APPLES AND WALNUTS

 

This year has certainly been very fruitful, thanks to the wonderful summer we've had.  We have not had apple trees in our garden since we lived at Marringdean in Horsham and they were blown down in the 1987 hurricane so when our friends offered us some of their surplus we were delighted to take them off their hands.  They were different varieties and a bit past their prime but stewed with some brown sugar and sultanas were delicious.  Of course I had to take the time to paint them first.  We actually exchanged them for a bag of walnuts from Hervé's garden after we had helped him to gather them all before he left for Belarus. 

 

 

We have a walnut tree in our own garden but as it's only about 10 years old it's not very productive yet.  Each year we get a few more nuts than the year before and this year we could see 20 growing, but when we came to collect them there were only 5 left.  The birds must have got there first! I can't believe how many Hervé's tree has, it took us ages to collect them all and there were still plenty left on the tree out of reach!  We have about 3 kilos in a basket in the store room and he has boxes full.    I had a lot of fun painting on Sunday afternoon and this weekend the rugby season starts so I'll have plenty of time while Bob cheers from the sofa and I just listen while I paint.

 

 

AUTUMN LEAVES

 

I collected a few leaves while I was in England and used the smallest one as a template for this wet in wet watercolour in my home made sketchbook. I had a lot of fun mixing the colours on the paper and want to collect some different shapes to make a larger painting.  I posted it on facebook Artist's Journal Workshop page and got 133 likes, a record for me!

ANOTHER MUSHROOM

 

I found this little beauty hiding behind the dustbin by our garden entrance.  3 or 4 of these bright orange mushrooms were almost hidden in the bracken and grass. I'm still on the lookout for an amanita, one of those ones with white spots on a red cap but so far have only seen rather old ones in peoples gardens so rather inaccessible!  I have a photo taken a few years ago but I much prefer to draw from the real thing.

A COUPLE MORE MUSHROOMS

 

Yesterday Bob told me he has stopped getting emails when I post a blog so I've changed the settings and hope it works. Have any of you who used to get emails had the same problem?  Please let me know in the comments or by email as I think google has been tweaking and I'm not clever enough with the computer to sort it out!

Here's my drawing of a mushroom I found while I was walking with Justine and the girls at Leith Hill.  It was laying down and when I picked it up I noticed it's extra inhabitant straight away.  I was very careful to keep the beech leaves on top as well as they made a more interesting picture.

 

 

This beauty was growing down the lane just outside the fire station.  While I was carefully carrying it home I met a lady who asked me what it was but I was unsure of the species until I looked it up at home.  However we had quite a long conversation about mushrooms and living in France as an English person and she told me she was having English lessons to help her with her job at the campsite.  The French people around here are so friendly, especially when they realise that I can speak their language!

MORE PAGES FROM MY BLACK SKETCHBOOK

 

I am having so much fun drawing in this little book of black pages that cost only 1 euro at a boot sale.  Although the paper is only intended as a scrapbook it is lovely and smooth and takes the Museum watercolour pencils very well.  I have been using them dry as I think the paper may not take wetting too well.

 

 

I originally bought it to use the board covers in my bookbinding but soon realised that the paper was worth using too! These pink lilies were given to me as bulbs by a neighbour several years ago.  The flowers appear in autumn and the leaves follow a month later.  They give a welcome splash of colour when everything else is dying down.

 

 

 

Luba gave me this aubergine just before she returned to Belarus as her 3 month stay was up.  She has been trying to get her status regularised as the wife of a Frenchman but it's not been easy dealing with the typical French beaurocracy!  I'm glad we are not the only ones that struggle and even nationals don't get an easy ride!

 

 

A bunch of roses Bob bought me before I left for the visit to my girls, I think he missed me while I was gone!

MORE DRAWINGS FROM MY UK VISIT

 

Justine is a keen gardener and has a wonderful collection of dahlias in her garden.  She picked a few to put in my bedroom in tiny coloured glass bottles.  One morning we sat together in her sewing room and while Justine prepared notes for her beading class I drew these lovely flowers with the sun shining through them. 

 

 

Another plant in the garden is a kiwi growing over the wall by Justine's back door.  It has plenty of fruit but they are very small and rather sour to eat but fun to draw and try to depict the fuzzy surface.

 

 

We went for a walk over Leith hill, a well known beauty spot in Surrey which we used to visit when the children were small and I spotted this amazing red mushroom in the grass in a clearing as we climbed a slope.  It is actually only the size of a yew berry and has the same translucence.  I had to kneel down on the ground to get close enough to take the photograph.  The girls thought their Granny was a bit crazy taking photos of mushrooms and their beliefs were confirmed when I found a tall boletus with a slug half inside the underside of the cap and carried it some distance through the woods till I had some bright enough light to take a few more pictures.  I will post the drawing here as soon as I have found the time to draw it.

 

 

 

I was really amazed at the autumn colours in England, well ahead of the trees here in France.  In fact we don't see much colour here by the coast as the salty air dries the leaves before they have a chance to turn red.  I brought a couple back to draw and paint in watercolour as they are so nice to draw round the shape and then use a bit of artistic licence in the colouring. This one here is as I picked it up but there are more pictures to scan later... watch this space!

FAMILY VISIT

 

I've just returned from a visit to my daughters in England.  I had a lovely time and even managed some sketching while I was at Justine's. Sarah, my youngest granddaughter is doing the Derwent academy course and I drew her while she watched the video and then did her drawing.

 

 

 

Her eldest sister, Kirsty is at university in Exeter so during the evening we skyped her and both drew her from the screen.  She was looking very glamourous getting ready for a night out.

 

 

On another day Justine had organised an afternoon of pottery at a local tutor's house.  We each took our turn at the potter's wheel and had a great time making pots and chatting while we waited. The lady had her garden shed set up with kilns and shelves and also lots of arty magazines and books which she didn't mind us browsing and discussing and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

Justine's cat Odin had broken his leg and was confined to a cage in the lounge while he recuperated so I took the opportunity to sketch him. His face is black with very long white whiskers which don't really show up here.