On the way home

Spotted this on my dash home last night. Great drawing, but did find a bit creepy.

Wear more orange, please!

Was so pleased when this guy came in and sat right in front of me, in this fantastic tangerine coloured hoody. Before he arrived, was scanning around the cafe and everyone was wearing such drab colours! The coffee shop was a sea of understated black and grey neutrals, which may be easy to match, but that monochrome mob was so visually monotonous.

I find that lack of colour so depressing, particularly in the winter when we're all battling with lack of daylight too. Am becoming more convinced that a splash of colour does elevate your mood. No science here, just purely personal observation. When winter arrives I can guarantee I'll watching films like Frida and searching out books based in hot countries.

And then, after Mr Orange... an absolute gift! One of the most amazing quiffs AND a rockabilly jacket. Life is sweet after all....

Dark evenings = knitting evenings in our house

The one saving grace of the dark winter evenings, for me, is my knitting and crochet emerge again.

I have only learnt to do both fairly recently, but my mother is a master knitter, who can read newspapers or watch telly without every looking at her needles or knitting. I have to check off every row completed, whereas decades of knitting seem to have left her with a natural ability to keep track of the most complicated pattern repeats without even trying. I can only aspire to that!

Drawing in the rain

Well...actually mainly drawing in a range of cafes in Brighton and Hove, as the weather has been so wet. Have also had a visitor staying, so that is an even better excuse to visit more cafes!

I loved her specs, like Thelma off Scooby Do

"I am trying to read the paper...."

This couple were from a band, I think. They were wearing the most fantastic 40s/50s vintage clothes and were absolutely engrossed in animated chat, while sipping their huge teapot full of lapsang souchong tea.

This is the same couple. The chap's head and hat are rather strange in this drawing, but I love it more for that. May use as the basis for another idea I have brewing.

 This traditional tea shop with the bunting and plates on the wall is in Hove and is called Ethel's Kitchen, on Blatchington Road. Looked like they made fantastic breakfasts and packed with locals, as well as being near the several charity shops on George Street, which are always great for poking around. Managed to pick up some lovely fine wool for 50p a ball.

This final drawing was this was done in the office where I work part time. All the systems were down, so had a few mins for a quick sketch . You can just see my co-worker, Fi's head over the top of the partition.

More hot chocolate please!

Have been carrying on with my little and often drawing (inspired by Michael Nobbs fun ebook that you can see in the background) whenever I have a free mo. This one was while I was waiting for a friend - fun to see all the different legs and footwear queuing up for hot drinks. Was hoping for some patterned wellies, but none came in, despite the lashing rain that day.

If the weather is bad this weekend, may repeat the process. Particularly as the hot chocolate in this Brighton cafe, Red Roaster on St James Street, is spectacular. Is thick, velvety, gooey chocolatey gorgeousness in a cup!

Personally, has been a tricky week. Like an ill wind blew through our house and while nothing major has gone wrong (fingers crossed), we've had a steady series of disasters everyday. Some include my computer and scanner, so hope to resolve this weekend and post more drawings next week.

Hope you enjoy a great weekend!

Moving furniture

We have been busy clearing a relative's house of furniture and belongings. Has been a strange process to go through. All those cherished items that have been regularly polished and protected for years, are suddenly without a purpose and they change almost overnight, into being a burden rather than a prized asset. If we had an enormous rambling house, we would have kept more, but as it is, most of it has now found new homes.

Drew this while I was squashed in the back of the car, between a chair and trunk, hoping we wouldn't be stopped for overloading.

And as time has been rather skinny, I have just being doing odd drawings here and there, still working on the basis that doing a little regularly is worthwhile. So no overall theme to the next drawings, just pieces done over last few days.

Kitchen table (I do love a tablecloth, even though am sure that is horrifically old fashioned)

Sitting on the sofa, hiding behind a scarf

Coffee shop lady talking seriously about plastic surgery.

The train is very bumpy and the sky very blue

When I was commuting everyday, I didn't particularly enjoy the train journey of 2 hours + everyday. Now the train is more of a treat - bit of time to read, draw, listen to a podcast, gaze out the window.

I like these small moleskine drawings for their bumpy wiggliness and their skewed perspective. More genuine to the Southern trains experience!

Looking up

As the short days have arrived here with the change in hour, I am making a point of looking up. Particularly when I am usually on autopilot. It makes me feel more energised and I notice and appreciate all sorts of everyday details I have missed for months, things like the tiles on a building and the fallen autumn leaves.

The first drawing is a street corner on my walk to work. I never noticed just how many chimney pots there were before. Dozens! And they are mainly the original, tall Victorian ones.

The next drawing is a small terraced street which has the most spectacular telegraph pole, with loads of telephone wires spiralling out to all the houses, slicing the sky into segments. Fantastic!

And I have passed both of these places for months without really seeing them properly before. A good case for looking up a more, I think.

An old drawing

Was looking for another drawing in one of my old sketchbooks this evening and stumbled across this one, from a holiday camp in Devon. I remember these 3 really clearly, all ignoring the poor cabaret act and drinking pint upon pint of cheap lager ! I particularly love the guy on the left. Had to share him.

Little but often

I have just bought Michael Nobbs' ebook, Sustainable Creativity , and am trying to apply one of the main principles of the book, which is little and often can add up to big results.

So whenever I have a few moments, I have been making a point of doing some drawings. Sharing them with you is my way of celebrating the progress.

This is an ornate street light in Brighton. Did another drawing, with a much less wonky lamppost, but somehow it lacked the charm of the first drawing. So here is the imperfect version!

Next is a street sign post, aka an urban tree. I love these, with all their messy, torn stickers and multiple signs.

Lastly is a diary drawing I made when I couldn't sleep. I got up to make a cup of tea and noticed all the grapes had fallen off the stalk overnight.

It's titled "Something ugly has happened to the grapes". Felt a very fitting title at that ungodly hour...

In other news, have been doing lots more work on new prints, that will be available through my Etsy shop shortly. Nearly there...

And I cannot wait for White Night in Brighton this weekend. Is such a fantastic, creative event, with so many venues opening and so much to see. I am particularly looking forward to Kabinets of Wonder, with the travelling caravans and their costumed models for life drawing. The only worry is how long I can actually stay awake, as I am much more of a lark than night owl. Hopefully there will be some drawings to come from that.

Coffee and a half hour draw

Had such a busy weekend. Was packed with practical family things that had been ignored for a while and now, just needed getting on with. But this meant there was a negligible amount of time to draw or actually do anything creative. Which is not just frustrating from a progress perspective, but can also really affect my mood.

So, got to late afternoon on Saturday and felt so restless and fed up with everything, took myself off to Moksha in Brighton, which is an independent coffee shop that sells genuinely great coffee. Sat for there for 25mins sipping coffee, watching it get dark and drawing, while half listening to the interesting conversations all around me. Came out in a whole better mood and resolved to do this again. That small window made such a difference to me. This is something Michael Nobbs talks about a his motivating blog http://www.sustainablycreative.net/ , how doing little and often, can achieve great things.

Tonight...

...I would rather be sipping a G&T than drinking a mug of coffee.

Drawing in snatches

Not much time today, just a few snatched moments. This money plant lives in the kitchen. Was bought off a guy who had done a house clearance. He was also selling these amazing, old cacti, that were huge and viciously spiky - too dangerous for our small house, where someone would bound to be spiked. Would have loved those cacti though, so (dreaming...) I could set up an exotic garden like Frida Kahlo.

And some pink things around the kitchen - some more glamorous than others... Good to draw the everyday though. Forces you to look at things in a different way.

Brighton Sketchcrawl, 16 October

Brighton sketchcrawl was a real success. There was a bunch of really friendly people (who were all more than happy to share their work and drawing experiences), good weather and loads to draw. What more could you ask for! I only had time to do 2 of the stops, but next time, will plan to be there for the whole afternoon.

Afterwards I went to see film The Social Network, so had a few mins beforehand to draw the Ben & Jerrys counter.

Bought at the car boot in Swansea, 1960s leather baby's shoes.

I love these. I even love the brown paper stuffing inside them, so they keep their shape. Have put them on display next to my metal shoe lasts.I did originally buy them to sell on, but just can't bring myself to do it. Am going to admire them for a while longer.
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Hours trimming prints & watching Chile mine rescue on BBC News

Just finishing off the range of retro sweet prints that are going into the fab Brighton sweet shop http://www.suckitandsea.com/ at the end of this week. Not sure how well they will sell, as am sure most people popping into a traditional sweetshop for a quarter of their favourites, are not expecting to buy a print as well. But was fun to do all the drawings anyway and have put them up for sale on Etsy too. If you are in Brighton, pop into Suck It & Sea. Is in the heart of the North Laine and has a gorgeous selection of sweets and fudge to tempt you.

So last night was the final finishing off - trimming and mounting all the prints, wrapping in cellophane and pricing. All done in front of the amazing BBC coverage of the Chile mine rescue. I have been transfixed by the story, like millions of others, and found their rescue just amazing to watch. Very life affirming and fantastic example of people working together to achieve the extraordinary.

New blog

This blog is the starting point of a new creative journey for me. Around 6 years ago I was practicing full time as a fine artist, exhibiting regularly and selling large, landscape paintings. Then I stopped painting completely. I felt I no longer wanted to paint these big vistas anymore. They had lost their resonance and didn't have any connection with my life anymore, which revolved around a small city centre home in Brighton. But as I didn't know what else to do creatively, I just stopped.

In the meantime, of course, life kept on going, and there was a period of ill health, bereavements and the surprises family life throws at you. I have now popped out the other side. And whilst I am still enormously proud of all those paintings and what I achieved, I realise that my creative direction is now very different.

What fascinates me today are the small corners of everyday life, the tiny details - the man lost in thought while his expresso goes cold, the rooftops above the discount shops, a jar of kitchen utensils, the lady with her shopping trolley and embroidered jacket. It's these moments I want to capture and celebrate, as a lot of the time it's those details that matter and make me most happy.

I draw all the time, where ever I am, and lots of those drawings go on to develop into prints and paintings. I have have discovered the fun of selling my work online and talking directly to people who are interested in it.

So I hope this blog will share my work and progress and I hope you will enjoy it.