The Diamond Jubilee

  Above  this is a work in progress though nearing completion and was inspired by the flags and festive bunting on boats in St Katherine's dock.      size approx 9in square. medium watercolour

Just over a week ago the Queen's Diamond Jubilee was being celebrated here in the UK.
Queen Elizabeth 11 like her forbear Queen Victoria celebrates 60 years on the Throne, both the longest reigning monarchs in the history of the UK.
I wanted to see the river pageant that took place on Sunday 3rd June. I was invited to apply to the BBC to be one of the artists painting the scene from the Millennium Bridge that crosses the Thames between the Tate Modern  and St Paul's. I was tempted to apply but in the end I didn't. I also had an invitation to travel up with a veteran watcher of royal events. When I saw the weather forecast and worked out I would have to get up at 5.30am to get the same train as her I reluctantly decided to put my feet up and watch this  piece of history unfolding in all it's colourful splendour on TV.

There are some highlights here and a slide show of the paintings that were done by the artists on tne day in spite of the wind and rain. Click here

I did however travel up on the Friday to see some of the boats assembling for the Avenue of Sail downstream of Tower Bridge and in St Katherine's dock.

I then read this post on Making a Mark and it inspired me to take part. I've worked on it over several days. Paint has gone on and come off and umpteen adjustments made and there are still things to do so it wasn't finished in time for the challenge. It did make me get down to work and although I wasn't there on the actual day, for me it does focus some of my memories and feelings about the river pageant.
Later in the evening I was sent this photo of the avenue of sail with Tower Bridge.

Today in the Garden

Red Oriental Poppy

Red Oriental Poppy (c) Tessa Spanton  mixed media

I used watercolour, acrylic, oil pastel, tissue paper and watercolour paper. The tissue I used made lot of texture which does not fully come across in a photo.

These poppies grow in my garden and originally came from my friend Elizabeth's garden.

This painting has been selected for the

2012 SWA 151st Annual Exhibition


at the Mall Gallleries London


to be opened by:
HRH Princess Michael of Kent

on Wednesday 27th June 2012 at 11am
the Show Runs from the 28th June to the 7th July 2012


I will also have prints and cards from original silk paintings in the exhibition.

The Faberge Big egg Hunt

Around 210 giant eggs, created by leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers were placed around London during the 6 weeks leading up to Easter. This was sponsored by Faberge. The event broke the record for the greatest number of entrants for the egg hunt. Of the 12,773 entrants one of them stood to win a Faberge diamond encrusted egg.

The eggs were auctioned to raise money for charities, the target being two million pounds.

The Big Egg Hunt

These 2 eggs were in the Burlington arcade off Piccadilly. I spotted these while visiting the Hockney exhibition in the Royal Academy next door.

They were all brought to put on show at Covent Garden over Easter. One of them was coated with chocolate and the winning bidder could bring it back the next Easter to be recoated by the chocolatier who made it.

Hockney A Bigger Picture

Hockney A Bigger Picture

Royal Academy London 21st Jan -9th April 2012

To see some of the work and hear Hockney speak about it click here

To read an excellent and comprehensive review by Katherine Tyrrell on Making A Mark click here

There are just 2 days to go before this exhibition closes and moves to the Guggenheim, Bilbao where it will be on show from May 15th-Sept 30th. It has been well attended with queues for tickets lasting 4-5 hours and opening hours extended till midnight.

I went last month and spent a lively 35 minutes in the queue. There was a sense of anticipation and interesting snippets of conversation to tune into. People were discussing a recent TV documentary about the artist and his work. what an amazing opportunity to be on the threshold of a blockbuster of an exhibition of work by a living artist.

I took these photos while in the queue.

Passing through the arch and up the stairs into the first gallery space was like entering another world, stepping from the urban streets into a leafy Narnia like environment. In this space are 4 huge multi canvas paintings of the same view ' Three Trees at Thixendale' each at a different season. Moving through the exhibition this sense of the passage of time is evident at many levels. After all much of the work was done on location at many different times of day and through the seasons, sometimes starting work as early as 4 am.

The are several sequences of paintings.

The Arrival of Spring at Woldgate is written above a huge multi canvas oil while the other 3 walls of this large gallery show a sequence of about 51 large works. Each has a date next to it.

Such a large group made possible by the creative use of an ipad. People looked with a puzzled curiosity as the 'penny dropped' for some.

In the next room was the fascinating multiscreen film and beyond a room with sketchbooks and a collection of pictures on a sequence of ipads.

'Everything begins with the sketchbooks' David Hockney

Whether with traditional paint or use of an ipad it is clear that Hockney's intention is that the eye, the hand and the heart are working together.

This is not a retrospective exhibition. Much more amazing is that most of the work was done in the last 4 years specially for this exhibition and a considerable amount is from the previous 12 months.

Books

A Bigger Picture (hardback) is available from Amazon

A Yorkshire Sketchbook here

Oranges and Lemons

Oranges and Lemons silk scarf

I finished working on this today by adding some embellishments of gold and copper gutta. These were diluted with water then splattered from a paintbrush onto the silk. I had previously dyed the scarf using microwave fix dyes. I blended yellow and red on damp silk to produce a range of yellows, golds and oranges with a hint of pink.

It was warm enough to work in the garden and leave the scarf to dry in the sun.

Botanical Celebration

I am delighted to have had 5 silk paintings accepted by the Society of Botanical Artists; four will be on show at their exhibition ” BOTANICAL CELEBRATION”. The theme is inspired by the celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jublilee and the Olympics and some of the flowers painted will have some kind of link with these celebrations.

Open 20-29th April 11-5pm every day, admission free. Westminster Central Hall, Storey’s Gate, London SW1H 9NH for more information click here The exhibition will be opened at the Private View by Elizabeth Banks, President of the Royal Horticultural Society. Some of the artists will be demonstrating their painting techniques throughout the exhibition.

Iris spuria Silk Painting (C) Tessa Spanton

The painting above is one of the paintings to go in this show. I am a member of the Kent group of the British Iris Society and was invited to an open day to bring some of my work and to draw some of the flowers on display. I was given a big bunch of irises to bring home which included several different Iris spuria flowers. these are what I used for this silk painting. During the day I drew a Space Ager iris. I chose it because of its unusual appearance. In place of a beard this iris had a little spoon shape emerging from its lower petals.

Strelitzia reginae silk painting (c) Tessa Spanton

This beautiful flower was named after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenber Strelitz, Queen Consort of George 111. She was an enthusiastic amateur botanist who helped expand and develop Kew Gardens.

This flower is a favourite of mine to paint. The one in my painting was growing in Madeira and glowed with sunlight streaming through it. It seems to me to have an almost regal bearing with its vivid crown of orange yellow petals.

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