Watercolour Conversations

I recently saw the David Remfrey exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society. I was invited to the exhibition by my old friend Rick who knows the artist. Rick was pleased to see his likeness in a couple of David’s paintings.

The images below show my friend Rick pointing and repeating the pose in the painting “What the Night Tells Me,” which is normally in someone’s private collection.

We also met another watercolour artist at the exhibition (viewing David’s work, I think he was from New York). We had wonderful conversations about the different characters found in David Remfrey’s work. My friend was very proud to see his portrait in the painting, and the back story was wonderful to hear. I had heard the story before but seeing the painting in real life while he explained how he knew David and his partner made the tale more significant and profound.

Visiting the exhibition was a real treat for me as a dance and art enthusiast. I was delighted to be given a signed copy of David Remfrey’s book there (it was my birthday). Book title is David Remfrey Watercolour by Royal Academy of Arts and Royal watercolour Society 2022.

I loved how exquisite the paintings were. The impromptu gathering of people was magical. It set off an intriguing, informative and interesting conversation about watercolour art. As someone that uses acrylics mostly, the visit inspired me to try out doing a watercolour series of paintings/ creations at a later point.

I might link back to this post when I post the pictures of watercolour items I create at that later point.

Moss Art

I started painting and using Moss. There seems to be a trend with moss and using it in those IKEA box frames.

But I wanted to do something different. I integrated paintings with moss art. It is a bit of a continuance of the work I do with herbs dried flowers and things like lavender in art.

I know I’m not the first person to do it because I’ve seen recently how some of the top website artists and creative people have been integrating dried flowers to make their hair look big. And this picture shows me using moss simply by adding some texture to enhance the grass.

The other thing in this picture that stands out is the texture on the top of the frame. I found a new way of integrating my love of decorative nail trim.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.

Bee Beautiful

Love bees. They always pay me to a visit during the summer months and I have to work hard to escort them safely off my premises.

The bee is also an emblem for productivity, industriousness and Manchester.

That is why I’ve made it in one of the first pieces of shelf art I created. So people can look great in their online meetings surrounded by admirable and meaningful art that portrays their personality, is an uplifting, or works as a talking point ice breaker.

Result of my Recent Creative Pilgrimage

The Journey

I took a short break to St Ives in Cornwall last week. The journey was full of adventures for many reasons. It was my first big trip after two years of lockdown. I had to practice being less anxious about social spaces.

My longest train journey yet: It takes 5 hours to travel from London to St Ives

Purpose

It was meant to be a creative pilgrimage as I was visiting Tate St Ives and Barbara Hepworth museum

Finding affinity

I was surprised to feel less alone with my design style because the hotel room decor was expressive of the cosey smart effect you get when combining pinstripe fabric with nailhead trim as I do in my lampshade collections.

Finding Inspiration

A picture of Barbara Hepworth in her studio. The museum is her studio, interestingly. I was impressed that she might have had lots of parties there. Downstairs is the kitchen and upstairs is the workroom. Similar to my set-up. I felt encouraged.

A chance to practice

The whole experience was affirming for me. I feel that I might be on the right track, after all.