Catherine Stones : Thoughts and more

Let it snow…

Catherine Stones — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:32:41 +0000

There’s only one thing to do on such a snowy but sunny sunday afternoon. When was the last time you rolled snow and heard that distinct crunch under gloved hand? We’ve been making snowmen for a long time – apparently the first known illustration of a snowman was from a Book of Hours from 1380. Strange to see him getting such vicious help to thaw…

Tucking into Taipei

Catherine Stones — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:13:35 +0000

From my hotel room in Taipei city, pictured here, there is a wonderful mixture of buildings, including the usually cloud-topped ’101′, the second tallest building in the world. I prefer the small, scruffy buildings and I’m picking at the city like it’s small box of sushi delights…with the desperate hope of finding some vegetables to eat!

Meanwhile the city reveals lots of tasty art, including the wonderful Ai Weiwei show ‘absent’. Centuries old furniture of the Qing dynasty are cut and combined in wonderfully clever combinations, sharing legs, overlapping like giant, beautiful wooden puzzles.

The Arrow Tree

Catherine Stones — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:15:35 +0000

I picked up this amazing leaf in Thailand, on the roadside next to an orchid farm. The arrow tree, according to me at least, is the ultimate in way-finding systems. Just lean against it, in a moment of hesitation or in puzzlement with a map, and it will drop a leaf telling you the way to go. Thanks to this particular leaf the only way is forward!

Greetings from Taiwan by the way (clean hotel sheets make for an interesting photo backdrop) and here’s to a great sense of direction for all of us in 2012!

Also read this wonderful interview with the illustrator known as ‘Shout’…such great conceptual work.

Illustration Friday: Round

Catherine Stones — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:15:19 +0000

Why are planets round? Apparently we have gravity to thank…the force pushes the surface evenly inward (as seen from space at least). Gravity doesn’t help us draw circles however…these planets were just ‘first pass’ circles with no adjustment to the line. I like the thought that we’re all on one planet moving round, and turning round, getting up and going to sleep. Instead of ‘earth’ the picture reads ‘all of us’ though actually, it’s not quite true…visit this ‘one trick pony’ site to see how many of us are in space right now.

A curious find…

Catherine Stones — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:24:34 +0000

A curious find in a charity shop for £1.50 (more than the ‘one shilling and sixpence’ price printed on the back). This edition of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ dates back to 1950 and has a wonderful front/back cover. Notice how even the clock face changes on the other side. A new exhibition dedicated to Alice has started at the Tate in Liverpool which I’m sure will be worth a look. In the meantime I’ll enjoy this little bit of wonder…”Ever drifting down the stream, lingering in the golden gleam – Life, what is it but a dream?”

InkWell Exhibition Finishes

Catherine Stones — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:49:34 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came to see my joint show at Inkwell in Chapel Allerton. It was lovely to show some of my pictures there. I gave a short talk to artists there the other week and it was wonderful to get feedback and hear about other people’s working methods.

Inkwell does brilliant work helping people with mental health problems to explore issues and express themselves through the creative arts.

Thanks to Boris for lending us such a great space. Oh, and thanks to Mark Terry for these photographs! His MA final show photographs can be seen here. Wonderful work!

Not all in the Mind: My new exhibition!

Catherine Stones — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:29:30 +0000

My new art show ‘Life Lines’ starts on the 16th September at Inkwell, Potternewton Lane, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, LS7 3LW. It runs until 10th October and will feature about 15 works by me and 10 works by fellow artist Laurie Limon. All welcome! 10% of sales go to Leeds Mind.

If you’d like to come to the private view on the 16th September, 6.00-8.30pm then please email me: catherine@catherinestones.net

The wonders of the washed up…

Catherine Stones — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:04:03 +0000

I found this driftwood creature on a beautiful beach in Scotland. It’s half shark and half-rhino – two beady eyes in a perfect place…I’m sure this would be a very dangerous creature if it ever lived so I thought I’d better put it in my pocket and take it home.

These stones are just a handful from many cabinets of stones, carefully selected and classified with humour and vision by Orla Barry. Great to see a mixture of quite lovely observation coupled with unusual wit.

The life in life drawing

Catherine Stones — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:38:42 +0000

These are some life drawings that I did last night at Inkwell in Chapel Allerton. There’s nothing like focusing on wonderful lines and curves for two hours. The top sketches are one minute sketches – the perfect ‘limbering up’ exercise.

Ploughing a field

Catherine Stones — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:17:04 +0000

The Art CarBoot Sale in Brick Lane, London was on at the weekend and I was lucky enough to go down. While I wasn’t very interested in joining a very long queue to snap up a Damien Hirst print or buying a hard boiled egg signed by Gavin Turk I did enjoy the ‘Boules in a China Shop’ show in which children and adults were encouraged, at £2 a throw, to break quaint china cups and teapots. What an incredible sound! I bought one thing, a cheap frame with a quote in it – it made me smile and now adorns my desk at work. Though thinking is mandatory at work, action is possibly more important.