the running wave

It's been a cold and windy day in Melbourne today.  It is mid-winter so no surprise!  I took the train into the centre of the city and scuttled quickly across the road from Flinders Street Station to the ACMI exhibition space in Federation Square, which was showing Dreamworks Animation.   It was a delightful exhibition from Dreamworks charting all the processes involved in the production of a present day animated film.  It's all a long way from the original hand-drawn cartoons, although there is still a lot of initial drawing and sculpting of the characters, until they emerge as rounded and believable individuals, human or animal!  Then the computers take over with the quite extraordinary results that we all flock to see at the cinema.   Can you spot Gromit in Wallace's greenhouse? I turned my hand to creating waves!  How could I resist?  My efforts didn't last long because I began to feel seasick!!!! To help with reali...

It's 21 June, the longest day in the northern hemisphere.  Apart from a short snooze a little while ago, for me it’s been a very long day indeed.   I got up at 6.35 am on Thursday, 19 June.   The sun was shining as Tilly and I stepped out on to the drive at the start of our early morning walk round the block.   Just beyond our garden boundary stood a young deer, gazing at us.   We looked at each other for several moments.   The deer was not frightened.   I turned to look down the drive in the other direction and when I looked back, it had gone.   Moments like that are magical, made even more so by the speed with which the animal disappears.  You are left wondering whether it had been there at all.   These elegant animals melt away into the undergrowth of the wood like spirits. Our walk produced some lovely things to see.  It never disappoints, starting with a speckled wood brown butterfly on the drive.   This is the fie...

I have rather neglected therunningwave recently.  Apart from the occasional rant about verge cutting and talking about dog walks I haven't written much.  The verge cutting is still very much on my agenda.  I've reached the point where I barely want to drive through our beautiful East Lothian countryside, especially the immediate locality, because the farmers continue to butcher the roadside verges and the wild flowers.  But that's another story and I must not digress. Yesterday was my last day at the Leith School of Art.  :o(   I really don't know where the last (academic) year has gone.  It has certainly flown by.  I have learnt a huge amount, and I know very well that I would not be able to produce the kind of images I have been working on over the past few months without the wonderful tuition and guidance of my two tutors.  I am feeling rather guilty as I have finished two weeks early because of my imminent trip to...

I've got one more day at the art school, next week, and my year at Leith will be over.  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.  This time last year it wasn't even on my horizon and now it's almost done and dusted.  Today I finished drawing my last ancient Egyptian pot.  It's a sizeable piece of work, bigger than AO, and I am very delighted that it's going into the end of year exhibition.  I thought it would be too large and greedy for space, so I really quite pleased and feel like I've finished on a high note!   :o)  A big, big thank you to my two terrific tutors, Kittie Jones and Matt Storstein.  They have taught me so much and it's been a joy.

Last September I began a one day (a week) painting and drawing course at the Leith School of Art (see my post  http://therunningwave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/i-have-embarked-on-new-journey-in-life.html) .  The academic year is nearly over and I have reached the point where I have to write a few words to sit alongside a piece of my work, which will appear in the end of year show in mid-June. I won't be there to enjoy the exhibition as I will be in Australia, visiting my son and his family, but the statement I must put together is a really important part of the whole process.  I think it must encapsulate, in relatively few words, what the year has yielded in terms of my initial ambition and ultimate achievement. We started off the year, last September, by spending time in Port Seton.  The brooding presence of the two chimneys of Cockenzie Power Station featured in a lot of work.  Some fellow students are still working on those images.  This is my piece. ...