Urban Sketchers Bristol

Hello peeps, I forgot to blog about our last Bristol Urban Sketchers meet up (we have the latest one this afternoo) .  Usually we meet in town and chat, sketch, regroup for some lunch and sometimes a cheeky pint too.  Well, under lockdown this of course has to change so we have gone virtual!

We sketched using google etc in Alhambra, Spain at the suggestion of one of our members.  Well, what a beautiful location, some amazing scenery, small backstreets and amazing buildings too.  It was also great being able to catch up with the others and sketch whilst chatting to others too.

Sadly my notebook is not great for watercolour as the paint sinks straight in so ideally I should just use pencil or pen and ink (as we know from an earlier post on here its not like I don't have a "few" blank notebooks in the stash!!) but I keep forgetting that I am sketching at home and don't have to use my travel kit and could actually pop upstairs and grab the pencils!!

I am looking forward to being able to sketch again outside and meeting up with the group, but in the mean time, this is a really good alternative and a great way to explore other places, albeit virtually

Happy sketching

kyla

Concrete Collective

 We are very lucky to live in Bristol, it has a great art and independent community whilst being small enough to get across the city and being surrounded by countryside.

Last week we visited the Centrespace gallery, a small but fantastic art space down the smallest of back passages covered in great graffiti and art (quite a few ceramic wall plaques have been added over the years too,if I remember I will blog about them soon).

The https://www.concretecollective.art/ had a show so we decided to pop in and have a look.  There were some great graphic pieces, some inspired by New York (which we love having been lucky enough to visit in 2017) AND there was an interactive wall you could use their typewriter, stamps and inks to add a piece of art should you wish, well try and stop me!

This is the piece I did with one of my favourite phrases "When one door closes....open it again.  It's a door, that's how they work".  I have painted this phrase on rocks, postcards, cardboard etc so I thought I would use their typewriter to add the phrase (and my details of course).  It only took a few minutes but it was great to take part.

Here it is displayed on the wall.  The one below was from my husband and is a quote from the band "The Clash" (his favourite band) and seems ever more possible in these days of reality 'TV stars' and the such being treated with celebrity status .

If you have local gallery spaces where you live I recommend to visit often they are a mind of creativity and you never know what you may stumble across.

Kyla

Urban Sketchers Bristol meet up

 Last Saturday was the Urban Sketchers Bristol chapter meet up.

We met in the Bristol Museum and I decided to sit in the cafe and sketch using my new travel watercolour kit 

I also decided to try and sketch people, my first person (chap with the top knot on the left) was my first and my favorite, I am not very pleased with the others but am seeing this as something I can learn to develop as I try new techniques etc.

One thing we did find out during the meet up was that the museum does NOT allow you to use anything other than pencil!  Several staff approached some of the group about their watercolours (even though we were all using sealed water pens, the ones that hold a small amount of water in the cartridge and doesn't even flick out of the fiber end) asking them to stop using them.  

Sadly we cannot find this anywhere on their webiste and none of their staff could even point out where this was stated!  I totally understand the issue, but these sealed pens carry no risk of spillage whilst children run around with bottles of juice and they even sell water pistols in the museum shop! 

 Now we know we can ensure that we only bring pencils if we sketch there again, but it is a shame that this was not communicated to the public and I suggest a tad outdated considering most use  water pens.  It would be interesting to know other museums take on this or whether other groups have had any issues?

If you have please let me know?

Kyla

Bristol Urban Sketchers

I am a bit tardy in blogging recently as my "pay the bills job" has once again been ruling my life, something I am hoping to redress in 2018 and get some more balance (especially since my Rheumatoid Arthritis flares are triggered by stress).

One way I find I can detach myself from the stresses of daily life is to urban sketch. These are a couple updates from the last two Bristol Urban Sketchers meetups.

This one was along the floating harbour in Bristol opposite The Thekla, a floating music venue and Bristol institution. 

The December up was in the John Wesley Chapel in the centre of town and their new cafe, a great meeting place, light, airy and some fabulous things to sketch-though I admit I found a comfy seat and sat and sketched right there!

At the end of the sketch we all meet up for drinks/food and share our work.

They are a great group and in the past couple of years I have been taking part I have learnt so much from them.

If you fancy Urban Sketching I thoroughly recommend joining your local group.

Happy crafting

kyla

Upfest 2017

 Hello peeps.  The other weekend I went to Upfest, Europe's largest free street art festival. 

It is SO inspiring and I took over 200 photos!  If you follow me on Instagram or FB then you have already seen these but if you don't then grab a cuppa and skim though a few photos.

One of the main differences this year was how many women were taking part.  Over the years I have noticed this increasing but this year there was a marked difference.  It is great to see the younger generations getting into creating art, many with brushes as well as spray and stencils.

This tapestry is on metal wire mesh attached to a door!

Gemma Compton's work was amazing as always.

There are so many difference styles and subject matter on show

But some of them are HUGE, several stories high!

 There were a lot of faces at this years festival being painted in different mediums and different sizes.  The details were amazing though.

So that is another 3 days of Upfest finished.  If you are ever down in Bristol then I recommend popping over to the Bedminster area to check out the art.  Whilst the temporary hoardings are only up for the festival the art painted on the walls are often there until the next festival and some even longer.

I struggle to paint faces on a sketch book so I am in awe when you see these faces 15 odd feet across!  That is real skill and talent!

Kyla

Bristol Urban Sketchers Meet up

 

At the weekend I attended the monthly meet up of the Bristol Urban Sketchers.

 

It is a great group (and expanding month on month) and there are some fabulous artists with so many different styles that there is always inspiration and something new to learn.

 

This month we went to https://arnosvale.org.uk/ a 45 acre cemetery only 15 mins walk from the centre of the city.  I have lived in Bristol for about 14 years and have never visited. 

 Well, I will be back soon-this place was amazing.  It had a café, exhibition space, museum, natural 'green' cemetery, historical areas, sailors cemetery, woodland walks and much more. It is free to get in and for a  small donation you can have a guided tour.



 

 

I was running late for the meet up so I didn't have too long but I did manage to make a quick sketch in my travel journal.  After we sketch we all meet up for either a drink or some lunch and share sketches and stories.  It is always lovely to meet with like minded people and they are such a talented group-if you are interested and in the area then they have a FB group.

 

Happy crafting

Kyla



Screen Printing

 So I can finally start sharing some of the Christmas presents I made.

Last year I bought a selection of Dinky Screens.  This is a local Bristol independent company run by two young ladies who created a small and compact screen printing kit (it all fits in the tin-how great is that for storage, including the paints!).

I bought the Bristol themed set.

I screen printed in gold the world "Bristol" and heat set the print using an iron.  

Then cut out the shapes, sewing them on the machine and adding some personalised ribbon (it says handmade especially for you by Kyla) and stuffed them with polyester filling and a good handful of lavender from the garden I picked and dried earlier in the year.

There you have it, some fragrant but stylish lavender bags that can either be hung in the wardrobe or placed in a drawer.  I find they are also really useful to keep in suitcases whilst being stored out of season or gym bags!

I hope the recipients liked them....I need to remember next time to make more so I have a few for me!  I added these to the gift baskets I made which also included items such as spiced sugar (with lots of bay, orange etc), homemade elderflower cordial and sloe gin plus a few extras that I will post over the coming days.

Kyla

Bristol Urban Sketchers October Meet up

 Last weekend I met up with the Bristol Urban Sketchers. 

They are a really inspirational group and even though I have only just started drawing they are really welcoming and I have been trying to get to their meet ups each month since I started back in January.

Octobers meeting took place at Millennium Square in Bristol.  It is a great space with @Bristol (a science based exhibition and education center)  and the large mirrored sphere (pictured here) is actually a 3D planetarium!  Next to it is a sculpture of a tree which is actually made from solar panels and is free for people to plug into and charge their electronic devices whilst they sit there are take in the views.

I decided to sit for a while and drawer the scene, not the easiest but an enjoyable 30 odd minutes sat sketching and watching people.

This is also where the harbourside is.  Bristol is still a busy harbour and there are boats people live on, tourist vessels, water taxi's, working vessels as well as beautiful replicas such as the wooden boat the Matthew and of course the SS Great Britain.

I decided to do a quick sketch of a boat whilst I was walking along the harbourside 

After we have all sketched we meet up to share our sketches and usually grab some lunch or a cuppa.  This time whilst we were sat in the cafe a group of people on the next table all burst into song..they were an acapella group about to sing at a wedding in the Cathedral and were warming up!  I don't think the tourists could quite believe, all us sketchers with our kits etc and then the singers on the very next table!!

This is the group shot my hubby kindly took.  The umbrella was won in a silent auction by fellow sketcher, Ed, and has been sketched all over!  A brilliant idea.

As a new sketcher I was uncomfortable in sharing and joining a group, but I am so glad I did and recommend it.  

There are SO many different styles that each time I see or learn something new.

Kyla

Upfest and Art Abandonment

I thought I should warn you in advance this is a heavy photo post but nowhere near as many as I actually took but hopefully enough to give you a rough idea of what I have been up to.

I have taken part in Free Art Friday (google it-its a great idea) for a while and recently joined the Art Abandonment facebook group.  The idea is you create art and leave it somewhere for strangers to find and enjoy!

So for my first 'abandonment' I decided to make some tags using a stamped face and a devil icon that I carved (the words are stamps that I bought). 

 I added colour with spray inks and a little mica

I decided the time to set them free was this weekend at Upfest.  Upfest is the largest free street art festival and is held in my hometown of Bristol.  They have over 300 artists from across the globe and they paint, in real time, on buildings, hoardings, cardboard, floors, vans.....you get the idea.  They paint across an area of the city based around a few streets and parks.  It is great free family entertainment with music, art classes, sales, food and all round general greatness!

To set ourselves up for the day we popped into the local YHA for a coffee and this is where I made my first 'drop' (tucked into the bottom left of the notice board)

 

 My next drop was at one of the several large boards placed around for kids and adults to 'have a go'

 I soon got into the swing of things, abandoning on park fences

 and even in  a church garden

 When we returned the next day they had all gone.  Hopefully people will be in touch to say they found them, but if not, at least I know someone may have liked them enough to take one.

So, I took several hundred photos but I am hoping that these few will give you a flavour of the event.

 They painted buildings

 Skate park ramps

 Book pages painted and pasted onto junction boxes

 Sides of businesses

 Wooden boards placed up especially for the weekend

 Bristol is well known for being politically astute so hardly a surprise that there were several political ones

 Small stencilled faces

 Stencilled vinyl records (infact we even bought the 2nd on the left)

 This painting was several stories high and blew us all away

 This Game of Thrones/Jeremy Corbyn parody prompted a lot of comments

 

 These stencils are fantastic (Big Issue vendors are a big part of Bristol life-the people of Bristol even recently organised a wedding for one of them!).

 This was on the side of a train carriage!

 The background on this one is amazing, I watched the artist create it with torn cardboard and spray paint!

 I love this one, crowds walking through a rain streaked city scape.

 Again, another building painting (seriously I have NO idea how these artists scale up their sketchbooks!)

 These were painted on temporary hoardings

 Whilst this 3D image was painted on the floor (I was lucky enough to see his work in Malta last year)

 and this was painted on a double decker bus!!!!

 As usual the tallest was this 5 story building.  

Whereas these two were much smaller and not as colourful but just as powerful images leaving you wondering HOW they paint these!!

So a weekend of much walking, catching up with friends, art abandonment and watching some skilled artists create some amazing pieces.

Upfest - you did it again!!!

Kyla