Heather James

Day 17

I used the same piece of paper for today's work as yesterday's. At the top I have written: recipe for making ink from daffodil petals.
1) Mash the flower petals in a jar or bowl using a pestle or any other grinding implement.
2) Pour boiling water over the petals, just enough that they are covered.
3) Let sit for 24 hours, preferably in a sunny spot.
4) Strain and use.
Underneath I have made brush marks with my new ink and the results are very subtle.

Daffodil ink

Day 16

Recipe for making daffodil ink:
1) Mash the flower petals in a jar or bowl using a pestle or any other grinding implement.
2) Pour boiling water over the petals, just enough that they are covered.
3) Let sit for 24 hours, preferably in a sunny spot.
4) Strain and use.

Recipe for daffodil ink

Day 15

I answered the brief: does it take the path of least resistance by dripping red ink onto an A4 sheet of paper and letting it run where it would. The direction of the ink changed as I moved the paper around. I settled on a landscape view of the paper.

Yes, I believe it does

Day 14

Today I would be flicking through one of my old sketch

books and deciding which pencil sketch I would like

to explore and develop into a painting.

What I would be doing today

Day 13

I put yesterday's landscape painting through the shredder and wove a new piece of work from the strips of paper and stuck them to a new piece of A4 paper.

Weaving something new

Day 12

This is an A4 size watercolour sketch developed from a quick pencil sketch of a landscape. The location is called the Hole of Horcum on the A169 from Pickering to Whitby in the North Yorkshire National Park made on 9 April 2015.

The Hole of Horcum, North Yorkshire Moor National Park

Day 11

This is a photograph of a framed life drawing sketch that took ten minutes to produce which I did on 11 November 2019. The model is male and is sitting with his back facing to me and it is painted in acrylic paint on brown packing paper in tones of pink and green.

Ten minute life drawing 11/11/19

Day 10

This is a drawing in coloured crayon of some dried daffodils from our garden.

Dried daffodils from our garden

Day 9

This is a sheet of paper that has been covered in watercolour paint of different colours and painted through a plastic mesh bag that contained mandarin oranges.

There is no top edge to this work

Day 8

Text that reads: Ask someone for feedback and take their advice

Me: How can I be more productive
Self: Do less, take time to do nothing. Breathe and enjoy.

Ask for feedback

Day 7

This is a development, in charcoal, of a sketch I made of a stand of trees along the route of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. I sprayed the charcoal with fixative which made the charcoal run in interesting ways.

Stand of trees

Day 6

This is a landscape shaped drawing of a cafetière and a mug of coffee on a patterned table top drawn in black and shades of black.

Time for coffee

Day 5

This is a minimalist collage developed from a quick pencil sketch I made while on a walk near Hadrian's Wall Path in Northumberland in January 2015. I used black paper on a white background.

On the route of Hadrian's Wall Path

Day 4

Day 3

This is an acrylic painting in blue, yellow, green, brown and black based on a quick pen sketch I made in situ of the pond at Coldharbour, a village in Surrey UK.

The pond at Coldharbour, Dorking

Day 2

This is a sheet of paper painted in yellow, ground saffron with the dried petals from the crocuses the saffron came from arranged along the bottom of the paper. I wrote the following words on it: Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and I had fun painting the saffron I harvested from our garden all over this sheet of paper.

Saffron from our garden

Day 1

This is an abstract acrylic painting developing a quick sketch made when crossing the Red Deer River in Alberta.

Bridge over Red Deer River