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24th May 2022: SPECIAL REVIEW OF THE RIVER FRIEND SERIES

I was delighted to receive notification of a fabulous review, written by members of the Cam Valley Forum (CVF), about the River Friend Series of little books. Download the review HERE

Purchase the books from Amazon: VIEW HERE

River Friend Website: Details of available books in the series

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Seventh Little book in the River Friend Series: preview illustrations

I am hoping to publish the seventh little book in our River Friend Series within the next couple of months. With many other projects going on, it has taken some time to push through this particular book entitled “Water: Clean and Dirty”. Here are three little illustrations which are destined to be in it (only photographs at this stage I am afraid; they will look much better once professionally scanned!). Originals were pen and ink only so I scanned them and printed them onto water colour paper and put in a colour wash (media = printers ink and water colour).

Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica agg)
Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga)
Water Mint (Mentha aquatica)
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Scotsdales Gt Shelford: “The Glory of the Garden” IBA BOTANICAL ART EXHIBITION

Today is the last day of the Iceni Botanical Artists exhibition at the Scotsdales Garden Centre, Great Shelford.

WE ARE IN THE MOWER ROOM WHICH IS DOWN THE OUTSIDE CORRIDOR TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE. LOOK FOR THE BIG A-FRAME POSTER JUST OUTSIDE THE MAIN ENTRANCE AND FOLLOW THE RED ARROWS.

Don’t miss this last chance to see Gold Medal winning RHS Artists’ work, and to purchase the brand new A4, IBA 2023 Write-on Calendar for just £7.50 – it has a splendid variety of IBA members’ works with a little two-line poem for each. A WONDERFUL AND UNIQUE [EARLY] CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

DO COME ALONG AND ENJOY THIS SPACIOUS EXHIBITION SPACE AND ALL ITS CONTENTS. IF YOU LOVE GARDENING AND FLOWERS, YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS EXHIBITION.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU.

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Artist Code 1208: Hybrid Orchid Beallara Tahoma Glacier Green for Botanical Artists Banner!

My cropped banner entry. See below for full lifesize painting and link to picture profile

11th March 2022: Received a nice note from Dianne Sutherland Ball (Admin for a private Facebook group for Botanical Artists:

Thank you to everyone who entered the banner challenge. After a discussion we decided that everyone’s work will be featured as the banner in order to showcase it over the next year or so! Congratulations and thanks go to Bonnie App, Tina Bone, Kathy Brubaker Davies, Giovanni Cera, Raashmi Chakravarti, Toni Dade, Sue Fuller, Prerna Gupta, Sandunmali Kulasekara, Jane Roxburgh, Anuradha Sarin Khurana, Magriet Schellekens-nivard, Liz Schofield. I’ll change the banner every month in the above order. After 17 banner challenges over several years, we have decided to change the way we do the banner challenge – in the future we will feature more members of the group, more about that later. Thanks also go to Silvana Rava for her beautiful lichen painting which has been our banner for the last year. Thank you again [from] Dianne and Sigrid

The first banner in the series. What an honour!
SOLD 1208 Hybrid Orchid Beallara Tahoma Glacier Green

Picture Profile

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St Mary’s Arts & Crafts Exhibition 2022, Comberton, Cambridge

Where: St Mary’s Church, Royston Lane, Comberton CB23 7ED

When: Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January 2022

Open: 10.00am to 4.00pm everyday

Just one of the many types of Arts and Crafts which can be seen at this beautiful Exhibition. Do come along.

Come along to the most beautiful, ambient atmosphere of St Mary’s Church, Comberton to view the Annual Arts and Crafts Exhibition (usually held end of November, but delayed to now). Original artworks are very modest prices and the diversity of subjects means there are paintings to suit everyone’s taste. It is a wonderful exhibition so do get along for tea, coffee and biscuits, and of course for a good browse! What about for the new year, owning a new, original painting to hang on your wall?

CHECKOUT ALL THE MANY LOVELY ARTWORKS AVAILABLE TO BUY BY BROWSING BELOW for details of all Artists’ work with their corresponding exhibition paintings, in no particular order. I profusely apologise to artists and viewers where the church windows have unavoidably reflected in some of the photographs. Prints, cards, jigsaw puzzles, knitted and sewn animals and dolls, and many other beautifully handcrafted items are also for sale (view some here below the Artist pictures)

Qurora Lombardo Design (Jewellery) www.aurorolombardo.com; info@aurorolombardo.com
Linda Wayman: 104 Pastel £35; 105 Eric Print £49
Angi Sibbons: 90 Goldfinches WC £40; 91 Landscape Collage £40; 92 Snowdrops WC £40; 93 Thornham WC £40.
Pat Muir: 106 St Mary’s Lighthouse WC £40; 107 Horse Guards Parade WC £45; 108 2 Ponies Pastel £35; 109 Corfe WC £45; 110 The Winner Pastel £50.
Rick Nelms: 116 Beautiful Biodiversity Print £100
Dorothy Jones: 50 Hoopoe WC £70; 51 Kingfisher Acrylic £75; 52 Let’s Tango WC £55; 53 Now What do I see? Coloured Pencil £50; 54 Sunny Days WC £50.
Peter Allerton: 1 The Old Tree Pen & Ink £55; 2 The Teasel Pen & Ink £55.
Tina Bone: 8 Autumn Leaves and Fungi WC £325; 9 Gingerly Crossing the River Nar £350; 10 I Bow to my Queen (Turtle Doves) £350; 11. The Jay’s Feather WC £350; The Might Reed with Fragility (Bearded Tits/Reedlings) WC £325.
Naina Babbar: 3 Care Free Pencil & Acrylic £160; 4 Hay Daisies Acrylic £60; 5 Moody Blues Pencil & Acrylic £220; 6 Ode to WG Acrylic £50; 7 Such a Daisy Day Pencil & Acrylic £350.
Jude Gardiner: 37 Babbling Brook Oil £200; 38 Magnificent Mt Cook Oil £85; 39 New Zealand Fiordlands Oil £125; 40 New Zealand Mountains and Lake Oil £25; 41 Pembrokeshire Coast Oil £250.
Val Watson: 99 Celtic Wisdom WC £45; 100 Field Mouse Nest WC & Collage £35; 101 Sanctuary on the Somerset Levels WC £40; 102 The Teacake, Shepreth WC & Collage £35; 103 Winter Walk WC £45.
Terry Elsey: 32 Chapelle St Valentin WC £70; 33 Coconuts WC £70; 34 Fisherman’s Cottage, Mullion Cove WC £70; 35 Lighthouse, Guadeloupe WC £70; 36 Tresco, Scilly Isles WC £70.
Paul McCarthy: 60 Approaching the Three Horseshoes WC £80; 61 At the Crossroads WC £80; 62 Kings in the Snow WC £80; 63 Summertime at Houghton Mill WC £80; 64 Winter at Madingley Hall WC £80.
Frances Stafford: 94 Clematis Mixed Media £25; 95 Forest Light Collage and WC £35; 96 Fruit on Mother’s Lace Pastel & Ink £35; 97 Fruit Platter—Cubism Style Pastel £30; Sunflowers Acrylic £20.
Suzanne Morris: 65 Be Someone’s Rainbow Ink £35; 66 Dr Suess’ Garden Ink £55; 67 Ethereal Balance Gouache & Pastel £30; 68 Grace Ink £60; 69 Perseverance Ink £60.
Rosalind Ridley: 85 Cow Parsley Pastel £120; 86 In the Conservatory WC £140; 87 Norwich Cathdral Charcole £90; 88 Rio do San Anzolo, Venice WC £90; 89 Two Hares WC £100.
Angela Donnelly: 27 Cherries Abound WC £40; 28 Forest Undergrowth Collage & WC £40; 29 Pass the Port WC £40; 30 Seascape WC £25; 31 The Owl WC £40.
Christine Nicholls: 73 Sitting Hare Mixed Media £65; 74 Still Life Flowers and Blue Bottle WC £75; 75 Still Life Flowers and Coffee Pot WC £75; 76 Wells-next-the-ssea WC £75; 77 Zebra and Foal WC £75.
Sue Painter: 78 C is for Clematis WC & ink £50; 79 Geranium WC & Ink £35; 80 Melting Gold and Silver Acrylic £35; 81 Raging Water Acrylic £40; 82 Seed Heads Acrylic £40.
Sharon Newton: 70 A Morning Walk Mixed Media £55; 71 Starting the Allotment Mixed Media £45; 72 The Atlantic Way Mixed Media £55.
Jan Hewins: 111 Cromer Beach Oil £60; 112 Cornish Bay WC £40; 113 Bodmin Ponies WC £50; 114 Cat WC £40; 115 Tin Bird Family WC £40.
Kathma Dawson: 23 Fields of Gold, Comberton Acrylic £60; 24 Hardwick Woods Acrylic £80; 25 Poppy Field, Barton Acrylic £60; 26 The Orchard, Grantchester Acrylic £80.
Clive Dawson: 18 Blossom Acrylic £95; 19 Butterfly and Verbena Acrylic £95; 20 Green Pepper Acrylic £95; 21 Red Pepper Acrylic £95; 22 The Bridge of Sighs Acrylic £150.
Janet Mancuso: 55 Autumn Mixed Media Collage £100; 56 Foglie Mixed Media Collage £100; 57 Golden Fire Encaustic £100; 58 Lily Buds WC £100; 59 Thoughts on Nature Encaustic £120.
Mel Collins: 13 Lode Mill, Anglesey Abbey WC £60; 14 Norfolk Tulip Fields WC £60; 15 Southwold from Walberswick Suffolk WC £60; 16 The Batik Market WC & Collage £120; 17 Yorkshire Stream WC £60.
Ros Gregg: 42 A Garden in Capri Acrylic £40; 43 A Walk in the Woods WC £60; 44 Crab Apple WC £65; 45 Echniacea WC £60; 46 Magnolia WC £70.
Tess Recordon: 83 Grantchester Meadows Print £375; 84 Kich Marse Print £100.
Richard Haynes: 47 A Bowl of Cherries Pastel £180; 48 Bridge of Sighs in the Morning Mist Pastel £200; 49 Tulips Pastel £200.
Ncbiyu Assefa (www.rootsontheweb.com) Christ’s story in paintings – NFS
(DETAIL) Ncbiyu Assefa (www.rootsontheweb.com) Christ’s story in paintings – NFS
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Final Painting for 2021 – Picture Story

After an indifferent year for all of us, it seemed fitting for me to end the year with a final painting story. I hope you enjoy the picture film I have put together of a painting which was begun in 2007 and eventually completed 30 December 2021!

Artist Code 2102. Red Kite and Life in a Dead Tree!
SOLD 1104 Red Kites by Watts Wood

Picture Profile

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0001 Final Print Sold at the Square and Compasses

Some of my framed artwork is hanging in the Square and Compasses pub at Great Shelford, Cambs, and Bill, the Landlord, telephoned to say that he had sold a picture and could I bring another to take its place. Lovely news, as this is the first framed artwork I have sold this year (2021)!!!

I would highly recommend this eating house: the food is freshly prepared and absolutely delicious. So if you have a special occasion to celebrate or just need a night out for a meal, then this pub is the place to go.

This is a link to the pub’s entry on Trip Advisor

See my artwork on the walls inside, and enjoy a wonderful meal at the same time.

The artwork just sold is the final one in a limited edition of only 10 prints: Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise Flower), so no more of this particular painting will be printed.

Read the story behind this original life size oil painting: Picture profile

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IBA at the Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds 16th-22nd October 2021

If you are visiting the grand town of Bury St Edmunds, why not include a visit to the Guildhall to view the gorgeous floral artwork of the Iceni Botanical Artists (IBA). See the poster below for details:

Some of the paintings at the Exhibition – the “thistle”-looking one on the right, by Reinhild Raistrick (4 RHS Gold Medals), is already sold!
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NWAS Art exhibition at the Forum Norwich 2021

The Natural World Art Society Exhibition at the Forum, Norwich 27 September to 3 October 2021.

There is a lot of preparation by artists beforehand for such a large exhibition. Panel space needs to be sorted and equipment tried out for size to fit in each artist’s allocated space. People like to rummage, so I placed my spare cards in a “rummage box”. Also on display on my stand were the little River Friend books about things riparian and riverine, six of which I have published so far. The Artist’s Panels of work as delivered in the little film are listed below the link


PS: I hope you enjoy the little film and music – a little song I wrote about 20 years ago entitled “A Little Reminder”! Just a thought: at the rate things are going, how long do you think it will be before all we have is paintings and drawings to remind us of the wonderful animals and plants that used to be?

Mine (Tina Bone) – All [natural] things bright and beautiful; John Palmer – Whacky frames with lively pictures; Helen Rawlings – Moonlight capers and feather work; Rosalie Gibb – Cute Puffins and penguins, all with names; Marie Bridge – Exquisite needlecraft pictures in 3D; Jan Heath paints on used tea bags and Victoria Bond’s fabulous images made from paper cutting; Chris Bacon – Fantastic pencil and colour work; Angela May Smith – Transforms pastel work into photorealistic images; Frances Sullivan – An artist with epic skills regarding all things equine; Tony Colledge – manipulates his photographs to produce stunning colour vistas; Carol Creswell – shows the spirit of big cats and their habitats; Viv Rainsbury has a unique and lovely painting style and Ann Croucher’s beautiful birds and African animals evoked many lovely comments; Jan Lacey’s depiction of Australian reptiles and spiders is second to none and her floral and landscape artworks were fabulous. We also had a flying visit from Superman, AKA Charlie, and a big hug for me – he loved my parrots painting. I was incumbent all week and had a red kite painting on the go. It was lovely to answer peoples’ questions and to receive their kind comments. The painting is now on the back burner as I have to continue working on my next little River Friend Book entitled “Water: Clean and Dirty”. This is one of the illustrations for it – the Roman Baths at Bath. The Forum, Norwich, Norfolk – what a place for an art exhibition.