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.
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.
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!
