Pastels in the Park.

 

Weather was fine enough to visit Thoresby Park. I needed a bit of an art reset. So, oil pastels on large, cheep brown wrapping paper was the challenge of the day.

All artworks copyright ian gordon craig.

Published.

One might think that having done all the writing & editing work, then the Kindle Create and upload stage would be easy. No.  However, all is done now. I am published: "46 Contemporary Poems in Various Styles".

My original idea was to include 47 poems, the family's lucky number, but I rejected one piece. Reading one’s words on Kindle, as opposed to all the weeks of reading through them on my laptop, is a little odd at first. Seeing them through the "lens" of a Kindle screen, as indeed the audience will, takes a bit of getting used to. But by bedtime, I got over that.

I am thinking ahead now to a possible "46 Short Stories & Pros"...

All art and text copyright ian gordon craig.

Writing through October.

 I have spent the past couple of months preparing for self-publishing an eBook of my poems.

I think the earliest piece comes from the late-80s, but all the rest certainly from 2007 – 2020. However, everything chosen has been re-edited and improved. A lot of my writing used to be basic, stream of conscious stuff that I put on Blogger or sometimes even set to music. Those original posts provided just a starting point to now edit, embellish, or indeed mix together to make new works.

Today, after reading various self-publishing guide lines, I reached that point where all are now “ready to go”.

All text & Photographs copyright ian gordon craig.

October sketchbook.

 Bridge over River Maun, Ollerton; clouds over Thoresby fields; Thoresby Park country lane. On the look-out again for new subjects. It's getting tricky!

 All artwork copyright ian gordon craig.

September sketchbook.

 I enjoy my sketchbook, and still have no plans at all to ever return to painting. Also, it keeps my Twitter page active, which might be useful to publicize my intended poetry book.

All artwork and photography copyright ian g craig.

47 poems.

 I set myself a target and a deadline, and I made it.

47 poems is the idea. (The number 47 has a family history). The challenge was that, even though I had a lot of writing to sift through, much of it was intended for song lyrics, or basic "stream of conscious" pieces from old blogs. All of that needed a lot of editing and re-writing.

Break now to do some sketching for a while before getting my head around e-book self publishing.

Looking for subjects to sketch.

 It's getting difficult to find new places to sketch. Seen here are a lightning tree in Thoresby Park, Nottingham Rock Cemetery, a bench on a hill in Thoresby Park, and a path leading to Perlethorpe Church.

All artwork copyright ian gordon craig.

July sketchbook is full of cakes.

 

 

All artwork copyright ian gordon craig

March sketchbook.

 

 

All artworks copyright ian g craig

September sketchbook.

 

 

All artwork copyright ian g craig.

Accepted and sold.

 

Above: The Harley Gallery accepted BOTH of my submissions for their 2022 Open Exhibition. Well pleased.

UPDATE: Received notification, 21st September, that Plastic Pollution 2 (above top right) has sold. This means that both times I have applied to exhibit in this gallery I have been accepted and sold. And, both times the work had been praised on social media then rejected by the Patchings Art Centre.

UPDATE 2: 12th October. Went to see the exhibition with old schoolmate. Only to find another red dot on the wall, signifying the sale of the second plastic pollution painting. (Top left). Wow.

All art & text copyright ian g craig

Losing the magic

 

I remember the exact moment when my childhood toy soldiers and self-made shoe-box Dodge City would no longer play for me. The magic had gone. Who would guess that such moments, when the magic disappears, would reoccur throughout life?

all artwork & text copyright ian gordon craig

Flowers and shoes in june

 

All artwork and photography copyright ian g craig.

Photographs in June.

 

All artwork and photography copyright ian g craig.

February turns to March.

 

Out with the old...

in with the new...

All artwork copyright ian g craig.