Where ON EARTH did a year go? Update/newsletter

My goodness........where did the year go?  If my readers have lost patience and abandoned me for other blogs, I truly do not blame them!

It has taken me an entire year to settle in to a new studio and a new way of life.  I moved into a new house, had a major operation in the Spring which put everything "back", as it were, I rebuilt our garden, (not personally but with a lot of input!)  and I have only just begun to feel as tho I am coming up for air!

I have even completed a painting.........an acrylic on canvas, a large one, and I really enjoyed it.  I have also been practicing with my glass work, trying out new techniques whenever I have had a few minutes....and have had my enamels and some glass accepted for six months in the new Heath Robinson Museum shop - a small showcase entitled "the Makers Art" showing the work of 2/3 local artists twice a year.

Just fyi, here is the painting....I had done a large pastel of foxgloves in the woods some time ago, it is sold, and someone asked me to paint something similar:

I wanted it to have an early morning, or evening, feeling...gentle, soft light rather than the full sunlight I usually like to paint;   cool, a hint of rising or setting sun in the distance, illuminating the foxgloves from behind.  I love how the verticals of foxgloves echo the verticals of tree trunks...they are very accommodating in helping to make for a harmonious structure for an image! For those who struggle with composition, perhaps this is worth noting!   I also rather enjoy working with acrylics....it is great to be able to work over dried areas quickly, and working from dark to light is so similar to working with pastels.  The pinky-violet colours in the picture were the first, transparent layer;  gradually opaques are built over the top, but those violets add a lovely feeling of cool warmth, oxymoron I know, but hopefully you can see what I mean.  Getting the more subtle, medium tones right  is really important...it would be all too easy to destroy the feeling and atmosphere by shifting too quickly from darks to lights.

As for the Heath Robinson Museum....if you are ever in Pinner, do pop in to the museum, at the back of the park overlooking the lake.  It is an amazing little building, very architecturally fascinating.  His work deserves a look too, the man had a wonderful sense of humour and I really enjoyed seeing many of his prints.  It is just three rooms.

look at this amazing ceiling!  so interesting.  

This is a shot of the top of the showcase, with my "Makers Art" literature, and the first plate to be sold - mine!  It is "lacy" glass.

this is one of my favourite prints, it is called "Deceiving the Invader as to the state of the Tide".  Many of his prints offer tongue-in-cheek advice for the British on dealing with invaders, I think relating to WW1:  Do check out the detail, it is very clever and amusing - well, I think so anyway:

I do hope to be able to blog again soon with things of interest to some.  No guarantees.....there are more operations in the pipeline, so who knows what and when.  I will do my best folks!