Spain – The Consulting Artist

Project Lavender

During a recent trip to Spain my mind wandered back home. At the time the lavender would have been in full bloom, just about to be harvested. Usually we would see the harvest taking place but this year – the early hot weather had brought things forward.

I made a sketch which I shared on Facebook. The sketch was spotted by someone in my network who was about to be married. Lavender was the theme of the wedding and the person asked if the sketch was for sale. I said they could have it as a gift, I brought it home, mounted it and this lavender went on its journey.

Prior to going away I had made three lavender waves. Two were given away in my local area as free art drops, the third I took with us on holiday.

I photographed ‘Third Wave’ in Parc Guell, Barcelona – someone in my network correctly guessed the location and this art work is now theirs.

The final holiday related lavender art work is this one.

I particularly enjoyed making this piece – it has a looseness to it which I sometimes struggle to achieve. Since returning home I’ve had it made into a greeting card, and you can see the original in a frame here.

Casting my lavender mind back a little further – I made a small sketch in May which became a free art drop, and which led to a larger (20″ x 16″) canvas. I’m not sure the latter is finished yet…

Spanish Roses

My head was filled with images of roses whilst on holiday in Spain recently, prompted by a line from John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell’s cover of ‘Spanish Harlem.’

This little sketch was the first image to emerge from brain to paper. It’s a bit messy, and recognisable as a rose, I think?!

I let the shape of the flower rest in my mind for a day or two before first putting pencil to paper to create an outline. Next I worked in several shades of red, intentionally leaving the pencil lines visible. The stem, thorns and signature followed.

This finished piece will be my next free art drop.

Adventures in Spain

These paintings are a few months old now, they were all made over a couple of days on holiday in Spain. I’ve been lazy when it comes to updating the blog – the free art project is currently taking up a lot of my painting time.

I painted four postcards based on the Spanish flag which I mailed to friends.

I made a sketch called Too Much Pressure, based on a tracing of a blind drawing of a radiator, weird!

I painted two canvas boards, one of the mountains, one of the sea. The mountainscape has been sold, the seascape was found as part of the free art project.

I made four simple pattern sketches – some of which have since been given away through the free art project.

The last piece, titled Lost In Spain – was made for the free art project. It has a new home in Wallington.