Constable Who are you?

Meeting up with people you first 'get to know' via their blogs is invariably a joy and often the friendship, built on shared interests, grows beyond the occasional comments on each other's blogs. Yesterday I went to London to meet up with Gina and Frances, our meeting place was the entrance hall of the V&A.

We were there to see . . . 

Constable: the making of a master

Seascape study with rain cloud by John Constable (1824)

The exhibition looks at the influences on Constable's work, how he studied the work of the 'masters', such as Claude, Ruisdale, Rembrandt, Rubens and Gainsbrough. The original paintings and Constable's copies are hung side by side and a collection of engraved prints reproducing 'old master' paintings that Constable owned and hung on his bedroom walls, has been recreated.

Most telling of all are the many small scale sketches from observation of the landscape, skies and nature. Constable read books on the theory of painting and art and drawing from observation and made meticulous notes and pencil sketches in tiny sketchbooks.

He learned by observing how others had worked but above all he learned from looking at the natural world around him.

The exhibition reveals glimpses of the man behind the too-familiar set piece paintings. Sensitive, serious, hard-working, under pressure to deliver great work, torn between town and country, working hard to make a living.

It is a thoroughly inspiring exhibition.

After that we were in need of a sit down and lunch . . . and a natter. And as bloggers that make stuff do, we exchanged gifts . . . 

Corsage by Gina and tiny Christmas Sweater by Frances

Who Are You?

After saying farewell to Gina and before I headed home, Frances and I decided to go to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Grayson Perry exhibition 'Who Are You?'. I'd already been to see it with Su but it's so good I was more than happy to go again. If you haven't seen the TV series which looks at the subjects of the portraits, I recommend you have a look . . . it is moving and insightful. The thought and care Grayson Perry puts into his work is evident in all the pieces in the exhibition . . . he works very hard.

A lovely moment was watching a 'white middle-aged middle-class man' rush in from the next gallery to find his friends and like an excited child, announce "I now GET Grayson Perry!". Priceless! There are not many exhibitions that can make that happen.

It was such a good day spent with two lovely friends and gave me lots to think about on the way home . . .

. . . my musings on a train . . .

Constable is often described as a 'self-taught' . . . and sometimes I feel art historians/critics use the phrase in a derogatory way. 

Self-taught

I suppose it means someone who didn't have a formal art education, but Constable studied at the Royal Academy . . . I know he was a little older than the other students when he eventually studied painting full time, but don't most art students do lots of work and glean knowledge however and wherever they can before embarking on full time art education. And don't artists continue to teach themselves by looking and reading and practicing, throughout their lives.

And finally . . .

I bought myself a treat from the V&A shop, a lovely watercolour set made up of stacking circles with a palette lid. Inspired by Constable's colour sketches I'm looking forward to using these to paint some Suffolk landscapes.

Celia
xx

A watershed moment

OR

thoughts while enjoying the autumnal sunshine

Thank you to everyone who came along to my exhibition at The Church Street Gallery in Saffron Walden which finished last Saturday. I haven't been to collect the unsold prints yet or check exactly what sold . . . I was a little disappointed with how quiet the gallery has been, but then again I'm not sure what I expected to happen. Should I have waited until I had done lots of new work just for a solo show? Was it silly to agree to putting together an exhibition in only a few weeks? 

Probably best not dwell on 'what-ifs'. A good number of prints including a framed 'Winter Evening in Bull's Wood' and lots of cards sold. And I've had some lovely positive messages from friends who did visit the gallery.

The past couple of weeks have felt like a watershed – between getting all my existing prints framed and exhibited and moving on to work on something different. I so want to do something a bit different! Is that a normal reaction after an exhibition?

And now for something completely different . . .

CUSHION COVERS

I'm introducing some printed fabric items into my online shop, starting with these printed linen slip-on cushion covers.

I have kept the price to enough to cover the fabric printing/making up the covers/p&p plus a little extra (after all I'm not giving stuff away!)and have decided to only sell them direct from my online shop rather than offer them at a trade price to shops/galleries.

I'd like to add further designs to the range, I can get the fabric printed in very small quantities and re-print the popular designs. Any feed back or suggestions of which of my designs you'd like to see adapted for cushions would be most welcome.

WATERCOLOURS

Some of you will know that I've wanted to get back into the habit of doing watercolour sketches. I very much want this to be a habit that becomes a small part of every day (not sure this will happen but the intention is there).
Earlier this summer I decided to treat myself to a brand new box of watercolours  . . .

of course, I had to start by doing this . . .

and after a slow start I'm gradually re-engaging with painting . . . 

I have rules -

no pencil or eraser allowed

 the Ginger Studio Assistant got bored and didn't pose for long!

discovering that limited time is actually good

not worrying about just painting over bits that went a bit wrong

and discovering that my car makes a good studio while out and about.

I haven't painted today

. . . and the sun is out! . . .

Celia

xx

PS: it may be sunny BUT it is VERY WINDY!!!

just done, still wet
today's watercolour -
the view beyond our garden.

Philosophical gardening and strange fruit

I really feel sorry for anyone who has started to 'grow their own' this year or last; you haven't had it easy, it's either been too dry, too hot, too cold or too darn wet. It's easy to moan about what hasn't grown and get very down and fed up about trying to be self-sufficient in fresh fruit and veg.

The thing is, there never is a year when everything grows and produces a wonderful crop, so it's best to grow a variety of the different crops and there's bound to be a few that do quite well. There will probably be one or two that surpass all expectations. You could call it Biodiversity, I'm going to call it Philosophical Gardening.

Here's an example . . . Gooseberries.

Some years, well actually most years, they are a bit tricky to get to crop well. If it's warm and a little bit humid the bushes get mildew and the fruit get covered in a horrid fungal bloom. Then, as if that isn't bad enough, the leaves suddenly disappear! Munched, seemingly overnight, by a marching army of Gooseberry Sawfly larvae.

This year (while we've all been hiding indoors, keeping warm and sheltering from the storms) our 'Invicta' Gooseberry bush has been flourishing, growing big spiny new shoots, lush shiny green leaves and lots and lots of fruit. Untroubled by mildew and wriggly maggots, the fruit have swelled and the branches hung down under the weight of hundreds of plump green bristly berries.


On Saturday afternoon I decided to pick all the Gooseberries from our single bush, the yield was 2.5 kilos! I sat in the shade and while listened to the Wimbledon commentary on TuneIn Radio on my iPhone, I nubbed the Gooseberries.

Spending all that time looking at Gooseberries, made me realise what strange little fruits they are. What was the flower stalk is that thin olive-green stem ending in a tiny trumpet shape; the fruit bit is like a green balloon, the remains of the dry shriveled petals are still attached to the end opposite the stalk.

I put one half of the Gooseberries in the freezer and with the other I made Gooseberry and Elderflower jam (River Cottage recipe as shown here). It smelled gorgeously flowery as it cooked.

I put a dozen Gooseberries aside to be 'life models' . . . I wanted to record how Gooseberries, which you'd think are as similar as peas in a pod, are actually each unique.  I remembered what one of my art college drawing tutors used to say as he paced behind us during life classes, "first, the strange shapes; the strange shapes".

At the end of the day there were five jars (and a bit over for Sunday breakfast) of beautiful, complex, sharp, sweet, Gooseberry and Elderflower jam. A jam of such distinction really deserves some scones and clotted cream!

And here are the strange fruits . . . each one a little different from the others.

Celia
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