Gosh I feel really grown up!

I've bought an iZettle, one of those little machines that allows people to pay by card. I haven't set it up yet because when I do, I know I will spend ages playing with it. My Open Studios start this weekend and I shan't have to send customers to the cash machine at the Co-op and hope they return and I won't have to take a cheque to the bank when people write me out a cheque.

I am sharing my studio this year with Dittany Rose. This will be her first Open Studio showing off her lovely jewellery. I am contemplating which of her earrings I shall buy as they come in so many wonderful colours.

I will have several new paintings, many with either copper or silver leaf plus prints, cards, notebooks and sketches and even a few silk scarves. I shall also put my sketchbooks out as people love to look through them.

I hope to see you at my studio at 309 Milton Road, CB4 1XQ. I have a painting on the go so you can see how I do my paintings and maybe you can check out that my iZettle works.

You can see some of Dittany's work here:

https://dittanyrose.co.uk/collections/all

I run three art groups, each with just four people. We do all sorts of things from experimenting with art techniques, painting with acrylics or watercolour, making mono-prints and making collages. All my groups love to draw and it is a big part of the sessions, drawing from observation, drawing the figure, drawing at a museum or drawing in my garden.

Last week when the weather was warm three of my Thursday group took their sketchbooks, drawings materials and watercolours into the garden. We had a lovely time enjoying the quiet, the elderflower juice and the sketching. Here they are in the shade engrossed in their work.

The rhubarb is a sketch I did earlier in the year.

As you probably know from various other blog posts, I love joining other sketchers from the Cambridge area and drawing some of the beautiful or unusual places we are lucky to have, in or close to Cambridge.

One of my favourite streets in Cambridge is Portugal Place. This a car free street off the beaten tourist track but used as a thoroughfare between Jesus Green and Bridge Street by many locals. The street is not long and around 40 sketchers turned up on the day, you can see some of us after the sketchcrawl - that's me on the left, front row, with the blue shoes.

Obviously people live in these houses so we needed to be a little discrete. But one thing about sketchers is that they get very engrossed in their drawings and do not make any noise.

I loved the house at number 26 and as the curtains were closed it looked as if I wouldn't be disturbing anyone inside when I drew it. I pondered wheteher to draw the 'Stop Brexit' sign but an Urban Sketch is about drawing the time and place - so in it went giving a lovely orange point of visual interest in the window.

The house I drew is opposite the Latin and Greek signs on a short railing. There has been some disagreement by various academics over the exact translation from the Greek but 'Classicist Prof Mary Beard, from Newnham College, said the Latin – DUAE ROTAE HIC RELICTAE PERIMENTUR - is correct, and translates literally as ‘two wheels left abandoned here will be removed.'

Wonderful Cambridge!