Margaret Shaw - Artwork - My Blog

Enjoyed creating this image from a photo taken in a holiday cottage garden full of butterflies.
In my Butterfly Gallery.

Work in progress can be viewed from here.

Glad I took my camera on yesterday afternoons railway / Kirkby Stephen circular.  Bridges, bluebells, blossoms, butterflies and bees.  A fell and a lamb also crept into the shoots.

Here’s the spectacular sunsets from Portknockie in March.  Same locations but a different end to each day.

Completed the edit of photos from my visit to the Moray in March.  Here’s the daytime images.  The sunsets have a file of their own.

As the sun continued to shine in Cumbria this weekend – paid a visit to Acorn Bank.  
Started in the orchard. If the apple blossom is indicative of a good apple crop – looks like a bumper year.

Into the woods where bluebells and wild garlic carpeted the ground each giving off their unique aromas.

Down to the river and ponds reflecting the blue sky through the new spring leaves.

Onto the water mill where we discussed the merits of the whole meal flour ground there as a pizza base ( and consequently purchased a bag on our way out ).  Glad to be back visiting.

Today was a marvellous mindful meandering sort of day.  My friend and I meandered around Brough Sowerby.  Under the trees we found abundant bluebells and wild orchids.

The orange tipped butterflies danced around the flowers.  Orange flashes when the wings were open but when closed hard to spot as they merged into the buds.

Then sitting down for a coffee we admired the spring greens across the valley to the distant fells.

Visited Thorpe Farm today to refresh some artwork I have on exhibition there.   Here’s what’s going on display.

PS.  Made the most of the visit with another excellent lunch.

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Spent the morning setting up at Warcop.  

Exhibition opens Saturday 30th April until Monday 2nd May - 10am to 4pm each day.

Sunday - all day - and Monday afternoon I’ll be inviting guests to make an arty bookmark at my display area.

Monday morning see me running a workshop - After the Sunset.

For full details visit the Warcop web site:
https://www.warcop.org.uk/warcop-parish-hall-trustees/parish-hall/warcop-art-craft-exhibition-2022/

If anyone thinks I have been quiet over the last week – they’re right.  My virus has made me quite unwell and so I have just been pottering. Editing some photos.

Deciding what to put in the Penrith Gallery

Deciding what to take to Warcop Art Fair

And packing these items for transport to the venues

My pastel workshop for beginners “After the Sunset” is ready to go.  Based on a photo I took a few weeks ago on the Moray Firth.  I’ll be running this 1&½ hour session at the Warcop Art Fair on Monday 2^nd May.

After a few weeks of sitting in the to be framed and labelled area, I decided Lindisfarne wasn’t quite right.   Finally figured out what was bugging me - the rocks going down in the middle.

As I’d left the colours out I was working with ( ready for Bamburgh painting )  I mixed some dark green from yellow ochre and paynes grey and performed a cover up.  Much happier with the revised version.

As I have been full of a cold this weekend I have decided to keep my germs to myself and kept occupied with my stone artworks. To replace those recently sold we now have CATching Stones 43 - 46

and CATching Stones 47 - 50.

Spent the day hanging the Art Groups exhibition, opening Saturday 16th April 10am and closing Monday 18th April 4pm.
https://www.facebook.com/events/511720786954568

Here’s some of the artwork and prints on display  from me.  More photos of the exhibition to follow once we’ve opened.

Bookmarks have dominated my art agenda with the re-print of several new designs after the software messed up the sizes.  Followed by having to re-set all the other designs as they too had been messed up.

Then onto prepping for running “arty bookmarks”, where I’ll be inviting art fair visitors to have a go with me at creating their own bookmark.  They’ll use the templates I’ve prepared or mix and match from the templates for the design.  After which they can choose from a selection of media to add colour.  

My next task is to cut mixed media and watercolour paper to size.

The last Sunset of our stay on the Moray Firth didn’t disappoint.

We also scrambled down from the cliff top to the three creeks shore below the cottage in Portknockie.

A couple more sketches that I really like and think these may become future artworks:
Boaties at Portsoy.

Dappled sunlight at Winding Walks ( where I’ve discovered that my new sketch book takes watercolour quite well ).

With a mostly wet day yesterday, I took some time to finish and photograph a few sketches I’ve done over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve christened my new A5 sketch book with coloured pencil drawings.

Cullen King - a stack towering above Cullen Beach

Gorse - the flowers are plentiful and smell divine.

At Lossiemouth the jets were roaring into the blue sky.

Portlong sits along the Cullen Coastal path.  There once was a village here with Salmon as its main industry.  It’s a climb up to Cullen from the bay.

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Water soluble pastels and watercolours have been used in the A4 sketch book.

Our first Night away and we got a stunning light show after the sun had vanished.

Another beautiful sunset over Portknockie Harbour.

Sandend Beach was the only day we had clouds last week.

Kingston at the end of the river Spey.  Remnants of World War 2 defences litter the beach and coastal path.