Coltishall, Norwich UK

06-03-12c, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

On the way home from our delicious afternoon tea at Old Drayton Lodge, Joan and I stopped in her village and decided on one more sketch before calling it a day.

Coltishall Allotments, Norfolk UK

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Joan and I spent a couple of hours in the allotments at the bottom of her road with our sketchbooks and folding chairs. Such an interesting place full of character.
This is my final spread from my trip to Joannies. A fantastic scarecrow who looked absolutely knackered from his day stood in the sun and one of two stained glass windows some one had used to create a small greenhouse building off of one of the many sheds scattered throughout the allotment.
I had a wonderful time, as always, thank you Joan!

Coltishall Allotments, Norfolk UK

08-05-11c
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Joan and I spent a couple of hours in the allotments at the bottom of her road with our sketchbooks and folding chairs. Such an interesting place full of character.

Coltishall Allotments, Norfolk UK

08-05-11b
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Joan and I spent a couple of hours in the allotments at the bottom of her road with our sketchbooks and folding chairs. Such an interesting place full of character.

Joannies Garden, Coltishall, Norfolk UK

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Sunday morning cuppa and the chance to sketch Joannies wonderful water feature before heading out.

Joans Garden, Coltishall, Norfolk. UK

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Our Saturday morning started with an essential cuppa or two in the garden before heading off to Blickling Hall for the day with our sketchbooks.

Joans Garden, Coltishall, Norfolk

06-05-11
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Joans Garden, Coltishall, Norfolk
A corner of my dear friend Joannies pretty little garden, sketched on my arrival.

Weekend In Coltishall - Day Three

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

The final sketch from my weekend with Joan is of her homemade apple and blackberry pie. A very quick sketch made to complete the final page of my handmade book by Kala before heading off home!

Weekend In Coltishall - Day Three

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Joan and I headed back downstairs to the dining room where we grabbed her pretty teapot and placed it on the table next to the lilies she had been gifted. I had only intended to concentrate on the tea pot but the lilies were too tempting.

Weekend In Coltishall - Day Three

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

We stopped our DVD and handed the TV over to Clive, so he could watch football, and ventured upstairs where I sat on Joans bed to sketch the view from her window.
Lots of greenery, rooftops and a church make a great view.

Weekend In Coltishal - Day Three

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

On Sunday I woke in my comfy little bed to find Joan had been sketching me from hers. So I whipped downstairs to make a cuppa and took it back to bed where I sketched Joan in her bed too!

16-10-10 - WW SketchCrawl 29

16-10-10 - WW SketchCrawl 29
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

While Joan and I had been at the Cathedral, Clive (Joans hubby) had been cooking his speciality meatballls for us on our return. We had an Italian Rose with them and fresh strawberries and cream for dessert...A delicious way to complete our day!

16-10-10 - WW SketchCrawl 29

16-10-10- WW SketchCrawl 29
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

I started the 29th worldwide sketchcrawl on Saturday in Joans conservatory with my morning coffee and a quick sketch....of course!

Noodlers walnut ink and watercolour in w/c Maruman sketchbook

Weekend In Coltishall - Day One

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Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

This is a corner of Joans lounge in Coltishall, Norfolk.
I prepared the page with decorative paper before leaving home.

My Weekend In Norfolk

As you may have read in Alphonse's journal, I recently visited my good friend Joannie at her home in Coltishall for the weekend. Here are the journal pages I created on the Thursday and Friday of my stay.

Alphonse On Holiday

More pages from Alphonse's journal.

Click images to enlarge.

Coltishall Trip -Part 3

On Sunday Joan and I watched a Ray Balkwill DVD which inspired us into long conversation up to lunchtime.
My only sketch was created early in the morning with my first cuppa of the day, catching Clive quickly while he indulged in a cigarette by the conservatory doors.
Around 6pm I said my goodbyes and hit the road towards home, totally relaxed and re-charged!

Coltishall Trip -Part 2

After our leisurely breakfast, Joan and I headed into Norwich to the Castle Museum where, amongst other delights, we found a Moore-Hepworth-Nicholson exhibition.
I managed a few quick sketches while walking around, one of which was my favourite Hepworth piece entitled 'Mother and Child'...It wasn't until we arrived back at Joans that evening that I reaslised how utterly crude I had made Hepworths' beautiful sculpture appear in my sketchbook (which had Joan and I laughing like school children)...I assure you, it wasn't nearly as phallus in real life.



We stopped off at the Museum cafe for a spot of lunch and a much needed latte before moving on to view the decorative arts and modern art, which lead us nicely through to the castle itself complete with battle gear and dungeons.

The view from the castle was fantastic, I made a quick sketch of one of the buildings while taking a cigarette break.

We saw so much.

I fell in love with various artists works that were new to me, luscious fabrics, jewels and gowns. I stood in awe of a polar bear and in fear of the huge lions. I cast my eye over 3000 teapots (one of which is the largest in the world and actually served Victoria and Albert) and I did it all with wonderful company, fabulous latte and a good dose of ibuprofen!

What a day!

On our arrival home, Clive served us his delicious cottage pie which he had cooked especially at my request (Thank you Clive) and I indulged in a little wine (okay alot...it was medicinal!)

I made a sketch of Joan, who by now was totally relaxed and about ready for dreamland, before we finally went up and hit the sack.

Coltishall Trip -Part 1

I had a fantastic weekend in Coltishall, Norfolk with my good friend Joan and her husband Clive and arrived back home last night. The tooth extraction caused me some discomfort but was, and still is, managed by pain killers, allowing me to enjoy my weekend to the full.

Here are two sketches I made in my handmade A6 sketchbook first thing Saturday morning before Joan and I shared a warm croissant and butter breakfast.

Column Week 21

This is my newspaper column, in print today in the Cambs Times and Wisbech Standard:



During a recent trip to Coltishall to visit my dear friend Joan Sandford-Cook, we took a drive to sketch the mills at How Hill. There are 3 mills in total, all built to drain the Broads marshes.
In Roman times How Hill was an estuary but in the 5th and 6th centuries the sea level dropped providing land where plants started to grow, giving the Saxons perfect grazing for cattle.
Boardman’s Mill, also known as Skeleton Mill, was our first stop, built in 1897 by Daniel England, it is an open timber trestle mill that suffered wind damage in 1938, recently restored by the Norfolk Windmills Trust.

Turf Fen Mill, built by William Rust in 1875, was our next stop. Typical of the brick tower mills you see throughout the Broads, it was also recently restored by the trust.
We spent a wonderful, relaxing afternoon by the River at How Hill, soaking in the sunshine and admiring the fantastic views.

If you would like to see more, my daily journal entries can be found on my blog : http://artbyanita.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday Night Art Workshops. Benwick Road Recreation Centre, Doddington. Contact Anita: 07790554201