Monday, August 19, 2013

Sold and Scanned

I have been busy since I last checked in here.
I promised to put up a decent image of my latest Jane Austen collage, so here it is:

Jane and Cassandra Austen Walking to Steventon Church, Christmas Morning
The nice crisp whiter than white snow makes a big difference doesn't it?
And I have sold two more original pieces, this one which was at the Now For Naïve exhibition at the Art in the Mill Gallery, Knaresborough:



Bronte Moon

And this one, "She Kept Her Political Views and Radical Past to Herself" at the ABNA (Association of British Naïve Artists) at the Mariners Gallery, St Ives:

 
Onwards and upwards!


Saturday, August 10, 2013

Some Imaginary Portraits

In between houses I like to loosen up with an imaginary portrait or two. All are related, however distantly, to the houses and generally surface due to books and my researches.
 
This was a Bloomsbury one which was sold just hours after I put it in my shop:

A True Innocent, She Had a Child-like Faith in the Present
And here are a couple of Romantics ones I did this week as well:

 Years Passed and Still She Nurs'd Romantic Fancies

She Wandered the Passages At Night Like Some Forlorn Ghost
I have written about the background to these portraits on my website:
and my online shop:

Monday, August 5, 2013

Steventon Church

Here it is, finished at last:

Jane and Cassandra Austen Walking to Steventon Church, Christmas Morning
 

And, as you see, titled.
And signed.
And now released into the cyberworld.
But only in a highly unprofessional my-own-not-very-good photo form for the present. This was the best I could do. It will be properly scanned ready for printing as Christmas cards later on. So the snow WILL be snow-coloured and not dirty grey!
Appropriately enough this church is dedicated to St Nicholas. Very seasonal!
 
For any history geeks (like me) out there, here is a relevant bit from the church's official guide I dug up while originally researching the idea:
 
"Steventon church is best known for its associations with Jane Austen and is the single most important building left standing in Steventon which relates to her life when she lived here. The rectory is gone, but the church survives. It was an everyday part of the first 25 years of her life.
 
"Her father, George Austen, two of her brothers, James and Henry, and her nephew William Knight were all Rectors of Steventon. Prior to George his cousin Henry had been the Rector. Which is to say members of the Austen family were Rectors of  Steventon from 1759 to 1873, a period of 114 years, more than any other family in the church's history.
 
"Jane was baptised here as were four of her siblings - Henry, Cassandra, Francis and Charles. Her grandmother, her eldest brother James and both his wives, Anne and Mary, are buried here. As are Jane's nephew William Knight, several members of his family and a number of her friends and acquaintances.
 
"Every memorial, bar one, inside the church has a direct connection to Jane Austen. No doubt several of the graves in the churchyard are those of people she knew in the village."