Tag: postcard

Learning to Paint – A Thank You

A short while ago I’d asked Susan Avello if she would be willing to spend some time talking with me about her experiences of the conference scene in America. I’m off to the US next week to speak at the Ohio State HR conference and I was after some…

A short while ago I’d asked Susan Avello if she would be willing to spend some time talking with me about her experiences of the conference scene in America. I’m off to the US next week to speak at the Ohio State HR conference and I was after some tips. Susan kindly agreed and so recently we spent a fun and very useful half hour chatting on Skype. At the end of the call I promised to send Susan a small thank you in her favourite colour.

I sketched this on a train journey into London a few days later and posted it to Susan over in Illinois and it has now arrived so I wanted to share the picture here. Painting this was tricky as the train hurtled along the tracks but I’m pleased with the result and managed to resist the temptation to add more to it.

Wine_bottle_and_glass

Flamenco – 2012 Holiday Postcard #6

This is the last card in my 2012 holiday set. Through our time in Spain I attempted to sketch and draw and paint something to do with flamenco. I was inspired by a group of ladies who just started to dance spontaneously in a Malaga street on the s…

This is the last card in my 2012 holiday set. Through our time in Spain I attempted to sketch and draw and paint something to do with flamenco. I was inspired by a group of ladies who just started to dance spontaneously in a Malaga street on the second day of our visit.

I didn’t try and recapture what I saw in Malaga, but the harder I tried to make something happen the quicker I got nowhere – save for the odd line and swish swoosh I couldn’t get to grips with how to show flamenco at all. I got stuck and temporarily abandoned the idea. Towards the end of our break I was playing with one of my favourite colours, Windsor Violet, and something took shape. This wasn’t what I’d originally set out to achieve but there is something about it I like. I hope you can find something in it for you too.

Flamenco
Flamenco_ladies

Spangland – 2012 Holiday Postcard #5

After spending over a week in Southern Spain both the gaps and similarities between the Spanish and the immigrant and holidaying population (overwhelmingly English people) began to give me a headache. It wasn’t the beer or the sun – honestly, thou…

After spending over a week in Southern Spain both the gaps and similarities between the Spanish and the immigrant and holidaying population (overwhelmingly English people) began to give me a headache. It wasn’t the beer or the sun – honestly, though as in many other places round the world, beer was one of the things most people seemed to have in common.

At times I felt the Andalusian coastal area was confused. Spanish? English? Both? I painted this circular flag shape to represent the confusion. The border off the edge of the flag could represent some kind of solar effect, or perhaps the ring of condensation a cold beer glass leaves on the table?

Apologies for the heavy blue tint on the photograph – I took this one in fading evening light.

Spangland