Vejer Inspira

vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira

 

They say good things come in small packages and the tiny exhibition space ‘Vejer Inspira‘ is certainly a case in point…

The gallery first opened to the public on Friday 1st July and has the following opening times:

Tuesday to Sunday 11am -1pm and 7pm – 9pm

 

 

opening, vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira

Vejer Inspira on opening night (above)

vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira, kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, collage, prints, limited edition, chicken bus, cow skull, cockerel, stencil, drawing, watercolours, illustrations, gas bottle

My wall (above)…decked out with my signature stenciled cockerels, some collages, a limited edition print of my cow skull drawing, original pen and watercolour drawings of Vejer and various prints of illustrations including the Chicken Buses, Gas Bottle, Discord Nancy and the CD cover for the album Jauja by Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads.

 

vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira, sabine friedrich

Vejer Inspira was conceived and set up by Sabine Friedrich (left), an accomplished painter from Germany, who generously invited me and three other Vejer based artists to share the walls and shelves with her.

 

 

 

The other artists who are exhibiting in the Vejer Inspira space are:

vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira, blanca gortari

Blanca Gortari – who paints gorgeously colourful swirls and dots on pretty much anything that stays still long enough (right)….I am the proud owner of a Renata keyring and have a pair of reading glasses on my wish list…

 

 

Gustavo Paradisovejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira, gustavo paradiso – originally from Argentina, who designs fabulous contemporary jewelry (left)

 

 

 

 

and

vejer, art, gallery, shared, exhibition, space, inspira, debra berger, ceramics

Debra Berger – whose fairy tale ceramic concoctions are displayed on a small scale here but feature as grand installations in various locations including her delightfully restored Vejer town house.

Flower Sketches

flowers, seed pods, drawing, water colour, sketch, pen and watercolour

I have no idea what this plant is…it looks just like grass growing in a pot on the roof terrace but it has these lovely little white flowers and seed pods shooting out of it…

Here’s another version…

flowers, seed pods, drawing, water colour, sketch, pen and watercolour

Cherries!

fruit, food, drawing, water colour, sketch, pen and watercolour, juicy, cherries, cherry

Cherry season is almost over so I thought I’d better immortalise these tasty beauties in pen and watercolour before it’s too late. Yum…

Noises in the Attic

For a few nights last week there was a high pitched squeaking noise emanating from the roof above my bed in the attic…was it a bird or a rat?

I was locked out of the house one night so had to beg the use of a neighbour’s sofa and when I returned the next day I found this on my bed and the mystery was solved…poor little bat baby…

drawing, water colour, sketch, pen and watercolour, bat, dead bat, baby bat

 

A pretty gruesome find you’d think, but according to this page

“Bats represent social relationships, communication and motherhood

The bat is a symbol of communication; Native Americans observed bats to be highly social creatures with strong family ties. They are nurturing, exhibiting verbal communication, touching and sensitivity to members of their group. Bats are sensitive to their surroundings and are seen as intuitive, with the ability to see through illusion and discern truth.

Eastern cultures view the bat as a symbol of wealth, longevity, peace, good health and a good death. In China, the symbol for bat is “fu” — which is also the symbol for good luck.”

I chose the colour combination because there were tinges of them in the poor little creature’s body and they’re reminiscent of the bougainvillea petals that blow into my attic on the gusts of ‘levante’ wind from the most enormous plant of its kind I’ve ever seen, which grows up through the open patio of a neighbour’s house.

Concentrarte Vejer 2016

Yesterday, Sunday April 24th 2016, was Concentrarte Vejer‘s annual celebration of all things arty and crafty.

concentrarte, vejer, art, plaza de espana, painting, work

Arte Vejer encouraged children to let loose their creative spirits by painting in La Plaza de España and a few adult sketchers, me included, joined the throng.

concentrarte, vejer, art, plaza de espana, painting, fountain, watercolour, sketch, vejer sketchers, arte vejer

I concentrated on sketching a tiny bit of the fountain in La Plaza with pen and watercolour before the sun came round and burnt the back of my neck.

concentrarte, vejer, art, plaza de espana, painting, fountain, watercolour, sketch, vejer sketchers, arte vejer

 

Selfie 1 – Sleepless

I’m not a good sleeper.

The other night I was restless and wide awake in bed so I decided to get up and draw myself:

self portrait, sleepless, selfie, charcoal, pastel, sketch, drawing

On seeing the drawing the next morning a visiting friend asked “Who’s that?”

“It’s me” I replied.

“No!” he said, “That’s nothing like you…”

Which is strange because every time I see the sketch I absolutely recognise it as me..

Springtime Vejer

vejer de la frontera, springtime, vejer sketchers, pen and watercolour, sketch, watercolor

It was lovely to get out in the spring sunshine this Saturday morning with the Vejer Sketchers and capture this view of Vejer in pen and watercolour.

Tricky angle, hence the slanted sketchbook!

Alcázar de Jerez

Last Saturday morning I joined the Xerez Sketchers and Vejer Sketchers  in the Alcázar de Jerez, a former moorish fortress. We spent a couple of very happy hours sketching, chatting and comparing techniques and results.

And we were featured in an article in the newspaper Diario de Jerez entitled ‘The Mysticism of Drawing’

drawing, water colour, sketch, pen and watercolour, vejer sketchers, jerez, xerez sketchers, alcazar de jerez