rsharts

08:09 pm: Life Drawing Workshop

Way back in August, seemingly a lifetime ago, I went to a three day life drawing workshop in Ludlow, Shropshire.  I had no idea what to expect as I've never even been to an art class, I was nervous to say the least!

After a slow start I found my feet and loved the experience!  The teacher, Jean Williams, was wonderful and the model beautiful.

Day One we worked in charcoal in the morning, this was my best, 15x22 inches

During the 3 days I had plenty of opportunity to work with watercolours, these are my two favourites, both 22x15 inches.

I'm really pleased I went, and can't wait to take another life workshop with Jean next year!

Ruth

06:40 pm: Busy, busy!

Is it really more than a month since I updated here?  Time really does fly.

We had a wonderful holiday, lots of inspiration and fun.  I tried to show my teenage kids the joys of rockpools without success, but I loved every minute :D

I found some time to paint and sketch, these two plein airs are of Sandy Bay beach, Exmouth, Devon.

Devon is a beautiful place, I really hope to return soon.

I still need to tell you about the life workshop, watch this space!

09:43 pm: Off on my hols!
We go away for a week tomorrow, to Exmouth in Devon. I'm looking forward to spending time near the sea, which I feel is my natural home. I don't know quite why I feel this way - I've always lived a fair distance from the ocean - maybe my childhood holidays have had a big influence on me?

Every summer my family would pack the tent into a trailer and head to the Gower Peninsular, South Wales. The tent was erected in a field, no real facilities beyond a tap for water and a toilet block. The milkman would drive around the field each morning ringing a bell to alert us, and we would run out with our pennies to buy a bottle of milk, some yoghurt and maybe half a dozen eggs. They were kept in a cool box, no electricity at this camp site!

Sounds primitive, but we loved every minute. One year (1976) we spent the whole of the holiday there. There was a severe drought, but we had an idyllic summer, swimming in the sea, playing on the sand dunes, searching rock pools for crabs. Even finding dead sheep on the beach didn't upset us.

One of the highlights of the holiday every year was a walk to Blue Pool ( http://www.swansea-gower.co.uk/Beaches/bluepoolbay.htm ) - a natural swimming pool in the cliffs, cleaned by the tide twice a day, and big enough for swimming and diving.

Best be off, see you next week!

06:12 pm: Currant Affairs

At last!  A new painting!

I started this still life on Saturday, and finished this afternoon after much stressing (reds in watercolour are tough to work in and achieve good values).  Inspiration came from a photo provided by Valorie Cox, uploaded to a copyright free ref. image library on an artist's community.

Anyway, I'm happy!

07:18 pm: Laundry!
My eldest daughter arrived home from her football (soccer) tournament in Wales exhausted, smelly but happy on Friday evening. Her team won a shield, and a medal each. Unfortunately she also brought a huge bag full of dirty clothes, which were added to my enormous pile of washing. My 15 year old boy had decided to tidy his room on Friday and put ALL of his clothes to be washed too! Aaaaaaaargh!

Guess what? It was RAINING! And almost all of their (designer label) sports clothes can't be tumble dried. Great timing, don't you agree? I spent Saturday and Sunday juggling clothes, think I'm on top of them all now, at last!

I did find time to start a new painting, though, and it's looking OK so far, I should be able to share it here tomorrow.

Oh, and the large dandelion sold on ebay! :oD

10:25 pm: Calico Cat
I've not been listing larger work for a while, but hopefully ebay is on the up now (more views, anyway!) so I took a chance on this calico cat, aka Baba :)



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7339975534&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Ruth

07:11 pm: I need cyber elastic!

I'm suffering from the droops, I just can't be bothered to do anything!  I have occasional spells of this affliction, when I sit around doing nothing at all (except feeling guilty!).

Maybe it has something to do with my eldest daughter being away this week.  She's a keen footballer (soccer player to all you Americans), and this week she's taking part in a big tournament in Aberystwyth (west coast of Wales).  The weather has been terrible, torrential rain, and the girls are sleeping in tents!  At least she called to let me know she's OK, and that they played a ladies team from TEXAS yesterday (the Texans won).  She's home tomorrow, then I won't have time to feel miserable (all those muddy football kits to wash!!!)

No new art to show, I'm afraid, but I have new inspiration in a beautiful bouquet of  orange and yellow lilies, gerbera and chrysanthemums.  I babysat for my neighbour last week while she took her older child for his regular hospital checkup, and she felt she should say thank you in a more tangible way.  I was simply delighted to get my hands on a cute little baby for a change, the flowers are a bonus!  I mean, would you need persuading to spend time with this cutie?

That is the portrait I painted of her as a belated birth gift. At the time I took the ref. photo she didn't smile much! lol

Hopefully I'll have some new work to share tomorrow - at least a work in progress!

11:41 am: Welcome to my Journal!

I suppose I'd better introduce myself! 

Hi!  My name is Ruth, I'm a 38 year old artist, wife and mum of 3 teenagers.  You can see a pic taken of me during a mad half hour with my kids - the red lips aren't lipstick, they're a cherry flavoured jelly sweet I stuck on my mouth!  We live in a small house in the beautiful Cathedral city of Hereford, England.  Life is hectic, but I find time for my passion, painting, as much as possible.

I love painting in watercolours, the qualities of this medium make it exciting and unpredictable, and controlling it is a challenge I relish.

At the moment I am enjoying creating ACEO's.  In case you haven't discovered these marvellous collectibles, I'll explain.  ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  They are standard art trading card size (3.5 x 2.5 inches).  Read all about them at www.art-cards.org

This is my most recent larger painting, Baba the cat:

I love painting fluffy dandelions, this is the latest:

And here are some of my ACEO watercolours:

 

 

Thanks for reading this far, hope you check back to see more of my art.  Find me on www.ebay.com by searching RSH