I spent Sunday behind the cheese counter, so to speak. 

It was a lovely hectic day.  A French market outside in the yard had really pulled the punters in. 

And lots of chocolate.  This is just one corner. 

You can find out more about The Larder here ( http://www.thelarderdeli.co.uk ) including Christmas extra opening times. 

If you ever find yourself near Chichester, West Sussex, then you should make a little visit. 

And if you should find yourself strolling around the little streets in the city centre be sure to find North Pallant and there you will find the Pallant House Gallery.  The gallery itself is a comfortable mix of old and new - the old Pallant House sits cheek by jowl with a contemporary extension, but in such a way that each enhances the other. 

And the Gallery is a little gem. 

So it was that last weekend, in the pouring rain (it was so tempting not to make the effort!) we found ourselves wading through puddles to reach said gallery in search of Eric Ravilious prints. 

Now I have blogged about Eric Ravilious before (and I would share the link - but I cannot find it!) but then it was his water colours. I love Ravilious - a talent sadly taken in his prime as he was a war artist and died in 1942 I think - and this exhibition was about his work as a printmaker.  And it was just fabulous. 

I love printmaking as you may have noticed.  But I am such an amateur. Ravilious was a master.  His woodblocks, and the detail he achieved with them, are breathtaking.  Rather than me going on about Ravilious the blog by Poul Webb is a brilliant source of information and images.  Have a look. 

The lovely thing about Galleries is finding the unexpected! And Pallant House did not disappoint! In fact the unexpected actually quite blew me away. 

The Gallery runs an initiative called 'Outside In' to support artists who do not come to the art world via a conventional route - they don't go to art school etc.  They were running an 'Outside In' event called Squalls and Murmurations featuring the work of Kate Bradbury.  

And you know that lovely feeling when you realise that you really are looking at something quite special. Well, that is what Kate's ink drawings and up cycled characters gave me - a really warm inside glow. 

Kate's ink drawings are quite exquisite - the photos don't really do them justice.  They are very detailed.

Kate used ink and chinese paper - in many places the effect was like lace and you had to really look hard to realise it was drawing.


Magical and whimsical.

Kate is also a performance artist as Diego and the Fairy (think I have that right!). 

If you're new to this blog, or perhaps just drop in from time to time, then I should quickly say that there is no theme or purpose to this, my latest sketch book, other than as somewhere to play with ideas and techniques and to just generally unblock me. 

This followed the horse chestnut theme, sticking paper leaves coloured with inks onto a background paper of mono printed tissue paper, again coloured with a wash of ink. 

It all started when I somewhat impulsively bought a new table and chair for the dining room of the Northamptonshire home from home.  

All the more impulsive because you may know, if you pop by often, that there is some doubt as to how much longer we will me here ( Whippet X and I plus assorted work colleagues/house mates.) 

So to fit it in a bit of rearranging of the furniture was needed. 

And you may also recall that I mentioned tidying up the studio.  That needed to be finished because I have also got a new cupboard for the art stuff. ( by the way none of this stuff is new - just new to me.  The cupboard was being thrown out by work.  I rescued it and painted the doors white.  The table and chair were a bargain from a local furniture shop.  I was going to paint them both to give them that country kitchen look but now they're in I think they work just fine without the paint. ) 

So I re- assembled the cupboard (tricky when there is just one if you) and had a complete sort out.  I have managed to rationalise all my stuff so if we do move (or I go back to my real home) I won't  feel quite so overwhelmed by the junk in the back room. 

And then, because the back room/junk room/studio feels so much more conducive to working in I did a bit of printing.  I got the old tile out and did a bit of mono printing.