I don't have much to show for March and April, although I've been very busy with various projects including tidying my room/artroom, as well as the painting commission and another illustration for Reflections of the Heart 2 (RotH2). I've also been trying to get my vegetable garden growing again for this year.
I managed to get most of the base colour done on the commissioned painting, just leaving the base colour for the animals still to do before getting on with more of the details e.g. grass, roof, stonework/wall, foliage, etc.
Galashiels Studio Club has now finished until later in the year, with the last couple of meetings having been on topics such as "appraisal of members' work" and the "AGM". I decided to take my 'Collection' along to the appraisal and whilst the feedback was useful in some respects, I felt disheartened at the way it was delivered; to the point where I could only see the parts that were criticised instead of the full pictures that I had been so proud of beforehand.
The Studio Club's Annual Exhibition is to be held at Old Gala House between the 22 June - 13 July (closed on Sundays) and I hope/plan to submit several pieces and "browser items" e.g. notecards, RotH Books, etc. and, of course, the other Studio Club members will be submitting their work too.
The Little Art Hub in Channel Street, Galashiels, has also been open for some different creative exhibitions and other opportunities e.g. workshops for a range of age groups. One of these opportunities was a "Flippin' Artists" exhibition with various sketchbooks, artbooks etc. which I took part in too, with a few of my college sketchbooks. There is also an exhibition starting (I think) on the 6th May which I am considering taking part in too - if I can decide what to display. (Update: Missed the deadline so couldn't take part in that particular exhibit but hopefully there will be another opportunity in the future.)
(Note: Unfortunately, I don't seem to have photos of the Sketchbook exhibition)
In April, my mum and I went to re-visit Torwoodlee Tower (a ruin that I have painted before) as there has been forestry work done around the Tower and I have been wanting to go and get some updated photos for a new painting, trying to capture the intimidating nature of the building. The removal of the trees also revealed some arches/alcoves in the stonework below the Tower (visible from the road) that I wanted to explore - if anyone knows what they are/could have been, please leave a comment below.
Coming Soon: In May (and June), there will be lots of gardening jobs for me to do along with more creative pursuits including, but not limited to, more of the commissioned painting(s); RotH2 illustrations; attempting to restore my pride in my 'Collection' paintings (whether through adding some more details or just trying to forget the critical comments, I haven't decided yet); and a bit of a garden/creative cross-over as I would like to design and build a shelving unit for my Cloche(polytunnel) that will allow me to tidy the items I'm currently storing a little hap-hazard-ly in there. I will also need to prepare for the Studio Club Exhibition...
