Flynn's Beach Rocks from Liz

Our postcard project this year seems to be spluttering along a bit erratically, but to see a colourful rectangle in the postbox is always a thrill. This time it was one of Liz's wonderful  rock-and-beach scenes from her recent holiday at Port Macquarie (fairly recent, as I've taken a while to get to posting this!) I had been thoroughly enjoying seeing her expressive - and different for her - posts from the beach and to have one for my collection is very special. I can just picture Liz sitting here on the sand and concentrating on capturing the wild sea and sky. I love that it is signed with her personal name-stamp that was given to her in Singapore too!

Dog Park

Here is Cathy's painting of the Dog Park at the dam.

 

Cathy wrote that she thought of Ivy when she was painting these images. Ivy is my greyhound.   Ivy would really have had fun with the water and the other dogs.  I love seeing the dogs having so much fun in the water.  Below is the back side of the postcard with the words removed so you can see that Cathy has captured the stance of a dog owner waiting for her pet.

  Unfortunately this is one of the postcards that got lost.  Cathy sent me the image so I could share with you.

A Memory of Paris

I received this postcard from Robyn a few weeks ago and it's been propped by my computer ever since.  I know Robyn likes to do plein air work when she's visiting cities, but this time in the middle of winter, the weather just didn't play ball.  Instead she painted part of the interior of her apartment in the area of Ile St Louis.

I say wretched weather! But lucky me!  I get to have this lovely cosy scene instead.

Lost, Stolen or Strayed

After being in denial for months, I have to accept that this wonderful postcard from Albrecht has gone missing, having been posted last year (December, or November?) Aren't they just beautiful sketches of tits on his balcony - at this time still in the middle of winter in the Rhine Valley. I hope they've all survived the cold into the coming Spring!
Albrecht sent me an email saying,

"If my tits on the postcard would have been live birds, they would have had arrived in a few days.

8.619 km, that's nothing for them.

Obviously Lufthansa's crane is a lame bird in comparison...

Next time I will use trained pigeons for delivering my cards.

But that's the wonderful thing about our postcard project.

We are testing our post offices. Who knows how long they will go on existing in times of internet, emails, facebook, twitter..."

 

Who knows indeed. Our post office has been on strike so I haven't sent or received mail for weeks - and I was behind on my postcards even before that! Perhaps once they get back to work and clear the backlog, Albrecht's card will emerge from under a pile of neglected mail and they'll find their way here yet...I can live in hope...

 

Double Happiness from Liz

I'm always surprised and excited when a postcard arrives from Liz Steel but this time it was double happiness when I opened the envelop to find two!

This is Port Macquarie, Liz's January holiday destination on the coast of New South Wales.  It was painted on Australia Day after a swim.  I hope everyone can see the texture in this clever little painting.  Sketching the sea is a new passion for Liz so hopefully there'll be many more of these.

This Singapore kopitiam (coffee house) was sketched prior to Liz's 'breakthrough' earlier in the year when she started some exciting experiments that resulted in the beautiful textural effects you can see in the first postcard.  After all the fun the artist started having she though this one 'looked very dull'.  If only my sketches were so 'dull'.

Thank you so much Liz, these postcards are both heading for a frame.

Liz sketches in Sydney

I can only apologise to Liz for the late posting here of her card. I received it ages ago but must have popped it in a sketchbook for safe keeping. It was only recently I used the book to find, with great relief, the card inside.

If you're a follower of Liz's Blog I think you might detect a change in her work, a freer, looser use of the watercolour medium.

 I love the direction she's going in and it's great to see the sheer joy she's experiencing coming through in her sketches.

Liz says this card, showing St Thomas, North Sydney, shows her experimenting with distorted perspective and loose brushstrokes.

And I should mention that the sketch was to be completed in under 15 minutes

It's wonderful to have a real Liz Steel in my possession.

http://www.lizsteel.com/

Richmond Park from Alison

I received my postcard from Alison! Thank you Alison for such a wonderful card of your winter in the park. I can truly feel the drab grey skies you speak about in you letter. I am also thankful for the siennas that bring some warm color to the grey days of winter. Hopefully your sun is back out and your spring will come quickly! For us, although it has been colder than normal in Southern California we usually have sun and look forward to the grey rainy days that are few and far between.

Postcards From California

Receiving a card from Pat is always special, and i was doubly lucky to receive two!  The top image image shows Pat's walking trail in Orange.  I think Pat is particularly brilliant at depicting trees in graphite.  All those negative spaces and array of tones.  I always feel inspired to pick up my pencils after looking at her work!

On the reverse of the card is an image of Sam, Pat's cat.  The nice thing is, Sam looks just like my own cat, so it's particularly fun to have received this. Don't you just love the wacky positions cats can get into when they are grooming!




The second card depicts the beach near to where Pat lives. She says "I can watch the water forever and not get tired of seeing the colours change, the shapes transform and of course, the people."

I love this, it captures the beach and the weather and sea breeze perfectly.

 

Thank you Pat! 

 

 

The Little Lemon Tree

This is a sketch from Desiree, done several weeks ago now during the tail end of autumn.  It's part of her own garden and amazingly colourful considering the time of year. A real reminder to me as to how mild the Californian climate is compared to that of the UK. Everything looks wonderfully lush. 

I am particularly jealous of her little lemon tree, something we can't grow remotely well here in England.

I have seen photos of Desiree's garden and its stunning. I think her love for her plants clearly spills over into this painting and i am so happy it's now part of my postcard collection.  Thank you Desiree!