting a powerpoint presentation together.

The composition is made up from a number of my photos taken during my stay there in March. The sky from one and the trees are picked out from various photos of landscapes and animals and placed together into this composition.

I shall have this one with me at Nature In Art and like the lioness and ellie, I shall be interested to see how well they are received.

The presentation is a series of slides and a little talk that I shall be showing/giving to the Wallworth Art Group on Wednesday evening about reference gathering and useage. Looking forward to that and hope it'll be of interest to them.

Getting ready for Artist in Residence Week

2011-10-06T14:18:00.004+01:00

18th – 23rd October

Wallsworth Hall - Home of the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery

Once again the year swings round to a week I really look forward to – being an Artist in Residence at Nature In Art in Gloucester. This Museum and Art Gallery has a programme of different artists spending 6 days working in their studio (Tuesday – Sunday every week from Feb to Nov) where visitors can watch and talk to them as they work in their respective mediums.

In the past I have spent many an informative and learning hour getting tips from the artists who have been working there and also being, for the past 11 years, on the other side of the easel too. For most of those 11 years I have been there with my very good friend and fellow artist Julie Askew, but as she now resides overseas, I shall once again share the studio with another friend and fellow artist, Frances Whitman.

Myself with Frances and Linda Heaton-Harris - 2010 Nature in Art

Frances works with coloured pencils and produces exquisite animal portraits, her love of the big cats in particular feature strongly in her work.

I shall be working on paintings for an exhibition I shall hope to be doing in a few years time to raise funds for the Elephants For Africa Trust. After my visit to their camp in the Okavango Delta - Botswana, where their research work is currently based, earlier this year I shall be concentrating on producing work for that – mostly in oils. I also plan to have a selection of merchandise that feature some of my paintings such as cards, mugs, calendars etc.

The Museum has a lovely little café that serves teas and cakes, as well as lunches. Please click here for visitor information. If you can pop along to visit whilst we are there we would love to see you. If not, I would recommend a visit when you can anyway, as it is lovely house with a collection of work dedicated to art inspired by nature not just paintings but ceramics, furniture, sculptures, carvings and all manner of other treasures.

Asiatic lioness oil studio sketch

2011-10-01T17:35:00.007+01:00

8"x10" (20cmx25cm)

Another “go” at painting loosely; for the fun of it and as an experiment to see if they are liked and sellable. I need more practise to feel totally comfortable with this style, but it’s a great thing to do… to play.

The subject is Moti.. a lioness we used to have at the zoo until a couple of years ago when she died, an old girl, sadly from cancer. She produced some lovely cubs in her time with the splendid male Chandra (who was her companion for many years) to continue her line and she was a gorgeous lioness.

This painting was fun to do and it was hard for me to resist going into more detail, but I had set myself a time limit of 4 hours and stuck to it to see what I could produce.

As with the elephant piece I did before along these lines I have used oil paints with liquin as a medium to thin the paint and speed up drying times. This was from a photograph I had taken of Moti many years ago, but I used another photo I had taken of Chandra for the lighting colour range. I decided on the warm purple and browny oranges for the background to deepen the warmth of light on the animal and because the colours are easily crossed over between the two - tying them together.

Another thing I am doing that is different to my “norm”, is sketching the animal out in paint straight onto the canvas. In my more detailed paintings I spend a lot of time planning the piece - sketching and drawing the animal on a separate piece of paper to get my proportions right and to think about and decide on the positioning before I start the piece. So it is quite fun and challenging to start in a completely different way.

I will do more, as I’d like to improve and get more confident in the “less is more” approach. I know by many standards these aren’t hugely loose but for me it is quite a step to make and it’s fun playing and painting in a way different to what I really like to do.. and that is paint in a much more detailed way. I see no reason why I can’t do both :~)

Elephant bull oil studio sketch

2011-10-01T17:23:00.005+01:00

10”x14” (25cmx35.5cm)

Yeehaa! My first pachyderm painting from my trip to Botswana!

This painting serves a few purposes…

Firstly - I wanted to try out something in readiness for a bigger painting I have planned of three bulls crossing a waterway. So this was an experiment for colours and lighting as well as the stance of one of the bulls. This is not something I usually do as normally I have a very clear idea of the painting before I start. However in this case I couldn’t make my mind up… on the day I saw the inspiration for this painting it was overcast and rainy – the light was quite flat, yet this threw up some beautifully soft colour ranges and I really like that idea for my palette on this piece. But I wonder… would it look better if the lighting was a little brighter for the final painting – chuck some sunlight in to lift the image? Deepen the shadows create some more drama? So I plan do another trial piece the same as this only brightly lit with sunlight … so I can compare the two.

Secondly – it was fun to paint more loosely than I normally do for a change… something I have been thinking of playing with for a while, but never had the excuse or time. I am not going to change my style from what it is now, but it would be good to do some looser pieces as well at times.

Thirdly - purely from a turnover point of view, these little loose pieces are obviously quicker to do and from a size perspective may be easier to sell. Something I have to think about in these tricky financial times. So if they prove likeable to the buying public it may be another way forward. So I am hoping to do one or two more to show during my Artist in Residence week at Nature in Art later this month to gauge the reaction and see if this is something worthwhile pursuing.

The style of not completely covering the canvas I have seen done many times before by other artists and I have always liked that approach... so it was another reason to add to my "try out" list.

I have in my mind's eye a painting I'd like to do someday, when I feel confident enough with this style - a large canvas with an elephant painted loosely and not completely with a little colour around it's body in places to give it some background. whether or not I shall ever do it remains to be seen.. it may stay in the back of my head, along with all the other "one day" wish paintings I have stored there.

Wow!Gorilla Auction - Sept 29th

2011-10-01T15:30:00.003+01:00

On one of the hottest days and evenings of the year in Bristol, 550 people packed the Victoria Rooms in Clifton. Volunteers lined the walls, armed with mobile phones to take outside bids, and not a seat was left unfilled in the “stalls’ and “balcony” with eager bidders, anxious artists and curious onlookers. On a stage two gorillas, each on a revolving plinth, spun slowly in a slow continuous turn; bathed in spotlights and admiration. Music filled the room and mixed with the charged atmosphere of the evening.

After the speeches, the bidding began …. it was estimated that each gorilla would fetch probably £1000 or even £1,500 so we were ready for a great evening with a good amount of money expected to be raised for the gorilla conservation projects supported Bristol Zoo Gardens and The Wallace and Gromit Appeal raising funds for a new echocardiagraph ( think that’s how it is spelt) machine for the dedicated Children’s Hospital here in Bristol.

The auctioneer was brilliant and took the auction down a great fun path encouraging and cajoling the bidders to keep on bidding against each other. He was superb! Each gorilla was brought out, covered in a black cloth, and placed on one of the revolving plinths either side of the auctioneer. They were each unveiled in turn to a fanfare of music, sometimes chosen to fit the character of the gorilla, as the spotlights were trained on them. A couple, Dee Dee was included in this, had a choir come out and sing a song after they were unveiled and prior to the bidding on them.. The Elvis gorilla had a singer come out and do a great medley of Elvis songs. Dee Dee was the first to have this done prior to her bidding and she had the song Autumn Leaves sung for her… I have to admit that made me quite emotional!

Dee Dee at Bristol Zoo Gardens prior to the auction

The prices for the gorillas started off at over twice the highest estimate and got higher as the bidders warmed up and the gorillas got fewer! The bidding never went below £3,000! Dee Dee was 13th (not unlucky this time) to be auctioned and raised a great sum of £7,500!!!! I was so chuffed and proud that she got so much. Even more so, when I found out (after the auction) that her new owner was Sharron Davies the retired Olympic swimmer. How cool is that! Many of the gorillas reached bids of £5,000-£6,000 but 24 of them reached £7,000 and over. Every time the bidding reached £10,000 a great cheer went up around the room- five gorillas reached that mark (Elvis, 24 Carat Camo, Jama, Blackbeard Silverback and Spider Monkey); Two gorillas went on above that to even more cheers - £12,000 (Still Life: Alfred) and the top bid of £23,000 went to Gorisambard. Outstanding! By the time the bidding was over ALL the gorillas had new homes and the total raised was a whooping £427,300.

Best of all is that ALL of that money goes to gorilla conservation and the Children’s Hospital*… the zoo had arranged for there to be no VAT and the Auction House waived their fee… much needed money to benefit two great causes. *The exception to that is the money raised for the gorilla Custard goes to the BBC Children in Need Appeal.

What better way to end to this marvellous project called WOW!Gorillas, created celebrate the zoo’s 175th Anniversary. After the auction, I spoke to a few of the zoo staff who were working that night helping with the running of the event and they all looked ecstatic and shell-shocked. It’s safe to say the amount raised and the way these gorillas have been taken into people’s hearts has completely surpassed any expectation of what would happen. To have been a small part of that makes me feel incredibly privileged and humbled. I’m so glad I got to paint one of these gorillas and that they all sold so very well indeed. Bravo to all the bidders, I’m astounded by such generosity in these hard times.

Sketching lions - 21 Sept

2011-09-25T19:50:00.005+01:00

When work load allows, once every two weeks, I get to spend a free morning sketching - kinda like my "in-house" training. Recently I got back out in the zoo to sketch some animals. Which as the zoo's illustrator you might not think that was particularly special. However during the busy summer season it's quite impossible to sit in front of an animal enclosure to sketch without either getting in the way of the public or being jostled by the throngs. So during the summer I went out to the Hollywood Towers Estate, which the zoo owns. to sketch landscapes and buildings. Now that the colder weather is here and the crowds have gone, as the schools are in session again, I am back in the zoo for my sketching.

Having spent a wonderful half hour one evening the week before, after the zoo had closed, watching Shiva (Mum) play with the two cubs (Jay and Kaly) I decided the lions would be my first point of call. The two youngsters (they are a bit bigger than cubs now at 9 months old) were lying on one of the high-rise platforms for a bit of warm sunshine snoozing, with Shiva. Kamal was restless as he was due for a feed that day and so he wandered around quite a bit, getting impatient - calling and pacing.

Jay, the young male, was at the front of the platform and in view - sort of. I had to position myself so that I could get an unobstructed view through the trees and bushes to the platform that was right at the back of the enclosure. As I had neglected to bring my binoculars, I had to really concentrate to see his lines and form across the distance.

So, rather than work anything up and to get my hand and eye working together, I just did little thumbnails of him, as a warm up.

Kamal finally settled and good old lad that he is, he plonked himself down right in front of me. It might have helped that I was luckily at a place that was a good spot for him to keep an eye out for his keeper and most importantly - his food.

So as he had settled down, I did too and concentrated on two head positions - switching between the two sketches as he moved his head about - one looking for the keeper/food and the other resigned head on paws, eyes closed.

The third sketch was a very quick one (about one minute) done just prior to the keeper turning up where Kamal had relaxed a enough in his vigilance to lie on his side and attempt a snooze. Like they say.. a watched kettle never boils... but as soon as you turn your back. So it was with Kamal... as soon as he got settled to snooze - the keeper turned up!

Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School 2011

2011-09-04T13:50:00.008+01:00

Back at the end of July I tutored a week-long batik course at the Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School. This wonderful event takes place at around the same time every year and offers about 30 courses of various crafts and arts from 1 – 5 days in length.

This year I had 6 students attend my batik course -four of whom had been before and two who were new to my class. I was to have 7 students but unfortunately one lady, Joan, fell ill just prior to the week of the course so we were sad not to see her in class again (Joan went to one of my previous batik courses).

I welcomed back Jenny, Del, Hazel and Gill… four lovely cheery ladies who always make the week fly by with their enthusiasm, creativeness and happy banter. Marion and Rita were new to my class and perfectly fitted in with the enthusiasm and fun. What a great week it was…. Lots of work and lots of fun.

I started off the week introducing Marion and Rita to the equipment and technique I use. Rita having done batik before but with a different technique had the challenge of relearning a new way to her. She tackled the challenge head on and with a great attitude. It is always difficult to do such a thing, but Rita persevered and I could see it was starting to make sense to her towards the end of the week. This piece is I think still is her best, despite, sadly, the crackling at the end going a bit dark and somewhat obscuring the main image of the man and camels. I hope she has a go at this one again.

Marion was new to batik, so had the challenge of learning a medium that is like chess….. you have to think several steps ahead and have a plan of attack. This piece of hers has been done with a purpose in mind. It’ll be made into a pennant that will go to the Olympic Games in London. Marion, once she got her head around the technique, got very enthused… so much so that she has since bought the equipment for herself and is cracking on with exploring the fun of batik, at home.

Jenny, Del, Hazel and Gill having all been before or having done batik at home were confident enough to go straight into doing their own designs.

Gill returned to the class having been new to batik last year and also ended up buying the equipment to do it at home after the course. I was very pleased that she brought in a couple of her pieces to show us. She has been doing very well, despite her own misgiving, and has a lovely colour sense.
Gill tends to like to start and finish her pieces fairly quickly, the fact that she took time and was patient working on the head of the iris has one paid off. It's a lovely piece with good colour balances and tones achieved in the background.

Hazel was with us for three of the five days, but that didn’t hold her back on producing a good handful of batiks. Having been to my class for four years now and also attending other batik workshops, she has grasped batik fully and produces wonderful work. I particularly loved her sunflower cushion cover this year – such a beautifully executed piece of work.… it makes me feel happy just looking at it.

Del and Jenny also have been before for the last four years and again, they are both very productive and creative. Jenny loves to challenge herself and always amazes me with what she accomplishes. She too has a great eye for colour and I was very happy to hear that she has sold a number of the batiks she has previously produced. I chose her Spanish dancer because the effects she achieved on the lace underskirts and the shawl fringes were just amazing. You can feel the swirling of the dress and shawl fringes flying around her. The background is subtly mimicking the dancer too which adds unity and heightens the action of the piece.

Del is the first to admit she doesn’t have a huge amount of patience, so I was particularly proud of her that she carefully and slowly applied wax on one of her batiks (some flowerheads) to get it right. The result was superb and I hope she was as pleased with the result as I was. However, I chose her pebble design over the flowerheads because I particularly love the colours, textures and feel of this one. I love the wet effect on and between the pebbles - perfect.

Several Christmas cards designs were also done, and as much as I’d love to show you them as well, I don’t think it would be fair to do so as they may want to keep the designs under wraps til Christmas.

Once again the class produced a wonderful array of finished pieces– they never cease to amaze me with their productivity and creative output. It was, again, hard to pick one from each of them, but I hope they will be happy with my choices. They say the will be back again next year..... If they are, I look forward to seeing what they do then! It gets better every year!

Victoria crowned pigeon commission

2011-08-06T17:16:00.004+01:00

Straight after completing Dee Dee the gorilla, I had a commissioned painting to do. This one was quite a battle in that firstly I ended up painting the background at least 5 times before I got something I was happy with. Then the bird itself was uncooperative… or maybe, it was me. I think that perhaps my desire to want to paint Botswana pieces was blocking my creative flow to get on with this painting; despite it being of such an impressive bird. But finally I got there and I am happy with the result; it is a beautiful bird with that lovely blue and white lacy crest, deep maroon chest feathers contrasting with the blue grey back and wings and amazing brilliant red eyes. I did enjoy painting it, despite the struggle... or perhaps, because of it. I wanted to show off that wonderful crest on its head, so I decided to back light the subject against a darkish background as if caught in a shaft of light in its lowland forest home. Luckily we have had this species at the zoo for quite a few years, so I have been able over a long period of time to get some good reference photo's (cos you just never know if one day you'll get asked to paint one!) and see the bird move and stand in real life.

I had to get the painting finished and delivered before the middle of July, as it was a present and being given at a party towards the end of July. I haven’t posted this before now, as I wanted to make sure the recipient had received it before I posted the image online.

The painting is A3 sized, gouache on watercolour paper. The bird, a favourite of the person it was presented to, is the world’s largest pigeon and lives in northern New Guinea. I’m guessing it stands about 44cms (17”) tall (its size is given as 74cms (29” long) and weighs approx 2,384 grams (5.3 lbs) as an adult. Quite a substantial bird and therefore, unsurprisingly, it has a deep booming sound as part of its call repertoire - you can make a similar sound by blowing across the top of an empty bottle.

Gloucester Summer School

2011-07-23T16:01:00.002+01:00

This morning I drove to Gloucester to set up the classroom ready for a week long batik workshop, starting Monday morning. Where does the year go? Really doesn't seem that long ago that I walked down the corridors of Beaufort Community School last.

I have 7 students this year, 4 were on the course last year, 1 from a few years ago and 2 who are new to my class. I am looking forward to seeing those friendly familiar faces and the new ladies as well and can't wait to see what they produce this time round.

NEWA

2011-07-09T22:38:00.003+01:00

I was very pleased to find out today that my painting "Waiting for the Stragglers" has been accepted into this year's National Exhibition Wildlife Art.

This annual event is held at the Gordale Garden Centre, Chester High Road, Burton, Wirral, Liverpool and this year runs from 15th - 31st July

WOW!Gorilla progress Day 9

2011-06-20T13:38:00.007+01:00

Left the warehouse at 10.30pm last night, third late night on the trot but I got "Distinctly Different" ready for the guide book photo shoot today. Phew!

I do have a bit of fiddling on the paintwork here and there and then I need to varnish her with about 2-3 coats; so I have a few more working hours left with my Dee Dee yet, before I hand her over.

Here are some last piccies of her and a little insight into my design, which represents nature and our stewardship of this planet.

Apart from being my favourite colour, purple has long been associated with royalty – the gorilla is an iconic species, practically royalty in its own environment so a purple gorilla seemed like a good idea as a base. Aesthetically, the glitter creates “movement” as it catches the light adding another element to an otherwise flat colour surface. But if I was to get “all poetical” it could also be said that, like glitter, the natural world is made up of many species, each a little gem in its own right and shines by itself. But to create the full and beautiful effect of glitter, all the pieces need to be together to shine and glisten as one element, much like all the species on this planet need to exist, to create that wonderful glitter-ball of life – each loss of a single species makes our world shine less.

The physicality of the gorilla sculpture represents our man-made world, with nature, as the leaves and vines, growing from the ground the sculpture is stood on; refusing to be brushed aside it wraps itself around in delicate tendrils enhancing our lives in a way that is often ignored. I thought of silver as it is a precious metal often overlooked – the man-made world loves gold and its monetary value; the silver vines and leaves signify the overlooked value of the natural world - a value more infinitely precious than gold or money.

There are a handful of butterflies amongst the leaves that add life and movement to the leaf design and are decorated with a greenish glitter. Jelf Lampier’s corporate colours are purple, silver and a touch of green, so the hint of green on the butterflies helps tie in with their corporate identity.

Also I have placed two small silver butterflies in the palms of Dee Dee’s hands (crossing the palms with silver) – signifying the fragility of nature and how a strong hand (man) could crush or care for it.

Other than that she’ s a big purple gorilla with a bit of bling! :~)

WOW!Gorilla progress Day 8

2011-06-19T08:56:00.008+01:00

My gorilla now has its proper name... and he is now a she, as her sparkly delicate leaf look is far too feminine for a fella. Her sponsors, Jelf Lampier, have called her "Distinctly Different (Dee Dee)" which I love.
So Dee Dee has been coming along over the last four days. It's been hard work and long hours to try and get her finished by this eve. Two 12 hour shifts has got me to a point where I am pretty sure I am on track to do this and shall be leaving shortly for another long day with her.

The cushions I brought in have been invaluable as I work ... saves me from the cold floor and getting a nasty neck ache!

I'm starting to dream of silver leaves!

She's starting to look almost there... today will be finishing off the leaves and adding various details and a few butterflies.

I had promised to volunteer on the Elephants For Africa stand at the Bristol Festival of Nature all day today; they have kindly let me off doing the whole day and now I shall be with them for a few hours this afternoon. I think I am to draw the raffle which today has one of my elephant prints "Waiting for the Stragglers" as a prize.

The weather is looking good at the moment, so hopefully it will hold for the day and lots of people will visit this wonderful annual event.

WOW!Gorilla progress Day 4

2011-06-15T09:44:00.004+01:00

My gorilla (knick-named Hugh, whilst I paint him) has now had a new coat of purple, to match his sponsor's, Jelf Lampier, colour branding on Day 2 and a sparkly coat of subtle purple glitter varnish on Day 3. The idea of the glitter is to add another element/dimension to the colour making it more interesting than a flat colour - light will shimmer across his surface and add a bit of 'movement' to him. This is a close up of his head, of course, the photo can't give the full impact of the effect, but it will give you some idea.

Yesterday I started on the twisting vine of leaves design that will eventually cover his whole body. I have used a silver paint with an iridescent medium added... again to lift it from being a flat colour, to one that reacts with light.

This is the part of the paint job that will take the time... Just doing the one leg yesterday took nine hours with a few breaks to give my back and neck a rest; as to get round the leg I was getting into all sorts of awkward positions to paint. I'm taking in a bundle of cushions today for some support and comfort!!

But I am thoroughly enjoying doing him and am so far pleased with the effects and can't wait to see him out in the daylight where all these effects will come into play.

WOW!Gorilla progress Day 1

2011-06-11T17:29:00.003+01:00

After a shopping trip this morning, to gather paints and supplies, I experimented at home with colour hues and effects for the decoration of my gorilla. Then a quick journey to the location where the gorillas are being stored and space is available for artists to work on their gorilla sculptures.

Another artist helped me unwrap and place my gorilla in a convenient spot to work and then it was just a case of starting. But first, the obligatory photo shoot with said gorilla.

My first job was to sand him down all over to get a lovely smooth tactile surface and then I mixed my colours using Galeria acrylics. One of the advantages of being one of the last to get to paint these gorillas is that you can pick up tips like just how much paint you need to buy and what paint covers better. It took a couple of hours to get a good coverage on him but I was pleased with my progress. Now I'd leave him overnight to dry and harden off properly before I start the next stage.

After cleaning up brushes, pots etc, I locked up the building and once outside found that I had a phone message from the WOW! Gorillas organiser... seems I now have a sponsor but that they have a particular colour purple for their company branding... so I will need to take a trip into work tomorrow, at the zoo, to look at the Pantone colour swatch so I can try to mix and match another shade of purple and repaint mister gorilla again tomorrow.

WOW! Gorillas

2011-06-11T11:50:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was offered one of the fabulous gorilla sculptures to paint for the WOW!Gorillas event taking place in Bristol soon.
From early July – for ten weeks – a group of life-sized hand decorated gorilla sculptures will form a trail around Bristol’s cultural and retail quarters.

Numerous companies have come forward to sponsor a sculpture and have picked the design they wish their gorilla to be decorated with from a whole host of ideas submitted by regionally local artists. Most of these have now been painted and the deadline is fast approaching - I have about a week to get my gorilla prepped, started and finished. Smaller versions of the sculptures have been ‘adopted’ by various schools, whose pupils have designed and decorated their own school gorilla. These will then go out on show along with the life-size sculptures.

After the art trail event has finished each gorilla sculpture will be auctioned and the monies raised will go to gorilla conservation projects and the Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal.

As I type this I am waiting for paint to dry as I experiment with shades of purple and coatings for my gorilla sculpture beastie.
So… back to check on the paint….

Botswana collection - Painting #1 finished

2011-05-14T18:00:00.003+01:00

It's not an elephant!

Yes, I suppose it would be expected that my first painting towards my Elephants for Africa Exhibition Project should be an elephant... but well, seems I've surprised a few people by doing a bird instead. It's good to try and not be predictable sometimes.

Although the exhibition is going to feature elephants heavily (pardon the pun), I also want to encompass the other animals of the Okavango as well. This image of a pied kingfisher was in my head and it felt the right one to start with - a nice simple composition to get the ball rolling, so to speak. I could have done it with a sunny blue backdrop, but that would also have been fairly predictable, wouldn't it!

First thing in the morning and late in the afternoon, just before the sun dips below the horizon, on clear bright sunny days everything becomes bathed in unbelievable colours. Deep yellow and golds, peaches and mauves intermingle with cold blues. A short magical spell of time at each end of the day when the light is so colourful and, to me, inspiring.

I'm not sure what my next Okavango piece will be yet... maybe an elephant... maybe not. Watch this space!

Botswana

2011-05-03T20:50:00.005+01:00

I can’t believe it has been a month since I have been back from Botswana… already! I have reluctantly settled back into the routine of city life and I’m trying not to miss the sights and sounds of the Delta. But it’s not easy; as the saying goes… those memories will stay with me forever.

Needless to say my time spent there was incredible, every day was an adventure, delight and awe-inspiring. It has been hard to put it into words for my friends and family back here at home, when they ask about my trip; but I think most of them know just how much it meant to me to be able to go there and spend that amount of time in the bush. I shall be eternally grateful to Dr Kate Evans and her team at Elephants For Africa (EFA), for their time and for making me feel so welcome. And also Seba Camp managers, Chris and Heather, and all their staff who looked after me so well; I highly recommend Seba Camp as a place to stay if you should ever visit the Okavango Delta.

I really hope that one day I can return and immerse myself in that wonderful place again, but first I have an exhibition to paint for, which will take me a few years. I started my first studio painting at the weekend and am finding myself eager to finish it so I can start another and then another. I have many ideas flowing in my head… it’s just a case of being able to paint them all!

Sleeping with elephants

2011-03-29T07:07:00.010+01:00

Last night around midnight, I was woken by a loud noise that took my sleep hazed mind a little while to figure out. There was an elephant pulling at vegetation right by my tent... or so it sounded. Night time has a way of amplifying sounds. I eased myself out of bed and in the pitch darkness carefully made my way across the wooden floor to the mesh window of my tent; and peered out. There was a lot of cloud cover and so it was difficult to distinguish anything but I tried really hard to focus my eyes on anything that moved. The sounds were incredibly close and then I saw a curved shape of bluish grey followed by another swing round towards me. The elephant was RIGHT by my tent, less than four feet away! I had grabbed my video camera as I had slid from bed... it's broke so I can't record images but it still picks up and records sounds. So I pressed the button and the camera whirred into action. I held my breath as the two curved shapes indicated that the huge head was turning more to face me, alerted by the sound no doubt. I doubt he could have seen me, elephants eyesight is not their strongest sense but I was sure he could hear my breathing and smell my prescence, just the other side of the flimsy canvas. Eating was obviously his priority as the curved shapes swung away and I could hear some plant get ripped from its roots or branch and then the sound of it being pushed into the elephant's mouth and chewed. Were there two elephants? I thought I heard another's breathing and there was a soft low rumble. I strained my eyes but could not see anything other than the dark blue grey colours of the vegetation and the hulk of the elephant before me merging into it. He, or they, stayed for about 10 -15 minutes chomping and pulling on the grasses and bushes by my tent steps. In the morning, I thought, I'll go check out the footprints. Back to bed I went and was woken a few hours later by a huge crash. My first thought as I registered that something had fallen down in my tent, was that the elephant was trying to get in! I held my breath, lying in bed, waiting to hear further destruction noises of canvas being ripped or wooden struts being snapped like twigs. There was nothing but the sound of a rhythmic slow deep breathing, he was asleep... probably on the anthill between my tent and the next; a favoured sleeping spot for a few bull elephants. I tentatively got up and switched on a light and found that one of the framed photographs on an internal divider had fallen down, nothing suspicious; no ripped gaping hole or inwardly leaning structure posts. Phew! I listened to the sound of the elephant breathing as he slept, I'm surprised the crash sound hadn't got him up and curious as to what was going on, come over to investigate. Soon it would be dawn so I stayed awake and watched it rise over the horizon and trees across the lagoon. When it was fully light I could see where the elephant(s) had been. My tent stands on a stilted platform with steps leading up to the door at the side and a deck at the front. If I had been stood at the top of the steps when the elephant had been there last night I could have touched him without having to reach out! And the big fella hadn't left either... I could hear him now flapping his ears, rumbling softly now and again as he had his morning snack of dropped marula fruits from the tree by the tent next to mine; I could just see him, larger than life, through the bushes between. He was BIG. Maybe not as big as they get but from the ground perspective he was big enough! I had estimated that his tusks had been about 6-7 feet high off the ground judging from where I saw them last night in relation to my tent. I hoped he'd walk past my tent, but after feeding for a bit he moved in the other direction, so I couldn't get a photo of him. Speaking to one of the camp managers, on my way to breakfast, there were two elephants wandering around last night, sleeping in several places, visiting others in the camp like the researchers and the camp managers tents. I am SO going to miss all this. I am leaving in a day or two's time. Today or tomorrow could be my last full day at camp, before a seat is found for me on one of the staff flights and I fly away, starting my journey back home.

Wildlife Arist of the Year Competition 2011

2011-03-24T06:32:00.003Z

Had great news yesterday; I recieved an email from the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation to let me know that my painting 'Tangle of Kelp' has been short-listed in their international competition. It will be exhibited, along with the other finalists, at The Mall Galleries, London June 6-11.

The competition was open worldwide to professional and amateur artists alike and I am extremely happy to have been selected from the hundreds of entries they received.

The winners will be announced on the Preview Evening of the exhibition on June 6th. I hope to be able to attend and meet up with my fellow artist friends who have also been short-listed.

Having a spot of bother!

2011-03-24T06:25:00.004Z

I composed my next post from the Delta in Word on my little netbook and then tried as I had done on my last entry, to post it to my blog.... for some reason it seems I am unable to. No matter which way round I try to achieve it, the result is the same and I cannot copy and paste it either! Very frustrating! As it is typically long, I didn't fancy typing it all out again, so Kate suggested I post it on their web-blog . So please click on the link if you'd like to read it and go to March in their archive list, where you can find my posts to their blog during my stay.

Hot from the Okavango Delta

2011-03-10T18:21:00.001Z

I have been in Seba Camp, which is in the north western area of the Okavango Delta, since Friday 4^th March. I left England on Tues 1^st March, flying overnight to Johannesburg and then getting a transfer flight to Maun, Botswana in the afternoon of the 2^nd. From there I was picked up by a driver from Audi camp, located some 12kms outside of Maun, which was where I stayed until the morning of Friday 4^th. Audi Camp is a lovely camp catering for campers who bring their own tents, to providing several choices of tent to stay in. I opted for a twin-bedded meru, which was perfect for a couple of nights. Around the camp there were many birds and a pair of long-tailed starlings had a nest in a tree trunk hole with chicks just a paces from my tent. Tree squirrels scurried around and I enjoyed being able to "acclimatise" and chill out there before heading up into the Delta.

The flight to Seba Camp from Maun is about half an hour, flying over the Delta, which is already in flood, the weather was cloudy but very hot and muggy. I had great views from my little window as we flew over vast tracts of land interspersed with massive amounts of water – and the flood has only just started! Apparently the water level hasn't dropped considerably from last year's flood which was big in the amount of water. So they are expecting the flood levels to get higher this year as the new flood adds to the remnants of the last. The Delta has a cycle of high and low flooding over a quite number of years and it is now into a high flood part of that cycle.

Seba Camp is nestled around a lagoon and my beautiful "tent" looks out across it, which does mean that I have the sound of frogs at night. They are very loud, or so I thought the first few nights; I seem to be getting used to them now and find I am falling asleep more readily at night. Also at night an elephant comes to rest, sleep and browse against an "anthill," which is a huge termite mound between my tent and the next. Night time also brings out the fireflies (glow worms) which dance about in the darkness over the lagoon and the reeds around it; I have heard zebra, hyena and hippo not forgetting, of course, the elephant on the nights he visits.

The camp is not fenced so a watchful eye and good bush sense is needed when walking around as it is easy to stumble upon an antelope, monkeys or elephants. Signs of hippo are evident in camp and hyena visit quite regularly too. Just the other evening someone casually mentioned as we sat eating our evening meal (the "back of house" dining area is al fresco) that there was a hyena passing by. I looked up and was amazed just how close the hyena was (probably about 10 paces away) and how it stood looked in on us before casually sauntering off.

During the day I have seen francolins, vervet monkeys and bushbuck around my tent. I say tent… it's more like a canvas chalet. It sits on top of a stilted wooden platform with wooden steps leading up to a door and a deck that spans the width of the tent platform. From here I can sit and look across the lagoon to the Delta beyond, with my binoculars, camera and sketchbook. 'Tis a thoroughly pleasant way to pass some time.

I'm still kinda finding my feet, tuning into the camp routine and the EFA's (Elephants for Africa) work schedule. To give you some idea I am getting up about 5a.m. so that I am ready to go to breakfast between 6-6.30a.m, which is when it gets light. After breakfast I have been out in the Landrover with Kate, Mphoeng or Charlie by about 7a.m or just before. They do a route check every day where they follow either a set or random route around the tracks in the area looking for wild, and tracking the collared, elephants. This usually takes a couple of hours unless they see an elephant and can do a focal. A focal is observing the subject for a given amount of time, Kate's team does 30 mins. During that 30mins they note what the subject is doing every 5 mins such as walking, standing, feeding, dusting. If anything noteworthy happens in between the 5 min they note that too. And if the elephant drops some dung they take a sample from this, when it is safe to do so after the elephant has left. Then back at camp Kate's team start their office work. Lunch is at noon with a game of Bananagrams sometimes happening afterwards before office work etc continues for the afternoon. The evening meal is around 7pm and then everyone retires around 8pm. It gets dark around 7pm so as I am not to walk alone in the dark at the moment I am escorted back to my tent after Dinner.

During the time that Kate and Co are working on Office things I am at my tent or wandering around the camp. I have been sketching and have done a colour rough of the view across the lagoon. I upload my camera photos several times a day to my "netbook" and also write my journal during these quiet times too. I'm not doing too badly on the photos… so far I have over 800 uploaded!

Each Saturday Kate goes the Boma at Abu Camp (which is about 5-10 mins drive away) to take dung samples from the herd and take measurements like height and foot sizes regularly. Sunday is their day off so no need to get up so early then.

I have been snapping away with my camera gathering as much photographic reference as I can and at the same time getting my eye in on the details, colours and feel of the landscapes. For the first week I have concentrated on "settling in" , making sure I know my way around, feeling my way around the camp routines and generally allowing time to figure out what I can and can't do. And also I think it is good to allow time for the camp personnel to adjust to me being part of their day. My sketching has thus far been limited to around camp only, as the opportunity to spend time sketching whilst out is not there at the moment. I am conscious that Kate, Charlie and Mphoeng are all very much at work and have their own time scales for the day. So I hope that I can arrange to spend some hours out with one of the guides a few times so that I can stop the vehicle to sketch and possible paint out in the bush somewhere virtually where I want and for a good amount of time. I have already spent 7 hours out in the bush with the Abu herd and their mahouts. That was a great opportunity for me to observe and spend time sketching each individual elephant to familiarise myself with the body shapes of the varying ages; which range from 18months to 51 years. And as the mahouts are quite happy for me to join them whenever I want, I dare say I shall be spending a lot more time with the Abu elephants.

To say I have been blown away by this place would be an understatement…. It's just awesome in scale and beauty. Every second I'm living in a dream and I fear I'm going to wake up soon and be back in the UK.

Artist and Illustrators magazine March 2011 Issue

2011-02-12T21:15:00.006Z

So now the March issue is for sale I can now post an image of the painting I did for the Masterclass article I was asked to do for this publication.

Unfortunately the image in the magazine has come out a lot darker than the original, I think my screen settings may be different to the publishers, so if I am asked again I must try and remember to check that with them. Still, I’m very pleased with the article and hope that the readers of this magazine will enjoy it as much as I did painting and writing it.

The intro to the step-by-step explains why I chose to paint gorillas.

“This painting came about as I wanted to produce something that I could use to tie in with this year’s fund-raising conservation campaign of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), which is raising awareness of the problems facing the world’s ape species. But I didn’t want to portray wild apes, as I have not seen them in the wild.
For a number of years now I have chosen to base my paintings only what I have seen first hand, and therefore visually understand. Bristol Zoo Gardens (whom I work for) have a lovely family group of western lowland gorillas who would be perfect subjects, as I have seen them often and know a little of their characters.
I also wanted a positive image to reinforce the zoo’s commitment to conservation for this species and something with the “Aah Factor” that would appeal to a wide audience. A mother and her youngster - Salome and Komale, seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Every animal is important, of course, but I think Komale, is rather special because after 20 years of not having a baby, Salome received ground-breaking fertility treatment in 2004 and little Komale was born in December 2006. This painting of them both depicts him when he was just under two years old, a real cutie and a great success in the breeding programme as Salome’s blood line is very important.”

2011-02-08T12:16:00.004Z

Back in October 2010, during my Artist in Residence week at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire, UK; I started a painting of a camel and rider. This was an experiment for me to try out water-mixable oil colours for the first time to see if they were the answer to my question of what paints I would take to Botswana for my field trip. Although they work and look like oils, they are formulated so that water can be added to thin the colour for easier blending and also for washing brushes afterwards. This makes them more environmentally friendly than traditional oils, yet still giving me all the advantages of them, and that was what I was looking for to use in such a situation.

I have since finished the painting, but had not got around to posting it here on my blog… so here’s the final piece… it’s a small painting on stretched canvas (40 x 30cms).

Artist and Illustrators Magazine March 2010

2011-01-17T12:13:00.002Z

Towards the end of last year I was contacted by the Artist and Illustrators Magazine, asking me if I’d be interested to do another Master Class for article for them. Of course I was delighted to be asked again and jumped at the opportunity.

I can’t say anything about the article at the moment.. not until the magazine is issued at the beginning of February (the March Issue), which is actually not that far away now. I will do a more detailed post on the article once it’s out in the shops.

Elephants For Africa Trust Exhibition Project.

2011-01-15T12:52:00.005Z

Back in 2007 I met Dr Kate Evans of the Elephants For Africa Trust (EFA) at the Bristol Festival Of Nature. We got talking and as a result of our conversation I was invited out to see their research work in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Can you imagine how delighted I was to be asked?

This wasn't just a 'jolly', we had an aim in mind... during my time there I would gather reference and experience the landscapes and wildlife first-hand with the view to holding an exhibition of paintings done as a result of the trip to raise awareness and funds for their invaluable work.

The EFA’s research centres on young bull elephants. They study their progress and behaviour within bull society from the time they leave the natal herd (a female led and based life) finding their feet and treading carefully around the mature breeding bulls in a male based life until finally they are at breeding age too. This side of African elephant social structure and behaviour is much less studied than the matriarchal side of their society of the females. The results of their research will enable conservation bodies, governments and wildlife management to better assess the needs of the full scope of elephant conservation.

It has been a struggle to save for and attempts to get funding failed several times and at times I felt it was never going to happen. But Dr Evans was very kind and understanding and kept the window of opportunity open for me until, at last, things gradually all came together in the latter half of 2010. So now I am at the point where flights are booked and I leave at the beginning of March for a month long trip to Botswana. Can you sense me smiling like the Cheshire Cat?

In getting me to this point I'd like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and financial support; Bristol Zoo Gardens for awarding me a good sum of money towards my flights through their Staff Development Fund; the camp management where I shall be staying for their generosity, Dr Kate Evans for her patience and the invitation and my best friend’s Dad, Mr Askew, for commissioning me to paint for him… of course, it had to be…. elephants. Without all their help it would be have been a few more years before I could afford to go, if at all. So a huge thanks from me to them.

So come March I shall be flying out to Johannesburg, then on to Maun in Botswana where I shall stay in a camp just outside of the town for two nights. Then I shall get a plane up to the camp in the Delta and stay in Heaven for some weeks.
Towards the end of my stay, the plan is to visit a local community where I can get the children drawing and painting, which should be great fun as apparently they've not done much of that before.

Then I fly home at the end of March to start Phase Two of the project.. working towards the exhibition. I’ve already got lots of ideas for paintings… and I’m sure I shall come back brimming over with many more.

I hope to be able to set my little laptop up with internet access so that I can post a few reports of my adventures for you from the Delta… but as yet that’s still to be worked out.

This trip and project is a dream come true for me. Firstly to be in Africa in one place for a decent length of time; not just a few days before dashing onto another camp/park/town. I really feel I would gain so much more from being able to 'settle' for a few weeks and get a better understanding of the landscape, to see the same places on different days in differing light and weather and how the animals move through and use it.

Also.. this project is directly involved with wildlife conservation. I have supported various conservation bodies/projects over the years, but it has always been 'at a distance'. This trip will give me the chance to see conservation research first-hand, spend time with the dedicated folks who carry out the research and make it their lives. To tap at least a fraction of their combined knowledge is an opportunity I savour.

And finally the end result will be an exhibition, with lots of interest and sales (hopefully) of the paintings (the proceeds of which I shall share with the EFA Charity) and to bring their good work, wildlife and beautiful Delta to the attention of a few more folk back here in the UK.

Can't wait!

Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year?

2011-01-14T20:45:00.001Z

I hope you had a good Festive Season and are now well into the swing of 2011.

My year has gotten off to a good start and my fingers and brushes are well crossed hoping that it will continue. Just before Christmas I received news that my long hoped for trip to Africa was actually able to go ahead. This is very exciting for me and I will explain all in the next post.

Also, prior to Christmas, I was asked to write another article for the Artist and Illustrators magazine; again I will explain more in a later post.

I shall be at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery, Glos, UK in October with my friend and fellow artist Frances Deakin; we had so much fun last year we are going to share studio space again for this year.

Which leads me to something else involving Frances. She has set up a website for artists, photographers and sculptors called Click 4 wildlife Art and a selection of my work can be viewed on there.
http://www.click4wildlifeart.com/

I shall also be doing another week long batik course at the Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School, Glos in July.

I will do my best to update you on any forthcoming events etc as they crop up. I have a few irons in the fire, so to speak, and if/when they are confirmed I shall let you know about them too.

May all you wish for and need come to you throughout the year.

Artist in Residence Week

2010-10-16T15:10:00.007+01:00

Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery

What a great week I had at as Artist in Residence (AIR) at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire. Usually I have, for quite a few years now, shared my week there each year with fellow artist and very good friend Julie Askew. Unfortunately due to her own working commitments she was unable to do her stint as AIR this year. So another friend and fellow artist, Frances Whitman, kindly let me and the sculptor Linda Heaton-Harris muscle in on her week.

I stayed with Frances and her husband all week, which was lovely as I was spoilt with accommodation and good home-cooked food all week! We had good weather, despite horrible weather forecasts saying it would be otherwise and each day we were inundated with visitors. Many familiar faces came to see us and we met a lot of new and interesting folk too. If any of you are reading this... many many thanks for coming to see and talk to us and we hope you enjoyed seeing our work. After setting up on Monday afternoon, it was back to Frances' house to have a quick bite to eat and tidy myself up as I was giving a talk on my work at the zoo to the Wallsworth Art Group in the evening.

It's too much fun to be work!

Then on the Tuesday it was time to settle to some painting, in between chatting to my fellow AIR's and the folks who came to see us. I decided to try out a new medium (to me) during the week - water mixable oil colours. I have these in mind to take on my Africa trip early next year, so I wanted to try them out. I started first with a simple sunset on the first day- great for slapping some colours on and seeing how they mixed and blended. I found them much the same as normal oil colours.. except for the novelty of using water to wash the brushes in and for thinning the paint when necessary. Took me almost all week to get over that little amusement. Having produced a sunset I was happy with I let it dry overnight and put a very dark purple silhouette of some trees onto it the next day. The drying time is somewhat shorter than normal oils, but I was still able to work on the wet paint for about a day before it started getting a little too tacky. It dried to the touch in about 3 days and by the end of the week the sunset was completely dry with the paint well set.

The trees didn't take very long to do so I spent the rest of the day drawing up a camel and rider for the next stage in playing with the new paints - something with a little more detail and precision. In 2008 I visited the Pyramids of Giza and took many photo's and some video of the camels and riders... I loved the look of them.. almost regal in a way.. so I had in mind a painting or two.. hence all the photo's. Now was the time to paint one. The background was done on Thursday and I decided to go with a strong dark colour to make the camel and rider stand out against it. The original reference has too much clutter behind and the colours were very light making the subject disappear into the picture. I want this piece to be about the camel particularly and so the background needed to be simple yet have movement in to reflect the camels movement and my choice of colours came from the blanket under the camel's saddle. The camel was started on Friday - hindquarters first. The front of the camel was done on Saturday and the blankets and camel bridle with pompoms on Sunday.

Since getting back home after our AIR stint ended on Sunday, I have been looking at and mulling over the dark hindquarters of the animal. It was worrying me. So I spent some hours on the internet trawling through countless pictures of camels and reading camel information... seems the camel I photographed is very unusual. Of the, what must be hundreds of, pictures I viewed I found only two or three photo's of a camel with darker hind-quarters than the rest of the body.... and some info regarding the old tradition of killing camel calves with dark hair mixed in with the lighter hair. Maybe this is why camels tend to be one colour over the body whether it is white, blonde, tawny, brown or black. They had been selectively bred to be of one colour.

SO....... though my colouration is accurate to the original animal.. it is not typical, from what I can see. Therefore for the painting make more sense to the viewer, I will now re-paint the hind-quarters to look like a normal camel. Whilst looking through all those photo's I also decided that I will add a few more decorations to the camel's attire and the suggestion a visitor made to cover the rider's face is growing on me. A few had commented that the background looks like a swirling dust storm that the camel is emerging from... so covering the rider's face would enhance this suggestion... liking this idea more and more.

Myself with Frances and Linda

Despite missing the "normality" of doing my AIR week with Julie, I had a great time with Frances and Linda, both of whom are lovely, happy and fun ladies. We laughed so much during the week and by the end it was strange to think that we had not been friends for a long time. Great week- the company, weather, visitors, venue and food - all superb. Thanks to all.

Artist in Residence - Nature in Art

2010-10-02T17:35:00.003+01:00

I am busy preparing for next week, when I will be at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire as one of the Artists in Residence from Tuesday 5th October until Sunday 10 October.

This year I shall be sharing the studio with another good art friend, Frances Deakin and I am looking forward to a week of drawing and painting, meeting new and familiar faces as well as her company.

If you are in the area we would be very pleased to see you if you fancied popping in. The Museum has a very nice little coffee shop where, as well as snacks and beverages, they also do lunches.

I am also giving a talk (on Monday evening) to the Wallsworth Art Group on my work as the Wildlife Illustrator at Bristol Zoo Gardens, so I'm looking forward to that also.

Please click on the title of this post to go to the Nature In Art website for more information on the Museum.

Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School Part 2

2010-08-07T12:54:00.003+01:00

By the end of the week I could play a little with the wax myself so I did a couple of demo pieces.

The first is just a pattern idea and the lioness could have done with another colour "layer" before I put the darkest tone on, which is a little too dark for my liking. Ah well...

I may use both as a book cover for a large hardback sketch pad I have - one on the front and t'other on the back.

Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School

2010-08-07T12:39:00.020+01:00

This was my third year tutoring batik at this wonderful event and yet again it proved to be another great week of creativity, fun and food. I mention the food, as it the catering as always was superb with lovely meals and cakes throughout the week.

Jenny, Del and Hazel returned for another week’s worth of “punishment” with me (their third year each – are they mad?), it was so good to have them back in my class – not only from the social aspect, but their creativity is a delight to see. They came armed with ideas and knuckled down to produce some fantastic pieces. Having been on this week with me in two previous years they knew what they were doing and yet again amazed me with their productivity and creations.

Two new ladies joined us, Shirley and Gill, neither of whom seemed too sure of what they had signed up for; but they tackled the challenges full on and I was really pleased with how they progressed. Shirley had a plan to create some patterns for her patchwork quilting and she produced two large pieces that we all loved, but were dismayed that her plan was to cut them both up into smaller pieces! Gill came with a great attitude of no matter what happened she was going to give it a go and enjoy herself… I think she achieved that. And for someone who was sure she was not at all creative or could not draw… what she produced dispelled that theory for me. I think she surprised herself and it was good to hear her say that at the beginning of the week she never thought she’d produce what she had by the end of the week.

I could not decide which of their pieces to post, so I have gone with all of them.

Thank you to the ladies of my class for being such a fun bunch to spend a week with around hot wax pots and noisy hairdryers, for coming to my class and for being so generous.

Creating distance in a painting

2010-08-06T16:46:00.023+01:00

My general method of working on a painting tends to be a progression from the ‘distance’ towards the foreground. Rather like a stage with a backdrop and scenery in “layers” coming towards the audience.

So I start, in this case, with the sky and use three subtly different tones of blue. Working wet into wet I put a warm dark tone (French Ultramarine and a touch of Alizarin Crimson into the Titanium White) to the top coming down to the cooler mid-tone (Cobalt Blue and Titanium White) with a very pale greyish-blue tone (French Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson and Cerulean Blue into the White) at the horizon; blending the colours with a soft filbert brush so that there is no ‘noticeable’ banding. The effect is quite subtle and although it will not be immediately obvious to the eye, it will help create a sense of distance to the horizon. I finish off the sky using a ¾” soft Mop Brush with the lightest of touches – barely touching the paint – but just enough to “feather” out any visible brush strokes. By softening my brushstroke lines I create a smoother feel to the paint and in this case makes the sky appear seamless and distant.

I paint in the hill whilst the sky is still wet enabling me to get a soft join of sky and land, as a strong hard edge of the hill against the sky will bring it ‘forward’. I want the hill to also look distant, so I need the colours to be muted and the detail to have a soft focus look. I use a base of Titanium White and add Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine and Alizarin Crimson to get a brownish mauve for the right hand-side ground colours and shadows and add Gamboge, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna to white to get creamy colour mixes for the more sunlit left-hand side. When I mixed my sky colours I made sure I had more than I needed for the sky, as I want to use them in my hill colours too. This helps “tie” the two together to create unison in colour tone and aids the hill colouration to look distant. Using a Size 4 Round watercolour brush I roughly block in the lights and darks of the hillside. Then I go over again paying more attention to building up the textures within the colours, sunlit and shadow areas before I add the vegetation.

For the trees and bushes I use mainly cool bluish greens made from Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Cadmium Yellow Hue and Yellow Ochre with a few warmer greens here and there made with the same blues but more of the Yellow Ochre and a touch of Burnt Sienna. For the vegetation highlights I used the pale creamy ground colour and a pale peachy colour made from Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson and Yellow Ochre. Again I use the sky mixes in with my colours to get the unity in the tone of the painting.

Tip - As I paint around the elephant forms I take care not to have any thickness of paint or ridges. If left, when dry and the ellies colours are added, this will distract from the feel of the elephants being in front of the landscape.

For the thin strip of water at the base of the hill I use the sky colour but add more French Ultramarine to darken it a little more. At the far water’s edge I blend in a thin line of brownish blue with the greens of the reeds to indicate shadows and a touch of white blended in towards the front (bottom) edge of the water to indicate the light sky reflected. Coming forward of the water I start with the greens of the vegetation and reeds making them slightly darker than on the farther edge… again all to add a sense of depth.

As I move forward from there towards the line of the elephants’ feet I use white, Gamboge and Alizarin Crimson to make the greens paler and warmer, so the vegetation appear drier. I am not putting in any detail but using the brush strokes and colour to indicate form and texture. Once past the lush vegetation at the water’s edge I use more peachy/pink, mauve and cream/beige colours in with much paler greens to add warmth and help create a look of parched, dry grasses and land.

I add the shadows cast on the ground by the animals using a purple-brown colour and adding greyish green and pale blue to indicate lights and darks within. Although the shadows are thin lines adding a few fluctuations in tone and colour breaks up their starkness. I work downwards on the canvas (coming forward in the scene) in stages; sky, hill, vegetation, water, vegetation, soil and grasses until I reach the elephant’s feet.

After each stage I use the Mop Brush as before with just the lightest of feathering sweeps over the wet paint. This keeps detail to a minimum, gives a soft focus effect and smooths out any ‘light-catching’ ridges and bumps in the paint that might draw the eye and distract from the sense of distance I want to achieve.

Now onto the elephants themselves and where the real fun starts. By this time several days of work have gone by and the background is mostly dry so good strong edges to the animals can be created. The creams and peachy/pink colours I used for the dried grasses and ground colours I now use as the highlights for the animals. Elephants often are similar colours to their environment as they use the soil to mud-bathe and dust themselves with.

The soil in this part of Amboseli is very light in colour, so the tops of the ellies reflect this. The lower parts of their bodies (and the whole of the youngster) are darker, indicating that they have been in the marsh and the lighter soil has been washed off. The tide line is about mid way up the adults’ sides, so the lower parts of the elephants are darker greys. The colour mixes I used for this are a dark and a lighter purple mixed from French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson mixed with some of the sky blue and a little Titanium White. A darker purple brown is used for the shadows. And a mid and a light tone warm grey and a bluish purple-pink (a pale warm grey with cobalt Blue and Alizarin Crimson added) is used for the main body. The shadows for the animals are much richer in colour and warmer in tone than those in the vegetation behind them; this brings the animals forward in the scene and distances them from the hill and land behind.

The first animal I paint is the one furthest away and has the most light on it, so it will set the tone for the rest. I carefully block in, starting with the darkest shadows of the underside of the body and head and tops of the legs. The mid tone grey covered the rest of the legs and body. Using the darkest purple brown I mix it into the wet mid tone grey on the lower half of the body and the pinkish blue on the upper part of the body leaving the top of the back, shoulders and head for the pale cream and pinkish landscape colours. I blend the colours into each other moulding the body using the brushstrokes to go in the direction of the wrinkles and ‘round’ the animal’s form.

Again the detailing on the animal isn’t great it’s mostly implied. Being aware of the direction of brushstrokes when creating the wrinkles and moulding the body is key to the effect. Using a brush loaded with a darker or lighter tone than is on the canvas and drawing it through the wet paint creates lines, which easily imply wrinkles. Adding a few high and low lights emphasises the effect.

I add in a few touches of a mid green that was used in the landscape on the bottom part of the body and upper legs… not too much, just a hint. On the legs, particularly nearer the feet, I add a pale mauve into the dark shadows to imply reflected light from the ground. On the parts of the legs catching the light I add a little of the pinkish mix and a touch of pale blue on the feet to make the bottom of the legs look dustier than the tops. Once finished, I use the Mop Brush again to soften the colour blends, but then go back over to add one, or two, more defined lines. Once the paint is dry, I use a dry brush stroke to gently go over a few areas of the body and legs with a few of the colours previously used to add a bit of rough texture to the skin.

I painted the elephants one at a time in the same way, working from the furthest to the nearest one, but making the tones slightly darker on the nearest animals, again to bring them forward and create a bit of space between them and the animals behind. For the foreground I again kept the detail loose as I want the focus to be on the elephants and any sharp detail in front would draw attention away from them. The colours are the same as I have used throughout for the grasses and ground but I added a little more burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson to the mixes to strengthen the tones and therefore bring them forward in the painting. I also used a Size 0 Rigger brush to flick in some longer grasses. The bleached branches and twigs have the purples and pink tones from the elephants and cream tones from the ground.

Once I had finished painting the foreground I took a long hard look at the painting as a whole and decided to take out several of the dead branches as it looked too cluttered and also added some dust kicked up by the elephants. The dust was added once the painting was dry and using dry brush strokes I scrubbed an uneven thin application of the pale mauve and pink mixes around the feet and then used the Mop Brush to soften and lift out any areas of too much paint.

And that, as they say, is that. Painting done and I was pleased with how it came out. I really enjoyed doing this one. Of course there are always bits you feel you could have done better/differently but then us artists are rarely completely satisfied with our work and are usually our own worst critics.

Ambling by Observation Hill

2010-08-06T16:28:00.005+01:00

Back in May I posted a bit about an article I did for the Artist and Illustrators magazine. I promised to post an more in depth article here on how I created depth in the painting. My apologies that it has taken me so long to post it... I hope it's a case of better late than never.

I have split it into two parts.... as it really is quite long. This post is about the inspiration for the painting and the start.

"Ambling by Observation Hill"

The Inspiration

This was a commissioned piece of work, with the specific request that it will help fund a trip for me to go to an elephant conservation project in Botswana with the aim of raising funds for their research by having a future exhibition of my paintings of the area and animals in it. Elephants were requested, which I was very happy with, as this seemed the natural subject choice.

For this painting I wanted a calm, relaxing scene of elephants just going about their daily lives with a bit of interest in the landscape, but not too much as I wanted the focus on the animals. I recalled a visit to Amboseli National Park in Kenya some years ago where the landscape was mostly flat with a few hills and of course the magnificent sight of Kilimanjaro across the border in Tanzania. I loved the colours in the pale soils and drying grasses, the varying light of the sun on the landscape at different times of day and the contrasting richness of vegetation and greens of the marsh areas.

We saw many herds of elephants and had some wonderful sightings, mostly just going about their daily lives unperturbed by the “canned” humans in their smelly, noisy metallic cages. When the engines were switched off and everyone fell quiet… the sounds of the landscape filled the senses. As I write this I find I am closing my eyes and reliving that wonder. A truly wonderful place... and that was the feeling I wanted to convey in the painting.

The Start

I watched my video recordings and looked through my many slides and photographs from that trip looking for ideas of landscapes, references for the elephants and remembering the feel of the place - colours, sounds, smells, temperature of breeze etc. I chose not to do Kilimanjaro in the background - wanting instead something more personal to me and also to the client, whose daughter (now a very good friend) had been on that very same trip. Observation Hill fitted in perfectly with my “vision” for the painting compositionally and personally – our little group had a picnic breakfast on the top of it one morning, looking down watching animals move by… including elephants. So I hope that when my friend's father looks at it, he sees not just a hill in the background but a place where his daughter has stood and enjoyed a great view.

I spent sometime drawing up the elephants to try to get proportions and the animal anatomy to my satisfaction. And then transferred these to separate bits of tracing paper to play with the composition of the grouping, abandoning several proposed elephants from the group, until I found something that seemed right and would “flow” across the canvas. Then I played with the landscape moving the position of the hill around, up and down, left and right, bigger and smaller until it fitted my ellie group and canvas shape. Once happy I made a final outline drawing on more tracing paper and then transferred it to the canvas.

After drawing in the elephants in more detail on the canvas I applied a thin wash of purple acrylic over the surface. By coating the canvas with a thin wash of acrylic I not only fix the pencil to stop it lifting and mixing into the paler colours as I start painting but it also takes away the dreaded expanse of whiteness that can be intimidating to start painting over. My colour choice of the wash depends the final painting, I try to use a colour that “grounds” the final piece – for this one it was pale purple but for another painting I might choose, sepia, burnt sienna or an orche colour wash.

What I used

Canvas - 24”x12” stretched cotton medium grain
Paints - Oils: Windsor & Newton - Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Hue.
Van Dyck Ferrario – Gamboge.
Acrylic: Windsor & Newton – Windsor Violet, Burnt Umber, Crimson.
Brushes –Sizes 1 and 4 round watercolour, Size 0 Rigger, ¾” Filbert, ¾” Mop
Artists White Spirit
For this piece I used oils ‘straight from the tube’, without any other medium such as linseed oil or Liquin (I never use the former) and apply it in a thin opaque layer. My oil brushes are a mix of watercolour and acrylic, both old and new.

My Palette of colours!

Sketching morning

2010-06-05T18:13:00.005+01:00

Now that I have got over the initial flurry of work at the zoo, I can now start up my 'training' sessions again. The zoo is keen on staff developement, but it is quite tricky for me to train at art specific to my job at the zoo... I can think of quite a few workshops etc that I could do to improve my art, but that is not related strictly with my zoo job... alas! So my boss and I came up with the notion of my training being free sketching mornings once a fortnight. This is so that I can go sketch what ever I want, rather than what I need to do for an upcoming job. The freedom of this is wonderful.

This week I decided.. as my primate drawing skills have always been a little rough.. that I'd go sit in the Lemur Walk-through enclosure and try and get something done in there.. it helped that it was a lovely warm day. So I sat for just under 3 hours in the delightful setting of the enclosure watching mongoose lemurs and ring-tailed lemurs... and, of course, sketching. I was pleased that despite a long gap on my sketching mornings, I did a lot better than I had expected.

When I know I have a few hours for sketching.. I pick on one animal subject and concentrate my focus there. Flitting between several species rarely makes me feel like I've achieved what I want from the process of a sketch. I want to try and learn/understand how they move, sit etc and it takes a good few hours of observation and sketching for me to feel as though I've given myself that chance to achieve my goal.

Once I've got myself settled in front of my subject I start with some time spent purely observing.. taking in mental notes of their form, behaviour and where they like to be doing certain activities. Then I usually start with quick thumbnails of just a few lines to get the feel of body shape and how limbs, head and tail relate to it. Then I start adding more - I rarely go into great detail 'til much later in the session, if at all. Then I might pick on a feature (such as hands and feet) and concentrate on trying to understand the form of that.

Here's a couple of pages from that morning's session with the lemurs.

Two of my latest zoo paintings

2010-06-05T17:31:00.006+01:00

Thought I'd do a couple of updates about what I've been up to at the zoo since April, when I started back after my 3 months off.

As usual there was the checking and replacing of faded and damaged ID signs as my first priority and then it was to set about the rather large pile of ID requests waiting for me on the desk!

First one to be done was a painted colour image of an orange headed thrush, then a detailed pencil drawing of a yellow mongoose head which was particularly enjoyable to do.

And then a series of fish were painted... Flier cichlid, white striped catfish, tinfoil barb and I'm almost finished on a kissing gourami.

This is the white striped catfish.. I'm really pleased with this one as it started out quite badly but I dug my heels in and persevered. The difficulty of this fish was to make it look shiny.... I'm told I have achieved this but I'll leave you to make your mind up. This is a closer view of the fish, many times bigger than the original... look closely at the body and you'll see the range of colours that I have used on this shiny silvery grey/white fish to try an achieve the glistening shine.

I paint a heavyweight watercolour paper with a black... a black that does not come staright out of the tube. I find tube blacks tend to look a little 'dead' so I liven a lamp black up with Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine. I then transfer the outline of the finished fish drawing onto the black and use a series of thin base coats to start building up the body of the fish. I leave all the fins including the tail til after I have finished the body.

In the case of this fish I used a bluish grey overlaying with thin coats of greenish grey, yellowish white, and washes of darker blues and greens. The patterning is a dark purple/mauve intermixed with a more 'foggy' dark blue.
With dry brush strokes I brush pinks, yellows, pale greens, mauves, light blues across the body.. this is to try and replicate fractions of light hitting the smooth body of this particular fish. As a finish to the body I use a small amount of white, knocked back a bit with yellow, to apply in dry brush strokes to create the highlights and with a thin bluey white wash I paint over the fish to 'round' the body, in particular its head and underside.
Once I'm satisfied I have the body as good as I can get it, I put on the fins. This is generally done with a thin wash of a pale blue and stroked in in the direction of the rays and structure of the fin. I add lighter colours to accentuate the rays and more 'fleshy' areas of the leading edge and base.

The copyright on these images belongs to Bristol Zoo Gardens.

Artists & Illustrators Magazine; Masterclass Feature

2010-05-08T15:10:00.007+01:00

I was recently asked if I would like to do the Master Class article for the June issue (out now) of the Artists & Illustrators magazine. This particular issue is a Wildlife Art Special with contributions from a number of prominent and famous wildlife artists, so I am particularly pleased and proud that the editor asked me to do the "main" feature for this section of the magazine. My painting even made it to the front cover, albeit in the small circle under Wildlife Art Special... but tis there all the same.

When I got the email from the editor I was just starting a new elephant painting, a commission, and I had already been taking step by step photo's of the progress with the idea of doing a stage by stage piece on this blog. So it seemed the natural thing was to carry on, but have the magazine in mind also when taking the photo's. The only thing was.. could I finish the painting, sort the 70 plus photo's I took AND write the article in time! I had only a couple of weeks and to my surprise and delight, I managed it.... just!

The magazine version looks at how to paint an animal in a landscape and being a little "typing happy" I found it hard to keep my words down to the maximum they required.

Despite, or because, of the challenge I thoroughly enjoyed doing it and am very pleased with how the magazine has presented the article. So, now that the magazine is out I can now post another version of a step by step of the painting - this time looking at how I created depth in the piece and I shall probably whitter away to my hearts content. So hopefully I will be posting that very soon.

New addition to my Links

2010-01-30T17:15:00.002Z

At long last my very good friend, Julie Askew, has now got a blog page. If you've not seen Julie's work before, please follow the link and discover her amazing talent... I highly recommend a look.

Apart from being one of my closest friends; it was Julie that introduced me to teaching art on ships, something for which I shall always be grateful to her for. In 2002 and 2003 she took me along as her assistant whilst she worked as art tutor/presenter on two 3 week and two 5 week 'sections' of the world cruises with P&O. As a result of those trips (and the two I did as a tutor myself in 2008 and 2009), I have seen much more of this planet than I ever dreamed I would get to see. Such fantastic experiences and memories that I shall treasure always.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T17:13:00.002Z

It's been a while since my last post and so I thought as it's the first day of the new year and indeed, the new decade, I thought I ought to get typing.

To all my regular visitors, those that pop in occasionally and the 'one-timers', thank you for stopping by over the past year. I must strive to try and post more over the coming months, a new year's resolution perhaps; I got a little lax towards the end of 2009.

I have no cruise trip, working or otherwise, to look forward to this year but with fingers crossed and wind in the right direction along with a little organisation from me, I have at least one exciting project I'd really like to get off the ground on. So I will keep you posted on whether or not that is likely to happen and then if it does, the progress of it all.

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, if you celebrate it, and that your New Year celebrations haven't resulted in too much need for recovery or have dampened your spirits too much today.

Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010 for us all.

Many thanks
Su

Getting the elephants into print

2009-11-01T20:54:00.003Z

In October I took the elephant painting to a digital printer in Clevedon, SkyBlue Digital, to get limited edition gicleés done of it. Because of the painting’s dimensions I didn’t want to reduce the image too much from its 36”x11” size as I fear it would lose it’s impact; so the first proof will be at a slightly reduced size. Once I see that, I can decide whether I would prefer it to be full size or not.

The process has started and I have now seen two different proofs over the last few weeks and have decided the slightly smaller size is fine, but some colour changes needed to be made and some shadowing from paint ridges ‘knocked back’.

My fourth visit to the printer’s has resulted in another wait for another colour proof. Whilst the other anomalies have been corrected, the one of the colour of light on the elephants remains. I’m hoping the printer can get it from the whitish colour, at present, closer to the warm yellow of the original oil painting. I am being a bit pedantic about this as it’s an important aspect of the painting in that it sets the time of day and the lighter colour makes the painting look too light and changes the mood of the piece.

Hopefully my next visit will be the last, except for when I return to collect the finished batch of prints.

Summer School

2009-08-30T16:44:00.015+01:00

20 – 24 July 2009

This was my second time as one of the tutors at the ‘Arts & Crafts Summer School’ held at Beaufort Community School in Gloucester, England by the Gloucester Arts & Crafts Group. Over the week a mix of 2, 3 and 5 day workshops are held covering all sorts of art and craft skills such as calligraphy, botanical art, pastels, oils, chair making, mosaics, glass engraving, beadwork and willow weaving to name but a few.

Once again I had a 5-day batik workshop to run and although I only had 4 students booked for my workshop it worked well as each student therefore had plenty of room to work in and around the waxpots. Three of the ladies, Del, Hazel and Jenny, were with me last year; it was lovely to see them again and as we now know each other that bit better it was great having them feel that they knew me well enough for a bit of fun and banter. Carol was new, so whilst I could pretty much leave the other ladies to forge ahead with their exploration of batik, this meant I was on hand to help her as much as she needed as well as do a couple of projects myself in between.

We started the week on Day One with basic skills of using the wax, brushes, tjantings (batik pens) and the silk paints. Those who had previously done batik with me had the option of cracking straight on with their own projects or refreshing themselves with the step-by-step basic exercises.
They opted for the latter and said they found it very useful as there were some important or useful tips/techniques that they had forgotten.

On Day Two I took Carol step-by-step through a pansy head design, whilst the others started their own projects. Carol was finding it tricky getting her head around the technique (as do most who are new to the medium); throughout the week she battled on bravely and produced some lovely pieces to take home. She did very well and I hope she enjoyed her first foray into batik, her last piece in particular showed great promise should she wish to do more.

It’s not unusual to find the medium hard to understand and think your way around at first; I have found that the ratio is about half and half between those that seem to pick it up straight away and those that need time (like a few days) to work it out. It can be difficult to understand the technique and process, particularly when approaching a piece of work more involved than a couple of colour and wax applications. An understanding of colour mixing helps enormously and being able to think of a picture in reverse and in ‘layers’ when ‘painting’ helps too. I find a 5-day workshop is great for those new to batik as it gives them time to get to grips with the medium and learn to understand the process and then when the penny drops they are ‘away’ and can have real fun with it. Doing shorter workshops of one day or even two days is pretty full on and there’s far too much to take in and get your head around if you are finding it tricky. Once the penny does drop it’s like an ‘Eureka!’ moment, and I love to see that happen and then see what the student produces after that.

Day Three, Four and Five the ladies concentrated on their own projects taking inspiration from images they found in books or their own photographs. Here's some of their work from the week.

Del, Hazel and Jenny were very productive, as I expected them to be having done batik before and it was great to see them getting more adventurous and experimental with their batiks. Salt was used quite a bit this year as they played with the differing effects you can get with both fine and coarse grain salt crystals.

Whilst everyone was busy and not requiring my immediate attention I did a couple of little projects to show them the sort of things you can do with batik to make them into something more than a picture to frame. I pinned two pansy head batiks to a cushion (perhaps I should sew them into a proper cushion cover!), did a chameleon batik on a cotton bag and made a ‘wrap round’ for a lampshade. I wanted to give them ideas and think beyond the square of cotton they were working on. Hazel took up the challenge of a bag with a lily head and I hope seeds of ideas have been planted for possible future use into all of their minds.

Elephants of Amboseli

2009-08-23T21:46:00.004+01:00

This is my latest painting, I have provisionally entitled it 'Waiting for the stragglers'.

Oils on canvas on board - 36" x 11" (92mm x 28mm)

During a stay in Amboseli N.P. Kenya in 1999, we observed these elephants for sometime. They were some way off, but heading in our direction so we stopped and waited. I got my camcorder focused on them and just let the film roll and roll. I love to capture movement and behaviour, something obviously that can't be achieved with just a photograph. Re-watching the footage back home enables me to study the movement and behaviours and the sounds help to evoke memories of temperature and smells; stirring my senses. This all helps me to try and get the feel of the moment so that I can hopefully paint the scene better.

A little way off from us they stopped and I wondered if we were the reason - were we in the way? Should we move on? Pretty soon it was clear that they were, in fact, waiting for more elephants to join them, scattered individuals approaching slowly from far off on their right. Once they had all caught up the elephants moved off together, seemingly after the big elephant at the back moved first. Was she the matriarch?

They unhurriedly made their way towards us, all was quiet in the morning sunshine. A few birds could be heard and the occasional insect buzzed by, but hardly a sound came from the elephants. As they got closer, and with all in the vehicle in hushed awe and wonder, you could just hear the footfalls and sound of skin rubbing against skin as they walked. The littlest ones trotting to keep up at times with the huge languid strides of the adult females. It was truly magical. The only alien sound to ruin it were the whirs and clicks of our cameras, but that was inevitable as we were all trying to get as many photo's as we could.

At the time, as I recorded the video, I was thinking.. one day I'm going to paint this. And finally I have. I started the painting last year and as I have not been able to paint it continuously, it's been done in dribs and drabs. It's good to finally get it finished.

With any luck I shall get prints done of the painting and I would like to sell the original piece so that I can put a good portion of the money towards my Africa fund, to enable me to get out there and paint more elephants for the Elephants for Africa Trust.

Zoo work update

2009-07-19T13:00:00.009+01:00

I returned to working at the zoo after my annual break of three months (in which I concentrate on my own art work/tutoring etc) at the beginning of April.

A new exhibit called Explorer’s Creek has opened in the centre of the zoo that incorporates a ‘splash’ play area for toddlers and two walk through aviaries… indoor and outdoor. Although these two aviaries incorporated species we had before, there were some new ones to do and on top of that the identification signage was to be presented in a different style. So my first job back was to work on the computer re-jigging the bird signage template to fit the new style. I also had some new species to paint, none of which I was able to see in ‘person’ as they were not going to be on the zoo premises until just prior to the exhibit opening. They included sunbittern, java sparrow, common sharma and rainbow lorikeet.

Not all was straightforward; I had several reference queries I had to sort out prior to painting and having just internet searches to rely on inevitably threw up a range of questions relating to plumage(adult/juv, breeding/non-breeding) and markings depending on race and sub-species. I spent sometime to-ing and fro-ing in communication with keepers trying to pin details down. Had I been able to see the birds for myself, all my questions would have been answered very quickly. But, hey ho, that’s the way it goes sometimes. All good fun when the time scale is tight.

After the manic four weeks of the new exhibit prep I then went on to paint a lobster (European)… this guy turned out to be the most difficult critter I have done yet at the zoo. It took me at least a dozen attempts to draw all the intricate bits and pieces around his head and mouth-parts in the correct proportions. This species was on show, a big old boy called Mr Snappy. Trouble was he had a dark hideaway and I either saw the front end of him or the rear… hardly ever saw him as a whole. So I arranged with the keepers a ‘photo session’ for when he was fed on a day of the week when I was at the zoo. Then I had to be quick with the camera as he tended to dash out grab the food and retreat to munch away happily in his den.

The zoo is heavily involved with the annual event in Bristol called the Bristol Festival of Nature. The Education Dept at the zoo hosts a tent and for this year I had a little job to do for them… I had to paint a mobile phone. Gotta be the strangest ‘species’ I have done in my work for the zoo yet!!
I had a wooden cutout, 30 inches by about 14 inches (76cms x36 cms) on which to do a straight copy of a mobile phone image they had. I used emulsion paints and a work colleague used the vinyl cutter machine to create the letters and numbers to go on the keys and screen. Finally several layers of varnish were put on and it was done.

I like my job... I never know what I’m gonna paint from one week to the next.

Then I had a six-banded armadillo to paint… the zoo has a pair on show in Twilight World… and getting photo’s in there was pretty impossible, but I did enjoy going in with them for a short time, donned in a natty white quarantine suit, wellies and gloves. One came over and nudged me a few times on the leg as I crouched down to try and get photo’s from their angle. I ended up using Archie, the armadillo they use in the Amazing Animal demonstrations. He’s still being ‘trained’ (the show animals only display natural behaviours… no party tricks or such like) so he was a little unpredictable still… would he stay munching his tid-bits long enough for me to photo and take a good look at him? Thankfully yes.

I’m now working on the revamping of the Aquarium identification signage. All these signs are backlit and we used to be able to produce the signs for the lightboxes in house… but now in the digital age the old photographic process we used is no longer viable so we now have to use an outside print company. I have rescanned and photoshop adjusted all of the fish, invertebrate and coral images, which was a few weeks of intense eye work on the computer. Now, having re-jigged the Aquarium ID template to suit the new format, I am inputting pictures and text creating new ID signs ready to be sent to the printer.

So far this year I have done very little illustration… most of my time, it seems has been on the computer. I have a stack of illustrations sat waiting for me to finish the Aquarium stuff... marbled teal, a new mantid, a splendid leaf frog to name but a few. And who knows what the rest of the year will bring.

Batik donated to Elephants for Africa

2009-06-12T13:03:00.002+01:00

Last weekend I popped along to the annual Bristol Festival of Nature event. My first stop was to the marquee housing many conservation organisation stands. Elephants for Africa, who I have mentioned in previous posts, were in this marquee and I was delivering one of my batik pieces to them in the hope that they can use it in whatever way they see fit to raise some funds for their work with elephants in Botswana. Dr Kate Evans, who is the founder of the charity, hopes to auction it off at a fund raising event sometime in the near future.

And in case you have no idea what batik is... by applying hot melted wax to a surface (in this case, cotton) a 'resist' is formed. This enables colour to be painted/dyed over the entire surface and the colour 'takes' only where the surface is free of wax. In this way, by applying successive applications or 'layers' of wax and colour, an image is created... the more layers of colour and wax the more complex the image. In this case over 20 layers/applications of colour and wax were used.

Batik workshop with TWASI

2009-06-11T21:46:00.007+01:00

In the latter part of last month I tutored a batik workshop for The Wildlife Art Society International. Their annual exhibition was held at The Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire and they organised a few workshops to run in conjunction with the exhibition.

I had seven ‘students’ in my ‘class’, all but one or two of which were fellow artists and as such they had a good grasp of colour mixing etc so it was just a case of getting to grips with the medium itself… as they were all new to it.

After having a quick try out on a small frame to get used to the equipment and techniques, they had, by lunchtime, progressed onto the big frame and their ‘proper piece’ of batik. The process, technique and understanding of how to create an image is a lot to take in and to get a finished piece done in one day is a big ask of them. Unsurprisingly there were one or two that didn’t ‘click’ with the medium til late in the day. This I always expect and try to reassure those students that it will come in time. It can be really tricky to get your head around the process and whilst some can ‘fall’ into it straight away, there are many that struggle to understand where they are going with it at first. I realise how disheartening and frustrating this must be and so I find it most rewarding when I see ‘the penny drop’ with them and suddenly they’re away and enjoying themselves much more. But for some it may take several attempts over a few days (this is where a 5-day workshop really comes into its own) and trying to push them in one day is unfair and I feel for them the frustration of not being able to do what they would like to achieve. There was at least one lady who felt she didn’t get to grips with it but I hope despite that, she had a good day and what she did produce she can be really proud of.

In the group there was one man, and his wife and cousin (who were also among the students) were most impressed that he used the iron (to remove the wax at the end of the process)… apparently something he normally stays well clear of and so photographic evidence was taken! What a thing to do to a guy!

At the end of the day they all produced some fabulous pieces and one student was so keen on this new medium that she went away with details of what to get and where, to have a go herself at home. Fantastic... a convert! She had been looking for a medium that suits her style of working and had so far not found anything satisfactory… but she was very enthused by the batik. So I hope she has fun exploring the medium at home and it turns out to be what she’s looking for.

As I knew most of the group it was particularly lovely to spend the day with them playing with arty stuff and hopefully they had as much fun learning about batik as I did teaching them. Here’s some of their work…..

April's WWT Slimbridge visit

2009-04-30T13:27:00.006+01:00

Recently I visited WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire to view the current art exhibition on display in the Cheng-Kim Loke Wildlife Gallery there. My friend, and fellow artist, Marion and I are to have an exhibition ourselves there in 2010, so we plan to take a look at each exhibition prior to ours to see what’s selling and what’s not, the range of prices, prints and ideas of presentation etc... a bit of market research, if you like. We did the same for our last exhibition there in 2006 and it proved very useful to us.

Also the plan for the day was to go out in the grounds and get some sketching done. Unfortunately we could not make it an all day visit as Marion has to get home for her children after school… but in a way it helps having the shorter time span, as it focuses you on the task in hand. So after looking around the exhibition and taking notes we set off around the various outdoor areas to find a spot to sit and sketch.

Weather-wise it was a beautifully warm sunny day and we were not keen to go in a hide where it would no doubt still be chilly at this time of year. We found a good spot in the Australia area…. Kind of fitting since we’ve not long returned from that part of the world on the cruise. Marion sat and did some watercolour sketching of the backdrop of trees of the lake area, whilst I settled on a bench not too far away with my binoculars and camera at the ready.

I had in mind that I would concentrate on just one species and the Australian wood (maned) ducks – Chenonetta jubata, caught my eye that day.

I use the binoculars to help me get in close to see the subject better for sketching and with the camera I take a number of photo’s for future reference, should I wish to one day draw or paint the subject properly.

When I sketch I try to spend as much time observing the subject as I do actually drawing it. This helps me understand how it moves and what regular body postures it adopts. I can also study its form and take mental note of where the legs join the body, where the features such as eyes and, in this case, beak are placed on the head. I’m learning the anatomy and form of my subject by looking very intently at it. Then when I come to put pencil to paper I already have an idea of where I should be drawing my lines.

I am not trying to do a detailed study of the animal… I’m basically taking notes to learn its shape and form. Sometimes I just sketch part of the animal like the head or foot. I use shading purely to suggest form and try to keep it to as few strokes as possible.

So I end up with a lot of barely-started or half-finished scribblings…. And that’s fine because they are all part of my learning process of the subject.

Drawing workshop

2009-03-24T13:52:00.000Z

On Saturday 21st I tutored a drawing for beginners workshop organised by Mandy Leivers of The Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project (AGDWP). Everyone who had booked turned up so we had a full room of 17 people, which gave me a really nice group to work with. There was a mix of abilities from beginners to the much more competent, which makes for an interesting class.
After the necessary teas and coffee to start, Mandy did a brief introduction and then I quickly ran through some drawing techniques. I just had a short time to do this so that they could get onto the practicalities of drawing as soon as possible.
When I do a workshop with AGDWP the aim is to highlight the wonderful area and wildlife of the Gorge and Downs; which is just a few minutes walk from the zoo, where the AGDWP is based and where we also hold the workshops. Usually a workshop is divided into time spent walking or sitting up on the Downs or viewing the Gorge to get inspiration and time spent indoors doing the art activity. But today with the focus on wildlife, although there is plenty of wildlife there, it cannot be guaranteed to be on view long enough or close enough. So today we were staying in the classroom with the option in the afternoon of going out into the zoo to sketch either the native species that can be seen around the grounds or the exotics of the zoo’s collection. We had the use of a number of stuffed mammal and bird specimens that were kindly on loan to AGDWP for the workshop by the city’s museum. Mandy had specifically chosen the species to reflect what can be seen around the Gorge and Downs; so we had a badger, fox, hedgehog, squirrel, barn owl, jay, green woodpeckers to name a few. In the morning we practised our drawing skills on them and to help prepare them for life sketching in the afternoon I gave them the challenge of speed drawing exercises, which really makes you focus and if done regularly can hone your eye and hand to looking for and drawing only the important and necessary lines for form.
After lunch most opted to go out in the zoo grounds, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, to sketch and draw. Several stayed in the room, with me, to continue practising on the ‘non-moving’ subjects. By 3pm everyone was back for a refreshing cup of tea and piece of cake whilst we had a ‘viewing’ of what everyone had done that day. As I walked around looking at their work I was pleased to see stronger more confident drawings and hope that they all went away from the day having learned something, however small, that will help them with their drawing and sketching in future.

Cruise Trip on MV Oriana

2009-03-14T18:29:00.002Z

It’s been about two weeks since I got back from my cruise trip. I had hoped to post a couple of entries during my trip, but obviously that didn’t happen. So I shall attempt a run down now. Um… it’s a long one, so I hope you are sitting comfortably!

As I mentioned before I am one of P&O’s art tutors that they engage on short-term contracts. I work at the zoo for 9 months of the year enabling me to take a cruise contract between the beginning of January and the end of March. I have done this for the last two years. Last year I went on my own but this year I took a friend and fellow artist, Marion, as my assistant.

This year I was contracted for a 5-week trip starting from San Francisco and ending up in Hong Kong.
Our first Port of Call (PoC) was in effect San Francisco, but after being awake for over 24 hours for our journey from the UK, by the time Marion and I were clear to leave the ship (after safety drills, paperwork etc) we were way too tired and could only muster the energy to sink into our beds. So we didn’t get to see the city or us sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge around midnight!

So then we had 4 days at sea, starting my art class on the first one. This year I had one class every sea day and it was later in the afternoon, which meant that for most days Marion and I could relax and enjoy being on the ship.

I started the class off on drawing. There are many different ways of approaching drawing and I showed them a couple of techniques that I use and have found beneficial to students, particularly those who are unconfident with or new to drawing. These are drawing with shapes (I have covered this a few times in my posts on here), using negative space to place, more easily, protruding features like limbs and heads, and alignment lines to check the positioning of different aspects of the drawing.

Honolulu was our next stop and Marion and I went scuba diving. I had never been before but had always wanted to do it. Unfortunately things didn’t go well for me and I was unable to do a dive. A childhood fear resurfaced to such a degree that I panicked and couldn’t control my breathing to be able to go under. This is something I will conquer another time. My friend Marion did a dive but suffered badly from being unable to equalise the pressure in her ears. So, not a terribly successful day for us; but I wouldn’t have missed it, as it was still quite an experience.

Then we had another 4 days at sea and in the classes we progressed our drawing, it was amazing how quickly most of them improved in their application and confidence. Did a few speed drawing exercises with them, which they seemed to enjoy. Then just before the next PoC I demonstrated painting with gouache. Most of them hadn’t used the medium before, some had never heard of it. But once they had seen how versatile a medium it was I think they were keen to have a go with it.

Then we were in Tutuila, American Samoa which seems to be referred to a lot by the main town on the island… Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango) By now the temp had gone up to the mid 30’sC and around 90-95% humidity. Very toasty. Marion and I had a fantastic day with a taxi driver called Vasco; who despite his car conking out on the steep hillsides in the bid to get us to see a seabird colony and fruit bats gave us a wonderful day with his humour, friendliness and interesting info on his people and the island. We saw bats - just not in the original place we intended, had a lovely scenic drive along the coast (once his car had recovered from overheating), saw a fab little beach and cove with no-one else around but a female tropicbird feeding her chick and a kingfisher. Great day… lovely people the Samoans.

Then 1 day at sea. It should have been 2 really by the calendar, but as we crossed the international date line from east to west, we ‘lost’ a whole day. So for us, the 8th of February just didn’t happen, we went from midnight on the 7th straight to the 9th! The class got started on a painting of a landscape in American Samoa on that one sea day. I was taking them through it stage by stage; painting and explaining consistency and colour mixes as I went. And so that there was no hurry, I had planned that this project would take about 3 classes.

The following day we were in Fiji. Marion and I had paid to go on a passenger tour to ‘Beachcomber Island’ It was about an hours journey by catamaran to the island and it was beautifully idyllic. Like we had arrived in paradise. For Marion and myself the day was spent snorkelling in the warm shallow clear waters around the island. We saw heaps of fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, a coral reef and 3 foot long reef sharks that swam round us, checking us out. Such a fantastic day!

After Fiji there were 2 days at sea where we continued with the landscape in art class. Some are finding it difficult to overcome the watercolourists’ habit of using the paint very thinly or washy. Which is how watercolour should be used, but gouache can be used thick so that it is opaque and you get its best qualities then.

Then for the next two days were were in New Zealand – Tauranga and Auckland consecutively. These days were spent mostly shopping as the ship hadn’t got any stock of gouache on board and I was fast running out of the small supply I had taken. So the search was on to find some gouache… easier said than done! But we got a few tubes in the end in Auckland. Hopefully the ship was able to get some ordered for us. So, Tauranga - we wandered the shops and harbour area along the sea front to a small park and Auckland we did the shop run in the morning and in the afternoon headed out to the gannet colony which is on the mainland! We had met a tour operator/guide called Paul and he was just great. We had another fantastic day with him, such a great chap. The gannets were awesome and I can’t begin to tell you how many photo’s were took of them between us!

After Auckland we had 2 days at sea where the class started another paint along project.. this time to try fur techniques. So I got them painting a portrait of a New Zealand Huntaway dog. Again this was to be worked over several classes.

Then we were in Sydney and we had such a full day here. First we went to The Rocks to do some shopping, then we went for a half hour ride on the chauffeur ridden Harleys (www.easyrider.com.au)… Sooo much fun and thrilling! Then the afternoon was spent in the Botanical gardens getting a heaped dose of our wildlife fix with the birds and fruit bats (flying foxes) there. As evening drew in (the ship was here til midnight) we went for a meal in an Italian restaurant before going back to the ship and collapsing happy and tired in our beds.

The next day was at sea and they finished the dog off in class. By now there are just a few still not in the habit of using the paint thickly.. and some were already starting to really get the feel for the paint and were doing some lovely work with it.

Then we were in Brisbane. Marion and I took the sea-cat ferry along the river into town from where the ship was moored. We walked through the Botanical Gardens there, such a beautiful place and then over the Goodwill footbridge to the South bank where we walked along to the next bridge that took us across to Queen Street. A fabulous meal in a Chinese restaurant sated our huge appetite after our 3 hour walk and then, restored, we did a little shopping.

Another day at sea followed Brisbane and a new project for the class. This time, using the gouache wet into wet and then using a different brush technique for doing grasses.

The day after we were supposed to go to Hamilton Island in the Whit Sunday Island group on the Barrier Reef. But apparently they didn’t want a big ship in that day, so we went to Airlie Beach on the Australian mainland instead. At Airlie Beach the ship was anchored off shore and we were ferried in on catamarans, from the PoC. Marion and I walked from the wharf where the catamaran dropped us along the Bicentennial Walkway to the Lagoon. This was an artificial pool area made so that you can swim safely at this time of year when the waters along the coast are rife with not so friendly jellyfish. We spent the day just sitting back and relaxing here. We’d had a few busy PoC’s and felt the need to basically do nothing much. However there was plenty of interest there as the place was buzzing with birds – friarbirds, white-breasted wood swallows and figbirds to name just a few.

Overnight we sailed north and the next morning we were at anchor again, this time off of Yorkie’s Knob. From there Marion and I split up for the day. She went white water rafting on a trip organised by the ship and I went into Cairns on the shuttle bus service provided and ended up at t Cairn’s Wildlife Dome. This was a glass dome at the top of a building housing a casino. In the dome it was planted out with tropical rainforest plants and had various bird, reptile, mammal and insect species from the Australian rainforests. Got some lovely reference shots of birds we had seen so far in Australia.

The next day we were at sea again for just one day and the class finished the painting of the long grasses, some added the serval that was in my original painting. They are by now coming on leaps and bounds with the paint. Some are still persevering and unsure about it but there are also some definite converts.

The following day we were in Rabaul in New Britain, which is a long thin island off of the east coast of Papua New Guinea. This was an awesome day too… the volcano was putting on a very dramatic show of smoking and was extremely impressive. However, once on land the reality of the consequences of such a spectacular sight are brought firmly home as you witness how the locals have to live with it. They were lovely cheery people seemingly abandoned by their government whose long held promise to evacuate them still hadn’t happened since the volcano’s last eruption in 94. Asthma was rife amongst the people, especially the children and it wasn’t hard to understand why as the fine ash from the smoking volcano fell constantly and covered everything around. Dry ash as fine as talc powder was lifted into the air with each footstep and vehicle that drove by. The vegetation and trees looked yellowish and ‘sickly’ and though the market had lots of food, we were told that has to be brought in as it was as good as impossible to grow any crops around the town of Port Simpson, which was where we were.

Then the last 5 days were at sea and in class I had given them free rein to paint what they liked. There’s nothing more inspiring than painting what you like to paint. So now that they had grasped the fundamentals and were running with it, it was time for them to go it alone. Marion and I were on hand walking round the class helping and advising when needed. This is the most rewarding time for me, as I can see the improvements individuals have made. Their enthusiasm for what they are doing is great and I feel really proud that those who had not been very confident, were more so now. And it’s all down to them and their willingness to give it a try and persevere.

Then we were in Hong Kong and were flown homewards, only glimpsing this city from the decks of the ship and through the cars windows as we were taken to the airport.

Marion did a great job as my assistant, it was her first time on ship and she suffered a few days from motion-sickness when the seas got a little choppy. Other than that she had a great time, I think.

What a fabulous trip we had. We had some amazing times in our Ports of Call; unforgettable times both ashore and on the ship. There were some crew and passengers that I had met before on the ship and it was really lovely to see them again. The ship herself was, as ever, a beautiful place to spend 5 weeks and I hope one day to go back. At the moment I don’t know when that will be, if ever, as some things have changed beyond my control. So sadly that might have been my last teaching cruise. It’s not quite my last time on a P&O ship as my friend Julie and her fiancé Hans are getting married in July and are taking a few close family and friends on a short cruise at the beginning of July on Artemis. So I am looking forward to that in many ways.

Up coming workshops for 2009.... so far

2009-01-13T10:50:00.004Z

I have three workshops booked so far for this year… if you are in the area and would like to find out more please go to the relevant links in my Links list on the right of this page.

Drawing workshop
21st March
A beginner’s guide to drawing wildlife
Spend a day with Bristol Zoo’s Illustrator Su Lees. Discover simple skills and techniques to make your wildlife drawings come to life.
Suitable for everyone, including the artistically challenged!
Held in the Education Building at the zoo.
Please contact Mandy Leivers at the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project – see Links list.

Batik workshops
28th & 29th March
A two-day workshop for those that have tried batik and want to improve and for those that have never ‘had a go’ before, here’s your chance in the wonderful, friendly and inspiring setting of the Museum.
Please contact the Nature In Art Gallery and Museum - see Links list.

20th - 24th July
The Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School
A 5-day workshop, for beginners and improvers. The Summer School also has many other workshops (2,3 & 5 day) covering a diverse range of arts and crafts.
If you are interested in my workshop or any others they might have during the week, please leave a message in my guestbook and I will send you the contact details for the organizer.

Up—coming Cruise

2009-01-12T14:37:00.001Z

Yup! It’s finally come round! My second time as art tutor on a cruise ship starts on 27th Jan when I ‘join’ the good ship ‘Oriana’ in San Francisco. Only this time I shall have the company of my good friend, Marion, who will be my Assistant to help me in the art classes. Of course those that know me, or remember previous posts on this subject, know that this isn’t the second time I shall be cruising the high seas…. I was myself an assistant to another good friend of mine, Julie, back in 2002 & 2003. So this will actually be my 6th time on the magnificent ships of P&O.
The trip is 5 weeks long and takes us from San Francisco to Honolulu (Hawaii), Tutuila (American Samoa), Fiji, Tauranga and Auckland in New Zealand, Sydney, Brisbane, Whit Sunday Islands and Cairns in Australia, New Britain (Papua New Guinea) and finally Hong Kong, from where we are flown home.
Quite a journey and the first time for my friend Marion on a cruise ship, so she is particularly excited. I can’t wait to show her around the ship and I wonder if her face will be as mine was on my first meeting with the big white ships… all agog!

My job onboard is to teach drawing and painting to the passengers, which we shall be doing every ‘sea day’(that is – when we are not in port). I am looking forward to meeting the passengers I have met before again and, of course, some new passengers.

What I am finding quite surreal is that my friend Julie (and her fiancé Hans) will be joining the ship as we leave it, to take over as the art tutor for the last 5 week ‘leg’ back to the UK. When I did my first cruise trip as her assistant in ’02, I would never have imagined such a situation. Yet here we are, a few years on, and it just feels a little strange… but good strange. Because of the opportunities she gave me to travel as her assistant and her encouragement (bordering on bullying!), Julie has introduced me to a bigger world, both for work and travel… I thank her so much for that.

I shall endeavour to post ‘ship’s logs’ during our journey, as I did last year, and in my Links list you can find the ship’s webcam; so, if you wish, you can see where we are on our journey… and maybe even catch us standing in front of the webcam!

Christmas commissions

2009-01-11T14:12:00.008Z

I had two commissions to do for Christmas presents, and have been reluctant to post any pictures of them until after Christmas as I wanted to make sure the recipients had received their gifts. But because things have been so busy I haven’t been able to get round to putting the post here until now.

The ‘lion up a tree’ was lovely to do… lovely because it was a big cat and it seems far too long since I have painted one. So just that fact alone made it enjoyable to paint. I really did enjoy doing this guy…. he looks just so relaxed. It was also pretty straightforward technically, as the commission remit was to reproduce a photo taken by the person who was to receive it as a present; although they didn’t know it was coming.
It was painted in oils on canvas (16”x20”). I did a little enhancement here and there; mainly bringing more colour and form to the lion and tree branches and created more depth, by ‘knocking back’ the background by ‘misting’ it over slightly with a pale translucent glaze. I also shifted the composition slightly up and left of the original photo, so added more foliage and branching to the right and bottom of the image to make up the missing sections.

The other commission was technically a wee bit harder and challenging. The commission was for three dogs from separate photo’s to be made into one picture. I had to try and judge the animal sizes in comparison to each other and also the images of the dogs, in the photo’s I was to work from, were quite small with little detail… particularly on the black dog. Sadly, all three animals are no longer alive, so I could not see them for myself to get an idea of character and get better reference. Consequently, the painting of them was quite a challenge.
Painting pets is quite tricky, as your perception of an animal can be so different to the owner’s. Also the animal may react and hold facial expressions and body postures with you that are so different from when it interacts with its owners. So trying to portray an animal as the owner saw/sees it can be very difficult.

The painting was done in gouache on watercolour board and I used the background from one of the photos to set the scene. Due to the few photos that I had and their ‘quality’, I had to rely on them heavily for the dogs, as I had less scope for artistic manipulation than if I had many photos and had seen them myself. I had a few German Shepherd pictures in my dog ref file, and used them to help with some of the detail; although I had to be careful as each dog, obviously, looks different. I arranged the dogs in a composition, taking their stances directly from the original photos. I drew each one up separately then scanned them into the computer to play with composition and size comparisons. When I had something that I felt was comfortable, I printed them out to size and transferred them to the finished backdrop. The outdoor photos looked overcast, so I added more light than they gave me, both on the dogs and the landscape, to liven and warm the painting up. Finally a bit of improvising with the foreground grasses and it was finished.

Slimbridge Winter Festival

2009-01-10T13:43:00.003Z

What a cold weekend that was! But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I met some lovely people... fellow stallholders, WWT staff and visitors alike and I did better on the sales than I was truthfully expecting. Nothing astounding financially, but very welcome all the same. It was lovely to have several previous buyers come and say hello as they passed by; some I had met before and a few I hadn't, so it was especially nice to 'put a face to the sale', as it were.

There was quite an array of lovely things to cast one's eyes over on the other stalls... yummy food, hand-made confectionery, toys, jewellery and craft items, to name a few. I would recommend a visit if you are local to Slimbridge Glos, next year... there were some great ideas for presents and a lady there sold the best mince pies I had ever tasted!

From a shopping point of view it was very productive for me... through the kindness of a fellow stall-holder who kept a watch on my stall whilst I went 'browsing'.... I managed to get one or two Christmas presents, including one for myself, which my parents were then to take charge of until Christmas Day! It was a necklace and a perfect match for some hand-made ear-rings I had been given.. how could I walk away and leave it there! So now it awaits the up-coming cruise to have its first official wearing.

Christmas and New Year Greetings.

2009-01-10T13:42:00.000Z

Sorry that I am posting this after the events, but things have been a mite hectic work-wise for a spell.
I hope that you had a good Christmas with plenty of Festive cheer and goodwill and that your New Year was seen in just as you wished. May 2009 bring you health, happiness and harmony throughout.

Slimbridge Winter Festival 29 & 30 November

2008-11-27T10:18:00.006Z

Something new for me this year is the Winter Festival at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Glos. Not having done anything like this before I’m looking forward to the new experience this weekend.

It is a shopping fair with stalls displaying a wide range of gifts, food and drink and arts and craft produce. I shall have a stall in the foyer of the entrance and shall have cards, prints and a small selection of framed and unframed originals on sale.

Here are some of the unframed originals I shall be taking with me.

Barrow's goldeneye - pastel

Black swan cygnet - charcoal sketch

Grey squirrel - pastel

They were each done from reference I had gathered at Slimbridge WWT a few years ago as I was preparing for an exhibition I did there with my good friend and fellow artist, Marion Kardasz.

Talking of which......

Future exhibition

Just recently we were given confirmation that Marion and I shall have another exhibition in the Cheng-Kim Loke Wildlife Art Gallery at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre in the early summer of 2010. It may be a way off, but it’s not a great deal of time to get a good amount of extra new work ready, over and above the exhibitions etc that we normally submit work for…. so we shall have to fit turbo’s to our brushes!

Oil painting workshop - 7th November

2008-11-22T12:58:00.013Z

This workshop was held in Hempsted, just outside of the city of Gloucester. An enthusiastic and friendly group greeted me, which were a mix of ‘never used oils before’ to those that were much more familiar with this medium.

Aware of the varying degrees of familiarity of this medium I started with a quick introduction to various techniques that can be used, before doing a quick demo by painting a little African landscape for them. I had done a 'test run' of this wet into wet demo piece before the workshop, which you can see below on the right.

At home, it took me about 40 minutes to do. I used a gouache sketch (above left) I did in situ in Swaziland as my source of reference, as this was already simple and uncluttered with detail. The idea behind it was to show how I used oils when working wet into wet fairly loosely and it would help show some of the techniques, I would go over that morning, actually being used to create an image. Also that a reasonable image can be achieved quite quickly; which when I'm watching a demo, I always find inspiring... and I wanted to try to do the same and inspire those that had not used oils before.
The one I did in the workshop (lower right) took a little longer as I was chatting a lot as I painted and turned out a little differently as I find it hard painting from the side of my piece rather than in front.... but some in the workshop preferred this version.

I also took along some 'work in progress' pieces so they could see examples of underpainting, using coloured grounds, building an image up, working wet onto dry, blending etc.
It was good to hear afterwards that some of those that had used the medium for years learnt new techniques and those that had not tried oils before because they weren't sure they'd like the medium, were inspired to do so.

Then it was over to them to paint their own piece of work for the rest of the morning and afternoon, whilst I wandered around helping out when needed. A day is often never enough to get to grips with a new medium, it's kind of like a 'taster'. I have found that people who have used watercolour for years and therefore normally paint in washes of colour, find it hard to switch instantly to paint opaquely. Applying the paint thickly enough so as not to see the canvas underneath is not 'natural' to a pure watercolourist and goes against all they have been taught before; it's just a matter of getting used to doing something another way and hopefully with a little encouragement and time it will feel more comfortable to do so, should they wish to play more with oils.
When I paint with oil paints I do not use them thickly... I use just enough paint to hid the canvas/board, so it is still quite thinly applied. Not only does this help the piece to dry quicker and make it easier to photograph, but I personally do not like a lumpy surface to my work and try to keep it pretty flat and smooth, if I can. There are times when a little texture enhances what I want to achieve, but it's never very much.
That's one of the great things with a medium like oils... it can be used in numerous ways to create totally different looking finishes to work, so it becomes quite personal to the individual whether you paint with it or just admire a piece of work done with it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and had a lovely day with them all and hope they had a great day playing with oils.

Autumnal silk painting workshop - Oct 25th

2008-11-13T19:33:00.007Z

This workshop was done in conjunction with the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project (AG&DWP) with whom I have done several workshops before and was organised by Mandy, the Avon Gorge and Downs Biodiversity Education Officer as part of her events calendar for the year. It was held in the Education Centre at Bristol Zoo Gardens, where Mandy and her work is based.

It was a one day event held at Bristol Zoo Gardens and we had two aims for the day... Firstly to heighten the variety of wildlife and conservation interest of the area of the Avon Gorge and the Downs (an open space of land for recreation and relaxation in the city of Bristol) and secondly to introduce people to the fun of silk painting.

After an initial brief introduction demo of silk painting we walked from the zoo, where the AG&DWP is based, up onto the Downs where we ambled through the long grasses and amongst the Autumnal trees and shrubs getting inspiration and lots of interesting facts and info from Mandy on the plants and animals of the Downs. We collected leaves, berries and dried seed heads and grasses to take back with us to draw our designs from.

Back in the classroom the next task was to draw a design or image using the various bits that had been collected or from some pictures we had to hand. Then after drawing this onto the silk they applied a coloured gutta, following their lines and even embellishing them in places. The gutta then had to be dried and as the weather was cold and damp and with a short amount of time we used hair dryers to get the gutta as dry as we could before applying the silk paints and creating wonderfully coloured pieces of work.

There’s a lot to fit into a day like this, and despite having such a short time to produce a silk painting in with the problems and constraints this caused; everyone did amazingly well and I was delighted with their results…. I hope they were too.

Many thanks to Mandy for organising a lovely day again and to all the people who attended; it was lovely meeting them all, some not for the first time, and seeing the wonderful silk paintings they created.

For more information on The Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project please click on its name in my links list on the right hand side of the page.

Wildscape magazine

2008-11-12T08:07:00.002Z

I am currently writing an article to go in the Wildscape magazine sometime next year, possibly in the late Spring/early Summer issue. This article will be about my job as a zoo wildlife illustrator. I love writing and it has been quite a trial to keep the wording down, whilst trying to explain my job in an interesting and informative way….. it’s not quite as straight forward as I thought.
As it’s for a wildlife art magazine, an important element must be the art side of the job- what I’m required to do and how I go about it what mediums, techniques, constraints etc that I use and have. But as almost half my time is doing other jobs and not illustrating, I need to cover them as well to explain my job fully. And of course I can’t leave out the animals - the experiences I have had during the years working there with them. – I could write a very long feature just on that alone!
So there seems to be so much to include..... but with a limit on words it's challenging deciding what to keep in or take out.

The Wildscape magazine is a UK produced wildlife art publication available only by subscription. Their website is in my links list on the right hand side of this page.

Artist In Residence at Nature In Art 18-24 August

2008-11-10T15:48:00.003Z

Our week as artists in residence went very well, Julie and I had a lovely week catching up with each other and meeting regular and new visitors, which is always great fun.

Because of all the chat, I didn’t quite finish the ellie painting, as was my goal... I still have quite a way to go, as you can see below. But nevertheless I was pleased with what I had achieved.

Here's me hard at work trying to look like I was concentrating and serious, as Julie takes the photo!
This painting is now on hold as I get two commissions done for Christmas.

Artist in Residence at Nature In Art

2008-08-18T08:51:00.003+01:00

After a couple of weeks of preparation – printing and packing my greetings cards, flyers, labels and stuff… I’m setting off for Nature In Art in Glos today. Although this wonderful place is not open to the public on Mondays; artists’ in residence usually set up their work and arrange the studio to suit their needs on this day, so that they are ready for the visitors on the Tuesday morning.

Again this year I shall be doing my 6-day stint with my very good friend and fellow artist Julie Askew. During the week we are put up in a lovely farmhouse B&B about 3 miles away, which I always look forward to staying in. I kind of look upon this week as a bit of a holiday… well, more like a busman’s holiday really. I shall be painting every day, intermingled with a lot of chat to the visitors and my friend of course, but the general atmosphere of both Nature In Art and the B&B is very relaxed and calming.

The plan is to get on with the elephant painting I am in the middle of. I had some very favourable reaction to it when I was a stand-in artist in res last Friday at the same place. It is of a group of elephants walking towards the viewer in a long postbox format composition, set in Amboseli, Kenya.

I saw the scene in 1999 and took about 15 mins worth of video of the ‘action’, because at the time I knew I wanted to paint it someday. Now that day has finally arrived and it’s taking me right back to that time and place, each time I work on it. What a lovely feeling that is. I doubt I will finish the whole painting, but it would be really nice if I could get all the ellies painted in this week…. that is my target. I shall post a piccie soon of it to show you, hopefully when there’s more of it to see.

Artist in Residence

2008-08-15T08:24:00.002+01:00

As I write this I am shortly to leave for sunny Gloucester today. I am spending the day at the Nature in Art Museum and Art Gallery as a 'stand-in' artist in residence, as the chap doing his stint there this week cannot be there today. So, as a last minute thing, I was asked if I could be there just for today so that there was someone for the visitors to see and talk to. Of course, like a shot, I said yes... it's a great opportunity to be there to paint and meet people.
So I am looking forward greatly to spending a day working on my ellie painting that I have recently started. let's hope I get to finish this one as the last two I have started are still waiting for me to get round to finishing them!

I am at Nature In Art all next week, from Tuesday, doing my own stint as artist in residence, with my good friend and fellow artist Julie Askew.

National Exhibition of Wildlife Art- 18 July- 3 August

2008-08-12T19:25:00.001+01:00

During the exhibition I kept an eye on the website and the online gallery of work, as from there I could see which paintings had sold each day. As the exhibition wore on I was becoming a little more resigned that neither of my two pieces would sell. However, I am pleased to say that the very welcome sight of seeing the bold letters SOLD, where the price had been next my heron painting, greeted me on checking the website one evening.

It's always a thrill when a painting sells and although there can sometimes be a little sadness when a certain piece goes, it's not too much - as you paint with a mind to sell, as bills have to be paid. There is one painting that I will never sell - it's of a very cherished cat that came into my life and enriched it beyond words - and that stays on my wall at home.

I kind of liked this heron piece; when I looked at it I could still feel the cold January air on my face as I watched the bird hunt slowly and carefully, moving across a very brightly lit patch of water into the almost black reflected shadow of a dogwood bush. It was a reminder of a perfect end to a lovely, though very chilly, day spent at WWT Slimbridge, Glos.

But I'm glad that it has found someone whose appreciative eye persuaded them to buy it. I wonder where it has gone?

The image can be viewed in the June 23 2008 post

Gloucester Summer School 21-25 July

2008-08-08T09:37:00.007+01:00

From the limit of an hour and a half at the Art in Action workshops, I was positively basking in luxury with the prospect of a 5-day workshop. And it was something I had been looking forward to, for over a year.
This week-long event has been held annually for 28 years and was another ‘first time’ for me. It should have been my 'second time' doing this event, as I was to tutor here last year, but the awful floods in Gloucestershire at the time, meant the whole event had to be cancelled for the first time in all the years it has been run. Thankfully, despite not having a great summer weather-wise so far, the rain did not fall like the deluge of 2007 and everything went ahead as planned this year.

Having 5 days meant I could take time to go through the basics with the students, which was an unbelievably lovely feeling and would benefit them enormously. Rather than trying to rush people through the preliminary stages, so that they could get on with their finished piece, I could set a series of exercises to familiarize them with working with the melted wax, brushes, tjantings and colour over the first 2 days. On Day 3 they had moved onto trying their hand at 'flying solo' on their first ‘proper’ image, and then once they had done that, they were free to do whatever they liked.

I had a lovely bunch of 7 ladies to start with, two of which had been to previous workshops of mine. As was usual for this event, throughout the week, students from all the workshops tended to wander around in their tea/coffee breaks and lunchtimes to see what everyone else was doing and perhaps to decide what they might like to try the following year. As a result of this, another lady joined my group on Day 2; she had decided to swap workshops to have a go at batik.

‘My ladies’ were a fantastic group, of whom it was a pleasure to meet. They were great fun and coped with my sense of humour and teasing admirably. As several of them have been regular participants for numerous years, they also looked after me very well for my first time at the event.

Doing workshops such as these I find I get much enjoyment out of seeing them progress and achieve and always find I end up learning something too. The results, of having such a wonderous amount of time to spend as one workshop, showed in the work produced and those that were not picking up the concept straight away had time to go at their own pace rather than having to rush. And those that were getting on well could try a bit of experimenting, which was great to see.

Though it was a relatively relaxed week for me, it was quite a heavy week for them - doing batik in a more pictorial style demands a lot of concentration and planning and I did feel for 'my ladies' when they compared how tired they had felt at the end of each day. But their enthusiasm and eagerness rallied them through and I hope they felt it was worth it.

Towards the end of the week, as I started putting their work up on the wall for all to see, I found I was smiling a lot. There were some fantastic images produced and I was really proud of what they had done and I hope ‘my ladies’ got as much fun, enjoyment and benefit from the week as I did. Several of the designs could be made into very nice cushions and, indeed, one lady in the group demonstrated how great they could look by spending two of her evenings turning two of her batiks into lovely cushions. I think this was a great inspiration for the rest of the group.

The event is held at a school in Gloucester, which is taken over for the week and 25 workshops were held there, either as 5 days or 2/3 days, this year; covering a diverse range of arts and crafts including whittling, botanical art, calligraphy, chair making, glass engraving, stained glass, mosaics and lace making. I had been told that this was the first time that batik had been one of the workshops offered. Or perhaps they meant that it has been a long while, as I find it hard to imagine in 28 years no-one has done batik there before. Anyway, I hope to be able to go back and do another workshop at this event next year; signs are good that I may be able to, as there seemed to be a lot of interest generated and enquiries made for another batik workshop.

Whilst I had looked forward to this event, I also had a fair amount of trepidation of how I would fair over 5 days, knowing how exhausting a 2-day batik workshop can be. But I found having the week meant the pressure was reduced to get them through everything and produce a finished piece of batik, so the experience was a lot more enjoyable and almost relaxed. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and I'd like to thank my friend who told me about this event - opening up this opportunity for me, the organiser for taking the chance and booking me as a tutor and lastly, my lovely group of ladies who made the week so very enjoyable.

Art in Action 17-20 July

2008-08-07T21:45:00.003+01:00

This annual event is held at Waterperry Gardens, near Wheatley, Oxon, UK. It has been going since 1977 and attracts thousands of visitors who go to see the demonstrators and take part in any of the practical workshops of fine music, dance, arts and crafts and perhaps to buy some goodies too.

This was the first year I had ever been and I went under the banner of The Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery, who were there for their second year. I gave two batik workshops on the Friday, which were well attended and drew quite a crowd, both times, who stopped to watch.

It was challenging to come up with a format for adults lasting just an hour and a half. Most people who turn up to workshops have not done batik before or ‘had a go a long time ago but done nothing since’. So not only did I need to go over the basics of just what batik was and how the process worked, but there is the concept of working backwards on your image from the highlights first through to the dark tones in what I call a ‘suicide method’. If you go wrong… there’s nothing you can do to correct it, especially in such a short amount of time. This concept can ‘drop into place’ instantly with some people whilst others it takes longer and until you get a grasp of this, batik can be a complete frustrating mystery.

So I had to try and think of something that could be done easily and quickly, but was fun and colourful as a finished piece… something they would be happy to take away. I decided not to bother with tjantings, as they can take a while to master, so with time against us, I selected a few choice brushes and the plan was to get them to do a simple design of leaves or flowers.

The first hiccup we had was the electrics. There were only a couple of sockets and so a hunt was made for extension leads. The second hiccup was that all the sockets, and hence extension leads, led back to one source of power. So that we didn’t risk blowing a major fuse somewhere and causing a heap of problems for many other people who were relying on a power supply, I had to limit the electrical equipment I could use. I had 3 waxpots, an iron and 7 hairdryers… far too many items, so we cut back on the hairdryers… this meant the process of drying was greatly slowed as the people who participated had to wait in turn for the hairdryers. Adding to the drying problems was the relatively cold damp weather we were having. Consequently, we didn’t get as far along in our colour layers as I would have liked them to have achieved in the time we had during the morning session. So for the afternoon’s workshop I revised the project and we managed somewhat better.

The space we had to work in was rather compact for 7 or 8 people trying to work on batiks, get to hairdryers and the iron around the table. But everyone was great and mucked in dealing with the situation very well and seemed to enjoy the workshop. I hope they went away having had a bit of fun, learnt something and had with them a finished piece of work they were proud of.

Although I had a few hours between workshops I didn’t get round to looking at the rest of the marquees and tents, apart from a sculpture tent. This was quite disappointing as I'm sure there was lots to see and take in. I was also greatly disappointed to find I missed out on the Pimm’s tent… if only I had known it was there…. but perhaps that was just as well.

NEWA submissions

2008-07-15T20:37:00.005+01:00

Today I got the news that two out of three of the pieces I submitted for NEWA (National Exhibition of Wildlife Art) have got through the selection process. They are 'Hare and Hedgerow' and 'Great Expectations'. Images of these paintings can be seen in the earlier post of June 23 after the 'up-coming workshops' write-up.

The NEWA website (link in right hand column of this page) will show the entire exhibition online, after midnight Thursday 17th July. The exhibition itself opens to the public on Friday 18th in Liverpool, UK. Should you be in the area or likely to visit, details of location, map etc can be found on their website.

Meanwhile....
On Friday I shall be at the Nature in Art workshop tent at Art in Action in Oxford for two batik workshops I am giving there. Then on Saturday, I drive up to Gloucester to set up the classroom ready for the five day workshop I shall be tutoring at the Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School. Back to Bristol the same day, only to go back to Gloucester on Sunday eve to stay at a friend's house for the week whilst the Summer School is on.
I am staying until Saturday evening so that I can go to a talk held by my very good friend, Julie Askew, at Nature In Art. Finally back to Bristol and a day chilling out at home on Sunday before I go back to work on Monday. All in all, tis a wee bit busy this next week or so.

'A Voyage Round the World in Paintings' by Julie Askew

2008-07-09T11:39:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I had the afternoon off from work, so that I could go to London to the Tryon Gallery in St James’s to a book launch and exhibition.

This was a great occasion as it was the work of a very good friend of mine, Julie Askew, and it is her first book… the first of a number, I have no doubt.
‘A Voyage Round the World in Paintings’ is a wonderful collection of images reproduced from her sketchbooks and finished paintings.

The gallery looked splendid with Julie’s paintings covering the walls and adorning the front windows… I felt so immensely proud of her and her achievement.
As I walked around looking at each of her paintings, some of which I had seen before, some only as reproduced images and some quite new to me, I enjoyed the experience of recognizing a few of the places and the instant recall of being stood in that place again, our conversation at the time, the warmth of the sun and the whole day rushed back to my mind.

Having traveled with her on four cruise trips and one African trip I know first hand of her passion to sketch almost every place she goes. Many a time I have walked beside her along some street somewhere in the world, or down some rough track as we explore the natural habitat, chatting away merrily getting very distracted answers… only to find on turning to look at Julie, just a few steps behind, that she is working away furiously with her sketching pen as she walks and not really concentrating on what I had been saying at all. Her ability to see and capture something almost instantaneously always amazes me…. I am quite the opposite in that, personally, I prefer time to take in, study and then sketch my subject. I get more out of it that way both mentally and in the results of what I produce. It’s all a matter of personal choice… I love to watch Julie sketch… it’s marvelous to see, but I would never try to copy that approach, as it’s just not me or the way I work. Horses for courses… and all that.

The gallery was well attended and it was great to meet some familiar faces again and be introduced to new ones. The two hours flew by, everybody filtered away and we had time afterwards to grab a quick drink and bite to eat in a local hostilery. I then had the mad dash back through London on foot and by tube to Paddington to catch my train homeward. Several between station stops by the tube train threw my timings out and I got on my train with just 4 minutes to spare!!

The book is available from Amazon and I recommend it highly… I may be a little bias here, but it really is a fab book and would certainly look good on your coffee table or bookshelf…… and no.. I’m not working on commission….. :~)

Batik workshop with children

2008-06-26T20:46:00.002+01:00

June 19th
Now and again I get to do a workshop in this medium with school children, usually as part of the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery’s educational programme.

I had 34 eleven year olds to introduce to the fun medium of batik for the day. They were split into two groups of 17 and had about 2 hours each.

Our project for the day was to incorporate a design using their own drawing of bugs and fish with using and mixing the primary colours (red, yellow and blue). Several days of preparation included one day of trying numerous ideas/ways to achieve this project within the 2 hour time limit. I finally hit on what I thought would be a good ‘line of attack’ and on the day was pleased to see it worked well, with the kids seeming to enjoy playing with this medium, which none of them had tried before.

This is the demo piece I used.

First we traced our animal onto the cotton then using tjantings (batik pens for drawing with melted wax) waxed in the outline. Next repeating bands of the primary colours were painted onto the cotton with brushes going vertically over the design. The frames were then tilted to allow the colours to run into each other creating our secondary colours of orange, green and purple.

Then the cotton was dried and more waxing done to create leaf and other shapes in the background and patterns on the animal itself. Then more repeating bands of the primary colours were painted over the design, only this time diagonally. Another quick few tilts of the frames got the colours mixing and blending again. Now we had not only the effect of the first application of colour but also the double effect of putting another lot of colours on top (which affect the colours underneath) and also the effects of blending as the frames are tilted. This gave us lots of random mixings of red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple and also where they all mixed together…. the tertiary colours of browns.

It was quite a full on day, but the kids were lovely and well behaved, making it a good fun experience. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Up coming workshops

2008-06-23T22:35:00.006+01:00

Art in Action

Under the umbrella of the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery, I shall be doing two batik workshops at this event on Friday 18th July.
I have never been to this event before, but have known of it for a few years, so it is an exciting prospect for me to be there. And I am looking forward to it very much.

Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School

This is organized by the Gloucester Arts and Crafts Group and will be from 21 – 25 July. There are 2,3 and 5 day workshops available in many aspects of art and craft such as calligraphy, drawing, pastels, watercolours, ceramics, glass engraving, chair making, mosaics and much more.
Last year’s event had to be cancelled due to the awful flooding and problems created by it that the area suffered. Hopefully this year will be far more encouraging weather-wise. Also last year would have been my first time at this event, so I was bitterly disappointed that circumstances prevented me from teaching there.
As I was to have done last time, this year I shall be tutoring a five-day workshop on batik. If you are interested in booking a place, please leave a message in my guestbook and I will send you the contact details for the organizer.

Drawing Workshop – Heron gallery

I have been asked back to do another workshop at the Heron gallery in Bath, only this time it will be drawing. The two-day workshop on 2 & 3 August will be aimed at the beginner, unconfident and nervous artist’s that have trouble getting a drawing going or knowing a easy way to start. I will show the various techniques I use for drawing with much emphasis on the practical. If you are interested in booking onto this workshop please contact the gallery via the link to their website at www.westartpromotions.co.uk or emailing info@ westartpromotions.com

Workshop with BAS

If you have not heard of BAS, you must visit his website, please look in the Links listings to the right of this page. He is an artist of worldwide reknown; a very inspirational artist with an incredible sense and use of colour. I was very pleased and honoured that he asked me to tutor an art course alongside him that will be held October 10 - 12 at the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery in Gloucestershire.
The course will be 3 days and is limited to twelve people. It will be a very creative few days and we very much look forward to your company at this wonderful location.
For details and to enroll please contact Nature In Art at www.nature-in-art.org.uk or telephone 01452 731422 or click on this link http://www.nature-in-art.org.uk/courses.html

Autumnal Silk Painting with the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project

On Saturday 25th October I shall once again be holding a silk painting workshop in conjunction with The Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project. I really enjoy the workshops I do for this project, as it involves a foray onto the Downs where Mandy Leivers, the Biodiversity Educational Officer for this project, takes us on a walk of discoveries. Her well trained and observant eyes find the tiniest of treasures and her enthusiast imparting of knowledge about all that we see is inspirational.
After meeting at the zoo, there's a quick walk up to the Downs to have a look around and gain inspiration with shapes and colours of the Autumnal season before returning to the zoo to do our silk paintings.
This workshop is suitable for everyone, including the artistically challenged. If you are interested in booking a place on this workshop please visit the Avon Gorge and Down Wildlife Project website (See Links list on right) and click on 'Contact Us' for Mandy's contact details.

National Exhibition of Wildlife Art

2008-06-23T22:25:00.005+01:00

I have sent off my work to NEWA and await the verdict on the judging to see if any of them has got in. This year I have submitted these three pieces…

Tutuila - American Samoa - oil

Great expectations - oil

Hare and Hedgerow - Gouache

Bristol Festival of Nature

2008-06-22T16:29:00.002+01:00

7 -8 June

Once again this year I held a workshop at this wonderful event in Bristol. This time I was in a tent/marquee down in the Millenium Square amongst the others; in past years the workshops and talks were held in a building close to the square, which felt quite seperate from the main body of the event.

The two days of the event were perfect weather-wise… lovely and hot, clear cloudless skies and a good feeling of summer with kids splashing about in the water features of the Harbourside area, people walking around in suntops and shorts, ice-creams and music.

My drawing workshop was on the Sunday morning, so had the best part of the day, when it was coolest, to teach in, with the rest of the day to explore and wander myself. There were about a dozen people who came along to the workshop and their ages ranged from children to adults.
I took them stage by stage through the drawing of a red squirrel using the method I have described before in earlier posts; starting with basic shapes to get the sizing and proportions right and then building up on that.

It was only an hour long, so I had to move them along at a good pace in their drawing. Everyone kept up and they all turned out some good drawings. It can be difficult to produce something you can be happy with when you are not only being shown, perhaps, a new way to approach your drawing, but then have less than an hour to actually do it in. So they all did very well. I had some good feedback directly from some of the participants and from the organizers since the event, and have been invited back next year.

For the workshop I had three volunteers who were a great help in getting me set up before the workshop and clearing up after. My thanks go to them and also to the Education Dept at the zoo for assisting me; as ever a great help by storing and providing clipboards, pencils, paper etc and a flipchart stand.

After the workshop I wandered around the rest of the event and was really pleased I didn’t clash with Dr. Kate Evans, who was doing a talk on her research on young bull elephants in the Okavango Delta in Botswana that I particularly wanted to hear. It was a very interesting talk and I could easily have sat there for a longer talk by her on this subject. I urge you to visit the website for her research…… www.elephantresearch.co.uk

The Festival is a great event, with lots of interesting things to see and do… if you live in the area and have never been… don’t miss it next year!

The Wildlife Art Society Exhibition

2008-06-22T15:58:00.007+01:00

This exhibition was held on 23 May - 1 June in a marquee in the grounds of the Nature In Art Museum and Art Gallery. These are the three pieces of work I had showing in it.

It is not a juried exhibition, so I didn't have to wait to hear what had or had not got accepted; the society aims to give equal exhibition space to amateurs and professional wildlife artists alike.

I had intended to submit work so that I could ‘go for’ the top award of excellence in the show, which needs four very specific pieces meeting the criteria of the categories given.
So I changed the Hedgerow painting to fit into one of the categories by adding a couple of hares and the title of the hyenas piece was altered also. However my fourth and final piece, a batik of an Asiatic lion head, went horribly wrong at the 11th hour and I had to withdraw it and myself from that particular award. I was very annoyed with myself as I feel that I should be aiming for this award if I am going to enter this exhibition now. However I was very pleased to find that two of my other three paintings received awards. The hyenas won a silver citation and the heron won the Founders Award, which is for the best piece of work depicting British Wildlife. So not a bad result at all in the end.

I did a stint of demo-ing for two days…. Which consisted on sitting in the marquee painting; the idea being that the viewing public could watch artists work and talk to them. It all helps add an approachable aspect to the show and hopefully encourages people to learn more about art and get painting themselves. I enjoyed those couple of days, meeting other artists and those just interested in looking rather than doing; I got to chat to some lovely folks. Most particularly I enjoyed it as life at the present seems to be such that I get little or no painting done at home. So to sit for two days and do more painting than I have done in the last 6 months …. Was sheer pleasure.

The downer on the whole event for me, was discovering at the end, as I was helping to pack up the exhibition, that one of my prints has gone missing, with no record of a sale!

Greek cove

2008-04-03T10:58:00.005+01:00

This gouache painting was done as a demo piece in one of my art classes on P&O’s MV Oriana. I have posted it here with the same purpose as the lion piece… for the people who started it in my classes to continue to work on their own version, should they wish still to do so.

The photo was taken out of the window of the coach on a trip to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Posiedon. The advice I gave the class was to look at the photo and not try to copy it slavishly, but to simplify it. The knack is to look at your subject, try and understand what’s going on with colours, form, textures and structure and then create an impression of that on the paper. This takes a bit of practise as you need to learn to look and study what you see, rather than think ‘oh, yeah – a rock.. I know what that looks like.’
For features such as the bushes and cliff face, here are a few things to remember.

When you see vegetation, don’t assume it’s just green. Remember the asset of the artist lies in the ability to see what is there, not what is assumed to be there. I mixed colours such as a touch of white, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson into a soft green to knock it back into softer muted tones; as the bushes in this piece are to the back, I didn’t want the colour to be bright – which would bring them forward. Also the vegetation here was dry and dusty, so the colours need to reflect that. I added touches of pale warm browns and browny-pinks to imply this. Observe how the bushes fall over the land; get the general gist of the pattern they create and blob in shapes with a mid tone of your green mix first. Be aware of not making the placements of your blobs (bushes) too regimented or set... keep them random, which will look more natural. Then add the lighter and darker tones to create some form and then warmer browny and pinkish colours to emphasise the dry vegetation look.

For the cliff face and rocks… look at the shapes and colours of the shadows… on the cliff face they’re not the same across the front. To the left they are darker and more pinky-purple. To the right they are cooler and so look slightly bluer. Let your brush strokes be applied in the same direction as the strata/structure of the rock itself. Look at the formation… the shadows emphasise this, so it is important you don’t just block in colour without considering the structure of the cliff face. Don’t get bogged down in details… observe and simplify it with brush strokes and colour. The same with the rocks in the foreground. See how the line of the shadows fall over the surface, where the light hits the top and the shape of the deepest shadows. You don't have to do them exactly how they are, just get the idea of their formation and shape and imply it with tone and colour.. the eyes and mind of the viewer will fill in the rest.

Chandra

2008-04-03T10:39:00.007+01:00

As promised to the attendees of my art class on Oriana, here’s the Asiatic lion (called Chandra) piece we worked on in gouache. This was an exercise in building up layers of colour to create fur and the depth within it. The inspiration for this piece was the way Chandra’s fur waved, curled and fell over his neck; so spend time to take note of the different directions of the fur, how it falls and the colours and tone of light and dark that are there too.

The original was on an A3 board, so don’t limit your movement of brush strokes by painting this too small. Work to a size that you are comfortable with and adjust your approach to the piece accordingly. Don’t work to a large scale and expect to create a detailed careful piece in an hour or so. And remember that a painting can look pretty rubbish and scrappy for 80% of the time it takes to paint it… very often it’s the last 20% of time and application that brings the whole piece together and makes it look like something you set out to achieve.

Block in the dark, mid-tone and light areas with a good layer of colour, so that it covers the paper. Think more emulsion paint coverage rather than watercolour thinness. Using an old brush apply the colour, splaying the bristles drawing the paint thinly over your blocked in areas, working up from dark tones to lighter tones in successive ‘layers’. Use a thinner paint mix for this stage; experiment with how thick or thin you need the paint to make it work for you. You need the paint to flow easily off the bristle tips. Hold your brush at a high angle so that you are just letting the bristle tips touch the surface very lightly. As you are laying the colour down, remember to think not only of the colours but the light and darkness of the fur. If you need help determining these areas, try squinting at the subject to get an image without details; by doing this, what you see should just be more about colour and tone.

If you are having problems… please send me a message via my guestbook and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Exhibition at The Heron Gallery

2008-03-31T14:25:00.008+01:00

Goodness me! Has it been a month since I last posted! Time to rectify that....

I have at present three framed originals and four unframed originals in the World Wildlife exhibition at the Heron Gallery in Weston-Super-Mare, UK. Proceeds from this exhibition will go to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

These are the three framed originals...

'Claus - Up Close' - Batik; this piece was inspired by Claus, the silverback at Bristol Zoo Gardens. He was a very handsome male gorilla and had a lovely face. Sadly he died some years ago and now an equally magnificent male called Jock rules the roost on Gorilla Island at the zoo.

'Zebra Foal study' - Pastel; this little fella was one of the foals we saw in Amboseli in 1999. The reference I used for this was based on some video footage I took at the time and backed up by numerous other zeb foal reference I have gathered over the years. The video gave me the idea and basic form, but was hopeless for anything else as the quality was poor. Hence all the other reference material to help me with colour, details and textures. The foal was sat on dusty ground and grass.... I decided to leave out the grass and go for muted colours and a simple backdrop and foreground to emphasise this restful moment in this little chap's early life.

'Beneath the fever trees' - Oil; again, inspired by the 1999 trip to Kenya, only this white rhino was in Nakuru National Park - a beautiful park with some fabulous scenery. It was one of my favourite places on the trip.

These are three of the four unframed mounted originals....

'White faced whistling duck'

'Magpie goose #1'
'Chinese water dragon'

Sharm El Sheikh plein air

2008-02-23T10:55:00.003Z

During our stay in Sharm El Sheikh, on the cruise trip, I stayed on board. Not having an escort trip lined up, feeling too unsure about going ashore on my own and forgetting to get a form done to enable me to take my camcorder with me, were my excuses. However all was not lost, as with the ship quite quiet of passengers, I was able to sit undisturbed on the top deck and paint the view across the bay.
On the one hand I felt 'guilty' for not going ashore and seeing Sharm again (was there in 2003 on MV Aurora), yet on the other........ I thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit in the sun (despite the fairly cool breeze across the aft end where I was sat) and soak in the atmosphere of being on the ship in far away place and 'get lost' in sploshing some paint on paper.

The painting took bout 2 ½ hours, which for a plein air is quite long enough, almost too long, as the light changes constantly during this time; 2 hours is usually the target, any longer and it can get confusing with the way the light has changed the scene. As it was, I sat and observed the scene for a while, as clouds were moving over the sun on a regular basis, bringing successive shadows on the crags and peaks of the ranges; so I had to decide which phase of lighting I wanted to paint.

The painting was done with gouache on a not watercolour paper and is just about 10" x 4" (26 x 10cms) in size. 2½ hrs is a long time for such a small piece - apart from the fact that I was revelling in being able to switch off from everything and just concentrate on the scene and paint, it took so long because of the waiting for the chosen lighting conditions.
When I paint I'm not trying to copy exactly what's before me... I'm looking to simplify the details and use my brush strokes to create the effects by moving them across the paper in the direction of strata, crags and shadows etc.

I mixed a warm pale mauvey-blue for the sky which I then used as the base for the colours of the mountains. Painting from the horizon forward I added more browns to the colour mix on each step forward in the landscape, taking the mountains through from very pale distant ranges to darker, warmer and closer. However, even my darkest touches are still only a mid-reddish brown and very minimal in use. No black. For the shadowy areas I used a more bluey-mauve colour... nothing too heavy in contrast, application or weight of colour. A touch of that bluey-mauve was blended into the sea to add the cast of colour to tie the scene together.

In this close-up you can see the simplicity of the brush strokes - dabs and splodges... no attempt to get finnicky with details. Observe the general feel of the scene, break it down into simple forms and use the brush to create an impression of it.

This landscape was a great example of recession and I used it in my class on ship when we started on the painting sessions.

New Exhibition/Events listings

2008-02-20T11:35:00.002Z

I thought it was high time I changed the exhibition and events listings over to the current year. My excuse for the delay in this is, of course, that I have been out of the country for a wee while and since I came back I've been under the weather with a persistent cold bug.

As last year I will add to this list as events are confirmed or submissions excepted.
I have several exhibitions I intend to submit for again, in particular the SWLA, NEWA and TWASI events. Time will tell if I.... a) get the work done and b) have my work accepted.

Ships’s log- shoreside date 130208

2008-02-13T17:03:00.000Z

In Kemaman (Malaysia) I was supposed to be escorting a tour on a river cruise through mangrove swamps to a fishing village and a batik centre. Again the promise of good wildlife viewing came to nought, as the tour was cancelled due to one of the river-boats having an accident and being unusable. I therefore spent the morning perusing the wares and buying a few gifts from the stall traders on the jetty alongside the ship. In the afternoon I went for a wander – investigating the patch of scrubland on the land behind the jetty. Found a lovely little lizard that didn’t run away, so I got plenty of video, photo’s and sketches done. Also saw butterflies, dragonflies, crabs, water snails and inadvertently disturbed a bird sat on a nest under a tree. Back on the ship I wrote and posted the last of the postcards I had promised to send to family and friends and then spent the evening having a Guinness sundowner out on deck – the first time I had managed to get to do that this trip!

Vietnam – As I woke very early I was able to get out on the deck just after 6am to see our arrival into Phu My. I missed most of our passage along the Mekong River but the bit that I saw leading up to our berth had industrial land and buildings off the ship’s starboard side and thick endless mangrove swamps stretching to the horizon in all both directions off the port side. Large and small egrets lined the tidal zone in amongst the exposed roots and mud. Our berth was a rather non-descript jetty in amongst an industrial background… pretty uninspiring, especially with the slightly unpleasant whiffy aroma of the water!
Once crew shore leave was granted, I got off ship and bundled myself onto one of the shuttle busses provided for taking passengers and crew to the Vung Tau – a coastal town about 40 mins from the ship.
Mopeds are obviously the favoured transport here… they swarm over the road like clusters of bees buzzing along with one, two, three, four and even five passengers per moped! Whole families sit astride their one moped, kids and babies crammed between the adults, as they pootle along, unhurriedly moving out of the way of horn blasting car and bus drivers.
In Vung Tau the drop-off point was at a hotel complex from where I decided to walk back towards the beach as that seemed as good a destination as any. Any hassle I got from locals trying to persuade me to hire their taxi, cyclo or moped lessened the further away from the hotel complex I got; in the end I could walk unimpeded. Saw two gentlemen from the ship heading in the same direction and we walked together to the beach, where we did the very quintessential British thing and went for a paddle!
The beach is about 10km long and looked full of people as far as the eye could see in both directions. Despite the heat, at least half of them were fully clothed…even when they went in the water! There were colourful kites being flown, big tyre inner tubes for hire and at the water’s edge also saw dead jellyfish and hundreds of long pointy shells, tiny hermit and other crabs rapidly burying themselves in the sand as you neared them.
Sailaway was interesting and showed the impressive ‘driving’ skills of the Officers on the Bridge and the manoeuvrability of such a big ship (69,000 tonnes) in such a small space and in the dark! The ship was basically swung around on a sixpence right up against the jetty. Suffice to say the manoeuvre was carried out very slowly and carefully and took about half an hour to complete. At one point, those of us at the looking out over the front, held our breaths as the bow was swung round, seemingly narrowly missing the corner of the jetty.

The following day, as we sailed up the South China Sea towards Hong Kong, we were in a Force 8 that increased to Force 9 for a while. The top and Promenade decks were closed off and walking around the ship was fun again, although it has to be said for some this kind of weather is not fun.

Our arrival in Hong Kong was early in the evening just about dusk. It was very misty and foggy on our approach and somewhat mysterious as little islands and then skyscrapers came out of the shroud of white like ghostly shadows. At about 8pm the office skyscrapers along the front started their light show - this was a lovely unexpected ‘extra’.
Later that evening I went ashore with some friends who were going to the Night Markets off Nathan Road. What an experience that was! Hundreds of stalls lining roads selling all sorts of goodies like fake brand names for bags, clothing, sunglasses and watches. Electronic gadgets, toys, jewellery, souveniers… and people thronged there in a mad hustle and bustle. We wandered around all this for 3 hours and still didn’t get to the end of it all.

The following day I was disembarking and had lost my voice!! My throat had been a little croaky the previous night but now I had no voice at all. I was so glad I got this ‘bug’ at the end of the cruise and not whilst I was still doing classes. I finished packing and was out of my cabin by noon, to then wait til 5pm to leave the ship and be taken to the airport along with about 9 other members of crew. My flight to Paris CDG airport was at 23.35 and took about 12 hours. I had hoped to sleep on the plane but only snatched 10 mins here and there. Arrived at Paris airport in good time and after a quick freshen up and change of clothes I sat and waited for the flight to Bristol - England. This was due to leave at 09.35 but in the end we didn’t take off until 11.25 as first our plane had to be repaired, apparently, and then the French air traffic controller strike slowed things down. The flight to Bristol was just 1½ hours and landed at 11.33 UK time. Mum and Dad were there to meet me at the airport and drove me to their house for some lunch and chat. Luckily my voice had rallied around a bit by then and I could just about manage to make some speech-like noises that could be understood! Managed to stay awake all day and went to bed about 9pm, by which time I had been awake for almost 48 hours! I don’t even recall my head hitting the pillow.

I woke at 7am the next day. Something was wrong! The ship’s engines had stopped! There was no sound; it was eerily silent and disconcerting with no vibrations or slight juddering from the engines. I opened my eyes and thought it strange that I could see objects…. It should be pitch black in my cabin… what was going on! Then I heard a car go by and the images filtering into my brain suddenly made sense as sleep left my mind… I was at home in Bristol in my own bedroom! That was a very disappointing realisation.

So that’s it for my ‘leg’ of Oriana’s 2008 World Cruise. I had a fantastic time and shall miss being on that beautiful ship. I hope those that attended my classes enjoyed them and learnt something of use for their future drawing and painting. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them all and hope our paths will cross again some day.

Signing off on last Ship’s log for 2008
Su Lees - Guest Ent - Art Lecturer

Ship's log seadate 070208

2008-02-07T13:17:00.000Z

Ahoy there folks!

After Cochin we had 3 days at sea, crossing the Indian Ocean to Phuket in Thailand. The art class are now painting landscapes, using ports of call as our subject matter. Having introduced the class to gouache - quite a few of them are giving it a go and though some struggle to get out of their watercolour technique, they appear to be enjoying themselves. Others have told me that they think it's the medium they have been looking for, as they have been struggling with watercolours. Twice the Captain has visited my class. The first time he stood at the back and listened for a bit - slightly disconcerting for me! The second time he came right in and wandered around and spoke to some of the class.

In Phuket I could have escorted a tour to the bay with all the stack islands... very tempting... but even more of a draw was the chance to go and see some elephants. We anchored offshore and got on 'tenders' (Oriana's lifeboats and two small ferry craft from Phuket) to go ashore- which is great fun. Felt sorry for the officers and crew on duty on the pontoons in charge of this operation, as it was extremely hot and some had to be on duty there all day.
Got ashore and found the oldest looking taxi driver I could find!! Struck a deal (sure I was still ripped off) and got my ride out to an elephant trekking place. My idea was to stay there for an hour or two to photo, sketch and video the ellies but my taxi driver had other ideas and said I'd have to pay more for him to wait longer than the time it took for a 'trek' on an elephant!! Hrumph! I ended up going on a 30 min 'trek' - more like a sedate amble along a track to a small patch of woodland, big circle round wood and back along track! Well it was an experience.... Had mixed feelings about participating in this activity – it was hot and seemed that they did this day in and out… not much of a life! But felt reassured by the way the mahouts were with their ellies and that there seemed to be a good care ethic with plenty of food, shade and water available.

The next morning we woke up in Penang.... where I did go escorting - went on tour to the Botanical Gardens, Butterfly Farm and Tropical Spice Gardens. It was very hot, sunny and humid in Penang, especially in the hillside wooded glade of the Spice gardens.... but we had a very refreshing water drink made from the soft part of a nutmeg plant... Yum! The botanical garden was very manicured but lovely and restful. Think I saw a racket-tailed drongo and there were a few long-tailed macaques that were free roaming and after handouts - though feeding was definitely not encouraged! The butterfly farm was a large free flight room filled with butterflies and plants. The air was constantly misted with a fine refreshing water spray - not much good for cameras but a welcome relief to 'heat/humidity-stressed' people!

Next day we were at sea again til the afternoon when we arrived in Singapore. Our approach to Singers happened at the time of my afternoon art session, so we didn't get to see much of it... apart from a few tantalising glimpses through the windows. There were masses of ships - mainly freight/container vessels - I thought it was busy in the Suez on the Bitter Lakes, but this was mad crazy with how many there were! Our berth was equally amazing. We were in Container Land!! If you've seen the film 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' you'll get some idea... that bit at the end where the ark is being stored in an endless warehouse filled with boxes to the hilt.... well it looked a bit like that only an open-air version. The containers were arranged in blocks of blocks of blocks.. 40' containers in blocks of 5x7x8 or thereabouts! Rows and rows of them. Stacks and stacks. And it went on and on and on for as far as the eye could see along the massive dock area we were berthed at. Going out in the coach later we were driving along the coast for about 15 mins or more and it was just continuous container land all the way... thousands upon thousands of them! Quite staggering!

The ship stayed in Singers overnight and all but a few left the ship for the evening - I stayed on board having no-one to go ashore with to enjoy a meal or drinkies. However, the next day I caught the shuttlebus service provided for the ship and went off in search of the Nature Reserve. There was a long queue on the dockside waiting to get on the 20 coaches provided... as there was obviously no walking in ContainerLand. Eventually I got to Orchard Road - where the drop off and pickup point was. From there I got on a local bus and took a ride out to the Burkit Timah Nature Reserve - an area of primary rainforest. I had high hopes of seeing the birds, squirrels , colungas and monkeys that were promised here... all I saw was an Oriental whip snake - very cool beastie and a 4" long caterpillar. Heard plenty of birds but just couldn't see them and as for the monkeys.... not a sight or sound of them...must've been having their siesta! However disappointing that was - the forest itself was wonderful! And I had a great time following the little trails up and down steep inclines, over tree roots and round buttress roots. It was hard going in the heat and humidity but what a fabulous place! I was so busy looking up trying to find a bird that I went over badly on my ankle.. served as a reminder to watch where I was going.. I was on my own and it would not be an easy place to get out of with a sprained or damaged foot!Couldn't cope with any of the malls on my return to Orchard Road... I went in one but the shutters went down in my brain... didn't want to be there, too much noise and hassle. So I joined the large queue for the shuttle bus back to the sanctity of Oriana.

Well I'm just a few days away from the end of my trip... and can't deny that I'm not ready to come home.... have had a marvellous time and have met lots of lovely new people and some familiar faces from previous cruises, when I was assisting Julie. I have just two ports of call left... Phu My in Vietnam and Hong Kong from where I shall be flying home. I will leave posting my report about these places til I get home... which alas is just 5 days away! Wish I could bring some of this lovely weather back with me... today is my last chance to sit out on deck in some hot sunshine, as it will cool rapidly now as we head up to HK.

Will walk the decks taking it all in -the sound of the sea washing along the hull of the ship, the breeze through the cables overhead, the sound of shuffleboard games clanking on the decks, the smell of salty air and the sight of endless ocean.

Signing off for the last time on MV Oriana

Su

Ship's log seadate 300108

2008-02-05T12:39:00.000Z

Well the weather has at last turned hotter… For the last three days it’s been up in the 80’s….

Due to the scheduling of my classes (which has been chopped and changed so much) I was able to actually get out on deck in the daytime for the first time in the three weeks I’ve been on here. So the tan is at last being worked on. Now however they have changed my times again so… that plan has been scuppered!

Oman was great… the people were lovely and friendly… none of the frantic, manic persistent forceful hassling that we got in Egypt! Wandering through souk’s (markets) was pleasant and I actually bought a few things because of that fact. I escorted a tour in Salalah (or as our Captain called it Salalalalalaland) we went to a ‘picnic spot’ and fort/palace ruins before going to two souks and then a museum. The picnic spot was lovely situated at the foot of a mountain range (pointy hills really) around a natural spring and I got a little wildlife fix there with birds and fish.. and, of course, en route the free-ranging imperious camels with total disdain for all traffic. The fort/palace ruins was supposedly used by the Queen of Sheba! I didn’t get to look round the first souk as some passengers on another coach asked me to check their coach out, as they had no escort and they had some problems they needed taking note of and witnessing. At the museum I wandered off along a wadi to watch herons and little dabchicks and saw a harrier swoop through!

Dubai was… well there’s money there… I think that sums it up. Big BIG hotels, we passed one built like a pyramid complete with huge statues and gold hieroglyphs on the surrounding walls. We went to a Mall… not the biggest but much bigger than any mall I've been in. Inside the mall there were lots of water features and marble flooring, sparkling lights and all very glam and decadent. One mall even had a huge ski slope built into it - though I didn't actually see that one... just heard about it from passengers and crew who did. There's lots of road building and even the underpasses and flyovers were decorated and architectural not just concrete coloumns!

Mumbai I got off with two other ladies on ship (one passenger, one other guest lecturer) and we went shopping in local shops away from the touristy ones! It took some persuading of our taxi driver that this is what we wanted to do. Great fun.. also got a quick few photo’s at the Gateway of India.. the archway through which all foreigners arriving by sea to India used to pass through… so they say.

In Cochin I stayed on ship… had appointment at ship's hairdressers (tis cheaper on port days)… and had no-one to go ashore with. So sat up on aft end top deck and sunbathed and watched, photo’d and sketched the kites that had a nest in one of the dockside light stands that was conveniently close to the ship.

Now on our way to Phuket……

Ship's Log - Sailaway and beyond

2008-01-19T17:32:00.000Z

This should really be before the post 'Post from the Red Sea' but I kinda did things in the wrong order and can't find a way to alter the order of posts... so sorry about that any any confusion it may cause.

Sailaway was on Sunday 6th at 10pm; no band playing dockside this time but we did get a good firework display send off. Oriana was late back from the Caribbean cruise, and had come back up from Portugal and to the English Channel in a Force 11!!! This, as you can imagine, filled me with a little trepidation!

So, I arrived about 9.20am on the Sunday, but Oriana hadn't finished even docking. Usually the ship arrives in the wee hours of the night so it's ready for crew to board first thing and for passengers to disembark during the earlier part of the morning. Because of the late arrival there were no passes from the ship ashore and ready for the joining crew. The queue was already pretty long when I arrived and didn't start to move until gone 11am. I boarded the ship just before noon. Everything was then behind schedule. Spent the afternoon traipsing up and down the stairs (determined not to use the lifts) going to and from offices in efforts to get all relevant paperwork done, have lunch, attend both crew safety induction and passenger muster (emergency drill), read through most of paperwork working out where I needed to be for when and what as part of the joining process - like getting my Laminex (pass to get me on & off ship at ports)... oh and yeah... unpacked as well.Which brings me to the matter of my cabin......... For some unknown reason I have been allocated a passenger cabin.... not just any old cabin, mind you, but a posh inside cabin - so no windows - but I do have a MASSIVE double bed, a small corner settee and table, a fridge and a bath!! Quite the lap of luxury - no lugging all electrical equipment to be PAC tested before I can use any of it, no crew rounds (Officers check crew cabins for tidiness, food, breakages etc) and no watertight doors. I also get my bed turned down at night and a chocolate left on my duvet! Yup! Am being totally spoilt. Not sure how this came about - I've just been told 'it's the luck of the draw'.

So, back to Sailaway.... we were informed by a Bridge announcement that the weather ahead was going to be 'slightly uncomfortable'. But the good news was that as we head across the Bay of Biscay and down the Iberian coast it would get better. Having seen the fireworks I went back to my sumptuous cabin. I went to bed with my acupuncture travel wrist bands on and after swallowing 2 Sturgenon 15 (can't remember how tis spelt) tablets. I emptied the kettle and placed it on the floor, along with the bottle of water and secured all doors, drawers and odds and ends.... just in case they start clunking around in the night when it gets rocky.

Woke at 3am - We had found the rough stuff. I lay in bed feeling fine and even smug after switching on the Tv and looking on the navigation channel to see it was Force 10. The ship was pitching forward and aft - I wasn't exactly rolling in my bed but I was moving gently from side to side. Ha! No worries! Still I couldn't get back to sleep again so ended up drawing one of the cabin lamps to use in class the next day!Walking about was another matter, as I found out later when I went up for brekkies at 8am. It was like the ship was full of blind drunk people - no-one having much sense of stability or direction! (One poor guy nearly fell into my lunch in the restaurant as he stumbled in the ship's motion) Some of course were too ill to leave their cabin and there are the obligatory 'motion discomfort bags' placed on the stairwells. I was doing extremely well... not a smidgeon queasy or off colour or anything.... well pleased with that.

The first two classes went well with 60 and 78 respectively. I expect that to lessesn as it gets warmer and they're all out enjoying the sunshine. Had fun trying to draw in the first class, by that time it had dropped to Force 9 but it was still very rocky. I had a mike in one hand, drawing with the other on a loose piece of paper that kept moving and it was a little tricky trying to keep still and not lose my balance.

By the time we got down near the bottom of Portugal and it had lessened to a lovely Force 5.

Post from the Red Sea

2008-01-19T10:51:00.000Z

Now done Civitevecchia (Rome), Piraeus (Athens), Port Said (Cairo/Giza) and Sharm El Sheikh. I escorted tours for the first three going to the Colosseum (outside only), wallked through the Roman Forum and down the Spanish Steps in Rome. Took a tour out of the environs of Athens to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. And in Port Said to Cairo and the Giza Plateau to see the pyramids and the Sphinx.

In Rome I joined three other pax (passengers) in a taxi to see the Spanish Steps - after we did the whirlwind tour of the Colosseum and Forum. Unfortunately no time to really look around the places and was very disappointed not to be able to go in the Colosseum. At the Spanish Steps we met a lovely old Italian guy who got into conversation with us. I suspected there would be a catch but he just obviously loved to chat to tourists. The trip to the Temple of Poseidon was along the coastline. The road hugging the shore line all the way twisting round bays, coves and inlets. It was cloudy all the way until we reached the Temple and the sun came out and stayed with us til we were homeward bound back to the ship. Poseidon wanted us to see his temple in true splendour! Found where Byron carved his name on one of the stones supporting a column. Vandal!

Really wanted to see the pyramids. If I had put myself forward as escort I might not get my first choice and if I only put the one tour I might not get it. And you don't find out if you're escorting or not until the evening before. So to make sure I didn't miss out on them I asked to pay and muck in with the pax on that one. Found out the evening before that they had put me as escort on that tour...so I could go free. Which was really helpful of them. However now wish they hadn't been so nice. We were at the pyramids for about an hour and my escort duties meant I only got 5-10 mins to hurridly get some vid and photo's. Very Frustrating! Would rather have paid the £82 and been just like the other pax.

Didn't see much of the Suez this time either as I now have two classes a day. Managed to get out on deck for about our last half hour of the transit before we moved out into the bay.
In Sharm we were at anchor so to get ashore they were using the Tenders (lifeboats). With the crew office shut I wasn't able to get my passport, SD book, crew landing form and customs declaration form (for my vid) that I would need to go ashore and I wasn't given a tour to escort. So I stayed on ship and painted the mountains across the bay from the top deck. It was sunny and fairly warm but still a very chilly wind. In Cairo our guide had said 'Welcome to Alaska!' I enjoyed my day off... the first to myself since I got on the ship 12 days previous.
Classes are going well and as I mentioned before I'm now doing two. I suggested the second after so many came to the first and a lot of them just wanted to paint and not necessarily have tuition as they were more advanced. So I arranged a more relaxed art club session where they can come along and paint/draw whatever they fancy and take as long as they like. I'd be on hand to offer help and guidance should they want it.

In the structured classes we've now moved onto painting. I was getting a mixed reaction to using gouache. They were curious but not necessarly keen to try it. Yesterdays class was me showing them how to use the paint and the techniques I use to paint things like trees, rocks, foliage and fur. Everybody who saw the demo were suddenly enthused and now the onboard shop is fast running out of their stock of gouache!

Weather-wise it has at last warmed up and the chilly breeze has been replaced by a warm one. We are steaming at 22 knots down throught the Red Sea, extra security personel walking the decks and watching for any ships or boats attempting to come up too close. I think we are more to the southern end of the Red Sea now as its now rougher outside -Force 8; whereas after leaving Sharm it was very calm.

Next stop is Oman... Salalah and Muscat.

Signing off
Su

Cruise trip

2007-12-31T17:22:00.000Z

Now this is definitely going ahead… just a few days away.
Posts in March and November, explained how I got the job with P&O and what I shall be doing on board and where I shall be going.... so please read these if you haven't already done so.

Now it’s just round the corner… less than a week to go. I still have so much to sort! I spent a day going through my clothes- trying everything on to see what still fits and what could be put in the pile for whittling down for packing. Five weeks is a long time and involves a lot of clothing, as I need 5 weeks worth each of formal wear, informal wear, smart/casual wear and day wear. Luckily I am not flying out to meet the ship, so luggage weight isn’t an issue for boarding. So I don’t have to skimp on toiletries etc. However, I shall be flying back from Hong Kong, so will have to have used up all that kind of stuff before I pack to come home and makes sure my cases aren’t too heavy. Hopefully I will have worked all that out in the next few days.

I’ve been so busy sorting things out that I haven’t had a chance to stop and think too long about the trip. On the couple of occasions that I have, the excitement and anxiety has built up pretty quickly and equally!

My friend, Julie and her lovely fiancé, Hans, are on board as I type this. I was her assistant back in 02 & 03. They left prior to Christmas for the Carribean on the same ship – Oriana - on which she is teaching. So they will sail into Southampton and disembark as I am getting on… we may pass on the gangplank! There will be at least two people I know, from previous cruise trips, on board for the section of the World cruise that I am doing… which is a comfort and makes going away on my own less daunting. I like being on my own, but it’s nice to know there’s at least two people I can hang out with… they are a lovely couple and great fun, as I recall.

I shall try and post something from the ship and tell you about the classes and a little of any adventures I may have; but internet access comes via satellites and sometimes we are out of range or the connection is intermittent making access to it sometimes unpredictable or delayed. Any photo’s will have to wait til I get home to be posted.

Just in case you might be interested, I shall put a link to the P&O website in 'Links' that will take you straight to the webcam on Oriana. This looks out over the bow of the ship whilst she’s at sea and when in port sometimes it is turned so that the dockside area can be seen. There is also a map so that you can see just where the ship is on its journey. And who knows you may just catch a glimpse of me standing at the railings or lounging on the deck, between classes.

Africa project

2007-12-31T16:38:00.000Z

I now don’t go back to the zoo until, rather ominously, April 1st - April Fools Day! As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts, I work part-time at the zoo from April – December, leaving January – March as my time to concentrate on my own painting and projects.

For that coming period in 08, I was planning two projects. Well, strictly speaking one is a short-term contract of employment (cruise), which is almost upon me…. just days away.
The other I mentioned very briefly in a post back in June.

Earlier this year I made contact with two wildlife conservation researchers, quite randomly and separately. An idea was born with one involving me going out to Africa to see her work in situ and to get photo reference, sketches and field paintings of the animals and landscapes. Then, once back in the UK, I would spend the following two years to produce work, with which I would hold an exhibition to raise funds and awareness for that particular conservation research. Added to that, my other contact suggested that whilst I was in Africa I could visit his project also to get reference to produce a painting for one of their fund-raising events.

This was perfect! It’s just what I want to do with my art- use it in a more direct way to help the conservation of wildlife…. The bonus was of course that it was in Africa. I was very excited about the prospect… but funding it myself was impossible. I work part-time for a charity (the zoo) and so I have low wages. Plus my own art has not built up enough to fund a costly project such as this. So I started investigating how to get funding. I was put onto the Grants for Arts scheme run by the Arts Council in the UK and after chatting to the regional guy both at a seminar on the subject and on the phone explaining the project, I was greatly encouraged by the fact that as I had been invited to do this it put me in a ‘strong position’. This was important, as only about a third of applications are successful in getting funding. But I needed to find extra funding to supplement my application, as the Grants for the Arts scheme would not totally fund a project.

To cut a long story short…… I then spent several months trying to source extra funding and working out exactly what I would need to fund. I had not just the trips to think of, but the exhibition in two years time as well.. what would I need, how much would it cost etc etc. It was a lot harder and more complex than I had assumed and took me much longer than I thought to try and sort.

Time was running out on me very fast as each application needs 6 weeks to go through assessment with the Arts Council and as I would be out of the country on a ship for 5 weeks at the beginning of 2008, I had to get the application and proposal into the Arts Council before Christmas. At the same time I was having to think about and sort out paperwork etc for the cruise trip, prepare for a talk and workshop, go to work and many other things…… not to mention all that needs to be done for Christmas. Things were getting a bit hectic and stressful!

During a call to the regional man at the Arts Council, to ask advice on some aspects of my application, he questioned me on the outcome and reason for the project. Turns out that they won’t fund me because I aim to give half the money from one project to charity/research and all the money from the sale of one painting to another. Had I been keeping the money for myself then they would fund me…. But, not if I was giving it away.
I wasn’t particularly happy…. I had explained the project from the start, in fact several times over the previous four months and the reason why it was being done… now at the 11th hour I get the rug pulled out from under me! I can understand the reason why they cannot fund me… I just wish I had been told from the outset!

So, I have other avenues I can try… but not at this late stage. There was no time, prior to my cruise trip, to organise anything different. And as I was intending to go to Africa in March 08 there will be no time when I get back into the UK mid Feb to sort anything then either.
So, if the researchers are willing, I hope to postpone it.. so that I go out in March 09 instead.

I am extremely disappointed obviously, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. I was getting extremely stressed and things were getting hurried to try and meet the deadline…. mistakes could have been made or things overlooked. Now that I am not going, I can concentrate on organising things for the cruise trip properly, which I couldn’t do before. When I get back, from my trip, I can pursue the Africa project at a better pace and do it better.

This is just such a dream thing to do… I really, really want to do it. I just hope the opportunity remains open for me. I will keep you posted over the next year on progress.

Zoo illustrations

2007-12-31T14:09:00.000Z

In one of November's posts I looked back over some of the work I have done at the zoo. Now at the end of 2007 my tally of species that I have drawn or painted is up to 20. So the revised list is..... 5 invertebrates (discosoma and zenia soft corals, a ghost mantis, a giant hairy scorpion, a long-spined sea urchin, African sun beetle and lubber grasshopper), 8 fish (rainbow and blue-tailed goodeids, Lake Kuroma and dwarf rainbowfish, a pyjama cardinal, blue-striped pipefish, yellow skunk clownfish and pink anemone fish), 2 reptiles (Aruba Island rattlesnake and fly river turtle), 2 birds (Von der Deckens hornbill and ruff in breeding plumage) and 1 mammal (agile gibbon). Previously I had not posted images of my work done at the zoo as the copyright for all my illustrations done there, is solely the zoo's. However with the kind permission of my boss, Phil, here are a few of those illustrations.

Zenia soft coral
Lake Kuroma rainbowfish

Signal crayfish

Fly river turtle

Aruba Island rattlesnake

Von der Deckens hornbill

I will post more in the future both looking back at some of the work I have done over the past 12 years that I have been there and new ones done in 2008.

Happy New Year and thank you

2007-12-31T13:13:00.000Z

Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year – may it bring peace, health, happiness and prosperity to one and all.

Thank you for visiting here, whether it is just this once or if you have popped back frequently. It’s been wonderful to see how many visits I have had over the year... much more than I expected when I started way back in February. I hope you have found my ramblings fun, interesting, informative and maybe a little inspirational and will continue to do so over the next year.

Enjoy New Years Eve night, wherever you are and what ever you do.
Very best wishes
Su