It's 21 March - officially the first day of Spring! And it actually feels like it today - after a couple of days of rain, the sun is shining, it's warm, the Bridge Door is open again, the central heating is off and I opened the bedroom window - just a tiny crack, mind - last night for the first time this year.
The birds are all singing like fury in the garden, and the pair of Collared Doves who live nearby have been scoping out the tree in front of our house for their new nest site this year. I can never remember, though, if it's today or yesterday when day and night are exactly the same length. No matter, from now on we're over the crest of the darkest days and (hopefully) tumbling towards sunshine. Today should really be the first day of the New Year, when you can physically see things improving and everything gearing up towards reproduction. It's a very sexy time of year.
Yesterday I had to pop over to Cranleigh to collect the items that hadn't sold in this year's Spring Exhibition. Unfortunately there were rather more than I would have liked - I sold 2, possibly 3, bracelets out of 10 things. Still, it's better than nothing. This year's paintings were, as ever, a mixed bunch - there were, however, rather more than usual that caught my eye. I was massively tempted by a ludicrously well executed watercolour of a bird's eye view of the rooftops of central Prague by a chap called Peter Elliott. In fact, I've just this second Googled him to see if there's anything out there about him, and he has his own website. Not surprisingly turns out he's an architectural illustrator. But the painting was over my budget so I had to leave it there.
I did, however, buy myself a seascape. It's called 'The Tall Sea' by David Harding and is in watercolour and acrylic. I just loved the gorgeous turquoisey blue of the sea and you can almost hear the rush and swoosh of the foamy waters (the colours are a little lighter in real life).
Not so lovely is the beige mat and the white wooden frame so I'm going to have it reframed.
If you enjoy looking at art but cannot afford the price charged in 'proper' galleries, I cannot recommend highly enough a visit to your local Arts Society's exhibitions. If they're anything like the one I go to, every picture submitted will be accepted and in amongst stuff that only a mother (or the artist) could love, there will be some real gems, created by highly talented people who will be thrilled beyond all measure if you got your chequebook out.
9 comments:
K--It's not the *art* that's expensive; it's the matting and framing. :-( I can easily spend three times as much as I spent on the artwork on the framing. Which is why I have a boatload of prints that are unframed in various drawers and boxes.
What sort of flower is that in the top photo of your post (the helga one)? They are so lush and gorgeous. They look a bit like peonies.
Happy Spring to you!
OmMom - It's always the way, isn't it? It will definitely cost me more to have it framed than it cost me to buy!
Peevish - it's a Hellebore (aka Lenten Rose). Not sure what variety but there's a lot of them, ranging from white and cream to shades of pink right through to the most luscious dark inky purple.
Oh, thanks for the response. I meant to type "anemone" instead of "peony". I just love those indigo-colored anemones.
Now I need to find out if Hellebores will grow here.
Peevish - yes, they will grow, I've found this for you - http://blogs.icta.net/plover/2010/03/01/lenten-rose/
love the seascape. Agree about the reframe, and the cost. I love my framers but I spend a fortune there. What frame have you decided on?
Ms Boo - oh, haven't even started to consider it yet. I have some tame framers down the road that I use but I've not trotted down there yet. I'll let them direct me towards the best choice - they're very good at that!
Lovely seascape a new frame will certainly make a difference. I agree with you about local art society exhibitions, some of my entries have ended up in my chook house where the 'girls' no doubt appreciate them but there are gems to be found and at reasonable prices too.
Claire - hello! It may take me a while to get it reframed but it'll be worth doing, I'm sure. I've bought quite a lot of pictures over the last few years from exhibitions that I think I'm going to have to hold off for a while, although there will be the Buyer's Day invitation to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition to tempt me! I'm sure your girls are very appreciative of the pictures in their house.
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