Art in Action

Yesterday I went to Art in Action, which is a 4 day event held at Waterperry gardens, near Oxford. Over 400 artists, musicians, dancers and crafts people demonstrate their work and seem to be  happy to answer any questions you have about techniques and materials which is a remarkable experience as you don't often get that opportunity to informally chat with the artist. They were incredibly generous with their time and as the sun shone and the rain held off, I was filled with certainty that as soon as I got home I would be able to put all those tips and new materials [yes, of course there is a wonderful market for art materials on site] to good use and my work would be improved beyond recognition.........

It didn't happen of course but I still feel that the experience has been incredibly rewarding, not to mention a lot of fun when I volunteered for the day on Thursday.  Meeting like minded people who are creative but take  their work very seriously can be quite intoxicating and the 'feel good' factor is still with me.....check out the website for next year if you're interested!    http://www.artinaction.org.uk

Seeing some of the interesting pieces drawn simply in graphite helped to justify and reinforce my interest in this medium and I've been working on another sketch of our lurcher,  Poppy.

Pencil sketch 30x35cm

I shall be experimenting with some of the techniques I saw at Art in Action and  will be  keeping you updated. There were definitely some very 'Beautiful Beasts' there, both as pieces of work in the artist and sculptor's tents and also in real life walking around with their owners. A particular Italian greyhound who was silver grey and magnificent [even if he was petit] was melting the hearts of many a dog lover!