I think I might have written a diary for two weeks when I was a young girl …… I don’t know why I didn’t keep it up and I have always admired anyone who does.  I started out writing my blog as a marketing tool to promote my artwork to the masses, but it has developed into something much more cathartic.  It has led to a greater understanding of what I am doing and  many many  more questions.

Other people have said how much blogging has helped their art.  But it goes way beyond this. It connects you with other bloggers, people’s own thoughts and personal experiences who in their own journey of life are recording  information, allowing it to be shared, changing and challenged in the most subtle way; the way we think and live our lives. This ultimately has a knock on effect on those around us.

So, whilst the internet has made us in some respects more internal, I think it has also given us greater humanity, generosity and made us smile. So keep Blogging…. We can Change the World.

Footnote:  I decided to look up the definition of “cathartic” . From the myriad of words, the definition that was most pertinent to this post was “it is an emotional release linked to a need to release unconscious conflicts, a spiritual renewal ”  As I see it, we are conditioned through childhood to hold certain beliefs, things that we think are right and true and ways to control the emotions attached to these beliefs.  But … we can change that and this is what I believe us Bloggers are doing.

When I first saw David Hockney’s paintings of his home territory in Yorkshire, I wasn’t sure about them. This is a very generalised statement as I don’t think any art can be judged unless seen in the flesh. Was it their simplicity?  Their greenness!!… that almost pure viridian than seems unreal.  But then I realised what the landscape meant to him and I could totally relate to that.  Although my surroundings are very different, the connection to the landscape runs just as deep. This may be heightened in the artist eye seeing the landscape in colour and form, peeling back the layers.

I am a great believer that things come to us at the right time – “the law of attraction “as many call it and this is one such instance.  I came across a blog called “When the light gets in” – a collection of musings on all things art. I have only followed it for a month, but the most recent post caught my eye.

“A Bigger Message – Conversations with David Hockney  , Hand, Eye and Heart.”  in which Hockney is quoted as saying ” I have always loved this part of the world, I have known it for a long time” ….. exactly how I feel too.

The book is ordered!  and contains a collection of conversations between the artist and art historian and friend Martin Gaysford.  I think I am going to learn a lot from this and it might begin to help me understand why I feel such an emotional connection with my landscape and why I feel compelled to express it through the medium of paint.

Here is the link to the post ” A bigger message”

http://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/hockneys-bigger-message-hand-eye-and-heart/#comment-2966

Living so close to the sea,  we take this sound very much for granted and barely notice it.  So next time you are in Cornwall, shut your eyes and listen for the sound the of sea.  I have been told that there are several other words in the Cornish language which are all sea related, and I am keen to find out more, so will add them in a future post.

My interest in Mordros has inspired my latest paintings and this is to be the title for my exhibition in June.  Everyone who lives near the sea has their favourites, A new one I heard today was sea fret, which describes the misty rain that comes in off the Atlantic.  Any more? 

I was lucky enough to grow up on a working farm and although I have been living down the road for nearly 30 years now since I got married, it is like going home.  My childhood is so full of memories and experiences, although that way of like has changed dramatically over the years.  But the basics haven’t changed at all.  We went to fetch logs from the endless supply of old trees or fallen trees that are chopped and seasoned every year  but ended up with a veritable feast in the van – fresh eggs, sprouts on stalks, a swede, homemade seville marmalade and four skinned rabbits. How lucky are we!

Early morning January at Northcott.

Don had a day off, so came to and got the gas fire going. Although it looks beautiful, there was a sharp frost even to the cliff edge and after just a few minutes of sketching, it was lovely to wrap the fingertips around a mug of coffee.

Much needed coffee on the go

We spent all morning sat on the beach watching the waves crashing in. For January the weather the past few days has been a real exception.I managed to get some sketching done, though sitting on frosted grass for too long is not to be recommended……

sketching in my fetching flatcap!!

I have flashes of inspiration, sometimes sparked by words I see written or by views and images while out walking. It’s the sleepy hours that my creative mind starts to come to the fore, as the rest of the days workings start to filter out and dissappear until the morrow.  This idea is described in the TED lecture    

Elizabeth Gilbert describes the notion of having ideas as images or words that flowing around the world and come to you but you have to grab them by the tail and hold on to them and put them down on paper otherwise they are gone and travelling on to someone else.  I love this idea and rather than letting it slip from memory, try and make some notes or a quick drawing.

So plenty to get on with.  I won’t be revealing too much about final paintings for the exhibition until nearer the time, but will share some of the thoughts and processes with perhaps little glimpses to tempt the curiosity so please come back and take a look.

Xmas heart garland with tinkly bells

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas.  Different cultures and countries all celebrate in different ways, but in the spirit of Christmas, we all hope for peace and joy. so I hope that this is true for you too.

I tried taking photographs.  It may be the shortcomings of my camera or my lack of knowledge when using it, but all the colours I can see are lost in the image.  So the only image I can work from is the one in my head.  As an artist, I am able to distinguish the different blues or siennas, and know which colours to mix to get a specific colour, so I now travel with a pad and pen in the glovebox of my van  so that I can instantly make notes for future reference.

The gorse in the Cornish hedge comes and goes all year round, due to the mildness of our climate here. The  sulphurous yellow is so vibrant and saturated.  It is pure lemon yellow with hints of cadmium yellow to give it depth.  Where the light catches the hedges, it reflects and bounces light around, off the tangle of branches, twigs and brambles in a dazzling array of siennas and grey blues.  Whilst the outer edges and tops are mostly yellow ochres and raw siennas, the darker inner hedge is a mix of burnt sienna, burnt and raw umber and the whole spectrum of blues to give an endless variety of what the most people would term “brown”. But these browns have a richness unsurpassed by any generic brown.

This way of looking at the colour also applies to the greens.  I never use the already mixed “leaf green” or “phalto green” which are very bright and harsh.  I prefer to mix my own which have a natural softness where you can add light or dull it down, where it reflects or absorbs light.  This gives a painting harmony and is probably why a landscape painting holds the eye as the brain and eye are revelling in the optical melee of wonderful colour.