Rob Dunlavey VIIII

Rob Dunlavey's beautiful full moon, to celebrate tonight's Harvest moon.

Ekaterina Khlebnikova II

I adore these loose mixed media sketches by Russian illustrator Ekaterina Khlebnikova, full of life and humorous observation.

Maggie Matthews

Maggie Matthews is a Cornish artist who paints very decorative, patterned garden scenes and studies of native plants in their natural habitats.

Inching along

Last September I inched through the creative challenge of tiny thumbprint illustrations set by House of Illustration in London in response and celebration of their exhibition of John Vernon Lord, Strangely I have been compeled by a Colour Collective's weekly challenge to do more. I like this surreal technique where I just put down some paint, study it in its abstraction and then see what I can see to draw out. It is oddly relaxing, and inspiring as I never know what will reveal itself to me.

Cindy Wume III

A wonderful scarecrow with happy musical birds in attendance by Cindy Wume that reminded me of Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North.

Ivo Hoogveld

It is pouring with rain here today so sunshine is coming in the form of  Ivo Hoogveld's bees from the current exhibition of 'Bees' at Ó Galeria Lisboa.

Gannets

This painting had layers and layers of paint and texture applied first to build up the watery depths. We have gannets diving for fish off the shore here as we are in the Forth and near the Bass Rock where they nest. They are breathtaking to watch.

Listening to snails

When it has rained this summer, which has been quite often, I have gone to my tiny wild front garden and enjoyed sitting . . . listening  . . . to snails. This painting I made from my imagination, featuring my friend's cat who I am lucky to spend time with, every summer.

Leon Schulman Gaspard

Leon Schulman Gaspard (1882-1964) was a Russian-born painter, who painted people from small Russian towns, Asia and the Taos Valley depicting indigenous cultures and folk traditions they remind us of the kaleidoscopic richness and diversity of cultures that have been much diminished in the passage of the last century. Leon captured great character and likeness in his portraiture but was also very skilled at capturing crowd scenes.

Gaspard was born in Vitebsk, Russia in 1882, he traveled the Russian countryside accompanying his father a merchant in rugs and furs. He was initially taught by a local artist before moving to Paris to learn under Adolphe Bouguereau.

In 1909 he set off with his young wife Evelyn Adell, an American ballet student, on a two-year horseback-riding trip through Siberia, Mongolia, Asia, the Himalayas and Tibet, China and Morocco, recording what they discovered with photography and sketches. Eventually, they settled in Taos, New Mexico.

Dan Badea IV

Paintings of women by Dan Badea often incorporating patterns and including the life and chaos of domestic settings.

Ayano Tada II

A sad little ladybird drawing by Ayano Tada, this drawing makes me think of a ladybird in winter because of the cold background colour.

Andrea D’Aquino I

'A Life Made By Hand. The Story of Ruth Asawa', explores how Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), a Japanese American girl grew up to be a phenomenal artist.

It is a story about observation, nature, and meeting some incredible people along the way written and illustrated by the wonderful Andrea D’Aquino, a gorgeous treat full of collage and texture and pattern.

Keith Vaughan

It is September the month of apples and brambles, harvest time. What a wonderful autumn painting this is by Keith Vaughan (1912-1977), ' The Orchard ' 1944.

Katia Shumkova IV

'Don't pull girls' by Katia Shumkova, I love this illustration but I thought I would use its turkyness to illustrate the hell of premature Christmas hype which will have started by now.