Venice......Art trail 2013

Welcome ...another very wet and grey day so I have had a chance to catch up with a few things....some more card designs Wedding seems to be the theme for this week ,I'll be blogging on the tech-design-studio.blogspot.com with those soon but will be sharing some new Men design there later today tommorrow if this weather continues....

 I have managed to make a few cards and now it's the Art turn. although I haven't done much in the studio as late and with every intention that I will go and get stuck in again ...Things have a habit of cropping up or I get side tracked with the other things I do ....maybe this week end...

Today I have 5 subjects to show you from the art trail in Venice  

 There is something about the windows and gates ,shabby shutters or rusty railings that appeals to me and you can get some great results Dropping in colours, this one was my first of the trip and wasn't very brave with the colours, done as a pen and wash took about and 1  hr but the recent redone version, I got to heavy with the colours, I prefer the original one shown here ... I will do another and try again ....

 Here I was on a bridge looking down ...actually there was a lot more boats, during the day but by night it looked like this ...I preferd the tones in this one and very quickly sqiggly drawn, As i was using Hot pressed paper, I couldn't hang about with so kinda used a wet in wet but not too wet if you know what I mean...

 another rusty gate.... this one I've added more colour and the water needs to be bluer i think but I enjoyed the excersise..have to say it was a task to paint all the negatives through the bars and i will have another go..urm me thinks an oil would be fun ....

 Now as some of you may or maynot know I don't do Peoples ... Why ????  just can't !!!!!! but with this subject I couldn't leave him out really ... this one till now is a pencil drawn watercolour but could easily be a pen over draw, colours to be stronger

And the Taxi rank...now this one I did enjoy from Situ but later in the afternoon when the mad hustle and bustle had died down ..

Hope you have enjoyed your visit please pop back again soon....Jayne 



Monza and Milan 2013.

Hi again at long last!!!!sorry  I have been so busy with one thing and another also with the allotment and with this weather being so erratic you just have to keep going. Today we have a Mizzell day havlf way between misty and drizzle but it looks like rain in the distance... great for the allotment though...

Having more time on my hands now and no pressure I am able to keep everything on an even keel ....before we start on this trail I've scanned these and added a with border to help you see the colour washes a little better the drawings seem to be a little stronger than the originals. but I don't think it will stop your veing pleasure ... Right lets get going on the Milan and Monza sketches and share with you my art trail from last year....these pictures are the highlights out of all I managed to do while there, others are all but  ready to do either in oils or watercolours on days like we have to day....

This piece started off as a pen drawing as at the time I was enjoying a coffee at a little cafe and this building caught my eye, it turns out that it was a library and cafe, I splashed some colour with a wet wash. 

Next I found this down a side ally during my visit the water had almost but dried up again very quickly done, as there was no shade to sit under...I will do this again but will add more detail to the initial drawing and maybe add more water to get the reflections

Catching the Train back to Milan later in the afternoon I spotted a MacDonald's just outside Central station could do with a cool drink. I also managed to get a great view of the station, this next piece is only 1/4 of the frontage of the station it's massive alot was covered for renovations , again in pen to start then splashed a little colour and shaded areas for definition, I'm pleased with the results, but wouldn't want to tackle the whole thing in one sitting whew!!!!

Day 2.. I decided to take a stroll around the back streets of Milan and found this lovely chapel ,  which turned out to be a sanctuary for what I couldn't read the Italian but the soft tones of pinks made you feel warm and welcoming!!!! ... I noticed alot of these bright coloured buildings amongst the newer ones..

Needing coffee stop of the day I saw a tram going the way back to the hotel so jumped on after getting my travel ticket from the local newsagents...I really enjoyed the ride back a bit clunky but it was fun ...... once i got to my stop I crabbed a Latte from the cafe on the corner and sat in the afternoon sun and drew this I would like to do an oil from this...me finks!!

I hope you have enjoyed these few sketches from during my brief visit to Milan in 2013, I hope I'll share more from the other sketches later this year...

My next my art trail is from Venice which will be ready soon ,

Thank you for dropping by ...Jayne

Mykynos Art trial from 2013



 I was fortunate enough to go away in May for 10 Days to Mykonos in 2013... one of the small Islands of Greece,and while there I have been doing some sketches, pen and washes and a few watercolours and I thought I would share some of them with you ...and as it was almost a year ago I thought I would copy and paste this blog taken form the card blog  i wanted to put all the art together I'm in the process of arranging the Milan and Venice art trail which I've now completed and will go on later this week

 So join me in my Mykonos Art Trail 2013



'Agois Ioannis Bay '



Just a short walk from the Hotel Sketched and painted sitting in the Bar / Taverna where 'Shirley Valentine'  was filmed...the whole area has been updated and almost bears no resemblance to the original film set ( but then must be 25 years ago  at least.)


'Delos View'


There are so many pots and urns about....  this is a very typical scene with the arch windows..I was really playing around with colours....

'Stone Arch Window'

These 2 completed today.....  no colour but may do later.... it was a good exercise....


'Bellissimo Archway '


Again in Pen after a mammoth lunch ...and a red wine or two...I found this small arch way tucked away at the end of the bar area...It doesn't lead anywhere...just a cubby hole .....




'Quiet Corner'

 Possibly my favourite to date it's bright sunny and I like the composition may very well do a oil in this...infact I have now (2014)....



'Town Harbour'

  This beautiful boat was moored here for 2 days in front of the Town hall and Mayors office , The only roof on the Island in red pan tile...and two of the 6 Windmills that are further to the Left....

''Mountain View''

 Pen and Wash.....This was the view from the rear of the Upper Rooms / Suites, again a bright sunny day....


''Come on In ''

This is the entrance/Exit to the Bellisimo Resort..tried something different  with the walls over laying colours, on the whole I'm pleased ...but I will do this again.....


'Step to a view'

These steps lead to the pool area to the right ...and to the left the Bar !!!!!  again playing with colours and layering with washes 


''Welcome''

ok had to do this one again..... better result ( I think)  brighter and no so muddy ..... In the end I left it as a pure water colour and pencil drawing....I just might do the Step to a view in the same format....ummmm...

I have to say in the interest of 'ART' some of the views have been re arranged only a few are as in 'Situ' so to speak the rest well .....unless  you go you'll never know....

A Big thank you to Mike and Theo the Two Brothers  that run the resort along with their family not forgetting Mum and Papa for making us feel so welcome during  our brief   stay .

If  you want to go somewhere to relax, eat well and enjoy the easy way of life in very pleasant surroundings or  hop on a bus into town ,that takes  only  10mins, meander along the very narrow streets,shop in some of the smallest shops I have ever seen in Little  Venice, or   watch the local farmers and fisher men sell their wares,along the harbour front or just sit and watch  the world go by, then you won't go wrong if you go there...

I do hope you have enjoyed the trail and maybe like the compositions,

Milan and Venice next at the end of the week..see you soon Jayne x



Hello and Welcome.......

Hello and welcome to my Art and Studio Blog, At last I have found some time to sort through all the pictures taken from last year before during and after the ''Studio Build ''. as this blog will be centered around the studio work I thought I would start from the very begining,

We all dream of a place to escape to, to do our own thing wether for work or just play, personally that dream was a  Garden  Studio  some where to paint and craft away from the house, Up untill now i have been using the smallest bedroom of the house which was getting to bursting point.....

It took me some time to actually choose the studio, I looked for some months threw around some ideas and found Dunster House , on seeing their website and the massive range they have and as I was only 12 miles away from their Bedford depot....... The best thing was to go and have a look, Oh my word the choice was endless, single thickness double or even triple thickness and thermo for added protection,they were extrermemly helpful, I had outlined what i intened to use it for etc , so armed with brouchers measuring tape and pad and pen ...some time later when everything was agreed, I went home and started to  measure  and plan out the area I could use,to the best of every angle , me being me actually drew pics of what it would be like once in place and ........ eventually I went for the corner Palmer   size wise well the biggest I could get in our medium size garden without over powering it and that it would be an asset rather than an eye sore....

some time later ... June  2013 the fun began.....The cabin was ordered and was due for delivery 26th July.the weather up until April had been pretty appauling and I thought I would be safer in july ....Espcially by then all the craft retail shows would be finished for the summer and i would have more time .......Famous last words.....

What I hadn't thought of was the amount of work there was involved with this project ....even before the actual build..clearing the old summer house 26 years old and still standing...but rotten in more than a few areas,removal of two trees, 2 ton of sand 60 paving slabs, 2 ton of crazy paving 'broken slabs',6 large tins of fence care and 34 fence panels painted,an avairy rebuild and painted later we pick up with the photo's

 The area all completed with 3 days to go before the Delivery July 2013,

 Delivery Day ........Arghhhhh all this wood and it was due to pour with rain, i'm not kidding when i say that there was over 1600 pieces to this  Studio  Build including screws nails and other extras  it was like having a giant jigsaw on the drive and there were two of us going to do this Mabott and Me I don't think either of us knew then what we were up against . weather due to rain big style hasn't for weeks and when it does .........What was I thinking ...Mike was away at the Grand Prix from the Thur's through to Monday evening late ....away from the madness that was about to begin..... Good move Darling !!!!......

 Day 1 . we are off ...once we have sifted through all the componts for the outer ,inner, and thermo layer, roof ,flooring doors, windows etc, read the instructions reread them and again to be sure before each move to be honest Mabott and I got on at a great speed once all the initial hurdles were sorted things were moving fairly quickly,

 Moving on...what you don't realize by these pictures is that we had the worst storm in years by 7pm the heavens opened and in the end we put the Caravan Awning right over the sight which kept the whole thing dry...amazingly by the next morning as you can see all dry and work continued....

Oh sorry there had to be one photo of me in action i was just fixing the door frame ..

This is the amazing spider roof purlins on specially designed steel brackets, the poles are the support while doing the roof and were removed when the roof was all done bar the felting....

and a distance shot to show how it all slotted together, by this stage all outer walls, inner walls window frames, insulation flooring were done now to finish the roof....

And Mabott Daniel son ''king of the roof''  Thank you once again Dan I would have never done this project without your help...

Then the felting, also the windows and Doors are in ...Looking good.....Charlie our Baraband Parakeet loves his new rebuild and makes me laugh as he looks in on me inside the studio and dances Michael Jacksons moon walk backwards down the branch....  I will try and get that on video for you to see...

Ok so now we are basically done... 3 days in and cooking on gazzz....Guttering up all around to the water but.The fixtures, fittings trimmings to be completed  and as units and storage from ikea won't be delivered until the end of July, so I now had plenty of time to finish inside and paint ,

Even with all the trimmings done I had loads of wood over Dunster House didn't scrimp with the extras, there had to be some for each section very generous so all areas were coved if you cut a bit wrong....Out side painted with Dulux outdoor Summer breeze a kind of soft creamy colour and against the green of all the fences and trellis it really set the 'Studio' off..... Inside the walls are white but I wanted to keep that wonder full wood ceiling so I've painstakinly rubbed wax oil over the entire ceily took me almost a week to sand and wax but well worth the time and effort.

I was still amazed about the amount of wood I had leftThere was even enough to make a potting bench for around the back where I have a small green house

As you can see below The potting bench made from all the extras and left overs...In fact I've made another since for a friend and still have pieces over amazing ......

 And now for the inside .. unfortunately I am unable to show you any of the inner build as the pictures were mistakenly wiped off the camera ...I thought I had saved them all on my PC but I hadn't OOPs....so what I can show you is what it looks like now

The art area

The Craft area

The Chill out area

And the entrance.

Again thank you Mabott for all you help, before during and after the build 6 months on and although the winter has been mild the winds have been wild and it's still there....no seriously it has settled and apart from re jigging the door everything is Brilliant ,thanks also goes to my friends that have helped during the move from the old spare room to the Studio, I'm already in settled and painting which is a good sign,

during the next few months I shall be blogging here as and when basis  but first i would like to re blog some of the art trails already done on my other blog tech-design-studio.blogspot.com which will remain for my designs for making cards and  that are available to buy  and I still haven't shown the Art trail from Milan and Venice last year so plenty to share with you. 

thank you for dropping by see you soon.....

Jayne x