Spring is on hold.

19th March.

So said the BBC weatherman this morning. I'm cheered by the thought that it can't hold out much longer and soon the rain will disappear and the sun eventually show it's face. The six nations championship ended on the weekend and I watched all three games. It couldn't compare with the excitement of the previous weekend when we were at the stadium to see Wales beat Ireland.

Chuck Berry died yesterday at 90. Listening to his music throughout the day on the radio I was a teenager again.

After a day at home on Tuesday waiting for the delivery of a new computer I finally made it into the studio yesterday to carry on working on the large canvas.

Wednesday 29th March

Feeling gloomy - the process of leaving the EU has started. I loathe the word Brexit - it's a made up word and, to me, it trivialises what is happening. It's so depressing!

Thursday.

Leaving the EU dominates the news and I guess this is how it will be for the foreseeable future.
I intended to go into the studio this morning but left it too late in the end so I'll need to be better organised tomorrow. I have work to do for the Summer Show at the Albany.

Back in the studio.

The large canvas I bought at the beginning of the year is on the easel and I'm ready to go!
I have the title and that's where I start.

Water's Edge

                                            Water's Edge. Oil on canvas.

A new painting for the Albany Gallery Christmas Show which starts next weekend. I should have produced more but work has been slow with a few distractions. I need to get busy before I'm overtaken by Christmas.

Monmouthshire

For me it's hard to think of a more beautiful place. I want to capture it on canvas but my father, a water colourist, did it so much better. I am not sure I even want to try.

www.maryjolley.com My new website has gone live.

 Watching and Waiting. Oil on canvas.

The Evening Walk. Oil on canvas.


www.maryjolley.com has a new look and in the course of cataloguing the paintings I picked out these two very different pieces of work. The early canvas, Watching and Waiting, was painted in my studio in Cardiff Bay. The Evening Walk  was painted much later in France where, at the end of the day, I frequently took a walk around the village. Work over, the day cooling and glow worms just visible in the dusk, it was a good time for reflection.

Men in red

France buzzed with the success of Wales in the Euro championships. Up to London for just the weekend I stayed on for two weeks to celebrate with the family as the team moved through the stages to the semi-finals. The remainder of the time I became a politics junkie as I followed the fall-out from the EU referendum on the radio and TV.
Meanwhile work went on with two new paintings for the Albany Summer Show and a painting for SHELTER Cymru for their auction in September.