Keeping Up With Life
Where to start? The last 2 weeks have been very busy but in a good way. On 10th June I jumped on the bike to check out some Surrey Artists Open Studios, but first stopped off at Hawks Road studios in Kingston. Not realising just how big it was, I rushed round it but David Abrams massive pieces were especially worth the time I spent there.
Next I headed to Stable Artists in West End village; a lovely venue with a foliage covered walkway round to the small conservatory where Malcolm West had a number of his gorgeous sculptures, through to the garden where there was more sculpture from Janet Stanley; large leafy and honeycombed pieces alongside smaller heads peeping out from the plant life.
Roger Marsden had a woodturning studio under the eaves and inside the main block were a number of painters, printmakers and ceramicists. I particularly liked the wonderful colours of Rosalind Moysen’s painting – her long, slim watercolour sketchpad had paintings stretching over 2 pages and I was amazed at how a few brush strokes and washes conveyed lush fields of lavender or rolling hillsides stretching to the horizon. We chatted for a while and found that we both ‘ooo-d’ over brilliant blues as she very kindly showed me how to mix a shade I'd admired. My next trip to an art supply store will be to source some phthalo blue (green and red shades)!
After that it was a quick cycle round to Malcolm West’s own studio where he was working on a large piece in the area next to his kitchen. The garden is full of his larger work and I learned a great deal from looking at it; noting the grace and elegance of the upper arms and hands of his dancers and recognising I needed to be more precise in sculpting facial structures in my own pieces. A long day but well worth the trip with many notes taken and little lessons learned from people whose skill has been honed over many years.
The following week turned a bit mad when a job interview for a permanent role turned into an on the spot offer! I'd be starting the day after returning from a family wedding in Tiverton, surprising my colleagues at the temp venue as I'd be finishing on Thursday, having booked the Friday off to travel to Devon. Somehow I'd managed to whizz to an interview before work, start and finish an abstract painting as a wedding gift, pack for the weekend, drop off ice-creams to Harris Jones as small thanks for being a brilliant temp agency, construct a postage box as I've had a sale from one of the old web sites and run out the house earlier than planned on Friday as it looked like all trains to Waterloo were cancelled. Luckily the issue was sorted, I made it to Paddington on time and I could finally slow down, take a moment to catch up with myself, look forward to an enjoyable weekend and work out a new daily schedule as the new job is much better hours which means more time for art and getting fit again.
