Who Rides The Tiger

You may have noticed the Flickr gadget on the right sidebar. This is my new site to record all my drawings and artwork over the past year which I have produced for my blog. I thought it would be easier for anyone who wanted to see my work, to be able to see it all without having to go back to over a years' worth of older posts. I am still uploading them so it is not completed yet.

This was inspired by the old Chinese saying in the text. I have simply substituted the he for a she. This is an ink and watercolour drawing.
A purely digital image called A Tree To Be Proud Of. The leaves of the tree took ages to draw. I think they look a bit like a herringbone pattern.

This is a detail of my pen and ink and watercolour drawing called Sheltering The Red Birds.

And the complete drawing.

This is another Art Angel greetings card by Clare Curtis. This is called Winter Fox and is a linocut. It would make a lovely Christmas card. I love the contemporary graphic design.

This youtube song is called "My Immortal" and is beautifully sung by Gregorian. It was originally sung by Evanescence but I prefer this version.

The paintings below are by the very talented and imaginative artist Simon Garden. His work has a lovely sense of mystery and narrative, even when the people he paints are doing everyday things. You can find lots more of his artworks on his website here, and also here and here.

Copse

Blackberry

Leaf Gathering

These beautifully quirky ceramics are by Helen Martino. She has exhibited widely and is extensively collected. Many of her works display women in ordinary situations relaxing, dreaming or chatting to unseen persons, but she has quite a varied repertoire. My favourite of her pieces is the lady in the gold trousers below. Her website is here. You can also find a good selection of her work here and here.

This is one of the most beautiful blues I have ever seen. Definitely one of my favourite colours. I took this picture a couple of years ago and it achieved front page on Flickr.

Some handsome bovines I came across some time ago. I love the curiosity of cows.

Oystercatchers are always great to see in real life and in art and craft. I often use them in my own work. These cute fellows are embroidered by Amanda Wright. They are also known as "Sea Pies" which is a lovely name for them.

I love this vintage bird embroidery found at a sale by Flickr member Art Craft Thrift. I think the red bird is an American Cardinal.

I love all birds but I am particularly fond of rooks. They epitomise the English countryside for me. The sounds of them quarrelling and chatting while building their nests in the rookeries in February is an enduring sign that spring is on its way.

These images are by artist and printmaker Adrienne Peverall. Her work is varied but very much inspired by Cornwall where she lives. I have always loved her rook etchings and paintings. She gives them such character and personality. You can find some more of her images here.

And here are three of my photos of rooks. They are very wary birds and very hard to get close-ups of unless you have a long range lens. These were tempted by a bit of food.

The paintings below are all the work of Irish artist and sculptress Margaret Egan. She imparts a wonderful sense of narrative and mystery to her figurative artwork, almost as if the viewer could step into the lives of the people she paints. She is also has a great love for and talent for painting the seas around the Irish coast. Two galleries where you can find lots more of her art are Courcoux & Courcoux and Solomon Fine Art.

Ladies Day

Yellow Dress

Moment Of Happiness

After The Ball 2

I will Go On

Surrender

White Lady

The Artist

I enjoyed watching Britain's Got Talent along with a huge portion of the country. There were some really good acts. I think Susan Boyle has a beautiful voice but I think she was definitely suffering from serious nerves on the night. Apparently she has been hounded by the paps recently and for someone previously living in relative obscurity, that must be quite frightening. I am glad in a way that she didn't win. She is now well known enough to make the most of her singing but will not have the terrible stress of appearing on The Royal Variety Show. She may not agree with me of course..ha ha. I am also glad the little girl Hollie didn't win for the same reason. She seemed to be having trouble coping and I don't think her voice is strong or reliable enough for public singing at the level of TRVS. Diversity, the winners, were absolutely amazing. Incredible choreography from the leader. I think they are on a par with Flawless for great dancing but Diversity just came out with the better showing on the night. I am sure Flawless will find their dancing careers boosted though. I hope so anyway.

Julia Manning Prints and Japanese Woodcut cards

Have you ever wondered what is inside a pear? Well now you know. It is the pear people of course but they cannot be seen by everyone.

I absolutely love the combination of black, white and red. It is perfect for drawings. I have been doing a series of black and red birds this week and these are two of them. Very fine feathers indeed.

This scene was inspired by a picture of a lovely applique. Not too keen on the colours I have used though. I think something brighter might have looked better.

This is my 2007 Christmas card. The snowy scene was from one of my own photographs of a rare snowy weather. The snow lasted a whole day.

These are cards by Mocchi Mocchi and are Japanese woodcuts. You can find their website here. I love the minimal palette they have used and the designs are really lovely.

The images below are the work of Somerset artist and printmaker Julia Manning who can be found here.

Goodness, my 49th blog post already and it only seems like the other day that I started blogging. I must admit I am enjoying it much more than I thought I would. Originally, I started blogging several times a week but I have gradually settled into just blogging weekly. That is quite enough really as time is always short. I really admire those people who have the commitment and "enough to say" to be able to blog daily. I certainly wouldn't be able to produce daily artwork although some do. I take my proverbial hat off to them.

Next week I will be having my first blog giveaway. I think I know what it will be but minds do get changed, particularly mine, so I am not saying anything else at the moment. I have been lucky enough to win 2 blog giveaways and I am thrilled with both of them, so I think it is time I returned the favour, and what better time to do it than my 50th post. All will be revealed as they say in the best circles.

I am still finding lovely cards to post and have found another three this week. One of them is a Christmas card and the other two general purpose. They are illustrations of a Japanese company called Mocchimocchi and I think they are quite beautiful. I believe they are from woodcuts. They have a website which is in Japanese but it is nice just to look at the artwork.

My featured artist is from Somerset and is a printmaker and painter called Julia Manning. She has an extensive website here. She has travelled widely and has produced work connected with her travels. Her work is very much concerned with nature and animals and birds and is produced as linocuts, etchings and woodcuts. She also sells a range of cards on her site. I saw some of her work at the Society of Wildlife Artists exhibition at the Mall Galleries a few weeks ago and was very impressed with her raven images. Apparently she has access to draw the ravens at the Tower of London - my favourite place for raven photographs. The legend is that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, England will fall, so there are always a certain number of ravens living there and a couple of spares just in case. They all have names and even have a Tower warden just to look after them. Things have certainly improved for them since the days they scavanged the bodies of the poor unfortunates who lost their heads on Tower Green.