St Georges Day Parade

June 11, 2016June 11, 2016Ruth

The longer you go without posting anything, the harder it gets to do it. It’s not that I haven’t been drawing. At the moment I’ve got three different commissions on the go but they haven’t been delivered yet so I’m not putting them on the internet.

But it’s been too long – so here’s a drawing of the Bristol Channel Sea Scouts marching on St George’s day, a couple of months ago. It’s going on the Annual Report for their AGM which is on Monday.

This is an interesting one because it was impossible to draw all these Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts as they walked past. I had plenty time to draw St Mary Redcliffe Church before they arrived on Redcliff Hill, then a matter of seconds to catch them before they disappeared around the roundabout and into the church.

I always tell everyone I can’t draw from photos. My drawing style changes and more or less dies as soon as I’m sitting at a desk , rather than in the moment and atmosphere of the thing I’m drawing. But on this occasion I tried something experimental. I took a series of quick shots on my phone, then jumped on my bike, got home, transferred them to the computer and drew the figures straight into my sketchbook, just to see if the magic hangs around for a few minutes.

In the end, I think the foreground figures in this image are something of a hybrid. They’re good enough for government work.

Next time, perhaps I could try clicking and drawing straight from my phone in situ. If my eyes are good enough.

Front Room tomorrow!

November 20, 2015Ruth

Front Room, the Totterdown Art Trail, is this weekend. It is always a magical experience – don’t miss it. As usual, I shall be at Totterdown Baptist Church with 15 other wonderful artists/craftspeople, and also live music, real coffee, and cake. We are open 12-6 on Saturday, 12-5 on Sunday. More info at www.frontroom.org.uk

Connecting the Dots

November 13, 2015Ruth

Very quick post to upload some sketches yesterday at our ‘Connecting the Dots’ symposium. This was something I helped organise through my day job – about connecting mission and entrepreneurship. It was a room full of energy, and when that happens, I get the urge to sketch.

Art on the Hill

September 30, 2015Ruth

Art on the Hill postcard

Taking a short break from cleaning under the stairs – because it’s Art on the Hill again this weekend.

As always, the sun is going to shine, we will have a new guest artist in our front room, and I will get to say hello to everyone I know on Windmill Hill!

That’s what makes getting five or six new illustrations printed and hung, somehow, on the wall, all worthwhile!

More information at www.artonthehill.org.uk

Mrs Brown’s tree 2

Climate Change Mass Lobby – rally

June 22, 2015Ruth

And here’s the scene at the end of the day, relaxing on the grass with a range of speakers on the bus.

There are some good photos of the day here on the Christian Aid website.

Sheffield Central Lobbyists

June 21, 2015Ruth

This is a large piece, and therefore suffering from web related breakup of ink line, and unfinished, but it was great to be able to sketch this entire crowd from Sheffield speaking to their MP Paul Bloomfield on the Climate Change mass lobby day on Wednesday. There were only four participants from my constituency, Bristol South, so we all had plenty of chance to talk to Karyn Smith MP during our half hour on college green.

Will finish this one for people to talk about during Art on the Hill!

Speak Up…Climate Change Mass Lobby

June 18, 2015June 24, 2015Ruth

Yesterday I took advantage of an unexpected day off and went on a coach trip to talk to my MP. I’ve tried to get a few of the sketches I did uploaded as quickly as possible, but it’s late now, so they will have to arrive in instalments.

Here I show my ignorance, because once they’d moved on I wasn’t sure whether I’d been watching a tango or a samba, but this event was organised by the Climate Coalition and the dominant t-shirts were black (CAFOD), red (Christian Aid), and orange (38 degrees). Here were Christian Aid and 38 Degrees doing something very Latin by Lambeth Bridge.

The day began with two services – I was in the happy clappy one because it was nearer. I didn’t catch this gentleman’s last name, but he made me realise something very simple without exactly saying it – many of the migrants causing such consternation by crossing the Mediterranean are climate refugees. Interviewing him is Ruth Valerio whose books I’ve known about for ages but not read yet, I’m afraid.

This is the art installation in the Archbishop’s Park ( didn’t know he had one) across the other side of the bridge. It was a heart shaped wall for comments, but the curve of it and the patterns made it beautiful, as did the many verses from the Koran packed in with every other kind of expression of faith.

To be continued…

Wobbly Rock

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015Ruth

To be honest I haven’t done a lot of sketching for a few weeks, but I do have a few drawings from before Christmas which still need working into final illustrations. I got round to this one on Saturday so that I could put it on a birthday card for one of the singers. This is a group from my church, tbc, singing selections from a rather good jazz musical called Wobbly Rock, written by local musician Marilyn Childs. It’s based on the life of St. Peter. When she publishes the sheet music, and the CD, and when we put a proper concert on at church one day, I’ll tell you.

Illustrating Community

July 14, 2014January 26, 2015Ruth

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to spend the day sketching Southmead’s Community Consultation Day. It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve done.

A wide group of people had been involved in carrying out a survey of the neighbourhood; there had been a lot of work by volunteers and others, and it felt as though sketching them as they spoke or took part in discussions was an affirmation of that hard work, rather than being an intrusion, which a camera can sometimes be.