The end of 2020

 ....and looking forward to 2021 with a LOT of hope...

...that things will be very, VERY different!!

I've been keeping myself occupied with various bits and bobs...

...and have many more bits and bobs to be carrying on with over the next couple of "lockdown" months.

Cross stitch adventures include a couple of new biscornu...

...and a "Little House Needleworks" panel called "Sweet Shop"

...very sweet indeed!!

I have also been motoring along with my sketchbooks for the Near & Far expo (still hoping it goes ahead in March!!)

The "Wearable" piece is also coming along...

...but I'm not ready to show that just yet....

I am so glad that I have all of my creative pursuits to keep me sane!!

...and I hope that you all have a happy and HEALTHY New Year!

Sending love and virtual BIG HUGS to everyone who reads my little blog.

xxxxx C 

Lascaux Pages #5 & #6

...and so my final Lascaux pages are completed....

...the head of a magnificent bull....

....and some of the 400 signs/marks found throughout the cave....

I shall do a lot more with this theme...

...but it'll have to wait until I get home again!

x C

Lascaux pages #4

A horse this time...

x C

Lascaux pages #3

...and so it's back to bulls...

I'm really enjoying my Lascaux cave visit....

....right here on the campsite!!

Today it's a light lunch Chez Gladys....

...and a visit to the Grotte de Rouffingnac this afternoon.

A good time to go as it's going to be 32 degrees outside!! :-)

x C

Lascaux pages #2

I didn't say much about the cave experience in the last post....

...but someone has asked....and I think that I should now anyway.

It felt strange.

It is (I'm sure) a VERY good replica, however, the whole process of the visit, unfortunately, leaves you in no doubt that you are not in the real thing.

Too many people in a group makes for overcrowding...

Too short a time between groups - only 10 minutes - means that there are actually three groups inside at any one time...and two groups in the actual "cave" part. When we entered the first cave, we could hear the guide and chatter from the French tour in the second cave. Our guide had to raise her voice so that we could hear her......and she didn't stop talking the whole of the time.

I think some spells of silence would have helped the experience.....

None of this detracted from the beauty of the paintings though. The whole thing is absolutely stunning and well worth the visit. It's not even that expensive 10.50 Euros per adult.....

...as long as you don't count the cost of the lunch you buy because your tour time isn't until 2.50 pm!!

I am very glad that we went....and I shall enjoy it for much longer than the 30 minutes we had in the "cave" as I work into my sketchbook here at the Gladdyvan!! :-)

Now...

...page #2...

This is (obviously) one of the stags....stenciled onto a waxed/batik paper using Sepia acrylic ink.

I hadn't intended to use this paper here.....but....when I sponged my black Brusho through the stencil I had my sponge too wet and it bled dreadfully. So I had to do a "cover-up-jobby" on it and stuck the batik paper on top of the original mess!! I still like it though :-)

This left a space free on the left side of the page for a bit of writing...

....part of a poem entitled "Magic Words"...

...and Inuit poem translated by Edward Field...

...that had been posted by lovely Penny here.

I shall now continue my underground adventure with a few more pages...

...before moving on to work on some Romanesque inspiration that I've found in abundance since arriving in France!

It's going to be another hot one today......

....maybe some stitching in the shade too....

x C

Lascaux pages #1

Well....

...a blog post at last!

We've been away a week, but spent most of that time on the road (or in a garage getting the exhaust fixed!!)...


....or busy being hot!

Sarlat was sooooooo hot on Friday - about 37 degrees - that it was difficult to enjoy the day...

...but Saturday we drove up to Montingac to get our tickets for Lascaux II - where it was only 13 degrees inside :-))))))

This is a replica cave as the real one had to be closed to the public because of contamination...

...bacteria and CO2 causing the paintings to suffer too much.

Lascaux II is a copy of only a part of Lascaux.....the first 2 chambers...

...and photos/video are not allowed so I can't show you any - sorry.

However, I had printed off a number before coming and I'd cut a number of stencils from my drawings...

...so yesterday, my first "sketchbook day".....I was able to get on without a hitch as the temperature was down to about 27!!

Here are some piccies of page #1...

The name at the top was cut from a paper carrier bag that held my purchases...

...and those are our entry tickets stuck in the middle of the page.

The bulls are done with my stencils and some Sennelier oil pastels....

....and to finish off I used a micro liner pen to do ga-zillions of dots to make it resemble the undulations of the rock surfaces.

2 Euros bought me a bank-note depicting a Lascaux panel....a nice addition to the page :-)

I shall move on to Page #2 next...

x C

A serpent...and some Beakheads...

Been doing a bit more in my "Medieval Inspirations" sketchbook...

A serpent from Kilpeck...

...and some beakheads from...

...all over the place!!

I have scanned and REVERSED the serpent drawing...

...ready to transfer onto lino.

(Let's see if I can get THIS one right!!)

The others will get done a bit later...

..after I've been off Beakhead-hunting next week :-)

EXCITED!!!

x C

...in the meantime...

...while still waiting for my brown ink...

...I've been working on a couple of pages featuring the Sampson Tympanum at the church of St Mary Magdalene at Stretton Sugwas...

...where we visited the Saturday before last.

It was originally in the priory church, but was moved to this new one and installed inside.

It is a magnificent piece of stone carving - in the Hereford School style.

Here's my rendition...

...drawn using water-soluble graphite...

...then sprayed with Brusho.

I did another page but in close-up...

...ready for another lino block...

Having fun!

x C

(Hopefully I can get some printing done soon!)

Finished..and waiting for brown ink to arrive!!

I've finished the block...

...and have to agree with yesterday's comment that the feathers may now look a bit like leaves!!

But...

...this is a learning curve...

..and we'll see how it turns out...

...when the brown printing ink turns up! :-)

Meantime, I'm doing a couple more sketchbook pages...

...on another church we visited last Saturday...

x C

Kilpeck Angel...in print!

You'll remember that I showed a few pages from my new sketchbook...

...with drawings of carvings from around the south doorway at Kilpeck.

Well...

...I decided to excavate and dust off my lino carving tools...

...and make a start on a series of print blocks to use in some mixed-media collages.

Here's how it went...

Sketchbook page scanned and cropped.

Transferred onto lino using handwriting carbon paper.

Marked over with a Sharpie ready for carving.

Taking the plunge!!

Nearly there...

Done!!

First pull.

How it compares with the sketchbook page.

And the next one will be "flipped" so that the image comes out the right way around!1 :-o

Ooooops!!


....after all these years...

...it's good to know we can STILL get things wrong!! :-)))))

x C

A title and two pages....

It always feels sooooooooooooo good to get the first bits done in a new sketchbook!!

I find that I spend ages and ages faffing around sorting the pages...

...accumulating images...

...bringing out all the materials I want to use...

etc...etc...etc...

...and then it takes me days to actually get the first marks done inside!!

But...

...'tis done!!

...and here is the evidence sitting on my desk this morning :-)

Inside "title" page...

Page 1 (from around the south doorway - Kilpeck)

Page 2 (top of arch - south doorway - Kilpeck)

Fancy having a go at some "Beakheads" next.....


Have a great Sunday...

x C