Calendars! :)

Hey all, 2013 Calendars are available, but I'm afraid only by special request. If you would like one then please send an email to mutoyou@gmail.com and I will get back to you with details of prices posting and packaging :) I will also get the rest of the pictures up in the near future and will make prints available. If you would like to see more of the calendar pics then please visit this site http://www.behance.net/gallery/Court-Lodge-Calendar-Sketch/3295794
Merry Berries :)

It's here :)

On sunday the  artwork was scanned thanks to Guy Venables at studio 106 in Hove, after which like a paramedic i rushed home on my bicycle, like a surgeon operated cleanly and efficiently with my photoshop scalpel, deftly uploaded to Marian's vista print account and then called to let her know the time had come to order... and all this before lunch! Thank you all for following and if you'd like a calendar, please contact either marian or myself :)
Lotsa lovely 12-12-12

Nearly there :)

Last night Sylvain came over and we put all of our pictures together to see the work produced during the year. It was brilliant to look back over them and finally to see how they all fit together. I was looking to do a portrait page for December with all the Hardings and farm staff to give a nice community feel but in the end had to admit that portraiture is HARD and not my forte! So instead, Sylvain and I designed a December page together around a Christmass Mandala theme... Ta da, so here some snippets for you and if all goes according to plan, The calendar will be complete by Sunday evening! Will see you all then!
(see sketch-i-ness left and right :)

Higgeldy Jig!

So things have gone a little giggly round the edges, the exhibition will take place at some time early next year but we are sticking to the original dead line for pictures being completed. This means that here is the latest offering of, yes, at last! Cows. I'm thinking they'd make fabulous wall paper if anybody knows how... Then I have two more to finish and Sylvain assures me that she is good to go with three more, all by next Wednesday. We are aiming for scanning on Friday and Calendar ready for print by Sunday! Shew. If anyone is interested in pre-orders, please let me know so we can fluff about numbers and see what needs to be doing :)

Saturday 27th October 2012

Rainbows stretching across the sky, green fields, good company and bitingly cold winds. You can feel that winter is upon us with the icy chill too icy to make stopping in a soggy field to sketch seem appealing, so instead we walked and soaked up the sights. The landscape at Court Lodge Farm has become familiar and it is like visiting a friend for tea, drinking the wildlife and sipping the trees while dunking feet in the fields delectibly. After an hour or so in the fields and with rainbows at the tips of our fingers we sheltered in the pub and at last did some little bit of sketching, this time portraits before joining the Hardings and Rea for an attempted bonfire thwarted by the wetness of the wood. After this, tired and drunk on country we headed Brighton side with me and my head nod nod nodding to the ebb and flow of A road traffic.
Due to unforseeable circumstances we are postponing the exhibition until the new year. The calendar will go ahead with production and be available by the end of November and I will be sure to post notifications as soon as I know more.

This Saturday the 27th October 2012

Hey everyone, We're heading to Court Lodge this saturday the 27th to do some sketching, plan for the exhibition next month and just generally hang out somewhere incredibly positive. With winter well on the way, we all need a little some of something positive, so join us for the penultimate Court Lodge trip, feel free to contact me if you would like to join up or need a little help getting there :)

Calendar sketch July 2012

July sketch! Building some lovely momentum and loving how much you can get done when there are deadlines to meet :) Don't forget we are aiming for the exhibition on the 25th of November at Moorhen cottage, so book the date and start spreading the word.

June 2012

The ball is rolling! I realise I have not come good with May, but here is June and July is close on 80% unless I decide to redo it! Looking forward to November the 25 and asking anyone out there who reads this to please keep an eye out for umbrellas, if you find any, gather and let me know! Happy Monday :)

Saturday the 29th of September

Sometimes things just slide together like puzzle pieces in a butter field, without planning we meet friends and if you're looking for something, it never hurts to sit down for a cup of tea :) After about 20minutes of collating bus timetables between Polegate, Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne, I went to sit in the parking lot to have some tea and contemplate Taxi's, and lo there sat Serogo a wonderful man from Papua New Guinea who I've met through Clare's involvement with the Free West Papua Campaign. For those of you who don't know about the independence struggle, please follow the link and have a look. As luck would have it Clare collected us both and Marian was wonderful enough to make us breakfast with some hedgerow jelly, mmm. Think it was half way through a slice of bacon that I suddenly wondered if I was eating one of the pigs from the yard, but felt quite relieved to find them both alive and kicking in their pen opposite the cows! After breakfast I took my leave and wondered into the fields, following fox tracks in the mud and finding Clare and Serogo removing docks from the field which has to be done manually as pesticide's are off limits for organic establishments like Court lodge. and then... an apparition... two people in their pajama's, fun-fur coats and wellies broke through the mud of the horizon and approached to offer me red wine! Smiled into my soul bones when strangers give the biggest, most wonderful hugs, and shook my head all the way back to Brighton, a smile nesting in the corner of my mind, at the improbability of the encounter. Unfortunately I was unable to capture the moment on film but may just end up doing and artists impression of the lovelies coming down the mud track. And the big news! Tentatively, we have agreed on Sunday the 25th of November as the day for the exhibition at Court Lodge to take place at moor hen cottage. I'm thinking umbrella's, mulled wine, barrels with fire and with luck some clear or at least dry sky. I will be exhibiting the works produced throughout the year and calendars WILL be available alongside original artwork... let everybody know!

Saturday 29 September

Hi :)
I will be going out to Court Lodge for a morning visit tomorrow, early! The weather says sun will be blazing and everyone is welcome to join. The aim in this last quarter is to remedy the illusion of the vacuum around the Court lodge Calendar Sketch project. We made it out to the farm in August for some dock removal, but I forgot to post pictures, please see them now! So technically speaking... haha, will be great to see you tomorrow morning!
Positive.

Sunday 29 July 2012

Scattered sunshine with rays of cloud, a cacophony of flowers and a drizzle of bumble bees, bugs, butterflies and other small things like stinging nettles and barbed seeds that collect around the ankles on your socks! Sylven and I arrived mid morning and sat for some time at the 13th century St Mary Magdalene Church, soaking in the sun whilst sitting upon some stumps found in the cemetery. David Harding was hosting a moth talk and bustled off to collect moths from a moth trap and once more was dazzling in his knowledge of local fauna. At moments like that I often find myself wishing that there was time enough to just sit for the whole day and talk about the habits of moths and the worms that they come from... How inspiring to be privy to the accumulation of a life time! After the church we drifted down towards the willow wood where a red fox glimpsed us from beneath the trees and we sat once more on the banks of the pond, simply overwhelmed by green. Green trees, plants, grass, shade, water and at times it seemed the sky too would green out above us and descend. Then walking, or wading through nettles and grass and barbed-bally things and trees and hills and fences to ford and hills to climb and cows and pigs and calves and lovely people... Court Lodge is really astounding, a whole paragraph and I have not even mentioned the flowers! It's over half way now, already into the eighth month and it is wonderful to look back and feel the changes. It is so much more than a graduation of colour, the growing of leaves or the changing patterns of light tracing trees from the sky, but rather an expansion of space. Space that contracts and becomes smaller with each visit but only because it fills with more wonderful things than could ever be described in a life time.

Sunday 29 July 2012

Hi all, Just a quick one to let you know that we will be heading out to Court Lodge Farm this Sunday, hoping that the weather will hold and the drawing flows! Be great to have you all there!

Sunday 24th June 2012

Hello :) Sunday was a wee bit hazy, which was hardly surprising after a night of field party that ended (for us) in a rain shower sometime around first light in the morning. When we emerged from our broken and sodden tent, the sky was gray and the wind was still up. The evening had been delightful between the barns of Disco and live music, the chill tent, cinema and far field indie awning-caravan, Thank you so much for the spirit of MO, had a great time! Due to the inclement weather experienced on waking, we elected to decamp, settling for a few foto's (see right) of Court Lodge from across the river. Nice to get a far off perspective of the farm and a sense of where I've been sketching and how the landscape all fits together. We then decided on a most invigorating swim in the Court Lodge River and some delicious food at the Lamb Inn in Wartling. Much to our delight, the sun came out in at this point in the afternoon and we idled in the church cemetery before heading back to Brighton.
Now, there is talk afoot of preparing the calendar for printing, (already now in July!) and I do believe the fire beneath my behind is about to be stoked :)... expect more from here soon!

Sunday the 24th Sketching :)

Hi everyone, back again. We are heading out to the farm tomorrow night for the
SOLSTICE 4MO PARTY JUNE 21ST TO 24TH 2012 XXX
Thursday June 21st to Sunday June 24th at New Barn Farm, Hooe, TN33 9HQ
(entrance will be sign posted)
Contact Pete 07792461485 or peter.bourner@btopenworld.com

We will be leaving Saturday night to have a boogie and then heading to Court Lodge on Sunday for a wee bit of sketching :) Looking forward to seeing some of you there.

March 2012 Calendar sketch

Shew weeee! Hello all :) Here it is, the picture for the calendar from March, presented, I know, towards the end of May... Feel free to make your own comments. For the last month I have been displaying paintings alongside Sylvaine's jewelry at her studio in Brighton as part of the Open House exhibitions. The exhibition has been an overwhelming success with a lot of incredibly positive feedback and this weekend, the 26th and 27th will be the last chance to see the work on display at Farm Road Mews. As a result the Court lodge expedition for May is going to have to be moved to another day. I will keep you posted as to where and when, in the mean time please have a look at the exhibition online by following this link OpenHouseExhibition.
Until then, Adieu from Roo.

There sure are a lot of rabbits...

The birds were singing and the grass was green, but it seemed that most of the animals had the good sense to stay warm and dry, that is all except for the rabbits, and I. They seemed to be everywhere and yet covert, like little coordinated illegal gatherings reminiscent of Shaun Tan's wonderful book, The Rabbits. Suddenly I envisioned thousands of milk rabbits, farmed like cows, roaming the Pevensy Levels and being milked by tiny little rabbit milking machines or by disgruntled and under employed faeries put out of work by a lack of magic... but I digress. I am soaked through and warming slowly on my second cup of tea. The farm was wet and windy. My hiking boots are less waterproof than they used to be and it is impossible to sketch in pencil when your page is wet. You would think that this would be obvious, but now I know... Things that will be included in April's picture, green grass, rain, cows, rabbits, a fleet footed fox and cowslips... oh! and swallows :) ... and once again a pervasive sense of amity, thank you Court Lodge Farm, beautiful, even when wet.

Hello all! I am sincerly sorry for the lack of postage over the last month but exciting things have been afoot. Sylvaine invited me to exhibit at her Open House during the Brighton Festival and i have been directing all of my energy into preparing for the weekend of the 5th of May. I will post pictures as soon as and send invites for a possible private view on friday the 4th... watch this space :) In other news, our car has been written off by a friday night drunk driver, fortunately we were at home and nicely asleep during the incident and are getting a replacement car for the next couple of weeks, courtesy of the insurance company! As a result, I will be travelling out to Court lodge this Sunday, for an EARLY morning sketch and then back to Brighton for a roast to celebrate my belated birthday from the 13th of April. Let me know if you are an early riser and I will pick you up for the mission. March artwork to follow shortly!

Great Video!

Check out this lovely video of a little of what they do at Court Lodge!

Just Published!!!

A little aside, I just got published! Whoo hooo! I mean it was a while ago, but just got my copy:) If anyone wants to see and support this awesome South Africa based intiative, check it out at Indy Planet or Comics Monkey
Happy Easter everybody, bunny ears and chocolate eggs :)

Sunday March 25th 2012

It's beginning to sound a little cliched, BUT what an amazing day! Court lodge Farm is beautiful. We arrived late Saturday night as Marian had offered us Moorhen cottage to stay in for the evening. Sylvaine joined us again for the sketch along with Liz and Marek (who hoped to do some mountain biking). After some delicious polish black pudding fried with onion, white bread, salad and sausage and a little bit of wine, we headed for bed, the clocks moved forward an hour for daylight saving, hopeful to get an early start with the sunrise. Remarkably after only 4 or so hours of sleep Liz, Sylvaine and myself fueled by a warm beverage, made it to the east facing hill top with the dawn chorus all around and the nip-chill of morning gnawing at the seams of our clothes. We sat in the dewy grass watching the landscape change from half light to morning glory and sketched, then trudged back for toffee cheesecake and (after a brief moment of absurdity at not finding any milk whilst staying next to a barn full of cows on a dairy farm) coffee and a wonderful nap! It's the simple things really :) The pace didn't change much through out the day and we spent our time sketching the farm house from the decking of Moorhen Cottage and soaking up the amazing spring time sun which made us all a very happy kinda lazy. In the afternoon I found a baby newt hiding under a concrete slab, which caused a remarkable amount of excitement for a creature 30 x 4 mm (and was viewed by no less than 7 people in a span of ten minutes, which was probably the most exciting and terrifying experience of its entire life!). Clare, after running a half marathon in Hastings, accompanied us for our first river swim of the season (cold and wonderful!) and sadly, after that it was time to leave.
Once more, Court Lodge has proved inspirational, and has left me with a warm and slightly golden feeling of well being. There was some lovely art work produced which I will post shortly but until then, please take a look at the slide show on the right of this page.
(Alas, I have still not managed to sketch any cows!)

Congratulations!

Thank you all for your poems and contributions! They were great fun to read, unfortunately there could be only one winner so, Congratulations to Ree Branndon on your delight-fully foxy poem!

Beyond the watery wood lay a marsh

the terrain, there was uncannily harsh

but outrun the huge, bushy tail he must

tho' the more he ran he got so confussed!

Your original sketch will be posted snail style as soon as is technologically possible!

Sunday 25th of March

Hello! It's time again to head out to court lodge farm. The car battery is dead and the sun is shining. Preparations are underway and I am excited to see what this month will offer in terms of both people and nature. Last month lovely Ms Frouin joined me in the sunshiny meadows, and I am hoping that the slightly warmer weather and officialdom of spring will bring some more artists out of the wood work... we may even draw some cows!
If you happen to be in East Sussex and would like to know more please be in touch! Happy Wednesday, it's beautiful out there :)

February 2012

Tah da! and here it is, thumb nail on left, scroll to the bottom of the page to view a larger image. I have changed the settings on the blog and it is now possible for you to leave comments, I would love to hear what you have to say. This months FREE GIVE AWAY, the original water colour sketch '...and marsh' from Sunday the 26th of February. All you have to do is write a one line description, musing or poem about February's pin up, post it in the comments box and the winner will be judged and contacted by the end of next week! Don't forget to share and tell all your friends... Happy Friday! :)

Where have you been...

For those of you who have never tried keeping a blog, there is a yearning to embellish it, to make it more interesting, readable and at the very least enjoyable. To this end, I have been casting about for pearls to post and things that will perhaps make the blog better, so far the most profound quote "FREE GUIDE TO THE CITY'S TOP CREATIVE PEOPLE AND PLACES" on the cover of a magazine in Brighton and this only for the bright pink allure of the badge. In a way, it is much the same as making a picture. As an artist, I want to transport the viewer somewhere, give them something to hold their eye, keep their attention longer than a few seconds, something that perhaps will make them think and if I am very lucky will one day be remembered and thought back on. As such I am constantly looking for new ideas, new ways of seeing, better modes of mark making... But, for some reason as this month has trickled sand quick through time, I have returned to my roots. At school, armed with only a black ball-point pen, I would doodle down margins and in the backs of text books and sometimes on desks (but I swear only to make them better!) and it is back to black line work that I have returned. Tonight I give you only this post, tomorrow I will digitise and post the results of February's sketch time.

Beautiful Days!

Sunday was brilliant. One member down due to 4 o'clock in the morning text that probably had something to do with alcohol. 9 o'clock start accomplished. Collected  Sylvaine in time for hot chocolate and coffee from the small batch coffee house in Hove and then off in blazing sunshine!  Sylvaine is a very gifted illustrator and jewelry designer, french born and living in Brighton, be sure to have a look at her AMAZING creations on her web site at http://www.silvene.net/. We set off around the farm, through the wood, passed the pond, along the river and back up to the farm house via the cows (where I indulged in having my fingers sucked by the calves and Sylvaine pulled faces at the slobber). Marian was kind enough to leave us some
super-delicious black current organic yogurt smoothie and some amazing apple and cinnamon cake thingys (which may not have been for us but which we consumed with great delight!). The day was terrific, brilliant with sunshine and a chorus of bird song from start to finish. We were graced with Herons, a sly fox, bunnies, a lone robin, Canada geese and a plethora of other critters busy about their Sunday business including pike fisherman, so much life in such a small space! Being there I am filled with a sense of gratitude to have access to such a deliciously lovely place. More to follow :)

Sunday February 26 2012

Another month has just fizz-whippled by and again, Sunday will see us making our way over to Court Lodge Farm. For those of you unfamiliar with Court Lodge Farm, it is an organic dairy farm in East Sussex and can be located by searching for the little village of Wartling. David and Marian Harding are amazing and an important element of their farming ideology is based around sustainability and biodiversity. As a result, Court Lodge is not just about cows, milk and truly delicious yogurt, but also about the surrounding country side, its natural beauty and the critters that like to call it home, check out the web site for more info about Fen Raft Spiders and Marsh Harriers at http://www.courtlodgeorganics.co.uk/. On Sunday I am hoping to do a roughly round trip taking in the cricket bat forest, a stroll along the river and hopefully a delight of loveliness to keep us sketching and camera shutters clicking. I fear however that the February winter chills will curtail the endeavor and have us heading for the shelter of moor hen cottage and a cup of tea!

FREE PRINT

The winners of the January give away, congratulations Felicity Pethica, Richard Harding, Steve Williamson, Dean Leppan (S.A.) and Kathy Pennington. Your prints will be shipped within the week!

JANUARY 2012

Ha Ha! :) Maniacal laughter as I rise from the depths of sleep, escape the folds of warmth, brave the bright light of the drawing table, sit quietly with quill in hand until, at last! Here it is, January's pin up. Happiness is. And there is more, to celebrate the completion of court lodge sketch number one, I have decided to reward five faithful blog followers with a free 22x22cm giclee print of January's pin up :) To get your free print, email FREE PRINT and your snail mail address to mutoyou@gmail.com. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can have a look at a blow up of the January print and see what you are letting yourself in for.
Happy Monday :)

Sunday February 26 2012

Hi everyone, time is ticking time bomb fast and I have moved into the final phase of January's portrait. Sunday the 26 of this month we will odyssey out to Court Lodge Farm again. Once more we have some takers and I am hopeful and excited to see what comes out of take two. Please let me know if you will be joining, need a lift or have any fantastic ideas. Till then

First Drafts

On the left are the initial sketches looking north east from a field, the foto is on the right. Tonight is the night, goodness gods willing, to put some ink to paper and come up with something finished before we visit the farm again next week. I'm thinking to keep it simple in ink...

Sunday 29 January 2012

After a few months of gestation, court lodge organic sketch achieved day 1. The idea is to visit the farm with a group of artists, once a month for the rest of 2012. Excellent :) All appropriate steps taken but on the day, some difficulties were experienced:
1) Volunteers unable to attend due to illness and hangovers.
2) Car battery KAPUT (new battery purchased)
3) The fantastic weather experienced in the morning turned into an icy gray cloud (after above mentioned 2hr delay) reminding me that, weather here should never be viewed as a constant.
4) Brief delay on arrival due to unexpected 6hr Australian open final (wasn't it a great match?)
5) After one and a half hours with no gloves I could no longer feel my fingers to hold the pencil (difficult)
 However on the positive side:
1) The Hardings' are wonderful, welcoming and generous (Thank you so much for the soup and cups of tea!)
2) Court Lodge Farm is beautiful, even in the dead of winter  (I can't wait to return at the end of February)
3) Some sketching done, results to follow.
4) The sound of hundreds of starling wings flying over head which just for a moment make you forget the cold.
5) Baby cows warm fingers wonderfully when they suck them.
Till next time, will upload some pics over the next few days!