A belated blog post I’m afraid! However, I have been busy creating and working away and with the Stroud Valleys Artspace weekends coming up I will have a whole range of artworks, drawings, sketchbooks and cards for you all to enjoy. More details can be found on the Stroud Valleys Artspace website http://www.sitefestival.org.uk/whats-on/site-festival/ or by clicking the online directory http://www.sva.org.uk/sites/default/files/Open%20StudiosDirectory2017Web_0.pdf

There will be 102 artists opening their studios for the Weekends 6th-7th and 13th-14th May (including me!) and we’re all hoping for some glorious weather and lots of visitors. If you can’t make it to all the artists studios (there are quite a lot..) then why not come to the taster exhibition? The opening night is this Friday 5th May 6-8pm in 39 Kings Street, Stroud and the exhibition continues the 6th-14th May. This will showcase a piece of work from every artist exhibiting for the two weekends, to give you a flavour of all the art that is buzzing in the Stroud Valleys.

This last month of my painting practice has had a ‘plein air’ feeling to it. Sometimes when I come across an old sketch or painting, I can distinctly remember whether it was painted outdoors or from a photograph, so I wanted to rekindle the looseness and freshness of my mark-making that would hone my artistic voice. Working from life is such a challenge as it really exposes your artistic ‘handwriting,’ such as the marks, dots, scribbles that you use to symbolise the observed subject. An intense week spending time drawing and painting on the coast of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, got me to think about honing the intentions of my artworks and think about my mark-making, whilst having a cold slap in the face from the icy wind and being cast a spell by the sea mists.

Sometimes the light was so fleeting and transitionary, I often had the sense it felt right to just stop painting and let the artwork remain as raw as the subject was.

Aside from my plein air work, I also had the urge to capture some of the Roman fragments I had frequently photographed during my trip to Rome. At the time, I was also playing around with some collage and liked the idea of tearing up a complete image to make a new composition, and I felt that the was naturally done by the museum curators fixing all these fragments together to explain something about its original state. Whereas the archeologist might look at all these fragments and clearly establish that it was part of a fresco, I feel they are just as interesting in their odd array in display cases. I often look at the fragments and try to make sense of the story or era that they come from through paint.

A few weeks ago I finished my intensive four day paper making course at Bath College, taught by Elaine Cooper, who learnt the Japanese craft of paper making for 10 years in Mino, Japan. I had attempted paper making at home before, reading a few books on it and having a go with recycled paper, kitchen blender, and a crudely made mould and deckle, but I was sincerely disappointed with the results. Having failed at that I thought I must give it another go…under instruction! And what pleasure I got from the course! I learnt both the Western style of paper making, using a metal mould and deckle with cotton fibres, to the (difficult) Japanese method with a bamboo mould and deckle with Kozo fibres. It was so useful for me to learn by the true master -everything was taught from how to make a strong sheet of paper by moving the mould and deckle (in a certain way) to knowing the right consistency of pulp to water. Quality paper making can only be achieved by fully knowing the fibres that you are using.

I decided that my final project (which we did on the last day of the course) should be a series of handmade books inspired by the theme of nature and the materials that I used throughout the course. I love both the natural patterns of nature and its imperfections. Rather akin to the concept of ‘wabi-sabi,’ I dropped natural fibres into my paper mixture to achieve random effects. I also enjoyed using the skill of lamination, where I can layer in leaves, or other material, in-between the layers to make one single sheet with interesting textures. Above are my books, soon to be finished, bound with linen thread, and hopefully I will be inspired to write and draw into them. This is a rather beautiful video that shows the Japanese process, from collecting the raw plant material to making beautiful paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swiu0YGU38Q

I returned from my few days immersed in paper making to catch some of the beautiful sunlight that April has offered. It has given me a taste of summer! A few smiles from my neighbours who see me clamber over the stile for the fields in my painting smock, portable easel, palette and brushes. I often find inspiration just around the corner from home, being so lucky to be in the countryside, and means I can have a tea break too!

This snowdrops piece is now finally finished. It needed a lot of attention to give layers of  paint for the effect of frost and snow between the grasses. Again, having the looseness of the brushwork becomes more and more important to me, as it breathes life and energy into the subject, and sometimes I feel the energy of the subject fluttering in the wind or changing position.

A busy week ahead for me as I get the studio tidy and presented with all my work for -not just one- but two open studios weekends! Really excited for this event and hope to see some familiar, and hopefully new, faces at the exhibition opening night this Friday and in my studio over the next two weekends.

The sunlight has started to shine gloriously through the windows of my studio. The cobwebs have been dusted away after I left the studio for my internship. I really enjoyed the sea air and a change of scene in Aberystwyth – on my weekends I discovered more beautiful walks and things to see. It’s definitely a place I’ll revisit again and again, especially with the different seasons.

My internship was very varied and gave me some really useful skills. I was an art technician and assistant curator, so I helped out in the School of Art workshop right through to changing exhibitions over in the ceramics gallery and cataloging new items into the Schools collection and museum. Behind the locked doors of the reading room is an exciting place for me (I love old books and antiques) and it is a varied collection of prints, drawings, albums, photographs and paintings. In particular, I meticulously catalogued an album handmade by the production crew from the original 1959 film of ‘Mighty Joe Young’ full of concept art and film stills. In the Arts centre ceramics gallery we had an exhibition changeover, which offered me an interesting insight into shipping and delivering ceramics as there was a specialist team that arrived and boxed everything up into a massive lorry! During my internship nothing was damaged, broken or stolen which is a good sign!

I arrived back to my studio and picked up where I left off without hesitation, which was easier as I left myself a large to do list and unfinished canvasses. So these two rock pool paintings were greatly inspired by the colours and movements of the shoreline in Aberystwyth.

 A few months ago I was in touch with the National Assembly of Wales as they did a call-out to artists with a connection to Wales to have their work hung in the corridors of the Ty Hywel building. They liked my work – hurrah! – and said they’d be in touch in the new year as to when they’d like some paintings. I set myself the task to get a number of paintings completed for them inspired by Wales to suit the venue, so naturally I chose the Hafod estate and the rock pools in Aberystwyth. This painting above was a particular challenge as I had the difficultly of the dimmed, woodland light, moss covered rocks and then the tumble of the water over the crags. I was delighted with this one, sometimes the challenge of the subject makes me paint loosely and let the materials express the subject.

I also enjoyed using a square canvas. These were canvasses that I made following my canvas making course at Pegasus art. As I set out to become a professional artist, I highly value the surface I paint on as much as my materials. Making my own canvasses, I can tailor make my canvasses and provide that extra touch of quality and professionalism.

The light along the corridor turned out to be great for displaying work. Working in my small studio, I don’t often see my work against a white, gallery background so this really lifted my work in a way I wasn’t expecting! 

Several of my paintings are also hung in Mills cafe, Stroud. Pop in to enjoy a delicious lunch, afternoon tea and some paintings..! I am really keen to carry on with some large paintings like this one above. It’s so rewarding to finish a painting of this scale, and I find that I can lose myself in the light, colours and space of the subject to another level.

I had an amazing weekend trip to Rome for my birthday treat, and a treat it was indeed! I soaked in so much art, architecture and ideas for more paintings. Seeing the ruins of the forum, the vibrant frescoes in the national gallery and the hidden beauties of the city I was really inspired. To say the least I could carry on writing about all the amazing art..! I studied Italian art in my second year at University, and so glad I’d taken that module as it really enriched my visit. As a painter, I tend to look less at sculpture and mosaics, so I looked at things with a different side of my art knowledge, and found I appreciated so much about sculpture! My sketchbooks are now filling up with experimentations in collage, mixed media and drawings to express the feeling of collected ruins, sights and loved treasures that I encountered.

On a slightly different note, I recently heard about the Newent art competition through Stroud Valleys art space group (which is really useful for me to join in with arty stuff in the area) and gave it a go. The requirements of the competition were to suit a particular title of a orchestral piece written for the Newent Orchestra, so with the blooming daffodils on the brass table I was instantly inspired. I had a intense few afternoons of studying the colours and tones of the reflections and light in the brass table. I remember a few challenges like these during my time at Aberystwyth, I remember struggling so much on painting the blade of a knife! I was delighted to hear a few days ago that this painting was shortlisted for the competition, so it will be included in an exhibition in the shambles gallery, Newent. The opening night is Friday March 10th from 7-9pm so save the date!

Another date to save for your diaries is the next Stroud Valleys Open Studios…May the 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th. I am so looking forward to displaying my work in good sunny weather in the garden and studio! This years open studios is also an SVA ‘Bake-off’ (as in the great British bake-off). Maybe a good incentive to do the whole trail of artists studios in the area, sampling cake all along the way…!

Being the final newsletter of the year, I wish all my followers a happy New Year and hope you all had a great Christmas! This month began with my Open Studios weekend, part of Stroud Valleys Artspace Christmas Open Studios. I was so delighted with the words of encouragement and appreciation of my work and that I had so many visitors for such a quiet little part of the countryside. I will be sure to be doing the Summer Open Studios in the new year. Despite the freezing cold temperatures, I was so lucky to have a dry and sunny weekend, which I needed as my paintings were outside the studio too. A few of my works have now reached their new homes, and to know they are being hung up and enjoyed is such a great feeling.

Cherry Trees, Nailsworth

Cherry Trees, Nailsworth

Above is a pair of small oil paintings that I was commissioned to paint, of course I kept quiet about it as they were Christmas presents, so I can now reveal them! It was a beautiful little cottage tucked away in Nailsworth, with a lovely side garden, and my intention was to capture the charm of the place and the rich colours of the garden. I enjoy taking commission work, as it sometimes throws me out of my comfort zone and offers me a challenge and I always discover a new place or view I become inspired by!

My Christmas card this year for Doc2Docs was my pheasant in the snow watercolour, which has now reached a number of Doctors and surgeries near and far. I am hoping for some snow this winter, so I can study lots of subtle and delicate colours.

Meanwhile, a few of my paintings are still on display at the Old Passage, Arlingham, as part of the group exhibition ‘Between the Light and the Dark’ with a number of Stroud artists. (Above is one of mine included). If you fancy a browse of the online gallery follow this link http://theoldpassage.com/art.events.html where all of the artworks are available to view. The exhibition is on until April/May.

So far the Instagram and Facebook pages are going strong with daily updates from my studio. The past couple of days have been canvas making and postcard painting for charity so if you need to see a messy paintbrush or a work in progress to feel inspired or uplifted then hopefully my pages should do just that for you!

More artworks have been successfully uploaded to newbloodart.com (above are my sycamore leaves). You can now view the paintings with colour backgrounds of your choice (this one is testing the brown colour, not sure I’d have my walls that colour but good for mounting and framing ideas!). I have quite a number of canvasses now that I intend to paint of shells, rockpools and collections from my seaside walks. In the second week of January I will be making my way back to Aberystwyth for a month as I begin an internship with the School of Art as a technician and assistant curator. A return to some seaside subject matter and some sea air in the new year is much needed!

I’m working on plenty of projects this October. The series of paintings of Gloucester are complete and now hung in Pilgrims shop. These turned out to be a bright and vibrant range of paintings, and personally I enjoyed practising some perspective and proportion for a bit.

Here is all the paintings grouped together as a ‘taster’ collage of the exhibition. The shop is located at 3 College Court, Gloucester GL1 2NJ, more details on their Facebook page @PilgrimsGloucester.

In my free time in the last couple of weeks I have been drawing some ideas for set designs. The Oakridge Players are performing their pantomime ‘Aladdin’ from the 24-26th November and I was invited to design, draw and make the set and scenes for the play. Luckily I am not alone in the set design group! It is a big job to say the least. My plan is to make a series of digital drawings for the main backdrop that will be projected onto the main stage using a high tech short throw lens. The set might also need some props and painted flats to give some dimension to the stage. It is a challenge for me as I’ve not done anything quite like this but I’m looking forward to seeing how drawings can manifest into a huge scene!

With autumn here I have collected some wonderfully crispy and colourful leaves around the garden and on my walks. The textures and shapes of the leaves are wonderful subject matter to explore in charcoal. I am experimenting with drawing some compositions to express the movement and shape of the forms which I’d like to continue in oil paint. The way the charcoal shifts and moves quite quickly is something I’d like to mirror in my painting technique.

Jonathon bought me this beautiful handmade sketchbook, made from natural handmade papers and the feeling of the sketchbook is just like my crisp autumnal leaves. What’s also nice is the toned paper, which I can use black and white inks with it very nicely to give a quick sense of the shape and textures. Something so minimal as a white line on a pale toned paper is very subtle and effective.

I’ve recently been accepted as an artist on New Blood Art, which is an online website that is carefully curated by emerging artists, so I am very pleased to be on this website too..! You can check me out on http://www.newbloodart.com/artist/3288/georgina–bouzyk

In the meantime I am blessed here in the countryside with some very sunny weather, so I am heading out to paint some local scenes and explore some of the area around Waterlane, as there are a multitude of beautiful walks I have not explored! I also have a commission I am proudly working on, more pictures will be coming soon once I have finished, so watch this space.

I’ve been meaning to write a new blog post for a while now! Since the drawing classes at Druid camp, I spent a week in beautiful Croatia, where we stayed just round the corner of Dubrovnik in the quiet village of Zaton on the coast. Now I’m back to work in the studio (and pouring the odd pint at the Butchers Arms) everything is definitely back in full swing.

If  you fancy a stroll through the countryside near me, then pop into the Butchers Arms, Oakridge Lynch, enjoy a pint and my paintings, which are hung up to be enjoyed …and sold!

As featured in Gloucester’s newspaper ‘The Citizen’ is me painting at the Art In the City competition. My painting pictured is currently in a group exhibition in Gloucester’s Eastgate shopping centre until the 27th September. After gaining some interest during the day of painting, I was invited to produce some more paintings of Gloucester for Pilgrims shop, along the street that I was painting that day.

I am working on six more paintings of views of Gloucester, as pictured. I had been thinking about working in oils for some time, because I had some many colours collected over the years in my wooden box, and sometimes nothing quite beats the intensity and variety the medium can produce. Without hesitation, I picked up my oil painting brushes to do this series!

Until I squeeze out the colours and really look at the street scene in front of me, painting streets, windows and doors are actually rather colourful and there is a lot of detail. I approached all these pieces with loose paint, thin layers as well as blobs and daubs.

The bunting along this street is particularly nice to emphasise the perspective. I added a bit more detail in the pavement as there is a lot of detail in the hanging baskets and the signs. I intend to suggest a bit more detail the red brick as that will add some paler colours that will compliment the pavement a bit better.

Seeing a statue along one of the streets of a horse and rider inspired me to paint it as a contrast to the other views of narrow alleys and streets. I love painting the shape and form of horses, and the light on the statue was particularly good to describe its three dimensional feel in paint. For this one, I’ll be introducing some more subtle colours and emphasise the background for some depth. In the meantime, keep an eye on this space as I finish the paintings and get them hung in Gloucester!

On Thursday and Friday I gave two drawing workshops at this years Druid Camp, near Gloucester. I had never been to a Druid camp before and this was a wonderful opportunity for me to share my approach to drawing and to explore some more arts and crafts at the festival. Those who came to my classes ranged from beginners to practising artists, and everyone really enjoyed drawing natural forms with natural forms! I had feathers, sticks, pine cones, shells, stones and all sorts collected from my walks and it was really an opportunity for people to experiment with mark making by using the feathers and such to draw with.

I had worries about camping, since I’d not done it since Brownie camp, but there is something rather invigorating about waking up in a field, breathing fresh air all day, and being like minded with other nature and earth lovers. In my understanding, Druidism closely appreciates and celebrates the human connection with nature and the earth. Above was one of our timetables for the day, which was different from day to day, providing and enriching variety of workshops.

I had a range of diluted inks to work with, which had the potential to have more painterly effects ranging in opacity and tone. In my ink drawing (centre above) I chose to study the central flower from a monkey puzzle tree, which had a bold and patterned composition.

Here are some of the drawings that came out of the class, despite the crudeness of using something as simple as a feather everyone came out with really personal and creative brush marks in response to the natural forms. I hope all those that attended felt inspired to carry on with some of these techniques.

I’m now back from my holidays in Malta and Mallorca, very inspired by the light and the colours. Through doing little watercolour studies it is apparent how much yellow I need to use to capture the bright summer sunshine! I also got very interested in the variety and the colours of the doors in Malta, each has their own character and together they make a quirky collage.

Just before I left for my holidays, I completed and sold my painting of the apple blossoms. I really love this painting, perhaps something to do with the movement and light of the petals! I am very inspired to pick up my oil paints again to experiment with another medium.

Last Saturday was a big day for me, as I was part of Gloucester’s ‘Art in the City’ painting competition. We had the whole day to paint plein air our chosen scene from the town of Gloucester and hand it in by 6pm for judging. Sadly I didn’t get through to the shortlist, but it was such a sunny day, I had lots of positive feedback and interest in my paintings, and I had a really good practise at painting outdoors. I chose to paint the little alleyway outside the Tailor of Gloucester’s house, which Beatrix Potter famously painted. A lot of contestants chose the Gloucester docks, Cathedral and street scenes, however, I chose this bright, sunny alleyway as it took my back to my childhood enjoyment and fascination of the historic street.

So here is my finished painting, I used some vibrant colours and particularly liked the shadows cast across the street in the morning light. The exhibition of all the paintings done for ‘Art in the City’ (including mine) are now on show upstairs in Eastgate shopping centre, in Gloucester. So do have a look at all the other entries to the show, there was such a variety painted during the day, and they are all for sale for the next week or so.

Look out for me in the Forest of Dean this week as I will be teaching drawing classes at Druid camp! I shall be giving my first out of two classes this thursday on depicting the character and essence of natural forms. I have collected feathers, pinecones, sticks and shells to draw in the classes, then in the second half of the session it will be based on experimental mark making, using the natural forms, feather and leaves to draw with. At the end I shall be giving a folding sketchbook demonstration to hopefully inspire everyone to keep drawing outside of the session. Really looking forward to it! On the last day of the festival there will be a market on Saturday afternoon, so I will of course take the opportunity to sell some of my paintings. Further information can be found at http://www.druidcamp.org.uk

I haven’t uploaded any pictures of my studio here until now, so here’s a blog post about a day in my studio!

I find that to work on more than one painting pushes me to experiment and vary from canvas to canvas. Right now I am working on six, which is about my maximum, hopefully they’ll all be complete by the end of the week. Bambi our chihauha fell asleep wrapped in my overalls, so I had a little company for an hour. She’s slowly learning, I think, as yesterday she walked through my palette and got green paint on her paws!

(In case you didn’t spot her in the main picture)

I’ve zoomed in on this painting as its a bit more of an experiment. Recently, working on a number of paintings allows me to abstract and simplify my subject, relying on my memory a bit more. In this piece I am layering up the colours and shapes, as if you are looking directly into the grass. I find my eye goes in and out of the leaves and flowers, as there is so much visual information to absorb.

This is another work in progress, a similar feel but I am focussed on the layers of colours. How they interact is fascinating me, I’m really enjoying the composition and colour of the red sorrel leaves on the right hand side. In my extra time, I’m persevering with finding galleries to apply to, competitions, funding etc and a few of my older works are available to buy on http://www.artfinder.com

Of course, last Sunday was the art car boot, so I welcome all my new followers to my blog! The weather was a little dull but I really enjoyed getting all my work shown together and it was worth it for this great photo. Hopefully this will be the first of many art events for me in the future. Keep you’re eyes on this space as all works will be available for purchase, and may be available through some online galleries too, lets hoping..!

This week I am focussing on my wild flowers, they have so much colour and variety, and so much depth in such a small area. This piece is requiring lots of layers to enhance the richness of layered colours. It’s full of purples, pinks, yellows and greens.

Walking through the fields everyday it’s clear to me how much the flowers change day to day. Each day there is a different mood, and today the rain left some beautiful dew drops on the ends of the grasses, into rather elegant droops. In this piece, I wanted a feeling of the buttercups to be floating, sometimes the ground has an elusive sense of depth. I am layering the colours, shapes and marks to bring the image out of my memory into reality. (I also have another, of the same size I am working on, with more rich, reddish tones of the wild sorrel). The abstract shapes of the flowers are really starting to come through here.

A page from my sketchbook -I like to closely observe the shape, colour and feeling before I go ahead with a painting.