Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 36 Comments

Absent

I have been absent for quite some time and after receiving some very caring emails, I thought I should at least give some explanation here. 

I’ve run into some health hiccups a while ago, robbing me of all energy and all willpower to maintain or produce any kind of act, let alone be creative. Thank you for the concern and supportive emails I’ve received from friends out there. I hope to be back with full vigour and energy soon.

…”Wanna talk?”…

And now it feels very “flat and empty” to leave on a note like this, so since I am here for a whisper of a moment behind the computer, why don’t I use the opportunity and time well and fill it with nonsense… After all, nonsense is quite a creative invention. And a very creative excuse. As well as a creative brush-off: “Oh, don’t talk such nonsense!” Probably what you’re thinking right now.

While I am here in front of the keyboard, searching for the right keys after so many weeks, and for that matter, the right words, I might as well try and do it creatively or at least then, call your bluff creatively… I’m not sure I know exactly what I’m saying, but it sounds creative to me. Like nonsense, sort of. What is nonsense? Something that doesn’t make sense….surely creative then. Doing and saying the suspected and at the last minute, adding an unsuspected twist…cunningly creative. Or speaking in utter incomprehensible sentences, or talking about things you know nothing of…defintely creative! Or to shut up someone who is actually being very creative in the use of thoughts and words and you have no clue as to what this person is saying….stupidly creative.

Once, a few years back, I was in the company of interesting people (or so I thought), around a beautifully set table, sharing a wonderful meal.  As usual, I was the listener. At some stage, the conversation turned to people and bad driving skills(is it a skill?). So I thought I had something interesting to add to this part of the conversation and so added my humble and creative opinion (?): “I think women are more inclined to use their indicators than men…” and without being given a chance to explain the science behind my madness, I was stared upon with shocked horror and brushed off with a creative missile launching: “Now the only time you open your mouth and it is to talk nonsense…?” That scarred me for life, I haven’t opened my mouth since(?) until now…  “Oh, nonsense!”

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 21 Comments

Hydrangeas and awards

The hydrangeas in my garden are supposed to be blue, but the soil doesn’t play along. They start out with tints of blue and then turn a dark, bright pink, almost red. It makes for a very pinkish/reddish painting, but at least I had fun doing it.

This was done with watercolour on Fabriano artistico, HP extra white, 23×30,5 cm.

…hydrangeas, red and blue…

I also want to thank Mark from Paper Raven Art, Pamyla from Musings and Maggie from Scquiltaddict, for this award. I really appreciate it.

Like everybody else, I also would like to pass it on to so many people and since I feel I can’t stop at five names, I decided that I would this time like to pass it on to Cathy G at Asketchintime, who does beautiful art, experiments with all kinds of media, who often tries new directions, new techiniques, new approaches. She is an inspiration as well as a supportive friend. No obligations Cathy!

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 23 Comments

A french market scene.

 

Everydbody in our exchange group had already seen this scene posted on our FPP blog, and I just wanted to add it here too.  It was my contribution in Vivien’s book a while back. She ended her drawing with a lovely, soft, perfectly drawn feather and I picked up the feather cue from her. See Lindsay‘s creative continuation from here, posted on FPP by Robyn, and unfortunately you’ll have to wait a while to see how Robyn continued…but pop in at our FPP blog – the books are getting LONG and EXCITING and VERY creative.

I have seen all of us getting looser and looser, more original, more creative, more daring, trying new materials and mediums, playing with collages, pasting and glueing, going for beautiful realisms to beautiful abstracts, pushing and challenging ourselves.

A sketchbook exchange is a wonderful way to move a bit away from what we do normally in our art, “our signature work” so to speak and try out something different, still putting our own “signature” on whatever we do…pushing the envelope. I think that when this sketchbook exchange project is done, we’ll all look back, and discover that apart from the fun we’ve had, we will have learnt new ways, techniques and  creative playing-around , grown in directions we wouldn’t otherwise have discovered…I know I will.

…a french market scene…

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 24 Comments

Posting the whole page.

In my previous post, José made the suggestion that I post the full page and not only detail. So I took him up on his suggestion to show my pages, because there may be others thinking that I post the detail and not the whole sketch. I took the last couple of sketches in my sketchbook. Unfortunately it doesn’t look more interesting and there isn’t actually a bigger picture! I think you could say I “zoom in and choose to sketch detail”. What fascinates me is a broken window shutter, the the moss on a fountain, the intricate woodwork on a wall, a dilapidated door, a doorknob, the corner of a cornice, a shadow on a table, one flower in a bouquet…. so that is what I zoom in to. My sketchbooks are 19×24 cm and I use up all the space when I sketch. I struggle to paint on small format.

When I post, I don’t use any enhancement in terms of contrast or colour correction or whatever, except for the crop tool and then only to “neaten up” the page. It can be seen in image 1 and 2, where in image 2, I only took out the background and excessive white paper. And then of course I only post one page, because I scan most of the time and the whole sketchbook is too big for my scanner. And I also get nice white paper with the scanner.

Maybe it is time I zoom out and see the big picture….perhaps life could be less stressful…philosophically speaking?

…image 1…

…image 2…

…moleskine people sketches…

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 12 Comments

Sketches of quartier Blanqui in Tours.

I went into Tours today with a very low level of energy, trying to snap out of it. I succeeded in getting four sketches done, albeit a bit crooked. Even made a mistake in the spelling of “boutique”, didn’t really finish sketching rue avisseau and abandonned the lovely old church halfway…next time.

Blanqui is a tiny quartier, very quant, with only a boulangerie and poissonerie, a small family restaurant, a bar for café et journal, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a market and old houses, which are mostly now appartements.

…la boutique de mon pére..

…rue blanqui, 34 et 32…

…rue avisseau…

…la mére et l’enfant…

All sketches done in sketchbook with pencil, pen and watercolour.

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen · 7 Comments

Glen’s flowerbook at Ronell

You can see more of Glen’s book, which is all about flowers, at Flying Pictures Project. I have just added my paper and splatters, thus completing the 3’rd contribution and it is now going off to Lindsay.

…glen’s flowerbook…