Week 49

Here is my double page for Week 49.  I have spent many hours working on the detail of the objects but I am really pleased with the finished pages.  After the walk on Saturday I sat by the warmth of the fire and started by sketching the six mermaids purses and the green piece of seaweed with lots of wavy roots. I thought I would give you a glimpse into the workings of this week when I discovered I had been captured on film!  I sit curled up in the chair balancing my board on my knee and the chair arm whilst also  juggling the plate with the inks  as I am drawing.  The washed objects are placed on another plate for me to observe.  I listen to the radio and at times join in when my memory triggers off an old favourite from my past.   It feels so nice to just sit and paint and watch the work develop across the page.  The wind whistles off the sea and the hailstone showers bash against the windows but I am totally relaxed and  engrossed in my drawings,  the hours fly by.

The objects were all washed and then chosen and added to my pages.   I had six different Mermaids purses, each one a different colour and shape,  the really pale ones were transparent and their long coiled dangling strings always fascinate me.  Often when I find them they are tangled up with other objects and I often have to pull them apart  and unravel  the threads.   I was equally fascinated with the mass of long thread like roots on the sea weeds  and the barnacles growing on the stem of the piece of seaweed. 


There was another  plate full of objects that I had collected,  it was hard to choose,  but somehow they made the decision for me because of how they looked together.  I loved all the red berries which had rolled into the corner by the green holly leaf....a real festive look. Then the darker shapes of the two brown leaves just looked lovely next to the tiny delicate pink shells and the blue mussel shell,  perfect for finishing the page.  I spent three days  carefully painting and I do like the interesting shapes and it turned out just as I hoped it would.

So, when it was time to photograph the work for the blog I have to search for the brightest place in these dark and gloomy days.   Here I am on the floor arranging the objects hopefully for some good interesting photographs to be taken by the ever so patient  photographer.

I will post a few more of his pictures of Saturday showing the sprinkle of snow on the hills and the dark clouds which gave us the hailstone showers later on.   We were well wrapped up and enjoyed the walk and I found so many things to draw.   We saw the black rooks pecking at the ground, a curlew fly over and the many gulls.  My husband shouted me over to see what he had found, it was the eel which I am holding and he also discovered some more pieces of blue and white china for me.  I picked up every red berry I saw,  they are now a deeper colour and many are looking quite damaged just as the holly leaf has pieces missing.  The little pink shells seemed to be scattered all along the sand and I was pleased to find a mussel shell.  I could have collected so many beautiful leaves but I just chose two and I won't tell you how many feathers I collected!

As we are leaving the shore at 3pm Saturday.
Hope you like Week 49.

Thank you for the comments, it is  always lovely to read them.  Millyx