Black on Grey on White

We've had a pARTy! Meaning a wee bunch of us (artists) have used one reference pic to create a piece of work. Hugo's photo was the centre of attention and supplied to us by friend and artist  Linda Shantz . Linda runs a small  maternity ward  thouroughbred farm in Canada and Hugo is one of the newborns skipping around the yard. The pARTy rules were very simple. Create a piece of work using the reference within 24 hours. My (homemade) rules a little tougher; create a drawing in under 4 hours, keep loose (cross hatching), keep detail  normal, no tweaking, sign, spray. The difficulty being in the time and the lack of tweaking I allowed myself. Klein Hugo is the result. Not only did I want to highlight his cuteness but also underline delicacy by grounding him with strong edgy shadows. These babies are all legs and I loved the way the shadows extended them even more. Good friend and fellow artist (the other force behind this pARTy) Kim Santini has the full Hug...

Four drawings have arrived safely and on time in, no where other than,... the Big Apple! Laureus , Florestan , Rive Droite  - Rive Gauche and my  brand spanking new "Upright" have been crated and shipped across the waters to New York. They will be strutting their stuff at the Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery in Riverside New-York. Strength and Grace an Olympic Tribute opens on May 11th and runs through to August 12th 2012. The exhibit will feature Equestrian artwork by Ken Peloke - Arizona Mixed Media realist and Donna Bernstein - Expressionistic Idaho Artist, also featured are Carol Bennett - Swimmers of Hawaii Artist and Jeffrey Palladini -San Francisco Minimalist. Thrilling and humbling to have my work feature with such talent. The ultimate best would have been to be able to fit in the crate and make the journey with them! Upright Pencil on Paper 44x57 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved

(Picture shaking head) In my perfect disorganisation I've managed to leave this aristocratic grey mares' story under wraps - unintentionally . Readers of my newsletter have been introduced but many of you have not... Apologies This is Kalaglowa, also referred to as Kali. A thoroughbred with no speed and a tricky character. Traits that pretty much mapped out an uncertain future. One day (like in all fairytales) Kalli was seen by someone who instantly wanted to connect with the young hectic grey mare. Kali's future changed. Kali was taken in, loved and  cared for ...  unconditionally. Sadly she passed away last year, her health having let her down. Her owners unconditional love did not follow her over the rainbow bridge but took a wee turn and came into my studio. Kalli's presence was to live on, immortalised in a portrait. Both the grey mare and my scribble friends connected and spent a few weeks in each others company, retracing her life and more importantly...

Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you. ~Jacques Prévert~ The Hug Pencil on Paper 52x40 cm Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved The Hug . A wee bit of "soul balm". One of life's most preciou s moments. A gentle greeting wrapping two worlds in one blanket of emotion. This latest drawing took me on a 4 month roller coaster ride. The bar was set high: achieve better mastery of my pencils without loosing the one ingredient that ties it all together: soul. Weeks, days, hours of nail bitting soul searching scribbling. Signed. I hope you enjoy!

Bismarck Pencil on Paper Sold Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved. The 14th CAG Virtual art show "Old Friends" is now live (well since Sunday)! If you have a moment to grab a warm cup of tea (or coffee) please do so to Come on over to check out some nice and original canine art! Have a wee browse, treat yourself to a special canine moment, choose a favourite and tell your friends. All portrayed canines have marked and shaped someones life forever. The quality and variety of the art displayed is enough to make the coldest of hearts smile. My entry Bismarck was a well loved and special canine friend, who swept all in his way with boisterous happy tail wags and this for well over 15 years . Hearing that the passed away 3 days after my portrait of his smiling face was hung did wipe the smile off my face! Having said this be sure to add a smile to your day and warm your heart by viewing the newest canine art here on the Canine Art Guild website http://www.caninear...

It's addictive and, unless you are an avid wearer of earplugs, very very dark glasses and have been in hibernation the last few months; you must agree the most talked about networking site of the moment. Pinterest is taking the world by storm. (Pinterest is the 16th most-visited website in America — ahead of CNN and ESPN.com — and the 50th most popular in the world, according to ranking service Alexa. source: www.therepublic.com) I hate storms. They scare me. The world is never the same after they have passed. Their destruction change unmissable. With a storm comes a wave. Fresh new wind. Pinterest is that wind of change. Pinterest is a free virtual pin board. You can organise and share images, all sorts of images, images you find beautiful, images you find inspirational, images you find all over the net. Pinterest is addictive and it is going viral. So the question, the big question is: To Pin or not to Pin? Pinterest is doing a lot right, but there are two massive shadows lurki...

Via the SEA , I was approached by the Injured Jockeys Fun d ( a charity which raises money to help provide care for and financial help to injured jockeys) asking for donations for their Secret Art Auction . The auction is not really a secret, it will launch at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival on March 13th-16th. Until purchased, it is the art (i.e the artist's identity, i.e me) that will remain "secret". In the Stirrup 12x12cm Pencil on Paper Sheona Hamilton-Grant. All rights reserved . Above my top secret donation. A wee drawing highlighting a well-worn sturdy leather riding boot in a stirrup. Mission: render believably leather and metal. Target: give the mix of materials shine and age. Weapon: Graphite pencils 6B, 2B & 2 H Tactic: use strength of the contrast/lighting and the depth of the darks Briefed; 2 defining prerequisites: art work must be original sized to fit in a cd cover. Mission accomplished: Graphite drawing created which, until further notice, is undercove...