This painting is currently on show and for sale at the Eagle Gallery www.eaglegalleryartists.co.uk
“Rhythm and Blues ii”, watercolour and ink, £225
This work, painted on blue-tinted 140lb watercolour paper, is part of a series in which I am exploring colour (see below for my thoughts on synaesthesia).
Tomorrow, Sat 17th Sept. is the last day of our two-woman exhibition “Terra Mutabilis” at the Eagle Gallery, Bedford www.eaglegalleryartists.co.uk
I will be doing another portrait demonstration in the afternoon, 2.30-4.30pm.
To see a short video of the demo from Wednesday, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qNk269Xfaw&feature=youtu.be
Demonstration portrait of Dave, 14.9.16, Eagle Gallery, Bedford.
I’m currently busy getting ready for our two-person show at the Eagle Gallery, Bedford next month, in which I will be displaying selected drawings and paintings that reflect my deep-rooted interest in our relationship with the Earth.
All my work involves story-telling in some way, and the colours I use express as honestly as I can the way I see who or what I’m painting. I aim to accurately depict the energy I sense.
Kind of Blue, Pencil and watercolour.
I’m acutely aware that the chemistry from which human skin has evolved, for example, is also that from which the planet is formed. Even the paint I use comes from pigments and substances mined from the earth!
Our connection with nature goes far beyond recreation or fancy, being fundamentally based on science – but the stories that have been passed down through the ages to explain this chemistry have woven themselves into our history and Psyche. I paint people, landscapes and objects in a re-imagination of some of these myths and legends in order to show their relevance to the way life on Earth is changing now…
I am taking part in the Life Club Annual Exhibition later this month (see below).
I’ll be showing this painting…
…and some other new works from life.
I am taking part in a huge exhibition with 49 other artists over the bank holiday weekend of 30th April – 2nd May at Parkside Hall, Ampthill, Bedfordshire (see poster below).
It will be a really exciting and eclectic mix of paintings, prints, sculpture and craft, with something for everyone’s taste (hopefully!) and all for sale.
I will be in attendance at the Private View on Friday evening and all day Saturday. If you’d like an invitation to the PV please get in touch asap and I will arrange to get one to you.
Hope to see you there!
I plan to show some of my most recent loose watercolour and line figure drawings which illustrate something of my intense relationship with colour…
“Rhythm & Blues”, no.3. Watercolour and brushpen on blue tinted paper. Joanna Stone 2016.
Recently, I was asked about the way I use colour. The person asking described my colours as “intense”.
It’s true, – I see colours intensely. I can feel/taste/smell even hear their notes. Colours “sing” to me – however subtle the tint, the hue is there…
Glass jar (watercolour)
Light iii, pastel (detail)
…pale skin reflecting warm light hums vermillion against a background of orchestrated blues…
Over the garden wall (Snowdonia Series)
…lilting violet perfumes the shadows, whilst the yellows rise to a pitch of buttery sunlight
Friday 23rd October 2015 : “It’s Not All About Drawing…”
Why is it so hard to start?
Determinedly turning my back on pressing emails, and even more pressing washing up – I make it into my art studio, hidden away in the garden – by mid-morning. It feels cold and damp in here. In my coat, while the heater gets to work, I pull out some sheets of used watercolour paper. (If they’re already used on one side, I won’t feel too precious about what I produce on the other side!)
Musical accompaniment must be classical (-no lyrics or voices to intrude upon my conciousness!). Pagannini – violin & cello – energizing.
“back iii”,
Joanna Stone 2015,
Watercolour.
“back iii” Joanna Stone, 2015. Watercolour.
I seem to have created a “back” series…
I decide to take photographs of recent drawings as a record and to use online. This turns into a process of consideration.
CONTEMPLATION TIME: IMPORTANT TO GAZE AND CONSIDER.
Making notes in my A6 sketchbook (almost a diary, but with drawings & not quite a journal) and cross-referencing other sketchbooks (I have several on the go at any one time).
The music has stopped.
A flock of Goldcrests come through the garden all around the studio, sounding high, sweet, few notes. Moving swiftly, taking invisible insects from the trees.
Another “thread” tugs at my thoughts…
TREES
This studio, this house and garden, this village – we’re surrounded by acres of of ancient woodland and heath.
One A3 sketch book is becoming all about this landscape. I feel alternately hemmed in or liberated by trees…
Psychogeography
(Merlin Coverley, but also Dorothy Wordsworth, Richard Long and many more) – walking and recording – not just how it looks but how it feels, smells, sounds. Human interaction with the landscape. My connection.
Hunger suddenly drives me back into the house for a sandwich and hot tea, still contemplating ideas, undoing and reshaping in my mind’s eye.
Afterwards I go for a walk in the woods. Ancient woodland, mostly Sessile Oaks in this part, although I can’t find any over perhaps two hundred years (?)…Maybe they were cut down to use for building…? Our house has oak beams.
Drawing and taking photographs as I go. Occasional dog-walkers regarding me with suspicion or amusement.
My favourite tiny sketchbook, 2015.
Joanna Stone
My favourite tiny sketchbook, handmade for me by my daughter.
Sessile Oak,
Joanna Stone 2015,
brushpen.
Sessile oaks in bakers Wood, pencil 2015.
Joanna Stone
A couple of walking hours later, and back to the studio to allow the day’s wanderings and wonderings to settle into some kind of vision.
Now
I have a way
to begin
All memmbers of the Eagle co-operative have been invited to submit one piece of work each on the theme of “Contrast”.
I’ve recently joined the Eagle Gallery Artists Co Operative in Bedford, and I’m very excited about it! The group run continuous shows at the gallery in Castle Street, Bedford. If you happen to be over that way, or fancy a day out in Bedford, there’s free parking along part of the Embankment, or in some of the side roads off Castle Street. The area boasts a lovely riverside walk and park with cafes, theatres, and of course the wonderful Cecil Higgins Museum – all just about within walking distance….http://www.eaglegalleryartists.co.uk/
I’m also taking part in the annual Autumn Art Shows with the Artists Network Bedfordshire: http://www.artsnetbeds.org.uk/art-trail-brochure/
The venues are dotted around the county of Bedfordshire, and most are open for the whole month.
I have work at the Golden Hare Gallery, Ampthill, – I thoroughly recommend a visit as it’s a delightful little gallery that’s full of beautiful paintings, prints, sculpture and pottery all artfully presented in an unusual setting: http://goldenhare.co.uk/
I also have work at the Cafe O.S.O. in Cranfield, which is a bustling contemporary cafe with cakes!
This coming weekend, a group of us are showing at the Memorial Hall, Woburn Sands, and I will be around on Saturday morning if you fancy calling in for a browse and a chat. The exhibition is open from 10.00-17.00 Saturday and Sunday.
“The thing I wish I’d never said”, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm, Joanna Stone
See http://jostonearttutor.wordpress.com for information and booking!
View of Stockgrove Lake, Rushmere.
Joanna Stone 2014
Joanna Stone 