Step Over (Chysauster)

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm (03/05/17)

This is the first painting started and completed in my new studio. It was painted while the studio was "open" for Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

It's painted from my photograph of the steps over a Cornish Hedge on the approach to Chysauster, an iron age village in Cornwall.

Cabin Fever

This is my new studio. It arrived just before Christmas (earlier than expected) and was erected professionally by Perfect Cabins. I have painted it, inside and out, with a little help from friends. I have also been practicing my woodwork skills inside. It's a bit smaller than the room I was renting at Swan Street, with less wall space to display work, so storage has been a key requirement. I shall have to be more selective about the display for Open Studios (just over a week to go - I will be ready, but it will be close!).

Landmarks

"Also notable are [Amanda Bates'] trio of small works, hung as a vertical panel: Thatcham's Bluecoat School, Donnigton Caste and Newbury Corn Exchange. The subjects are tightly cropped within the frame, with little context, giving them a palpable presence."
Newbury Weeky News: Lin Wilkinson

Three wooden panels, each 15  x 15 cm, painted over clear gesso so that the wood peeps through the thick oil paint. These three pictures were painted for, and are currently on display as part of, the Artikinesis Springtime exhibition at the West Berkshire Museum, The Wharf, Newbury - but only until Sunday 23 April.

The exhibition also features work by Rosemary Lawrey, Elinor Cooper, Adeliza Mole and Brian R. Marchant.

Thatcham Bluecoats / Newbury Corn Exchange / Donnington Castle

Oil on wooden panel

£50 each

T

Artikinesis Spring back into action

Artikinesis Springtime Exhibition

West Berkshire Museum, Newbury

29 March - 23 April 2017

West Berkshire Museum in Newbury (also known simply as “Newbury Museum”) is hosting the latest exhibition from the five-strong collective Artikinesis.

Adeliza Mole •  Elinor Cooper •  Amanda Bates •  Rosemary Lawrey •  Brian R. Marchant

present
 

 a selection of original artwork inspired by
West Berkshire and North Hampshire

West Berkshire Museum • Gallery 5 (upstairs)
29 March to 23 April 2017

Ghost

Ghost. Oil on canvas, 38 x 46 cm

This, a different angle on the ruined chapel at the Holy Ghost cemetery to that seen in my last post, was painted for Artikinesis' Basingstoke Project. I posted it on the Artikinesis site, but not here. It uses a very limited colour palette - there is no red (this is offset a little by the warm brown of the linen ground). I used only Phthalo Blue, Yellow Ochre and Titanium White.

The painting was based entirely on pen sketches made on site and memory.

Not Just Roundabouts

I've always liked the old railway posters. A "Travel" theme prompted this attempt at evoking their spirit, drawn in Molotow One4All Markers on A5. Since Artikinesis did The Basingstoke Project, I have a wealth of source material on Basingstoke (less than ten miles distant and, one could argue - as indeed we did - in need of an image adjustment). This is from a line sketch of the ruined chapel in the Holy Ghost cemetery, not far from the railway station.

Cover 2 Cover 2017

The local Open Studios sketchbook exchange scheme is well underway and I don't seem to have posted about it at all. This year, we are working in second hand books, chosen to refect our themes. It's a strange feeling, delibeately defacing a printed book, but it's easier if you're not the first...

Here is a small selection from the work I have done so far.

My own theme was Classical Mechanics, which is about macroscopic movement and physical forces. The book I was given was A Child's A-Z of Technology, whose slippery A4 pages were difficult to work with; I ended up obliterating much of the content with acrylic gesso, although there were a few entries that seemed apt enough to retain:

Clocks and Cogs: original content, graphite pencil, Molotow marker and watch parts.