March 2016

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On Wednesday it was my friend’s birthday (she is called Lisa and writes a very fine blog amongst lots of other super talented things).

After attempting to go to Haworth (but being snowed off) we ended up in Saltaire! Sometimes the impromptu days are the best though and it was so lovely to have a day off. I never class doing art really as working, erm you can guess how many proper days off I have.

We made our way to Salts Mill which is a haven of beautiful bookshops, homewares, jewellery shops and a two lovely places to eat.

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After a food fix of a scone and tea (me) and smoked salmon and eggs (Lisa) we had a look around.

There is an impressive collection of David Hockney’s art work and it was lovely to see his new exhibition “The Arrival of Spring”. I have always admired Hockney’s work as he never stays static. I have often worried with my own artwork that I should find a style and stick to it, otherwise how coherent is it? But there is another voice that says; “it would be nice to try this or that…” So Hockney’s new art work is true to form in that it is not true to form or is actually a new way for him to make art with an iPad.

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It is his colour palette that really appeals to me; cool pale blues with strong pinks. Lilacs against greens that range from brights to dark jades.Tree shapes are endlessly fascinating (I draw them a lot) so to see a collection like this was really inspiring.

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There was a sense of immediacy to the prints; they felt like moments in time (before you would walk down the roads in front of you).They have really made me want to start drawing on an iPad, as they showed how freeing it can be to have colours at your fingertips when outside.

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