Author: Mel Hendy

A moving tale…

Posted on by Mel Hendy
So I moved house recently and that made it a bit difficult to paint anything, mainly because I'd packed all my art stuff. Oh, and the added inconvenience of basically everything involved in moving house including those weird periods of confusing limbo where nothing happens, fraught periods where everything happens, all with a fairly unhealthy dose of extreme frustration mixed in. But hey - it's all good and the paints are back out. I am taking up the monthly art group challenges again; la...
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A bit of a squash

Posted on by Mel Hendy
It's a squash. Watercolour (main image) with pencil study. This was done for my monthly art group challenge on the subject of 'Botanical'. We were privileged to have a demonstration by the incredible Jon Evans (botanical artist) the previous month and he explained what was meant by botanial illustrations so I thought I'd have a go. I love squashes, they are really fascinating because they come in such extraordinary variety and you can eat them as well - brilliant! (Spicy soup, or just ...
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Minster Roofscape

Posted on by Mel Hendy
Watercolour study. Roofscape of York from the city wall with the Minster rising up over it all. I love this image, it's so majestic. Every step along the route of the city wall affords a photo opportunity and inspiring views from panoramic sweeps of the city, to an intimate glimpse of back gardens, cluttered roofscapes and interesting perspectives.
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St Mary’s Abbey

Posted on by Mel Hendy
Watercolour study. Detail of St Mary's Abbey, York. The city of York has so many interesting sites to visit whatever you're interested in, and you'll probably discover a whole bunch of stuff you didn't realise you WERE interested in until you get there! The ruins are in the York Museum Gardens and I have visited these beautiful grounds when they have been covered in snow, flood water, autumn leaves and blazing sunshine. Just stunning. I recommend a visit. Afterwards, take a boat trip ...
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Lady Peckett’s Yard

Posted on by Mel Hendy
Lady Peckett's Yard, looking down. Ink line drawing on watercolour paper. I love this little lane, it's like stepping back in time. I wish the whole city still looked like this but happily, there are plenty of these tiny alleyways all over York and the city is steeped in character so there are many evocative places where the past still pervades the present.
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And now for something completely different…

Posted on by Mel Hendy
So I've been trying out some new things recently as well as returning to some favourite themes. I am also preparing to launch an Etsy shop so have been building up some stock and preparing photographs - more on that when there's news. This painting is featured in the Acrylics section and this is a new style of painting for me which I really like. I have some more ideas so when I have time, I will hopefully be adding a few more like this. I have also done my first proper palette knif...
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A View Towards the Hills

Posted on by Mel Hendy
Acrylic on stretched canvas. This was painted for the monthly art group challenge on the title theme and this is my first full painting done with a palette knife (except for the grasses and flowers in the foreground.) I thought I'd try something different and have only ever used a palette knife once before with no idea of what I was doing. I still had no idea what I was doing this time, either, but I persevered and found it was actually quite fun squidging the paint around on the canvas....
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