Landon Library: watercolour, pen and ink

I've been walking through Wortley Village with my friend Cheryl Radford, sketching and taking photographs and looking for inspiration. Along with my friends, Len Hughes and Amelia Husnik, Cheryl and I will be having a show of Wortley based art in November of 2013. It may seem a long way off , but time has a way of flying past so quickly these days, that it seemed like a good idea to start looking for ideas.The piece above was done in the studio and is based on one of the photos I took. I drew the scene and then washed it with several layers of watercolour and finished it with pen and ink.

The second sketch was done on location, around 5:30, sitting on the steps at the front door of one of the churches in Wortley Village. It's a sketch of a house on Elmwood Ave. The view of the house was partially obstructed by trees, but I enjoyed sketching it anyway. This time I used watersoluble ink and water.

The Heart of Old South : Wortley Village Homes

Wortley Village Homes

This painting is the result of  a walk through the village with a good friend noticing the amazing variety of roof lines and porch styles to be found in Old South, as well as  stained glass windows of all shapes and sizes. In order to show the roof lines and porches, it was necessary to use an angle that did not allow a good view of the windows. I decided to use elements from a stained glass window seen on a previous walk in the village, as a border. The painting itself then became part of a stained glass window. To avoid symmetry I added the words along the left.
I have explored roof lines in other paintings which may be seen in this show.

The Heart of Old South: Window on Wortley

Window On Wortley

This is another painting that will be in the show, The Heart of Old South at The Art Exchange.
One of the really delightful things about Wortley Village in Old South is the way the independent shopkeepers take the time to make their shops attractive with unique window displays, window boxes, and signs.
If you have ever driven or walked down Wortley Road, you can't help but have noticed the shop at the corner of Emery and Wortley with its bright yellow bicycle and fabulous window boxes exploding with seasonal flowers.
In my painting, Window On Wortley, I have chosen to paint from the interior of the shop. The bicycle is purple because it works better in the painting that way. Peeking through the spokes of the bicycle are spring daffodils, one of my favourite spring flowers.