‘Summer flooding’ oil
I had always been interested in Art but never even lifted up a pencil until I moved up to Norfolk and undertook the Diploma course in Contemporary Oil Painting at the Norfolk Painting School in 2020.
It was transformative for me; finally I found what I wanted to achieve in my future. I loved all aspects of the learning, from studio craft, technical skills, art history and loved the challenges of painting studies of the Masters and learning from doing them.
‘Columbia Road Market’ pen & wash
‘What have you been up to?’ his work colleagues asked
‘Painting’
‘Matt or emulsion’
I had never painted before but I was inspired to take an art course at Willy Lott’s Cottage, Flatford Mill, after my artist mother’s death. Pure watercolour never had enough definition for me, so combining drawing with dip pen and watercolour became my default medium.
‘Anna’s house’ acrylic
I live in the Norfolk countryside with my husband Tony in my family home near King’s Lynn. For many years we lived on a 40 foot steel junk rig yacht, built by Tony in his back garden. We sailed in Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and North Africa and motored through the French and German canals.
‘Summer Contrast’ watercolour
Largely self-taught, I went back to painting when my daughter started school in 1975. Founder member of the Buttsbury Art Society and member of “The 7” life drawing group in Billericay, Essex for many years. I moved to Norfolk in 2005 and co-founded the Northwold Art Group in 2006.
‘ Sun seekers ‘ textiles
The common element throughout my textile and mixed media work is stitch. Whether by hand or by machine, I am fascinated by the ability of simple sewn marks to alter a prepared surface, creating textural interest, structural integrity and emotional response.
Jean Kiekopf – Craning Cranes
The weather was kind when we visited this exhibition. The setting is magical in the grounds of Bayfield Hall with its sweeping lawns, a great treescape and the lake.
We started in the Natural Surroundings cafe and plant nursery spending longer there than we had intended. Such peaceful surroundings with all the cottage garden and wildflower plant nursery. We ventured into the summerhouse to find some harvest mice scampering around their enclosure. Hard to believe that such small creatures can survive in the wild.
Hiro. Shinjuku Station
V&A South Kensington.
Closes Sunday 5th January.
There are lots of reviews online for this exhibition. I hadn’t read more than one or two before I went and was unprepared for the sheer scale of it. Over 300, sometimes large, prints from 140 photographers.
Time to see why this installation is already drawing record numbers of visitors.
We drove through the gates of Houghton Hall and joined a long line of cars very slowly making their way to the car park -proof this is a popular exhibition.
Luckily for us we had a picnic with us and there was plenty of time to munch our sandwiches as we edged along.
We started to spot naked iron men among the trees and in the fields all staring into the distance. Some on pillars, some on the ground and some immersed into the ground.
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Esther Boehm opened Studio @ 55 on the High Street, Heacham in October 2017. In these 6+ years we have watched it grow into a vibrant community art hub.
Sadly, Esther has been told that she will need to Vacate the Premises. We don’t want to see her go!
I spent 10 days in Cornwall this Spring, with half of this time working intensively alongside other artists on a ‘retreat’ at the St Ives School of Painting. The studios are right next to Porthmeor Beach, so a lovely place to go to work!
I found that there were only 5 of us plus lead artists Ilker Cinarel and Camilla Dixon. They were both totally inspirational and forced us all out of our comfort zones while being very supportive.