For an artist there is nothing more satisfying than observing and drawing the world around you.
David Hockney and Martin Gayford’s book Spring Cannot Be Cancelled is a conversation between two friends discussing the simple pleasures of looking at art and observing the natural world. It is joyous, uplifting and a remedy for our times, a reminder to take pleasure in the beauty of simple things.
Hockney works every day. He gets up early and draws on his iPad, has breakfast and then continues in the studio with a painting or finds a spot of interest in his garden to draw. He’s prolific!
Julie Mia Holmes is a printmaker, seller and reader of books, lover of birds and avid gardener inhabiting a little patch of forest in Moruya Heads on the South Coast of NSW.
Julie says of Spring Cannot Be Cancelled "I have a love hate relationship with colour, it’s a tricky business, but this book gave me Spring Fever! Hockney’s love of colour is contagious and I was swept out into the garden to enjoy the change in the season, the bursting blossoms and fecundity of new growth. Thus emerged a collection of Watercolour monotypes.
"A Monotype is a unique print, typically painterly in effect, made by applying paint or printing ink to a flat sheet of metal, glass, or plastic, then printed through the rollers of an etching press onto dampened printmaking paper.
"This printmaking method is perfect for the busy part time artist…. You paint the image onto the plate and have to wait for the watercolour to dry completely before you print so there is a lot of time to contemplate the menu for dinner, fit in a veggie garden overhaul, hang the washing out or pop into town for a shift at the Bookshop in between.
"Incidentally, Spring Cannot be Cancelled, by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, is conveniently for sale at Moruya Books. As is an exhibition with the same name of the above mentioned Watercolour Monotypes, cheerfully priced and adorning the walls of the Book Nook Gallery in the Kids’ room throughout the River of Art Festival, dribbling on into mid October.
"So remember to stop and smell the roses…..and maybe even take the time to draw them".
Above: Little Native Orchid - Julie Holmes
Above: Spring - Julie Holmes
