BIRTHDAY FEAST

Last Monday was a big birthday for me and my lovely Lutje arranged a weekend of treats and delights, including surprise visits from family and friends and a superb party last weekend. I may write more about it all later.

Today I want to talk about birthday cards. I was given  hand made cards by the grandchildren and also the delightful Flemish/Greek children of our neighbours.

I want to show you one by Lars, the youngest, comparing it to a painting from the Royal Museum of Fine Art here in Brussels. which we visited the day after my birthday.

A portrait of Opa  by Lars Van Bavel b 2009.  (with St Nicholas' mitre top right?)  I am pleased with his portrayal of an open armed smiling man.

Vragende kinderen  1948  by the Dutch painter, and co founder of the COBRA group, Karel Appel  1921 - 2006

Both of them wonderful I think. Why do children have to lose this spontaneity and looseness as they get older?

Time to do some painting of my own now?  It has been sadly lacking for a few weeks.

A CHANCE TO REFLECT

I just finished, not before time, preparing the material for a talk I am giving about my work to the Somerset Society of Artists.  It has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience; I had forgotten how much there is, even if I don't have photos of lots of it. Is it a comfort that the best work sells?

7.30 pm Taunton Public Library Tuesday 5 November

It made me realise what I enjoy doing and what I should be doing again.

 For instance landscape painting

1991 Greece; pencil and watercolour

1997 Devon; pen and watercolour

2005 Somerset; charcoal and watercolour

August 2013  Brussels; Pentel brush pen and watercolour

and I must keep making abstract work

SUMMER SCHOOL

At lunch it seemed that, inspired by my sketch book, (see previous post), they wanted to go out painting, like REAL artists.  So we did!

We walked to the Park and sat on a wall

We sketched

 

 

and sketched

 

 

a heron came to watch us

 

we sketched some more

 

until we were satisfied

 

and then we walked home

 

That night  Oma and Opa were invited to Private View in their atelier

We were given little slices of pizza and some drinks and then found ourselves invited to bid in an auction of art work.  It seems the entrepeneurial spirit thrives!

 

 

FLEMISH SCHOOL

It is such a long time since I blogged. I have not done much painting for a while but I have been photographing as much as possible of my work, old and new, . All this is prompted by being asked to talk about my work to the Somerset Society of Artists next month. More of that in a future post.  It also means that in while I can maybe start filling the GALLERY section of this blog.

In my last post, here , I wrote of a day missing the grandchildren but doing some sketching.  Now my other half is once more in Belgium but I am in the UK.   She is seeing the grandchildren and I am missing them and her.  It makes me think of a lovely day this summer.

For a few days we looked after the youngest four grandchildren. One morning three of them invited themselves into my studio and asked if they could paint too. I showed them my watercolour gear and let them loose

 

 

 

I showed them the sketches in my little book I posted last time

 

 

They soon disappeared upstairs to the attic, leaving this notice on the door to the stairs

 

What would happen?

(it says Our Studio, no entrance until 7.30)

natural therapy

A "bug" made me decide to forgo a trip to the coast where some of the grandchildren were on holiday.  My missus went and I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.  It was a hot day and after a little gardening I went for a walk to one of my favourite local places.  Parc Parmentier.

 My little A6 sketch book came too and a pocket size box of watercolour and my trusty Pentel Brush pen and water brushes..

Parc Parmentier always puts me in good mood. Beautiful trees, streams and two magic pools in the woods.  

The last sketches I did here  (in 2012) turned into paintings  I think these might too.

I missed the grandchildren but the day was not lost!

little time to paint

After our return to the UK there has not been much painting. Lots and lots of music to play and arrange and, although I love it, I was longing to get back to painting.

But last weekend was taken up with getting things ready for a joint show  with Artists 303, a well known west of England group, at Ilminster Arts Centre 

Here is one of my paintings there - much looser than my architectural work usually is.  Last summer I had been doing some big, detailed, ink and watercolour drawings of  Wells Cathedral  but moved onto some looser oil pictures and then this, acrylic on cardboard (I can't measure it as it is not here, but about 60 cm wide ) - I like it but what do you think?  I call it Dreams of Wells

tablets for travel sickness?

Recovering from yesterday's travelling; 12 hours "on the road", Brussels to Bridgwater, UK. 

 Eurostar is fast and comfortable but there is a lot of waiting.  I sat in St Pancras station finishing lunch whilst better half went shopping .   It gave me time to do a little more Nexus tablet drawing.  It is smaller than an iPad and discreet.  This man in Pret a Manger had no idea I was drawing him

for Lutje's thoughts on the day ,(and some lovely photos) see this