ARTSITECAROLYN - ARTSITECAROLYN PAINTING BLOG TRIPS BY CAROLYN LAMB

Art before coronavirus SHUT DOWN

3/18/2020

Tim. 14 March 2020. Carolyn Lamb. Chalk pastel pencil. A3. 2hours.

Deb resting. 13 March 2020. Carolyn Lamb Chalk-Pastel pencil. A3. 40 mins.

Coronavirus COVID_19 has brought the Clifton Arts Club meetings to a temporary stop. This portrait of art club member Tim was on Saturday. He kindly stepped in as the model was ill. The Life model sessions I attend on Fridays organised by Elaine have also been halted. Friday13th also saw our Cyprus painting holiday cancelled which is a great disappointment.

Winter portraits

2/5/2020

Chalk-pastel portrait of the artist Paul. Carolyn Lamb. 3 Feb 2020

Chalk pastel portrait of Joe, a fellow artists' grandson. Carolyn Lamb. 1 Feb 2020.

Chalk pastel portrait of Sue, a fellow Art Club artist. 11 Jan 2020. Carolyn Lamb.

I got a gift of chalk-pastel pencils for Xmas, and I have been trying them out on these 3 portraits. They are all on A3 paper.

FIrst Oil of 2020

1/30/2020

Flowers at Elm Tree Farm. C Lamb. Oil. 27 & 28th Jan 2020. 16x20". Winter is the time I do flowers, portraits and life drawings as its too cold to sit outside.

Happy New year 2020

1/5/2020

Sunflowers and Shasta Daisies. Carolyn Lamb. 2019. Oil on canvas 10 x14". Something bright to start the new decade.

Findhorn Sunset

11/21/2019

Sunset, Findhorn Bay, Forres, Morayshire. Carolyn Lamb 16th/17th November 2019. Oil . 10x12". Time for the Girls Weekend painting in Scotland. Sat outside in the 5.C cold to capture the lovely sunset over Findhorn Bay.

Forres from Findhorn. C Lamb 2014. Oil. The first time we came to Findhorn I painted this little oil sketch. The view is lovely but at this time of year sun only peeps through mist and clouds and sets at 4pm.

Andrew James Portrait COurse

10/23/2019

Richard was the model for two days of the first course and Deb for 3 days on the second. Both paintings are on canvas size 30x40 cm (11 7/8" x15 3/4") in traditional oil paint

Nowadays I use Artisan or Cobra watermiscible oils because they are solvent free. But for this course had to search out my very old traditional artists oil paint tubes as that is what Andy likes to use. Much preparation time was spent loosening the lids which were firmly dried shut.

Last week I was on an expressive portrait painting course run in Portishead tutored by Andrew James R.P, NEAC. I attended both 3 day courses so I could get a good stab at it.
Andy demonstrated his method of looking and building up images through abstract shapes of light and dark and warm and cool then we would attempt to do the same . We started with charcoal drawings then a monochrome in oils then a colour attempt. It was hard work and very intensive but he is a great teacher.

Hard at work

Another year of Holt Farm

10/1/2019

Autumn Grasses. Carolyn Lamb 26 Sept 2019. Oil 8x8". This is the last painting of my season as the garden closes for winter. Holt Farm is the Yeo Valley Yogurt Organic Garden at Blagdon, Somerset

Gazanias and Willows. Carolyn Lamb . August 2019 Oil. 8x8"

The Potting Bench. C Lamb. 2019. Oil. 10x12" I started this in August on the Art Club trip when we had exclusive use of the garden so I had the luxury of sitting right in the middle of the path. But did more in September.

The trampoline. C Lamb. 2019. Oil. 10 x 8". Started this in July and finished in September.

Of the 29 oils painted this year, 8 of them were at Holt Farm and mostly done in 2 sittings. Since 2014 I have painted 21 oils altogether at Holt Farm but there are still many more views I want to paint there. The constantly changing flower displays at the Yeo Valley Organic garden give new subjects on every visit . The only problem is not blocking paths for other visitors. I was lurking by hedge corners for all of these.

Wookey Hole paper and Larroque Paper

9/24/2019

Corner garage, Rue de l'Ancienne Poste, Issegeac. Carolyn Lamb. 8 Sept 2019. Watercolour. 10" x14" on Wookey Hole 90lb watercolour Paper.

Grapevines with Pear tree, St Julien de Crempse. Carolyn Lamb, 11th Sept 2019. 10 x14" on Moulin de Larroque watercolour paper with inclusions.

I normally avoid rough paper as I prefer hot pressed paper for sketching (Sennelier is my favourite) but took a pad of Handmade paper from Wookey Hole Papermill with me for a change. I really enjoyed using it. Today Wookey Hole Mill is part of the Wookey Hole Caves tourist attraction but makes a small amount of paper in demonstrations. The Moulin de Larroque water colour paper was a much thicker loose sheet and also lovely to use.

Moulin de Larroque PAPERMILL

9/24/2019

This is one of my purchases from a shop full of the most gorgeous papers . Lovely handmade 100% cotton watercolour paper. Here A4 in various colours with inclusions.

An artist we met in Issegeac gave details of where to find the lovely handmade paper he used from a papermill at Couze et St Front. First we visited the Papermill museum Moulin de la Rouzique, but the real find was just down the road at the still operating Moulin de Larroque.
Traditional handmade 100% cotton cold pressed paper in various sizes and weights.
www.moulindelarroque.com/index.php MOULIN DE LARROQUE
40 avenue de Cahors
24150 Couz

Discussing paper with owner Mr Kilgour who gave us a marvelous tour of the premises.

St Julien de Crempse

9/18/2019

Swimming pool with church bells. St julien de Crempse. C Lamb. 2019. watercolour pencils.

We stayed in a lovely old French farmhouse right next to the church at St Julien de Crempse.The church bell ringing the hours from 7am to 7pm. The yard is now a swimming pool and the piggery a place to relax.
Most days we ate lunch out and sketched before, during or after our outings.

Quick sketches at various lunch spots: Bergerac riverside, Stuart and Anne at Au Gre des Saisons at Couze et St Front, At Campsegret, At St Georges de Montclard

Jane at Le Doyenne, Issegeac. C Lamb. 8th Sept 2019. pen.

Bergerac Trip

9/15/2019

Bergerac Sunflowers. Carolyn Lamb. 9th and 13th Sept 2019. Oil on Board. 12x12".

Bergerac grapes with Pear tree. Carolyn Lamb. 11th Sept 2019. Oil on board. .8x8".

Spent a week from 7-14th September on a painting trip to the Dordogne, France near Bergerac, with fellow artists Jane, Anne and Stuart. Both these oils were done just down the road from our holiday house in St Julien de Crempse which is about 17 Kilometers north of Bergerac.

Cape Cornwall Sketches

9/3/2019

The Brisons from Priest's Cove, Cape Cornwall. Carolyn Lamb. 2 Sept 2019. Watercolour on 140lb Rough paper. Finally got to the last page of an American sketch book I started on holiday in California in 1998! The size is only 7 1/4" x 5 ". I haven't used it much as I prefer smoother hot pressed paper. I painted an oil of this view of fishermens huts in 2016.

Sunset at Porth Nanven. Carolyn Lamb 2019 . Watercolour. 31 Aug 2019. There was a fabulous sunset but a quick sketch was all I could manage as the wind was too cold to hang around for long..

Sennen Beach Surfers. Carolyn Lamb. 1 Sept 2019 . Watercolour. After Landsend, time for another quick sketch at Sennen on the lovely sandy beach.

#masspainting #artforgooduk

9/3/2019

Luckily it was a sunny day for the World Record Mass Painting attempt along the Lands End to Sennen Cove footpath. But windy so I had to clamp down my boards .

This is a small section of the continuous line of around 1000 painters standing along the path from Land's End to Sennen all with 8x12" boards. Actual numbers will be posted later.

From Lands End to Cape Cornwall. Carolyn Lamb. 1 Sept 2019 . Oil. 8x12". We were in Section 15. The World Record attempt event was only 45 minutes but we kept going for 1 3/4 hrs before windchill got the better of us.

Artist Anthony Garrett and The Newlyn School of Art, partnered with the National Trust for a Guinness World Record attempt: the most people painting a landscape outdoors at the same time. The mass installation, called Art For Good, took place on the cliffs between Land’s End and Sennen Cove, on 1st September 2019. www.artforgood.co.uk . Funds raised are for a new cliff top path.

We all had 8x12" boards and held up the pink side for the drone photo at 11.30 before starting. My painting kit is on the grass behind my fellow artist Jane.

Up to 25

8/26/2019

Dahlia Pool, Oldbury Power Station, Doynton Pool. Carolyn Lamb. Three 8x8" oils all painted this week

I have only posted up ten out of 25 of this years oil paintings, so here are three at once. Completed the Dahlia Pool on Thursday (second day of painting). It is the 7th picture I have done this year at the lovely Yeo Valley Organic garden at Holt Farm, Blagdon. On Friday I visited the decommissioned Nuclear Power station at Oldbury where the former surrounding cooling ponds have been turn into a nature reserve. And on Saturday painting with Clifton Arts Club at the lovely Doynton House. Once more attracted by a pool.

CLEVEDON 63RD OPEN EXHIBITION

8/17/2019

Skeleton Barn, Oxshott. Carolyn Lamb 2014. Oil. Preview for the Clevedon Art Open was on Friday and this is the work of mine on display. I have painted this listed 17th C barn at Stokesheath Farm, Oxshott many times but in November 2014 it was stripped of roof and sides. The scaffolding was going up as I painted this picture prior to redevelopment. It was then covered with tarpaulin and a wooden fence built around the site but nothing has happened since.