A curious find…

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

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!

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…

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

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

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.

Illustation Friday: Shadows

Every Bright Idea Casts a Shadow of Doubt

This one is about thinking that you’ve come up with something brilliant only for seeds of doubt to creep in. The lightbulb is both a source of inspiration but can also shine light on our insecurities, our little ‘nooks and grannies’.

IF Word: Soaked

A literal one from me this week. My favourite ‘soaked’ scene? Has to be the opening of ‘The Double Life of Veronique’…getting drenched by rain but loving it. This character isn’t so happy though.

IF Word: Beginner

Well, we’ve all been beginners at some time or another. And there’s only one thing to do: Begin! A recent tricky walk in the Lake District proved this to me! We all start at the bottom of the mountain and work our way steadily up…up…up, pausing for breath when we need to. With each step we get a better view as we reach our goal. Strange though…sometimes the view is better from the bottom, when you see how high you’ve been, how much you’ve accomplished.

Illustration Friday: Bicycle

So the Illustration Friday word this week is ‘Bicycle’. My interpretation is the bicycle as a pair of glasses, that help move us forward, that help us see far ahead. I’ve been on a bike recently, after many, many years, and it was just so wonderful. Perched on the saddle you feel just like a child again and you can’t help but smile as you freewheel! It’s perfect therapy.