Art at the Harbour

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to get behind the fences at Aberdeen Harbour in an art workshop by Aberdeen Maritime Museum. The harbour is spectacular, full of enormous colourful vesssels, but is usually strictly out of bounds and inaccessibly ringed by busy roads and shady pubs. It was a blazing hot sunny day and we perched on stools right on the quayside. 

This is a fairly abstract ink drawing of the anazing ‘bullnose’ oil rig supply ship Sea Spider.  The ship and its companion were so futuristic, bulge fronted ships in vivid blue. It was an amazing morning! I took lots of photos and drawings so expect some more ships here soon.

Celebration Second Hand

I was feeling flush today, having just been paid for my first freelance work!

So I treated myself to a lovely Laura Ashley blue wool cashmere coat and an Anthropologie floaty patterned shirt dress. The coat is labelled size 10 but is definitely a 14 as I can fit it. Another pet peeve is why people never unpick the temporary stitching from the pockets and vents before wearing things. Don’t they want pockets?

Got both from a charity shop on Union Street, one of several I discovered with my friend Alison B. I recommend shopping with different friends, who can take you to new places and have different approaches. Alison B is all about high quality classics, especially knitwear and can home in on these the moment she enters the shop, finding some great bargains. Alison's tips: feel the garments for quality fabric and check the fabric and care labels. Check the brands and google them on your phone if necessary. Go for classic pieces in neutrals or soft colours.

No Mayo Potato Salad

I hate mayonnaise.

So I make potato salad without it. Cut up new potatoes into rustic chunks, skin on. Simmer potatoes until tender. Meanwhile put a vinaigrette dressing in a bowl, I used olive oil, red wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Mix potatoes into it. Add herbs of choice and mix again. I used parsley and dill from the storecupboard for a German flavour.
Try different mustards, vinegars, add some tapenade or sundried tomato paste. Try fresh herbs. Whatever you like. Serve warm or cool.

Snake Surprise

Yesterday we enjoyed our first trip to Hazelhead Park since we got back to Aberdeen. It was a wonderful sunny day and we had icecream and went to Pets Corner. This area has been redeveloped, so we wandered into the darkened room expecting to see the usual fish tanks and instead saw this five metre albino python. I just about shot through the roof. However, it was a truly beautiful and spectacular animal, all slumped muscle and as thick as my body. As the animals are mostly rescued pets I did wonder where this one had been lurking!

Painting is in inks painted and sponged and softened with my new water brush. I wanted to capture the vivid colours of the snake, which glowed in the darkness. No black ink was used, which makes it fresher. My art class treacher is very anti black paint and favours layering and mixing your colours instead.

Anchovy Spaghetti

Weird but good Italian recipe: Bigoli in Salsa for 2

Slowly saute an onion until it is soft and golden brown.
Mix in a tin of anchovies, including oil.
Mush together.
Add abut half a glass of white wine or white vermouth and mix.

Cook spaghetti or bucatini and stir sauce through. It will thinly coat the pasta.

Looks unpromising but very tasty!

Psychedelic Sunflower

Bonus crazy sunflower picture in dripped and wiped ink, pens, marker, inspired by my spectacular ink spillage disaster the other day. Also because messy is more fun.

London Garden

I don’t usually put my acrylic paintings on here, but I think this kind of counts as a city scene. This is Leen’s lovely garden. Bit of a cheat as when I took the photo it was raining but I think of it as sunny. 

Art Supplies

A new blog subject, I thought I might share my experiments in art materials and techniques.

One of the great nerdy pleasures of making art is the endless supply of interesting materials to experiment with. Different weights and textures of paper, boards, brushes, pens, paints, inks, pencils, the list is endless.
My latest experimental items are some pens with brush tips not pen tips. Genius! Not as messy as dip pens and making a more varied mark than felt pens. Following a spectacular broken ink bottle incident I am keen on less messy!
I bought mine at Cass Arts in London,  near the National Gallery. I got two kinds, one with black ink and three you can fill with water or your own ink mix. Link to ink ones below:

https://www.pentel.co.uk/products.asp?group=5&pid=182&type=32

Pen tip of the week: experiment with using water over your (water soluble) felt pens to produce a warercolour effect.

Kensington Townhouses

Some of the most iconic houses in London are the beautiful Regency townhouses. This pair of lovely houses are just by South Kensington tube station, as you walk up to the V&A Museum. It’s a wonderful spot in London, a pedestrian street with street cafes, and an independent bookshop. I liked the contrast of the regularity of the classical architecture and the crazy bent tree outside.