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.



Ronelle's Garden

I find Ronelle's card totally enchanting. It shows her immediate, emotional response to the beauty of these white geraniums growing in her garden in France. Such delicate work, done in aquarelle, and exactly as it should be to convey her delight in these flowers.

But look at the image on the envelope, done on handmade paper and showing a masterly touch with gouache.

I am so pleased to own these beautiful artistic works by Ronelle. Thankyou.

When yellow and blue make shades of green

My postcard from Vivien is a double delight  -  golden yellow on the front and an array of blues on the reverse.

So what's my meaning in the title of this post? Obvious! When one is lucky enough to receive a postcard from Vivien, you just know that everyone else will be a shade of green. Green with envy.

The front depicts some of the fields close to where Vivien lives. The bright gold is oil seed rape,  now grown abundantly in many parts of England during spring. In huge fields it's visually mind blowing.

On the reverse Vivien's used gouache.  Blue sky and a blue and turquoise sea, done from memory in a 'wish you were here'  right now kind of moment.

Thank you so much Vivien. I love both sides equally -
The fields remind me of my family home ........   and
The sea.... yes, me too, I'd love to be there right now...... !

Postcard from Ronelle

I've been greatly looking forward to getting Ronelle's postcard as I've been a big fan of her work for years. What a lovely surpise it was to see her characteristically fresh, vibrant style coupled with a cool, muted winter palatte! It was done in inks, watercolour, gouache and pen and in the flesh it has wonderful texture too with raised splatters of gouache.

 

The envelope, containing some lovely arty goodies, was instantly recognisable with another beautiful splashy guoache sketch! Thank you Ronelle, for this amazing treasure!

Roof Top Ambiance

Here it is….Ta Da! 

Ronelle’s postcard. 

Roof Tops of Vayrac, France

Ronelle said she painted this scene, from a hill top, of a cute little village she likes to go to, for the best coffee and ambiance. You can see even the roof tops have ambiance, let alone having a bistro that serves great coffee. I am on a plane tomorrow for that…..I Wish! Of course when you have something like this in your hand every line and wash of vibrant color just makes your heart tingle.

Here is a corner of the envelope.

As always, when you get something form

Ronelle, even the envelope is deliciously rendered.

I am so sorry to say that this is the last postcard I will receive from our 14 month adventure of the blog “A Postcard From My Walk”.  And Yep!, I have 14 original paintings from 14 great artists (that I soooo! respect) and from all over the world.

Sheep - With a little French Chic!

This is Ronelle's card to me.  A gorgeous array detailing some of her neighbours sheep.  I love the way she has managed to catch their expressions.  The one on the far right looks extraordinarily haughty, looking down her nose as if to say "La, who are you interrupting our lunch time?"   I think she has been to see a coiffeur to have her eyelashes curled - only a French sheep could look that chic!  

The envelope matches the card with another wonderfully expressive painting. As others have said in previous posts, Ronelle's use of gouache  against the brown of the envelope works really well.  I don't have any gouache paints nor do I have any brown tinted paper - but I might have to go out and purchase some! 

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 :).

The coast near Porthgwarra

The sea at Porthgwarra, Cornwall
(mixed media)
Vivien Blackburn

Walks for sketching sometimes have to take second place to other commitments - particularly when a family member has been in hospital as has happened to Vivien recently.

This then is another of Vivien's experiments of sketching from her memories of a scene from a walk in Cornwall along the coast near Porthgwarra.

I thought I'd misread the spelling to start with - but checked it - and it's definitely Porthgwarra.  I wasn't sure where this was despite Vivien's description - so took a look at the map

Location of Porthgwarra Cove (see arrow)

It's where the arrow is on the map (click and open in a new tab to see a bigger image).  That's west of Porthcurno and south of Lands End.  The reason I was confused is that I'd forgotten that Lands End is not the most southerly point of the UK - it's the most westerly point - and is just off the north west corner of this map.

This is how the Sennen Cove website describes Porthgwarrow - and it's definitely a good place for a walk!

A superb, secluded Cornish Cove just under 3 miles southeast of Lands End. Porthgwarra is steeped in history and tradition - one time a busy fishing cove , now just one boat regularly works crab pots from here.
The cliff path leads away west towards Lands End (roughly 1.5 hours walk) , and east towards Porthcurno (45 minutes) - both very scenic and dramatic routes !

Vivien says she was trying to catch the movement and varying depths of the water - with the rocks half seen underwater.  She assures me that the sea around this part of Cornwall really is the colour she's painted it! :)

What I like about it is that look of translucency of the water - I'm more familiar with the water off the west coast of Scotland and it very much reminds me of seas I've seen there.  It's also got that sense of the swirling movement of the water in a cove which is so difficult to catch.

I'm told the art media used for the postcard included gouache, coloured pencils, tippex and a secret ingredient.  My lips are sealed!

A Great-looking Canadian in Germany

 Isn’t he/she (it’s hard to tell with Canada Geese) a beautiful bird!  This one looks especially striking painted by Albrecht Rissler in gouache on (IMHO) the perfect shade of softly grey-toned card.

I’d have to say, however, that the appearance of Canada Geese is just about their only redeeming feature.  Albrecht was nice enough not to refer to them as an invasive scourge, but the Americans are not so forgiving… I’ve heard they regularly bag a few hundred Canada Geese and feed them to the homeless, and I wish somebody would do the same here in Victoria!  Our defenses have been limited to barking dogs – quite effective, on golf courses for example, where they employ Labs and Alsatians.  But the geese do not respond well to condominium-sized dogs, whom they out-weigh and ignore.

Something Very British In Germany! .....(summer weather)

I received this wonderful depiction of brooding, dark clouds from Martin in Germany which he painted at the end of July.  On the reverse he wrote
        "It seems we have a very British summer this year.

         Lots of clouds, rain and cold, which now travel to you by card."

Looking out of my window right now it's absolutely bucketing down and Martin I blame you! The rain clouds have definitely followed your card here!  Obviously your painting is just too realistic! I love it though, especially the bright of the lush grass against the shadow of the cloud.  

Martin I do hope you have had some sunny days since you painted this.  On the other hand sunny scenes produce far less dramatic, interesting paintings.  So in a way, I am glad it rained on you,...... I got to benefit with this super card! 

Valley Study for the Month of May

Martin Stankewitz, Germany

Here it is....My very own Martin original Gouache.

Very cool!!!

This ideal valley is very near to Martin’s house where he paints his Sketchercise contributions.  I have gotten to know these trees very well and so appreciate his ability to use gouache, design and color to convey these areas of heavenly solitude.  I love how my eye is drawn through the painting by the positioning of tree groupings, placement and overlapping.

Apple blossoms from Germany

What a lovely thing, on a drizzly, mizzy autumn day (very unseasonal - we are supposed to be having cool but clear, crisp autumn weather) to find this great, solid chunk of spring in my postbox. I thought it was made of wood at first, so thick and heavy is this postcard! Martin's characteristic strong composition was easy to recognise, with the season's apple blossom and fresh new greens - and of course, trees! On the reverse side, a sample of his busy studio with marks of inks and prints, as well as the postmarks of it's journey here. I'm absolutely delighted to own this beautiful card - and am keeping it propped up on my mantelpiece to give me a reminder of spring through our cold months coming up.

Small Road to Coin Perdu

18.5cm x 17.5cm Gouache, Pen, Pencil

Every small road leads to big discoveries - Ronelle van Wyk

For my postcard, Ronelle has painted the little road that leads to her mountain home in Correze, France.

In her note on the back of the card Ronelle said:

I've always believed that tiny roads also lead to big surprises. This was how we found Coin Perdu, a secret little jewel at the end of a small road. The hills are very green with stunning spots of white and yellow and orange wildflowers everywhere. The cattle are back in the fields, keeping their young ones close by, the lambs doing their usual mischief, the birds and the bees are busy, busy, busy ... the deer jumping from field to field ... all in all, nature is exploding with life and optimism.

She went on to say, she hopes to explore more of these quiet, small roads this summer and discover with her brush and paint the surprises that await at their ends.

Ronelle is always full of wonderful surprises, some of them not so small. In the huge envelope with the postcard were other delightful gifts and the pen and gouache sketch on the front of the envelope must have surprised and delighted French and Italian postal workers as they passed it along to me.

Thank you Ronelle. I'm looking forward to exploring other small roads with you in Provence this June.

A lesson in gouache from Martin

I've been the recipient of a wonderful example from Martin of how to work outside in gouache despite adverse weather conditions. I follow Martin's Blog regularly in the hope of learning more about using this medium. Seeing his working process step by step there and reading about his struggles to get his wet works home when the rain is still pouring is a great source of inspiration. Knowing that, I'm amazed at the quality of this postcard - and also that it travelled all the way from Germany uncovered and unscathed.

I love the expressive limited palette which creates the atmosphere and the composition Martin has chosen. Thank you for this Martin. I'm going to learn a lot by having it on my wall as a reminder of how gouache can be used whatever the weather.

I love the reverse of Martin's card too with it's paint spatters!

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 Martin Stankewitz

Hi, I am posting from the South of Germany,where I live in a small town named Maulbronn.

First of all I want to say thank you to Katherine Tyrrell, who kindly invited me to the Sketchercise group and to Ronell van Wyk, for starting this postcard project and organising us.

Being a member of Sketchercise is not totally a coincidence for someone with a life long preference for loafing in the woods and then to read comic strips or illustrated books at home afterwards. I tried to do my own drawings from early years on with varying zeal and success.

To spent time at a quiet place somewhere in a beautiful landscape with observations and sketching, drawing or a little painting is a necessity for me and a luxury at the same time.



My preferred media are pen, ink and opaque colours like gouache and oil pastels. I would love to do more charcoal drawings, but unfortunately I have not enough and proper space to store those. That is one of reasons why most of my work is in sketchbooks.

Apart from the outdoor activity I am very interested in monotype printmaking.
My website: www.edition-handdruck.de my blog: www.draw-a-tree.com

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.