Can I start with something sad and get it off my chest?
Part and parcel of living in the countryside…
Where I live, it’s pretty much bird paradise. Well, as much as it can be in these days of threatened wild life and dwindling bird numbers. So it haunts me that I killed one of their number. A beautiful bird of prey. I can hardly bring myself to write about it.
The lanes around me are almost all single lane traffic with high hedges to either side, so I always drive slowly. And especially at this time of year, as pheasants and partridges, for some reason known only to themselves, love nothing more than to strut around in the middle of the road, playing dare-devil with the cars that come along, rather than seeking the relative safety of the fields that surround us.
Last week, as I was driving down the very narrow lane near my house, a hawk, obviously startled from its pursuit of devouring its latest kill by my approach, flew straight into the side of my car. I didn’t even see it, and I didn’t have time to slam on the brake, but I heard the bang. I felt sick.
Even driving at 20 miles per hour, that bird was no match for the hard metal and wheels. They stopped his flight dead. I pulled over and picked him up, beautiful but lifeless, and placed him gently by the side of the hedge. Then I got back in my car and cried on my journey for that beautiful bird.
I don’t know what this all has to do with art, but I needed to unload. And somewhere along my next painting, I’m sure that sadness will be revealed.
(Image from Pixabay)
But there is beauty and privilege in living where I live, and I do feel lucky to have the fields, the woods, the lanes all around me. They are a constant source of pleasure and inspiration.
In fact, I have just come back from a few days of painting in Derbyshire (about an hour away from my house) at the wonderful Bullclough Art School. The landscape there is pretty similar to ours. Soft rolling hills and woodlands, fields and hedges.
It was a ‘painting landscapes in oils’ workshop with @Tom Voyce – winner of Landscape Artist Of The Year 2017.
The workshop, with 8 people was great fun and Tom is an excellent, patient and knowledgeable teacher. I’m not proficient in oils, but it was a great start for me to see if I could get on with them. I liked some things… didn’t like others. I love the creamy paint and how manoeuvrable it is, but was irritated by the time it took to dry enough to paint over without creating mud. I’m just so used to acrylics and it took a while to get over the waiting times.
Below are a few of the stages we went through, starting with:
Stage 1 and 2
Covered our boards in Naples yellow.
Outlined our paintings in red
Stages 3, 4 and 5…
We then added in the darkest darks, followed by the mid tones… and finally, on the third day, we were ready for the lightest tones. Here is a selection of images from the week.
In other news
I told you last month that September was a busy month for me. It was made more stressful by the fact that I had completely forgotten I’d put my name down for a solo show at the Stamford Arts Centre Anteroom in November!
It was a case of ‘make do’ with whatever art I had available, though I did manage to pull a mini series of new still life paintings out of the bag in just under 2 weeks. I guess I work OK under pressure (must be all those years of ultra-tight deadlines in my previous life).
This show runs until 30th November – so if you can make it, I’d love to see you.
So what’s next?
I’m hoping for a prolonged period of TLC.
I fancy gathering myself up under cosy blankets with roaring fires and steaming cups of hot chocolate for the foreseeable.
In reality, it’s only going to be a couple of weeks before I will be rushing around getting the house ready for the onslaught of Christmas guests. Planning food, presents, and getting out the decorations.
I will let you know how the show went in my Christmas newsletter.
Til then, I’ll be driving very slowly!
Love
Shani xx