Seahorse study

Seahorse Study  watercolour 15x21cm ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

I have managed to get some more nature studies done whilst sitting in at the Hayloft exhibition. New to the range is this little seahorse. I had been looking forward to doing some since December when I was doing some drawings which you can see in this post. The flowing shapes are addictive and I think I will be painting lots more of them.


The Hayloft exhibition comes down today but there is no rest as I must straight away get preparing for an event at Christchurch Priory called the Living Crafts. I'm really looking forward to this event which I have been to before as a visitor but not as an exhibitor. There will be a number of artists and craftspeople demonstrating their skills and exhibiting for a week within the Priory from 4th - 8th June 10am - 4pm.

Priory Moon, Christchurch

Priory Moon, Christchurch
acrylic on paper 12x12cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

I've painted this view of Christchurch Priory from the reed beds many times but I've used a higher viewpoint before, looking more across rather than up and personal with the reeds, which are a joy to paint . In this one I wanted to concentrate on the mark making, there's some really thick and grungy paint making up these marks and I've tried to keep it loose and more impressionistic.

Soft light at the priory

Soft Light, The Priory

©2010 Lisa Le Quelenec

10x10cm acrylic on block canvas

I love these small formats. This one was an experiment in breaking the rule of never having the horizon dead centre of the picture plane.   I'm hoping the diagonals and all the detail in the lower half detract enough from the horizon line and that it's not immediately apparent. Do you think it works?

Preview Night of Autumnal Showcase at the Hayloft

 Wow! What a night! I am pleased to report that the preview for the Hayloft exhibition went exceptionally well. We had lots of lovely visitors and some really good feedback on all the work. There was a  good buzz as we greeted our guests and it was really great to see such a good turnout.

We had hung the show the previous evening and it was very exciting to see all the work going up. Whilst every artist has a very distinctive voice the work really gels well as a show. My particular favourites are a series of silver birch by Laura Moseley, a mono print of bamboo by Chloe Weeks, a diptych of sand dunes by Eve Hill and a gorgeous floral triptych by Harriet Schofield.

Out of my work, Burnished, a painting of the reed beds at Christchurch Bay looking towards the Priory, received a lot of attention. It is based on a series of sketches that I did around the end of April beginning of May during the evening. Everything had such a warm glow, there was a gentle breeze rustling the reeds and the water looked like a mirror. It was so tranquil.

It's always nice to see work in a gallery setting, I find it so different to seeing them in the studio, it really helps me to evaluate the direction that I am going in.

When I'm hanging and in the middle of a show I have so many new ideas for new work. In fact whilst stewarding the show yesterday I was busily sketching out thumbnails and ideas for my next series and deciding what references I need to get. I had better get organised, as the weather will be turning colder and damper soon and its quite hard to sketch on the clifftop in the winter wind and  rain. I am, I'm afraid, a bit of a fair weather sketcher ;)

Countdown Begins

The next exhibition date is coming around fast, 17th - 23rd September at the Hayloft in Christchurch. I'll be exhibiting with a whole bunch of very talented people; Eve Hill, Laura Moseley, Harriet Schofield and Chloe Weeks.
There's so much work still to do but I thought I'd take a break to show you some of the work I've done so far.

Early Evening St. Michaels Mount

acrylic on paper 12x19cm

Burnished

acrylic on canvas 60x60cm

It's a beautiful day here and it's bank holiday weekend! I hope you are enjoying yours.