Get Drawn In!

The 2014 Big Draw will run from 1 October to 2 November across 
the UK and in twenty other countries, with 280,000 people expected to join in over 1000+ events.  

The Big Draw offers thousands of enjoyable, and mainly free, drawing activities which connect people of all ages with museums, outdoor spaces, artists, designers, illustrators - and each other. 
These events are for those who love to draw, as well as for those who think they can't!

 

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 One of our local events sounds like it will be great fun! 
Are you nearby? Give it a try....

Sleeping Beauty; Crouching Dragon!

Shotesham life drawing group.  Update. Spring drawings. Beth and Robert. 

20 minutes.

http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/maddy-pikarsky/artwork/53323

..have given Robert a "Modesty Blur" on this one..!

 

Harry: my hero. Why did I think of you today of all days?

The last surviving soldier of the first world war, Harry Patch died when he was 111 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day old...

...on the 25th July 2009 ...five years ago today...

"With a handshake we said more about peace than anything else ever could"    

Harry Patch vowed that he would never return to the battlefields but when the First World War veteran met an old enemy in Ypres, the two formed an unlikely bond.    Olga Craig reports   from  14 Nov 2004

Three weeks ago, Harry, who fought at Passchendaele in 1917 and is one of only 20 surviving British First World War veterans, made the long journey to the western Belgian town of Ypres to meet Charles Kuentz, 107, Germany's only living Great War survivor. It was a poignant and emotion-filled moment for both men when, amid the green fields that now mark the site of the third battle of Ypres, one of the bloodiest battles, they hesitantly shook hands: two former foes forging a new friendship, 87 years after they fought on opposite sides.

After the meeting, Harry, who lives in a nursing home in Wells, Somerset, received a letter from Mr Kuentz, which, he believes, sums up the pact of friendship, borne of shared memories, that now exists between them. "Shaking your hand was an honour," wrote Mr Kuentz, "and with that handshake we said more about peace than anything else ever could. On Sunday, I shall think of you, old comrade."

 If you do nothing else today, find a quiet moment and watch this:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho33eVaYdPc

"Front Line"  collage/mixed media      ©  Maddy Pikarsky
http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/maddy-pikarsky/artwork/53322

 

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A German prisoner of war lights the cigarette of a British soldier, World War I.

"Love One Another" Cornwall  photograph  ©  Maddy Pikarsky

   
....please....?? 
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WW1 Centenary: 4th August 2014

Six Pillows

Six Pillows by Albrecht Durer 1493 

no words necessary

a Woman's Shed - get your copy NOW !!

Well. Here it is. A 3+ year project.  See what you think!  

End of May 2014 and Gill has finally had her book published by Cico, and it has apparently already sold 9,000 copies and has now gone into a second print run! It's quite a weighty tome. Perfect maybe for a jolly Christmas gift for that middle-aged, middle-class, indigo-linen-layered-leggings-sandal-wearing, arty auntie in your life..!?!

"Having worked for years to strict deadlines and many a harsh brief in the speedy-needy world  of advertising and design, in both London and Norfolk, Maddy started all over again, indulging her love of art and making.
There is everything that Maddy could possibly need to pursue her creative journey.....her desk...under the window, is surrounded from floor to ceiling by a swirling assortment of natural and hand-made objects....a delicious, tempting chaos of items..."    Gill Heriz

 A Woman’s Shed, by Gill Heriz, is published by CICO Books (£19.99)

  

^ Doll posed on chair? white tube poking up mid-shot? use of flash photography? :- ...not my choice !!
 - ah well - musn't groan, it feels very good to be in a Proper Big Successful Book.

 
< ...and a slightly insipid, bleached out image of the outside on the back cover!!  

(click on all images to enlarge/read blurb)

.......as featured in "The Lady" magazine!!    >

"When the idea for my book, A Woman’s Shed, arose, I keyed in the words ‘women’s sheds’ on the internet, which led to the digital universe scratching its patriarchal head. The initial response was that ‘shed’ meant losing weight. 
A second attempt brought the reply, ‘Did you mean “men’s sheds?” No, I did not! I tried again. ‘Did you mean “women’s shoes?”    Gill Heriz

<   original old shot of shed keys