London calling - help wanted

Big day for me today. (UPDATED with latest project details)

Its the day a huge poster made from one of my works will be going up in the London Undergound as part of an ongoing art initiative from Art Below.

This poster is 1 metre x 1.5 metres and various sizes are available to buy from the Art Below website as well.

I am hoping to get down to London to see it next week, as I want to collect as many photos as I can of the poster in situ. Why?
Well, I have this idea for a national project in mind - I don't want to give away too many details just yet - but I need as many photos as people are willing to send of themselves in front of the poster. You can email me them (suecook@picturedreams.co.uk) or message them to me by mobile (email to ask for my number)...I don't mind which.

Promise to reveal more later but it would be really cool to get as many different people young or old in front of this poster. And everyone who sends me a photo will get credit in the piece when its completed.

Please help me if you can....

You'll find my poster at Vauxhall Tube station Platform 2 Southbound.

EDITED TO ADD: The poster is up until March 12th so please send me your snapshots as soon as you can!

Thanks. x

Last friday of the month

The last Friday of every month the Eynsham Arts Group meet up in the Bartholomew Rooms in the village square. We swap ideas, encourage one another's work, hold exhibitions and have guest speakers. Please take a look at the website if you'd like to know more.

Anyway, last night we were given a impressive demonstration by Ron Freeborn, who is an extremely gifted painter and an excellent teacher.

The demonstration was about life drawing....something I know little about and it was fascinating to learn tips and techniques to make portraits come to life. During the second part of the evening I had volunteered to be a model.....I hadn't realised he was going to paint me in oils from scratch, no drawing first!! And all in under 30 minutes.

Not only that, he generously let me keep it afterwards and very kindly signed it. What a brilliant evening, rounded off with some Timothy Taylors finest in good company at the Queens Head.

Hurrah...I'm back.

Technology is only a wonderful thing when it works. For the past nearly 3 weeks I have had a laptop that has only worked when it felt like it, emails going to places I never knew existed, and a well known photo program which either crashed every time I tried to save an image, or saved it at such low resolution (unbeknown to me) that I have been inadvertently horrifying my clients when I've been sending them pictures for their approval. Not good.

So I have resorted to threatening the wretched lump of plastic and wire with being chucked out the window and lo and behold it is behaving this morning so while it's in a cooperative mood I can catch up with some news.

First off...I want to say a big big thank you to Em at www.10000beads.blogspot.com
Em is a fellow SOSF member and she kindly sent me these which arrived just in time for my birthday.







The theme was chocolate and I was lucky enough to get my very own little tin of chocs plus some lovely notepaper and some chocolate bath bombs which smell divine. So divine in fact I had to confiscate one from my 3 -year old who I noticed was foaming at the mouth shortly after disappearing with the parcel while I was putting away my camera. O joys of motherhood.

Its such a lift to a glum February day when an unexpected parcel arrives at your door and the SOSF is all about the spirit of friendship rather than the simple exchange of gifts. Makes you realise what are the more important things in life, and brown paper packages tied up with string are far far better than getting a daily dose of spam messages anyday.

Completely changing the subject, I have just had some rather exciting news and an idea for a project that anyone interested can join in with. I'll post more info soon. If my laptop lets me that is.

Roses are red.....

Valentine's day approaches and I'd been asked by Flowers Talk (who sell my work) to paint some rose canvases.

Here is the result.

I am rather pleased with them (I painted 6 variations on this theme) and I'm going to add this dark rose to my website.





Meanwhile, I have been exceptionally organised this week and tidied my studio for the first time in months. I am in the habit of letting the mess and empty paint tubs and spent brushes accumulate around me until there is no room for the canvases. I was contemplating buying another set of drawers on wheels (you know the sort -plastic with three box-like compartments) since my bits and pieces were taking over my painting table.

Well one very satisfying cleaning morning later I find I have ample space in the storage I have.
I have some big projects to undertake in the next few weeks and I find it very therapeutic to have a big clean and sort out - it declutters my mind at the same time. Then comes the moment when you unwrap that canvas you've been planning and place it on the easel. Loads of white space but instead of stressing I feel calm and focussed.