<![CDATA[ANNE BLANKSON-HEMANS FINE ART - Blog]]>Wed, 01 May 2024 16:31:53 +0000Weebly<![CDATA[Slave To The ‘Rithm…?]]>Sat, 13 Apr 2024 11:22:42 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/slave-to-the-rithm
“Whilst early adopters have reached giddy heights… many like myself are now controlled by the ‘rithm”

​Social Media really isn’t a bad thing, It was hailed as the best thing since sliced bread for self-promoting artists when it first came out… no need for bricks and mortar galleries and if you posted and shared and commented enough well you’d go places. Not to mention the ego trip that follows when you have a gazillion followers. 

Of course all that has changed now and whilst the early adopters have reached the giddy heights of huge followers and social media influencing, many like myself are now managed and controlled by the ‘rithm. 

I have resisted it’s power… believe me. Why should I let my life, indeed my very fortune be dictated by an unknown set of numbers? Do I really need it? The fact is every little helps, no matter how little and if there is any lesson to be learned from this, it is that we cannot fully rely on only one set of circumstances.

So I find myself on the bandwagon and much as I have resisted it, I am getting comfortable with doing things I would never have thought of doing, but must be thankful I at least have a platform to use. It was not possible once upon a time.

There are so many things I still would rather not be doing; like as an artist, why can’t I just post images of my finished paintings as a when I finish them? What’s all this about posting regularly and consistently, and doing reels? Does the ‘rithm know how long it takes to prepare one of those? There just does not seem to be any middle ground. It has become an all or nothing thing.

So, what can I say…? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Use it as one of the tools in your repertoire and use your website more. This is the only place where you have real control! I am under no illusion that the ‘rithm is there to help me but I will take what I can get to help my cause. Every little helps…!

So here I am, with a one minute reel posted on Instagram recently, explaining how and why I’ve had to make some changes to a current work in progress. It takes a while to get it done and edited when you are the cameraman, producer, and editor, but I have to say I do enjoy doing these things. In another life or in a parallel universe I feel I would do well in film production. The truth is when you work alone in your studio, it doesn’t hurt to talk to someone occasionally, even if it’s an imaginary person behind the camera.

I do love watching other artists at work and have a boredom threshold of about 5 minutes, so find YouTube videos tedious unless the subject is absolutely gripping and captivating, so I’ve tried to keep mine to a minute or under with captions so you can ‘listen’ in quiet mode.

Who knows? This might be the start of many good things to come….

So how have you dealt with this ‘rithm thing my fellow artists? How are you turning it to your advantage? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.


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<![CDATA[A Year In Colours…]]>Wed, 03 Jan 2024 16:21:39 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/a-year-in-colours
As I sit in my studio today, surrounded by the vibrant hues of my paintings, I find myself reflecting on the past year; a year that has been both challenging and exhilarating!

As a studio painter who also enjoys the freedom of plein air, the spontaneity of sketching, and the nuances of portrait painting, each canvas has brought with it its own joys and frustrations. 

For someone who was once afraid to go our painting on her own, plein air painting has become a cherished escape from studio work. My plein air outings are purely for my own gratification. It’s been a year of learning to hone my skills in the open air, learning to translate the immediacy of the moment onto my canvas whilst trying to develop a style I feel is uniquely me.

The challenge of portrait painting has been a fascinating pursuit. For a long time I’d convinced myself portraiture was something I did not enjoy.  Since then I’ve learned faces tell their own story, and with each stroke, Ive tried to unveil the character of the people I paint. This year, I’d like to extend the practice a bit more by painting more live sitters.

Looking back, it doesn’t come as a surprise that there have been triumphs and tribulations; I’ve been frustrated when things don’t quite turn out they way I expected (and the harder I tried to fix the situation, the more it evaded me) and I’ve rejoiced when things worked  out or when I’ve made a sale; sending prayers of gratitude heavenwards. Without my buyers and collectors life as a professional artist would be impossible.

We have entered a new year and I find myself standing on the threshold of new possibilities. The lessons learned in the last 12 months have hopefully paved the way for a more nuanced understanding of my practice.

In the next few months, I look forward to pushing boundaries, embracing challenges, and letting my learning guide me into as yet unchartered territories. The studio, the space I call ‘My Happy Place’ will be my sanctuary, plein air my escape, and portraiture my ongoing exploration into the human spirit. Continuing the practice of sketching will be an integral part of all this.

In addition, I am extending my journey into the realms of knowledge sharing, I eagerly anticipate running more workshops, demos, and masterclasses. The prospect of imparting my experiences to fellow enthusiasts is both exhilarating and humbling. I am thrilled to have been asked!

I’m slightly amused at myself for putting all this into words considering I am not one for making New Year resolutions but I guess it does not hurt to state some affirmations does it?

So here’s to a year of growth, inspiration, and an ever evolving artistic journey!

_______

Has the New Year inspired you to reflect on your aspirations? Do please comment below and let’s share our plans.
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<![CDATA[Who Do I Say I Am?]]>Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:36:53 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/who-do-i-say-i-am
Identity is a powerful force that shapes an artist’s work, especially when we make the decision to join the ranks of professional artists. Identity influences our perspective and sometimes it even confounds us. For me, this struggle has been particularly poignant as I’ve grappled with the question of whether I’m a contemporary African artist or an English contemporary artist having now lived in the UK for  nearly 40 years. 

Recently, during a course to help me hone my social media skills, I had to write my profile as an artist and this really got me thinking;  is it about who I am as an artist, or is it about the type of art I produce?

Growing up in Ghana, I was deeply connected to my African heritage, the vibrant colours, rich history,  and diverse cultures were embedded in my identity. Art as I knew it at the time was in itself quite heavily influenced by European practice. Easel art, was still a relatively new concept and most of the influential Ghanaian artists can be traced back to a post colonial Ghana. Nevertheless, my early artistic expressions were heavily influenced by African art themes and motifs and I felt a strong sense of belonging to the African art scene.

Life brought me to the UK, and new influences and the British culture began to seep into my creative consciousness. My subject matter started to evolve, taking on broader themes and incorporating a more eclectic palette.

As I continued to create my art, I found myself at a crossroads. I questioned whether I could claim the title of contemporary African artist when my experiences and surroundings had evolved so significantly. At the same time I wondered if I could be considered an English contemporary artist when my roots held such a profound influence in my work.

Rather than allowing myself to feel confined by the struggle to choose one identity, I decided to embrace both aspects. I realised that my unique perspective could bridge cultures and create narratives between both worlds. My journey as an artist has taught me that identity is not a static concept, but a dynamic evolving force spanning both cultures and this is a strength, not a limitation. Art has the power to transcend borders and create connections. 

Then came social media! The role of social media in reflecting this identity has become both a blessing and a challenge to me. On the one hand, it offers a platform to share our work with a global audience providing exposure that was once unimaginable. However, it also intensifies the pressure to define oneself within the constraints of categories and hashtags. 

Social media platforms almost demand that artists categorize themselves; too wide a diversity dilutes the audience range and forces us to choose sides in the battle of defining who we are as artists. 

As an artist grappling with identity, I’m learning to embrace the ambiguity that social media can’t capture. I’m learning to appreciate that the essence of my work lies in it’s ability to transcend categories and speak to a diverse audience. I know this does not fit in with the algorithms but I very often have to remind myself I am an artist, not a social media junkie.

In a world where social media often equates success with viral trends and clear-cut identities, I’ve had to redefine what success means to me as an artist. It’s not about fitting into pre-defined boxes, it’s about staying true to my unique vision, and to use my art, diverse as it is - to spark conversations about identity and diversity.

As an artist, do you often struggle with your identity? Are you constrained by social media when it comes describing your art? Do drop me a line in the comments below.




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<![CDATA[Lost Momentum…]]>Sun, 27 Aug 2023 11:40:47 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/lost-momentum
I’ve often joked if I were ever to win the lottery, I’d buy myself a large studio with a bedroom and  kitchen attached, perhaps a nice little sunny garden too. I’ve always imagined, a larger studio would house my ever growing collection of unfinished paintings, the ones I’ve been hanging on to in the hope one day I might return and complete.

Every so often as I contemplate my shrinking space, I look at some of these paintings and tell myself I really ought to make a decision about these one way or the other; complete them or get rid of them forever. I appreciate for many of us artists, quite a lot of what we produce does not actually see the light of day but is there any reason why we hang on to some of them rather for longer than we ought?

I probably start those paintings in a flash of inspired and energetic genius and then find myself losing momentum as another spark of genius hits me mid-brushstroke. Time to abandon the current painting and begin a new one before that energy also leaves me forever. 

I am sure this is not a unique situation for me and my fellow artists will testify to this with stories of their own, so seriously what should we do? What would you do? Complete the painting or leave them as they are as some kind of legacy to posterity so some psychoanalyst can perhaps explain the mind of some long departed artist to try and unravel the the story they were trying to tell? Or perhaps figure out at what point and where exactly it was they lost the momentum? Or maybe showcase the initial burst of creativity, whilst projecting their own narratives on the unfinished piece? 

Is it possible to rekindle the fires that first started the painting or do they belong to a time that is now past? As an artist, deciding whether to finish an abandoned painting can be a bit of an internal struggle. One thing I do know, you can’t force it, as we risk losing the spontaneity and authenticity, whilst leaving it unfinished might prevent it from reaching its full potential. 

Ultimately, the choice to finish a painting lies in the delicate balance between honouring the initial spark of inspiration and embracing the potential for growth and transformation. It is a struggle that requires introspection, as we ponder our original intentions and our emotional connection with the work.

So whilst I’m trying to make up my mind, my collection continues to grow and my dreams of a larger studio as elusive as my lottery win.

Tell me, as an artist how do you handle this, as a non-artist or collector, what would you say to us artists? Do please comment below and lets start the discussion.






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<![CDATA[The Thrill of The Sale…]]>Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:29:51 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/the-thrill-of-a-sale
It looks like I’m showing off! I make a sale and I feel I have to tell the world! My heart pumps faster and my head feels lighter and I want to jump around and just hug everyone! Why? I used to be in full time employment working for someone else and every time I got my pay check I didn’t feel this excited! I’m pretty sure shop owners or contract writers don’t announce to the world they’ve sold an off the shelf item or just signed a new deal. What is it with us artists?

I guess as artists, the sale of a painting or piece of artwork is not merely a transaction but a celebration of our creativity and hard work. No matter how many times I sell a piece, I rejoice as though it were the first time. Each sale brings its own unique thrill! It’s like winning the ‘Artist Of The Universe Award’ and I just burst with excitement.

Can I even unravel my excitement? What is it that makes me feel I need to tell the world? I love my paintings and I do love creating them so how come I don’t feel like I am selling one of my children into slavery?

Well, for me I guess the first thrill is the validation and recognition I feel. Someone loves your painting so much they are ready to part with good money in exchange. Yet every sale is more than just a monetary transaction though truth being told your head is probably whizzing with the bills that can finally be paid or the materials that can now be purchased. Many artists I am sure are familiar with those periods of feast and famine.

As artists, we really do pour our heart and soul into our creation (most times anyway) and when someone appreciates it enough to purchase it, it validates our artistic journey. Each sale reinforces the belief that our art resonates with others, igniting a sense of pride  and satisfaction.

In addition, as artists we are constantly evolving, experimenting with different techniques and practicing. A sale during our ‘experimental’ period can signify a milestone in our journey and can be a testament to our growth and development so a sale could be a sign we are on the right path. This is encouraging!. 

I do believe deep down that we invest a piece of ourselves into our artwork. Most of our paintings embody our emotions, experiences, and perspectives so when a painting is sold, it forms a connection between ourselves and our buyer. I really do have a sense of joy knowing my painting has now become a part of someone else’s life, their story, and their memories. 

So yes, each sale is a personal victory, a glimpse of the effect my art has on others. With every sale I dance, I celebrate, and I embrace the thrill of being an artist. It’s a wild and wonderful journey. 

Whilst I’m celebrating, I need to put in a good word on behalf of all artists for our buyers and collectors… you are our heroes!! To all buyers and collectors we owe you a wealth of gratitude.  Your support and enthusiasm keeps us afloat both creatively and financially. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!… Keep collecting and we will keep producing.

Brushstrokes dance, a painting sold,
Colours rejoice, stories unfold,
Gratitude blooms, walls find space,
A painting’s sale, a joyous embrace. 
Thank you!



Are you an artist? How do you feel when you sell your work? Do please comment below. It would be lovely to hear from you.






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<![CDATA[A Most (Un)necessary Evil...]]>Mon, 09 Jan 2023 12:15:49 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/a-most-unnecessary-evil
A Very Happy New Year to you my lovelies. If you know me, you will have noticed I don't write my blogs regularly but have chosen to write as and when I have something to say so it would probably be worthwhile signing up to receive my blogs even though I do try to push them out to my readers.

The thing is, I'm having a real problem with this whole social media thing. I mean it does have it's uses and it's a lot more cost effective for us artists and creators these days to post something and get the odd sale out of it. The problem is, you have no real control over who sees what you post and much worse if you want to extend your reach then you have to put in a lot of time and effort... and that is my beef, it can very easily distract you from your real job!

Before I go on though, I want to say a massive thank you to friends, family, buyers, followers and more importantly the collectors of my work for your unstinted support in 2022, I very definitely would not be able to work as a full time professional artist if you had not bought my work. So Thank You!

These past few months, I have taken a bit of a back seat with social media. The reason simply is I was becoming obsessed with it. I obsessed about followers, I obsessed about reach, I obsessed about the comments I was receiving and I obsessed about the follow/unfollow thing that people do particularly on instagram; you know, they follow you, you follow them back and then they promptly unfollow you! You know that game? Well I was so obsessed I got one of those apps that tracks that sort of thing on and I promptly unfollowed unfollowers in retaliation, See what I mean? What a palaver!

And what a bind too! Unless you are one of those artists who produce daily paintings, (and there are many good ones who do), you might be like me who works on a studio piece that takes several days or weeks until it's finished, you might not always have something to share. You can I suppose share your progress on a daily basis but I no longer want to be bound by this.

I hadn't really meant to start the new year with a rant but then I don't really do new year resolutions so each new month is pretty much the same in terms of the tasks I set myself. I have determined social media is a necessary evil, I have made new friends, found new followers and even made sales from complete strangers, I want to grow my follower base organically, however slow the process and I want to lose my obsession about needing to be ever present. There are other outlets to be explored and I would prefer to dedicate some of my time to that. 

So... tell me, what's your relationship with social media and what other avenues do you have to share your wok? Please post a comment below and thanks for reading this. 






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<![CDATA[My Kidneyversary - A Living Donation]]>Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:36:55 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/my-kidneyversary-a-living-donation
Today is a very special day!! Twelve months ago, on the morning of 14th July 2021, I was lying on an operating table at Guy’s Hospital, London, having my left kidney removed so my sister Liz could have one. 

The journey to get to that day was a long and turbulent one but we held on in hope after every knock back knowing it would all happen in the fullness of it’s own time. 

To give a very brief background to our story, Liz was born with Sickle Cell Disease. An inherited blood disorder that results in an abnormality in the oxygen carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells. The long term effect of this disease had caused her kidneys to fail and she needed a transplant to improve her quality of life. By the time we both arrived at the hospital in July 2021, Liz had been on dialysis for close on 5 years!

I did not think twice about volunteering to donate my own kidney as soon as I found out she needed one but there were a number of stumbling blocks we would encounter before we finally entered the operating theatre. The kidney clinic had been able to determine very early on that we were blood and tissue matched, not surprisingly as we are siblings but they did warn us be brace ourselves… sometimes you find out things…

Liz, however had had so many blood transfusions during the course of her illness she had antibodies and we were not matched, A direct transplant would lessen the chances of the kidney’s survival! Thankfully there were other options and we chose to join the pairing scheme. What this means basically is, they match transplant candidates with suitable living donors. So in a nutshell, all the pairing candidates are pooled and the best kidney match is found. So my kidney went to someone else so Liz could receive a better matched kidney.

The pairing scheme is run four times a year. We found a match quite quickly until further on down the line, one of the pairs pulled out and our particular chain collapsed. In the ensuing rounds we found another match and then shortly before the op, Liz was found to have a heart condition which spooked her cardiologist and the anaesthetist. The operation was called off! Then ofcourse covid struck and everything was put on hold!

Every cloud has a silver lining, during our enforced year out due to covid, Liz’s heart miraculously fixed itself and we were back on… third time luckily!

It’s taken a year for me to share this outside of close friends and family mostly because there can be complications after this sort of surgery and I wanted to tell the uncomplicated story after all the kinks had been ironed out. 

Secondly, my close family and friends hailed me as some kind of hero and much as I appreciated their sentiments, I was extremely uncomfortable with this. I didn’t do it for praise, I honestly didn’t, and I don’t even believe I was that brave. I just did it because it really needed to be done and I wanted to do it so my sister could have a better quality of life. I did it because I have lived with sickle cell sufferers all my life and for some, all their lives. My brothers Gabriel (36) and David (61) both lost their lives to complications of this awful blood disorder. I just wanted to help and I knew I could help!

The real reason for sharing this though is, stories like this need to be told to potential living donors, especially  to those amongst the BAME (Black and Minority Ethnics) community. The greatest need for living kidneys is amongst this group and the least number of contributions sadly come from this group. The waiting list for a kidney amongst the BAME community is much much longer than it needs to be.

Am I proud of myself? Yes! Hugely so, and very thankful that I was able to do this. It has made a lot of difference to Liz’s life and sometime during the August bank holiday, when she comes to visit me in the Lake District, I’d like us to go up to the Honister Pass and hold our hands up high in victorious praise and thanksgiving. That is my dream!

Do please please think about it, and if you are in a position to do something about it… Go For It!! 

If you have a similar story to share, please do so in the comments below… and thank you in advance. You should be very proud of yourself. 



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<![CDATA[Postcard From The Lakes 2 - A Little Extreme Plein Air!]]>Thu, 28 Apr 2022 14:30:47 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/postcard-from-the-lakes-2-better-out-than-in

​Most artists will tell you, it’s quite an isolating profession, and generally they don’t mind it. However, when we get the chance to go out and play with fellow artists, we will jump at the opportunity. 

So it was with me that I ended up with the Northern Boys, including their only female ‘northern boy’ Haidee-Jo Summers (who also leads her newly formed Lake District Plein Air group), for a couple of days this week, painting in one of the Lake Districts favourite spots. We were joined by the legendary David Curtis, ROI, RSMA who rolled up in his rather antiquated but smart VW camper van. 

My second ‘Postcard from the Lakes’ therefore comes to you from Elterwater and Skelwith Force in the Langdale Valley. 

The village of Elterwater itself is about half a mile from the lake Elter Water, located to the south of picturesque Grasmere, west of Lake Windermere with great views of the Langdale Pikes. If you walk through the forests that surround the western side which leads downstream, you will end up at Skelwith Force, a very accessible waterfall which surprisingly isn’t that well known to the many tourists that hit the area. Elterwater itself relies on tourism as it’s principal source of income and the village is popular with fell walkers. Only a quarter of the houses in Elterwater are permanently occupied. The rest are holiday cottages.

The ‘boys’ had been painting in the area all week and I joined them on the Sunday along with the Lake District Plein Air painters. Having recently recovered from covid and not wanting to walk too far, from the car park, I set my easel up close to the historic Grade II listed Elterwater Bridge which dates back to the 18th century. The bridge spans the Great Langdale Beck which bubbles and tumbles into Elterwater. 

The weather was extremely kind and not only provided the warmth we needed but also the light and shade that helps to make a painting of good contrasting colours. 

After a full day of painting, we retreated to one of only a couple of watering holes in the village. The Britannia Inn, a fantastic 300 year old pub in the centre of the village.

The following day, I joined the ‘boys’ at Skelwith Force, a delightful and very impressive little water fall not too far from Elterwater and a short 10 minute walk from Skelwith Bridge. This waterfall is very accessible yet relatively unknown and very lightly visited so we pretty much had the run of the place. 

After taking a photo of the ‘boys’ for their album, I perched not too unprecariously on a rock and completed my only painting of the day. Skelwith Force has probably never been painted by so many people in one day, though I enjoyed seeing the ‘boys’ immortalising each other in action, on canvas for posterity.

I am predominantly a studio painter and will gravitate naturally to the studio most days but living in the Lake District and having so many prolific artists visit on a regular basis makes a wonderful recipe for inspiration. Some days, you are so much better out than in.

Do you meet up with fellow artists often?  Do comment below and let us know. I’d love to hear from you. 

[Remember, if you would like to receive my newsletter, blogs, and updates about new paintings direct to your inbox, please click here to be directed to my home page where you will find an link. Many thanks]


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<![CDATA[The Mystery of The Alley At Ayigya]]>Sun, 17 Apr 2022 13:39:22 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-alley-at-ayigya
Well! If this sounds like an Agatha Christie Whodunit, it probably is…  to me anyway!

I often wonder what happens to my paintings when they leave my studio, and even though I’ve kept in touch with a few buyers who are now valuable collectors, I don’t think I was prepared for the message that landed in my inbox a couple of weeks ago.

It was from a young student, well I imagine he is young even though I’ve never met him. 
“ Hello” he began, “I am a student at Rhode Island School Of Design, and am currently doing a project in which I will be creating a placard for one of your works ‘Alley At Agigya [sic]’ 1982… if you have some time would you be able to provide a little bit of background for the painting…?”  

‘Alley At Ayigya!’ (pronounced Ayija), My goodness! What a trawl back to a past I hadn’t thought much about in a long long time! After all it was all of forty years ago and I was a 21 or 22 year old art student! The memories came flooding back thick and fast as though it were yesterday. I remember in detail when and how that painting came about, and yet I have no recollection at all of what happened to it after I painted it or how it came to be in the US, or why it was now one of the subjects of a class called Curating The Modern: Modernis (sp?) at RISD. I had so many questions!

I fired back my reply immediately “Hello… thanks for your message! Gosh what a blast from the past! Do you have an image of the painting? How did you come to know of it? It was one of my student pieces from when I was at the College of Art [KNUST]  in Ghana. 1982 means I was in my second or third year… I’d be able to tell you more about it… It’s ‘Alley at AYIGYA’ by the way…”

And so continued our dialogue, “Hi Anne, thanks for getting back to me so quickly… I don’t currently have a picture… I can send you one this Thursday… I came to know of it through my Professor… for a class called Curating the Modern: Modernis(m?) at RISD… I’m so excited to learn more about it…”

”Thanks so much… if I recall, it’s a watercolour piece I did en plein air, we used to go out as a class to paint outdoors…, there was a lot of political unrest…, clashes between students and government…, the university closed for an entire year…, I was happy…. I was relatively carefree… “

It’s amazing how certain situations like sights, sounds or even smells evoke certain memories. The title alone had got me going but it wasn’t until the picture of the painting landed in my inbox that I began to piece it all together - properly.

“Here’s a picture of the piece…, we’ll be putting it in a exhibition at Brown in the near future…, my Professor is very excited you responded to my message…, is interested in doing an interview with you over Zoom…, thanks so much for your response…”

”Oh my word”, I wrote back, “my head is really spinning with memories…, that’s an oil painting…, the original sketch was done in water colour en plein air (we didn’t call it that in those days, I think we called it field painting)…”

Ayigya is a small village a short walking distance from College Of Art at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where I studied Fine Art from 1979/80 through 1983/84. As students we spent a bit of our time there doing field drawing and water colour sketches which we brought back to the studio to complete our larger oil paintings. 

It wasn’t just the memory of the man, drunk and half asleep, trying to balance on an incline, or the little boy with the pot belly who wandered off to find a toilet, or so he told his mother when she called him back, it was also the memory of the small plank of wood that made up the makeshift footbridge and the artist Isaac Levitan who influenced my work then, and to an extent, now. The school library at my secondary school had a load of books on Levitan and I spent hours poring over these.

Art materials were scarce and expensive and that is pretty much where most of our grants went. We made our own canvas stretchers out of cheap wawa softwood, and helped each other stretch them, we didn’t have stretcher pliers, just our thumbs and a box of tacks and a small hammer, one person would pull and stretch, the other would tack and hammer. That’s how it worked. For canvas, we used whatever bits of board we found, plywood, MDF, chipboard, or whatever thick fabric we could lay our hands on - often White Drill fabric  (used for making school uniforms) from the market. For ‘Alley At Ayigya’, I ripped up a thick cotton bedsheet. We had learned a good emulsion paint with a good glue content would make a good primer. If we ever run out of Titanium white paint, we used household oil paint. That’s just how we rolled.

So forty years later and ‘Alley At Ayigya’, created in Ghana, has surfaced in Rhode Island, USA. The image looks like it’s been in some kind of storage. Where has it been all this time and how did it get to the US? I am intrigued and want to know more but for now I am really looking forward to the Zoom interview. If they have any questions for me, I am pretty sure I have more to ask. Loads more…

Do you often wonder where your paintings are, what sort of questions would you ask in a situation like this? Do please share your comments with me below ⬇️.


If you’d like to receive my newsletters, blogs or information about new paintings direct to your inbox, please click here to be directed to my home page where you will find a link. Many thanks.

                     
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<![CDATA[Postcard From The Lakes - Collateral Perks]]>Sun, 27 Mar 2022 12:37:12 GMThttp://annebh-art.com/blog/postcard-from-the-lakes-collateral-perks
Hmmmm, I’m setting myself up here and that’s worrying. I’m not keen on making resolutions so I won’t call it that so let’s see how long this one lasts.

Basically this is my idea; I want to send little notes from the Lake District once a month, more if possible, but once a month at least. I’m going to call it Postcards From The Lakes, and it will be in the form of a short blog with a couple of photographs and sketches, I might even add a short video log if I’m brave enough.

I moved to Cumbria just a little under two years ago and I’m having real fun exploring the area; the towns, the terrain, the lakes, and even the weather. It rains for England here!! So these little notes will be of the places I visit. The idea is to encourage myself to go out more often; walking, sketching, plein air painting, and sharing a little bit of the history of the area. You guys can be my buddy.

So welcome to Dodd Wood! Managed and promoted by Forestry England, Dodd Wood, located near Keswick offers some stunning views of the northern Lake District. For those who love to walk, there is a network of walking trails leading up to Dodd Summit for views across the fells, or you might want catch the Bassenthwaite ospreys from the specially designed viewpoints (April - September) taking in the odd red squirrel here and there at their feeding posts. The walk to Dodd Wood summit is only a little over 3 miles long but it starts off with a very steep walk uphill, so if you are thinking of tackling it, be warned! Take plenty of water!

For artists, this is an ideal location to paint en plein air. There is a cafe, toilet facilities, ample (metered) parking and lots of amazing views of the woodland and glimpses Bassenthwaite Lake through the trees. You could quite comfortably spend an entire day here. There is so much to take in just around Skill Beck along with its rolling, tumbling, waterfall and quaint little footbridge. There’s a different view for every visit.

OK so let’s not be in any doubt about it, art is work!  To some I may appear to be on a jolly but for me, painting isn’t always easy, income is intermittent, and I don’t always get the desired outcome much to my frustration, but the perks of the job make it all so worthwhile. Maybe I need to learn how to dine on the perks of the job lol. 

What are some of your favourite views of the Lake District? Do please share in the comments below. I may have it on my ‘to visit’ list..




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