Gossware falcon

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On the gable end of the Falcon Works. Visible from Sturgess Street in Stoke.

I see you, Falcon,

Goss Hawk, swooping.

Air sifting between stone feathers.

Built as a plaque of identity,

Goss ware, pottery, strong and sturdy.

History, trade mark, art, bird.

Bird of prey,

Snatching art from thin air,

Your claws knead the clay….

Having a sketchbook

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I’ve been taking my sketchbook with me recently because of doing the one inch drawing challenge. That’s meant that I have drawn pictures as well as photographing them.

Yesterday I was looking at autumn trees in front of black and white buildings (the architecture looks like its from the 1920’s or 30’s.) Sturdy, tall trees were starting to colour up as autumn starts to bite. The branches were swaying and soughing in the wind. This is a season I can relate too. It’s sometimes quiet and misty, other times dramatic. That’s what I enjoyed about drawing it. Trying to bring a bit of that drama into it. You can’t draw every individual leaf in a ten or fifteen minute sketch, but you can try and add movement.

For information I used an a6 sketchpad and a unipin fine line pen size 0.8.

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Socks and sandals

 

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What to draw on a cold wet day? Socks and sandals of course, to keep his feet cool….

Sporting Black socks with white toes and brown sandals, black trousers.

Part of the one inch drawing challenge I’m doing with Urban Sketchers Stoke-on-Trent. Sometimes it’s hard to feel inspired.

Finished paintings

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Finished paintings delivered to the Waiting room gallery today. They are going to be part of the “Home is Where the Art is” exhibition starting soon. Now I need to work on paintings for the Brampton Christmas sale exhibition. I’ve only got a week to get some appropriate work done. I might also find out about getting some cards made from my images.

 

Something less traditional

After the intricacies of the previous painting  I decuded late last night to start this, based on  photo that I’d worked on to turn it negative. It’s also got an interesting effect of light and dark on things like the chain link fence and round the edges of the bottle ovens.

I don’t paint bottle ovens very often, they are iconic round here, but there are an overwhelming number of ainting of them. Everyone has their own style and thoughts about them, this is me trying to put on a different spin if you see what I mean. The finished work will be called Winter kilns.

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Progress

15709232116956248549019902494543it’s coming on. But I know I’m looking too closely, which means I need to stand back and work out what if anything is wrong. I still need to add more bricks and sort out the trees. If I get this done I might do one of the bottle ovens.

Little brushes, lots of bricks, tiles, leaves, boards on the windows…. A derelict building, falling down gradually. I wish someone would take it on and look after it.

12.10.19, drawing

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Says it all really, I went to bed, then got up five times, tried to sleep, now it’s catching up with me.

So many things were going on in my mind but I couldn’t shake them off.

Day 12 of the 1″ drawing challenge so I’m a good third of the way through it. Only 19 days to go.

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Started painting Falcon works

I’m in the middle of painting this nightmare of bricks! I’m also struggling with the perspective. I want to do more to it but I’m having a break for a bit. I’ve noticed that the windows are not lined up properly so I will have to over paint  a section of it. Also, although the photo is quite dark I’m trying to get more shaping and brighter colours into the autumn leaves and I think I will try and lighten the bricks possibly by adding lines of paler mortar between the bricks. Anyway it’s a work in progress and it needs more work.

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Old pottery

I have a project for the weekend. Which of these should I paint? I wasn’t necessarily going to paint a bottle oven (these are at the Falcon works, with the Goss hawk at the end of the building). They are situated around the back of Portmeirion pottery. And I quite like the architecture. I might paint a negative image….

I have seen these buildings for years but didn’t investigate them much. I learned more about them and the owner today from a friend. Apparently the owner treated his work force very well and he even introduced a fire extinguishing system in the pottery to prevent fires.