I realised I hadn’t written a blog post on here for a long long time, sorry! It’s usually a sign that things are busy but no excuse really as it may look as though I’m not here any more. And I definitely am!
Lampshade orders are still busy and I have also run a few workshops already this year so all good. I’m also getting more and more into my art and on my second booking of a printmaking course at South Hill Park every Monday which I absolutely love. I’ve found my thing (aside from lampshades of course!) I’m working on a website for that at the moment so I’ll share it once it’s up and running.
I also work part time in Toast in Marlow which has been amazing for the social side and also for inspiration for my art. It means my lead time for lampshades is 3 weeks (but often quicker). I’m just trying to keep time in my diary for art every week rather than rushing through orders and running out of time for it. It’s all about balance isn’t it?!
So here you go, a few of the lampshades I have made recently. You can find lots more on my instagram feed here.
Get in touch if you’d like a lampshade made or recovered, I’d love to hear from you.
And if you’d like to follow my printmaking journey too, you’ll find me at Julie Gardner Art here. Thank you!
It’s April fools day, 2020. A bit different from other years. I don’t think many people will be playing pranks. We’re doing okay though. My family have adapted really well, it just feels like a long stay-cation at the moment!
I’ve been keeping to a routine each morning at least. Exercise first thing (was Joe Wicks last week but decided to hunt around on YouTube for something else this week, there’s so much out there to choose from). Then I have breakfast, shower and take Arthur for a big long walk. I’m very lucky that I can do this and we have fields and woodland very close to our house that we can walk to. My husband on the other hand, is cooped up in his little office upstairs, working away all day. We live on a busy road which is currently hauntingly quiet most of the day. I’m not complaining about that, it’s bliss.
In the afternoon I’ve been working my way through my lists of jobs, very slowly! I have one for the house, garden and gilhoolie (I’m thinking we’re going to be stuck in for quite some time unfortunately!) Lots of gardening completed last week when the sun was shining 🌞 I’ve also had lots of virtual coffees with friends and feel very blessed that I have them to chat to. It’s definitely making me appreciate all the little things that’s for sure.
Yesterday I even hunted down my acrylic paints and plucked up the courage to have a go. It’s the first time I’ve done it since I finished a painting course at Henley School of Art and because I was feeling inspired by the Portrait Artist of the Year on Sky Arts. What a great programme! I really enjoy painting but always start with a worry that it will turn out really badly. I guess that’s what stops most people having a go?! I’m going to keep trying though, now that I have lots of time to fill. I’m not watching TV until the evening and trying to stay away from the news during the day too. It’s easy to get obsessed with all the stats on Covid-19 but not good for me mentally!
Pencil drawing the painting was based on
Last week I was crazy busy finishing off lampshade orders. It’s obviously going to be very quiet for a while but hopefully orders will pick up again once this is all over.
Champagne lined large drumGold lined large tapered drums
So that’s my first week in lock down. I really am getting used to this social distancing. Last week I cried every time I went out for a dog walk and felt quite anxious. I just felt so sad about it all too. You do adjust though, it just takes time. Isn’t it going to be amazing when this is all over and we can hug a friend or go out to dinner?! In the meantime I’m going to make the most of this time and maybe it will make me slow down in the future too.
It’s Arthur puppy’s first birthday this week, I can’t believe how fast the last year has flown! Life has definitely changed and to anyone thinking about getting a dog, (well a miniature schnauzer at least as I don’t have experience of any others) I would definitely say go for it. I can’t think of any negatives so far. Not particularly liking the mud at the moment but hopefully it won’t last too long…
Actually, I have just looked back at my blog posts and I haven’t written on here since we collected him last May so apologies for that! Here are some pics of the cheeky chap. Along with a little drawing of Arthur by me (one of my husband’s Christmas presents).
Now, the next blog post will be about lampshades, I promise! Things have been pretty busy at gilhoolie lately so lots to write about. And I’m trying hard to get back into drawing so I think posting on here will help motivate me 🙂
I discovered The Henley on Thames School of Art last year – when I was looking for something creative to do that fits around working and making lampshades.
Thank goodness I discovered it! What a lovely place it is! It’s a warm, welcoming, sunlit studio at the back of Hart Street, with a little courtyard. You’d never know it was there, unless you spot the little sign at the entrance to the alleyway…
Last year I attended a ‘Drawing and Painting from Scratch’ course with Max Hale. I know it’s ridiculous, considering I have drawn quite a few commissions for people, but I’ve never been taught how to draw and I found the tips Max shared with us incredibly eye opening and oh so helpful. “Ah, that’s why artists hold out their brushes to measure!” I said to myself… And simple things like drawing a line of symmetry first. Bit of a light bulb moment! (or 2 ha ha!) You can see the lines of symmetry in my drawing below.
Drawing I like. But I have to say, I found the acrylic painting really hard and don’t have a lot of pieces to share on here. This one was all about shade and I found it easiest as you didn’t have to think about mixing different colours yet.
The next one was a bit more tricky although it looks fine from a distance, but then all the great paintings are like that too aren’t they?!
So that was my adventures with drawing and painting from scratch. Max was a brilliant teacher, very patient and knowledgeable, an amazing painter too.
For the last ten weeks I have been attending a life drawing class. Such fun! I have always wanted to have a go but always been too scared, which is crazy, I’m not the one naked after all.
We were thrown in at the deep end on week one, but that’s the best way to learn isn’t it? Have a go, draw big, free and loose – so different from my usual drawing style which is very intricate and detailed and precise. Over the weeks we have had a go at using charcoals, various pencils, conte crayons, ripping bits of coloured paper and ink (my least favourite!)
Jo Harris took the class, along with her adorable dog Lulu, who likes to sit with the model, especially when there’s a lamp giving out heat! Jo is a very talented illustrator who is also really lovely and friendly and a really good teacher (with a great taste in music too, very important when you’re drawing!) I have learnt an awful lot, but still lots of practicing to do which is why I have signed up to another term.
We destroyed most of our work in this class as it was all about having a go and not worrying about the outcome. I loved that idea! I did keep a couple though. Hopefully my drawings next term will be an improvement and I’ll want to share more…
If you’re looking for art classes in the area look no further, you won’t be disappointed. And if you’re a bit wary about life drawing, don’t be, it’s all just shapes after all!!
Drawing by tearing pieces of flesh coloured paper – very very difficult, and he didn’t even have a moustache!Drawing with conte crayons
We discovered this National Trust property quite a few years ago and have been going back regularly ever since. It is definitely one of my favourites – the house is quite small and incredibly homely; you can imagine the Brunner family living there. And the gardens (with it’s ancient wisteria) are very English and beautiful, surrounded by lush rolling hills. Perfect for an escape from the hustle and bustle, with lunch or a cream tea in the lovely cowshed tearoom.
It’s one of the places I never get bored of visiting, so I knew it had to be on my list of local buildings to draw.
Here it is:
Greys Court, National Trust Property, near Henley-on-Thames
This one was quite tricky, with lots of detail in the brickwork. I particularly like the green benches! 🙂
I’ll be displaying this one on my stand at Art on the Street on Saturday, 17th June – come and see it / me! You’ll be able to buy a gilhoolie print or order a personalised drawing of your own favourite building.
When I was younger people used to go on pub crawls quite a lot. Now the number of pubs in our towns is decreasing and being taken over by coffee shops and restaurants. I really like coffee shops but there’s nothing like a British pub; for a cosy night out in the winter and a great pub garden and a glass of Pimms in the summer.
We decided to go on a pub crawl a few weeks ago with friends; instead of our usual trip to a local restaurant. It was so much fun! Everyone chatted to everyone else while we were in the pubs… and while we were stumbling from one to the next. Whereas we’re usually all sat at a long table; only able to talk to the handful of people near you. Luckily there were only six pubs so we didn’t have to drink too much (I’m a bit of a light weight!) – there were thirteen in the same stretch of road in Cookham years ago!
These 2 pubs aren’t my locals but they are in Maidenhead and they’re in lovely old buildings. The good thing about being an artist is it makes you more mindful of what’s around you and what would make a good subject to draw. I look up a lot too, for some odd reason I love old chimney pots and roof details…
I’ll be printing these out and bringing them along to Art on the Street on Saturday, 17th June – come and see me!
The Hand & Flowers, Maidenhead. With gilhoolie patterned sky.The Bell, Maidenhead.
Very quick blog post today I’m afraid. I’m not sure where the week has gone, feel like I’m on a bit of a roller-coaster really. But I didn’t want to miss writing on here. It’s so easy to get out of the habit so I must make sure I find time.
I know I mentioned in passing a couple of blog posts ago that I’m taking part in this local art event but I thought it was worth it’s own post really so here we go.
Art on the Street CIC is an award-winning social enterprise committed to providing opportunities for artists. Twice a year we showcase over 100 stands of fine art, prints and photography being sold direct from the artist, to a backdrop of fantastic entertainment – music, performances, free workshops, activities and street food.
I’ve been before and often found several artists whose work I really like; there’s a lot of talented people out there. I always think they have a lot of guts to stand up and show off their work in front of everyone.
And now I’m doing it too!
No big deal though; I’m sharing a stand and going to treat it as a day out, hopefully the rain we’ve been having lately passes by then! It’s on Saturday, 17th June, put the date in your diary and come and visit me… please!
Okay, so I’m treating it as a day out… but I still want to produce some really good work that’s worth showing. The idea is to concentrate on my house commission drawings this time. I’ve done an awful lot of them so I’m going to pick my favourites and try to draw some more in the next month. Then people can order commissions on the day.
I’ve also been working on some of my drawings of local buildings this week. Below is the Cliveden drawing I completed quite a while ago. I decided to add my patterned sky to see how it looked and I’m playing with other patterns too so I’ll post those another time. I absolutely love going to Cliveden; never get bored of it. My kids do though – they refuse to come now, must be all the times I took them when they were little, ah well, more scones with cream and jam for me! 😉
I’m sure I’ll write more about what I’m working on for Art on the Street so watch this space, or do come and see me on the day.
What a busy week. My mind has been buzzing with ideas for next month’s Art on the Street so I spent the day yesterday working on that. Mostly looking at old house pictures I’ve drawn and playing around with Photoshop, great fun. I’ve realised I need to be structured with my time, so Thursdays are my day for art stuff and nothing else. It really works. I also feel like I achieved a lot this week – I managed to book a summer holiday (what a relief!), squeezed in lots of exercise and even did a bit of gardening.
This week I thought I’d share with you some drawing commissions from last month. They were in the same order but very different – one of an old land rover and one of a very nice big house in the countryside in Herefordshire.
The land rover was drawn in ink, then coloured in Photoshop and giclee printed on lovely textured paper. I found a lady in Maidenhead who does art prints from her house very near me which is great and saves lots on postage. So I hope to do more of this in the future. That’s the plan. Drawing the car was a bit of a challenge as the real one is in pieces at the moment, thank goodness for Google!!
Land rover mark 1 drawing commission
I drew an old Volkswagen car a while ago with the same kind of effect – see it below.
gilhoolie car drawing commission
The house was just drawn in ink, then cut out and stuck to a patterned sky background. Not such a clean finish but I think people like them for that reason.
Here they are together, in their mounts, ready to be wrapped in tissue paper.
Get in touch if you’d like to order a house (or car!) drawing commission, or come and see me on Saturday 17th June at Art on the Street in Maidenhead, not long now…
I love old buildings, especially the fine details that architects used to incorporate and that are often missing from new builds.
I also love drawing old buildings. So it made sense to set myself a challenge to draw my favourite local ones as a personal drawing project. Something to do in between making lampshades, working part time and being a mum (not much time there then!)
The first one is literally 5 minutes from my house – the Marlow Road Centre – which has been a technical college and hospital during the war and is now a youth and community centre. I have thought about drawing the fine details of this building for a while, so although it was a bit of a challenge it is great to finally see it completed.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead use the building and have asked if they can print my drawing to display on the wall – not bad for my first attempt, very happy!
Marlow Road Youth & Community Centre, Maidenhead
Next is one of my favourite local National Trust properties – Cliveden House in Taplow. We go there lots as a family; I never get tired of looking round the gardens and admiring this impressive house.
This was a bit of a labour of love to draw – 26 windows and countless spindles on the balustrades. My drawing board came in handy for all the straight lines and I’m really happy with the final result after a few hours of fiddling in PhotoShop.
This is the front of the house where there are usually lots of posh cars parked. I decided to put a soft grey outline on this one and the colours are generally much more muted than my first red brick drawing.
Cliveden House National Trust Property
So, what next? After choosing two tricky properties I may pick an easier one next time! I haven’t decided yet but I have a feeling it won’t be long before I’m itching to get started on another drawing… let me know if you have any suggestions!
I love drawing commissions and this is my second vehicle (see the first one here). You see, it’s not all about houses (although they are my favourite!)
I completed this drawing a couple of months ago but couldn’t post it on here as I didn’t want to ruin the surprise (it was a present for someone who loves their camper van, Jerby!) Ideally I would scan this into the PC and colour it in but this was requested as an ink drawing with the gilhoolie patterned sky background so here it is.
Now I’m starting my own commission(s) – my plan is to draw my favourite buildings in my area. There are so many beautiful old buildings, it could take a while, but if I can complete a handful I’ll be very happy…watch this space (and let me know if you have any suggestions!)
