Bridget's Comfy Chair!!

One of the reasons I truly love the people in this group is that we are able to share with each other and always know that there is someone there to listen. Its more than a post card every month but our daily chats online that are so amazing. We have gotten to know each other so much better over the last year and when I receive a postcard it just becomes that much more special. I was the lucky recipient of Bridgets comfy blue chair where she sits to take off her boots after a 2 hour walk with friends. I can just picture her sitting in her chair, thankful for the soft place to rest. We all probably have those special places we love to spend time or curl up with a good book on. I also love her gouache and I am hoping to start purchasing some soon after this! Thank you so much for my card! I am sorry I was so late in posting it.

Rozelle Park

Autumn



Bridget Hunter
Gouache on Paper

Bridget shared her autumn color with me in her postcard from her walk.  This is a view from Rozelle Park a woodlands around the corner from where she lives.   It’s done in gouache on the paper from the sketch book Ronelle sent to her.  That makes it even more special.  Don't you think?  It's like a collaboration of friends bringing me love and joy to my mailbox.



How now, Ayrshire cow?

My second postcard from Bridget, and I'm so pleased to have one of the very appealing residents that abound in the area in which she lives. This Ayrshire calf was spotted in a field on a walk with friends - it sounds like Bridget had to forego the packed lunch to get him on paper! She says she had such trouble drawing the legs that she left them out, but I love the way he seems to have walked right up to her in the quizzy way that cows sometimes do, full of movement and twitching skin, to stare at her with those beautiful eyes, and now staring at me!

A winter cliff walk with Bridget

Bridget Hunter, The Cliff Path near Ayr

This lovely moody card of a walk along the cliff path near Ayr arrived from Bridget.  My last card of the exchange.   I've had it a while, enjoying it, but it had to wait in the queue to be shown here.   Her paintings of the area make me want to visit.

She says that the view across to the island of Arran is always beautiful and that there is a 'great wee coffee shop'!   always a good thing :>)  I can feel the struggle of those trees to grow in their exposed position, stunted and gnarled by the winds.

Lovely loose marks and great use of colour, capturing the essence of a scene - typical of Bridget's work.

A lovely last card and well worth waiting for :>)

It's sad that the exchange is over for me now - but look forward to seeing the last arrivals for others.

A Scottish Country Garden

I've had Bridget's card, my last one of this exchange, propped up on my mantelpiece for a week or more, to gaze at and enjoy - and think of what I could say about it that it doesn't eloquently say for itself. Gorgeous rich colour, expressive and varied marks that describe her winter garden so vividly - the dormant stalks, withered leaves and brave new snowdrops in the muted, wild looking landscape. I absolutely love my little piece of Scotland, and of the painterly way it's presented - apparently casual yet so masterful! Thank you Bridget - hope that back is well on its way to recovery so you can get to zumba and walking again - though you clearly don't need to go very far to produce wonderful work.

Trees in Scotland - a golf ball catch

Bridget Hunter sent me a nice card with a tree grove in typical Scottish colors. She critically reflects her latest ambitions in playing golf which at present mainly seems to be an excuse to have coffee and a giggle at the club house after a couple of golf balls have been buried between the tree trunks. She calls that exercise.

I think that it is this tabooless exchange of international customs that contributes a lot to the excitement in this postcard exchange. I am impressed by the quality of the gouache which arrived here in perfect condition. Thanks Bridget and good luck with golfing :).

Alloway Auld Kirk

Today I received this amazing postcard from Bridget. Wow!!!!

It is of the church in the village of Alloway – the setting for Robert Burn's poem Tam O’Shanter. Although I am in love with Scotland and been there 9 times in the past 12 years, I have only had limited exposure to Burns and did not know this poem at all. Of course I have looked it up now

She prophesied that late or soon,Thou wad be found, deep drown'd in Doon,Or catch'd wi' warlocks in the mirk,By Alloway's auld, haunted kirk.

Just wish I had someone with a lovely thick Scottish accent to read me the whole poem!

Thank you Bridget – this card has really made my day and I am going to really enjoy looking at it all month...till the card arrives (this exchange is just so much fun!!!)

Wee Scottish House in Straiton

Acrylic 14.5 x 20 cm
Bridget Hunter

This is wish fulfillment - to own a landscape painting by Bridget Hunter. What a temptation this must have been for postal workers but thank goodness they delivered it safely to me.

Trying not to gush over Bridget's work because it really speaks for itself. Click on the image to enjoy a bigger version so you can enjoy the brush strokes and the colours.

It shows how much Bridget loves this landscape. Straiton, near the Galloway Forest is where she lived happily for twenty years with her three daughters going to the tiny two teacher school. She says, 'the hills are grazed by black faced sheep and lower down by hardy beef cattle. It's Autumn now and the leaves are turning and being blown off the trees by the squally showers we're getting'.

Beautiful. Thank you, Bridget.

A vision of topiary in France

Topiary in the front garden of the Chateau Dumas

I've been waiting a long time for my postcard from Bridget Hunter.  First of all it went astray - except I didn't know I was due to get it.  So then I had to wait until the end of the month to work out who might have sent my missing postcard - because of who had not had a painting listed in the month.

I finally worked out it was Bridget, wrote her an email and she very kindly agreed to send a second one. In fact she painted three in total as she decided it was boring doing the same one again!

So this truly beautiful postcard - which I am so very pleased to now own - is of the Chateau Dumas in South West France.  Bridget recently stayed there during a spell of gorgeous weather and describes it as a painter's paradise, inside and outside, with a still life or landscape around every corner!

This particular view is of the formal garden at the front of the house.  Bridget shares a love of topiary with me.  She says that the beautifully shaped bushes made her feel as if she was in the garden of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

A visit to Culzean Castle with Bridget

Bridget sent me this wonderful postcard of the cornfield at Culzean Castle that they sometimes cut into a maze that she says is great fun to get lost in.

Her postcard also says that she often drives the 10 miles to the Castle to play with the grandchildren. I am shocked too, you don't look old enough to have grandchildren!!

She will also go to walk with friends along the beach or in the wooded grounds. The castle dates back to the 1400's but was rebuilt into a classical mansion in the 18th century, www.culzeanexperience.org is the link to learn more about its history.

She goes on to say that there is so much to see that she often goes there just to paint and sketch.

Thank you so much Bridget, the painting is so beautiful! How I wish I could depict so much and still be so loose! I am off to explore the website, you made it sound so appealing that I wish I could walk and paint with you there!

Living in the states I really miss the history that you all have and I love the thought of old Castles and ruins!

Gallery-May postcards

The round-up of our May postcards.

A postcard from the Island of Sky

Today I received a beautiful postcard from an area which is still on my list of places I would like to visit in my lifetime. Great, many thanks Bridget! I guess you have painted the postcard with acrylic. A few strokes of a pen are visible. Bridget wrote: "I've spent the last week on the Island of Skye. Though it frequently rained nothing could spoil the dramatic landscape, the Black Cuillin Mountains plunging into the sea. Its history is also full of drama too - the remains of abandoned crafts (small stonehouses) when the crofters were forced to leave their land to make way for sheep, many having to emigrate and the stories of Bonnie Prince Charlie who took refuge here. This view is off the shore at ARDVASAR, on the southern part of the island.«
I of course immediately asked at Wikipedia about the unfortunate Charles Edward Stuart. When I come to Rome next time I will visit his tomb in St. Peter's.
One more time: Thank you so much Bridget for this gem in my collection of postcards!

Rhubarb and Bean Poles

Here's yet another wonderful postcard!  This time from Bridget in Scotland. This is done in acrylics and although the photograph hasn't done it justice, it makes it lovely loose and alive looking.  There are no figures in the sketch, yet there is a sense of quite busyness, of readiness, and of hard work having been done. Anyone who loves gardening and growing will have an immediate empathy, and I love it!

This is Bridget's comment-
 "April means lots of planting and bare earth but i love the pattern of the tall poles and the blue of the bins.  The rhubarb had been allowed to go to seed and in flower - I liked the colour!"

I like the colour too, especially of the blue bins. It's a really unusual subject, and really cleverly done. It really stuck chords.  Thanks Bridget!

A pelican from Australia!

It was a wonderful surprise to find that my postcard this month came from Bridget but even more so since she painted and sent this beautiful card whilst on vacation in Australia! The colours are so soft and subtle and the subject matter is perfect - pelicans are one of my favourite birds! Thank you so much Bridget!

Here's what Bridget says about it -

'A pelican from Kingscote Harbour, Kangeroo Island, South Australia. Pelicans are fed daily at 5pm - so congregate eagerly from 4pm! I find them strange to draw - almost cartoonish - but very appealing. The eyes are large blackish pupils set in ovals of yellow. This particular bird sat and stared at me as I stared back at him! I was able to capture his image in watercolour before he got bored and turned his back to me.'

Bridget's Painting from Scotland, UK

Rozelle House - Gardens & Art Galleries

Watercolor/Colored Pencil on Paper

By Bridget Hunter

This beautiful painted postcard is completely it's own little piece of art.

A Postcard from Bridget in Scotland

Bridge over the River Ayr   
watercolour, gouache, pencil   
by Bridget Hunter

I was so pleased Bridget was able to take the time to paint this lovely postcard, as she’s in the final countdown completing 10 large landscapes that have to be delivered February 25 for an Exhibition in the historic artist town of Kirkcudbright.  I love the ethereal misty glow she has achieved here – she’s inspired me to give gouache a try.

Introducing Bridget Hunter

I live on the south west coast of Scotland and I love painting - oils, acrylics, gouache - especially the landscape around my home.

I prefer painting outside in front of the subject but, as its not always possible to do this,  I often sketch. The sketch then becomes a painting resource along with my recollection of the atmosphere and colours.

Above Loch Doon

Sketch - Loch Doon

Landscape, Loch Doon
Oil 2010

I also love walking and I'm lucky to live 10 minutes from unspoiled beaches and 10 minutes from the countryside which varies from rolling hills to rugged moorland, both populated by Blackfaced sheep, grouse, deer and buzzards.

I always drew and painted, but, as others find, working fulltime and being mother to 3 meant ironing and other such necessary activites always came first. Then I was widowed, my daughters became mums, I retired and painting has become much more than a part-time hobby.

But since joining Sketchercise and seeing all the wonderful, varied sketches of the people here and of artists' work found through the blog Making A Mark, I now appreciate drawing as an end in itself once more.

I'm very grateful to the members of Sketchercise for the opportunity to be part of this postcard exchange and look forward to being in touch, in this amazing way, with like-minded people from all around the world.