Flowers, more flowers and some pomegranates

Lately I have been painting flowers, anywhere around me, pots or bunches is the same. Here go some African Violets, some Paphiopedium Orchids, Agapanthus with another mysterious flower I don't know the name of, and some Hydrangeas with Orange Rosebuds. Also some Pomegranates as they are in season.
They fill with colour these cloudy days ... and while I recover from this wintery cold, I share them with you.

Ultimamente me ha dado por pintar flores, cualquiera que este a mi alrededor, en ramos o tiestos.
Aqui van unas Violetas africanas, unas Orquideas Paphiopedium, Agapanthus con otra flor rara que no se el nombre y unas Hortensias con centros de rosa (naranjas). Tambien unas Granadas que es epoca.
Todas ellas llenan de color estos dias mas bien nublados....y ahora mientras me recupero de este catarrillo invernal las comparto con vosotros.

Venezia - 11th October 2011

Venice in October - there i was a bit jelaous of the sketcrawls around the world that i was missing but here I was in Venice where I manage to escape from the family group and spend a whole day sketching - what a luxury. Here go the sketches. Enjoy
Estaba yo un poco envidiosa de todos los que podian ir al sketchcrawl en Octubre pero un poco antes estaba en Venezia donde me pude escapar un dia del grupo familiar para dibujar. Me lo pase en grande.
Aqui van mis sketches.

Un lujo para la vista y con suerte el tiempo estaba templado y con buena luz.
Para empezar unas vistas de canales.
A luxury and with good weather - to start with a view canal views.

El Gran Canal (arriba) como siempre a tope de trafico de barcazas y gondolas.

Grand Canal (above) as usual with busy traffic of boats and gondolas

Scala del Bovolo (abajo) - espiral exterior - el palacio esta en reconstruccion.

Scala Bovolo (below) - with its external spiral staircase - the palace is under refurbishment.



Atardecer en la plaza de San Marcos - la luz disminuia ya y las sombras cambiaban rapidamente.

Late afternoon in San Marcos piazza - the sun was settign and the shadows quickly changing.



Saltaire - Yorkshire - September 2011

Saltaire is one of my favourite towns where i keep returning through the years. Near Shipley in Yorkshire it was once part of the industrial revolution that brought textile industry to the area. Titus Salt created a model village for his workers in the 1850s and Salts Mill opened in 1853 - this is now the name of the gallery in the same space which is a showcase of David Hockney's work through his life - there are etchings and photographs and opera sets and faxed pieces and paintings and videos and digital paintings (created in photoshop or ipad). The building also houses a bookshop and a dinner, florist, kitchen shop, antique shop and restaurant.
Below some drawings of the exhibition space on the third floor and views from the restaurant.

This year I walked around in the park and got some distant views - this one combines the bandstand, dome of the church and sculpture of Titus salt. The bandstand is pink!

And I discovered the New Mill just next to Salts Mill which has a very attractive tower. Along the canal one gets the force of the towering buildings.

We also visited Leeds where there is a new cafe in the old Library which is decorated all with tiles of various colours - mainly green.

 At my friends house she had some amazing dried alliums so i could not resist them.

Wells - Somerset - 16th to 18th August

I went with my friend Pam to this excellent city in Somerset, the smallest city in UK and we spend two and a bit days painting there - it was a rather gloomy most of the time - and it rained and rained, luckily there is plenty to admire and rejoice of in the Cathedral. The Vicars close was our first point of call - people who live there are linked with the city's music school - there is no other way - the street is amazing with the uprights of the chimneys creating a very quick rythm.
The Cathedral is set on a Green so there is enough space for its facade (full of figures) to be appreciated. Inside it has the most modern look despite all the work dating from medieval times - the double scissor arch solution to the weight of the central tower is a very clever solution and geometrically very simple and beautiful.
The Lady chapel has a green and red theme and glass windows that are in different stages of repair - quite beautiful.
The access to the chapter house is by a stair that has a complex geometry and it is very beautiful as well.
The chapter house is an octogonal room with a central column.
The back of the cathedral connects to the Bishop's palace that has a complete moat - but we left the views from its garden/orchard for another time.

 

Retrospective 4 - Ilfracombe 2010

In 2010 I went for a CAD course to Ilfracombe and unfortunately, left out a colour of my watercolour box, the blue. i was there trying to sketch a sunrise counterlight without it, very difficult - quite an insipid picture. But I had taken my watercolour pencils and my pens, so I spent the saturday morning taking in the views of the harbour and surrounding St Nichs chapel, the sea. It is good to use other media, liberating.