An aside about gnosticism, ancient practices, and art

Two sketchbook pages about wood engraving

I recently found a quote, credited to Hugo Ball, in the front of a book about woodcut and wood engraving. It said

"Artists are gnostics, and practise what the priests think is long forgotten."

Pitt-Rivers Dinosaurs

A series of quick sketches of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons in Oxford. All those knobbly bits make Eddy, Trike, Iggy and Rex tricky subjects, especially with children in tow.

St Leonard's in Oakley

It was raining, so I sat under the lych gate to make this sketch.

Curious about the unusual name of this church (many a church is named for saintly Peters, Pauls, and Marys - although I'm not aware of any dedicated to Puff the Magic Dragon), I discovered that Leonard was a sixth century frenchman known for freeing prisoners.

Given the dedication, I was assuming that I would find a definite assertion that the church building was (underneath all the additions and alterations) of Norman origin, but there seems to be no such statement to be found online. It is, however, believed that a Norman chuch stood on the same site.

The history of the building seems vague until the 16th Century, so it seems reasonable to state that the church is medieval with distinctive Victorian additions. It is, however, charmingly quirky.

Portsmouth

Today was spent in Portsmouth; with the two paintings duly delivered to the Guildhall (see them in the basement from the 28th January), we couldn't resist wandering down to the seafront to sketch...

Porthtowan: Work in Progress and Sketches

 

This is the (rather bright) acrylic underpainting for a large commission that I started work on today.

It is based on photographs and sketches of the Cornish village of Porthtowan, looking down from East Cliff.

Watercolour done from footpath

Line and wash done from photomontage

Pen sketch done on-site