sketching with granny

I went to visit Granny Playford up in Leeds for some painting and sketching in March. We went out for a nice sunny walk with our sketch pads and fold up seats. I drew this wintery looking tree in charcoal stick. I love using charcoal, it’s satisfyingly smooth and strong. Granny sketched the tree next to mine in pencil. Granny is a great artist herself and paints lovely portraits. Her daughter Vanda Playford, my aunt is also an artist and photographer (and doctor) with a Phd in photography from the Royal College of Art. Her son, my uncle Lionel Playford is also an artist, he’s a full time artist and art teacher up in Newcastle and paints landscapes. Then there’s the other side of my family too, my mum did a fine art degree, creating monoprints often monochrome and worked as an interior designer. My sister got 100% in her art exam at A-level and got one of the top 5 marks in the country and Granny Van painted too. So there’s a lot of creativity passing around the family and plenty of people to be inspired by. I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to have a creative career and perhaps this family of mine had some part in this.