Some Soothing Summer Sketches – And A Cautionary Tale

Hello dear readers,

I know it’s been a long time since I posted a blog: it’s just over a month since I wrote. It’s a case of being up to my eyeballs in work and life. I love writing my blog and I love sharing what I do with you, and so many of you are so kind and gracious in your replies: you have no idea how happy that makes me. But as a teacher, I know the same kind of stuff keeps you all from doing what you love – making art – spouses or parents with medical issues being the main one. So I get it, and I know you do too.

Being an entrepreneur is a wild ride. You are as successful as the hours you put in, and there is no tried and tested route to success: not all entrepreneurs are doing something brand new and untested, but as an artist I do that every single day. As a teacher I do that three times a week, because I follow no one’s curriculum but my own: put them together and add into the mix creating a brand new product, and you have a recipe for…well, that’s the point. There is no recipe. I have to come up with one every single day. And just at the time your kids need you less, your parents need you more, and you would have to have a heart of stone not to play your part in making things bearable for everyone.

But it’s not quite 6.00am as I write this and I am a naturally early waker (not to be confused with being an early riser, due to the dreaded time thief goblin next to our beds) and so I am taking advantage of this to bring you up to date with what’s being going on with Madame Curé.

(Whenever someone asks how to pronounce my surname, they say gleefully “Ah! Madame Curé!” I used to say “no, that was Madame Curie” but I stopped bothering a long time ago. So now I may as well get there before them.)

But so much sketching in the last month! So many unsuspecting commuters, so much beautiful summer scenery…I hope you find it at least somewhat as soothing and as tranquil as I did when I was there.

I am going to post the pictures here without context, and direct you to my YouTube channel for the stories behind the sketches. If you haven’t subscribed to my channel yet, please do so, as I really think you’ll be glad you did.

You’ll find the video in question here: https://youtu.be/PrAYMqtWqEY

I shared many of the following sketches with my students. You can see the techniques we studied in class:

• making a flat blue sky
• using colour blocking for speed and efficiency
• the power of values (again!)
• foliage
• reflections in water.

As well as the sketches you see here, May and June have seen the first half of my brand new illustration course on Wednesdays: this will continue into the autumn as a separate offering. I will write another post on it as there is a lot involved! It’s been wildly popular, I am happy to say, and I have enjoyed it as least as much as my students.

By the way, did you know that I have a free trial on offer at the moment? It runs until the end of June so you should still take advantage of it. If it goes well, and a good proportion of the new members trying out my membership decide they like what they see, I might run another in July. But that is by no means certain, so sign up while you can here: https://roisincure.com/product/sketchclub/ Write “Hello Madame Curé” in the comment box so I know you found out about the free trial here!

Now back to the sketches!

In May we had a bit of a heatwave, and I did a lot of cycling to the beach with Reuben the terrier leading the charge in the basket in front. The beaches near me are deserted, pristine and tranquil. Unfortunately they are also rocky, and Reuben loses the plot at the sight of a sea of rocks stretching before him. It starts with a strangled growl and quickly rises to stupid barking. It can be softened a little by throwing rocks into the sea for him to chase, as the shock of the water cools his passion and he’s no swimmer, but the tranquility is ruined nonetheless.

Here are the shells of some animals whose eternal slumber can never be disturbed:

This is the pier at Killeenaran Quay, where the hardier of the villagers swim all year at full tide, and the fair-weather swimmers like me swim on hot days. This was one such day. and I swam before I started sketching, when there was still enough water to enjoy it. Then I dried off and sketched in the sun. Heaven.

The following day I went to Yeats’ tower at Thoor Ballylee to prepare for a workshop I would soon be conducting for Kinvara Plein Air 2025. I wrote out the poem that Yeats had on a plaque by the front entrance, but I hadn’t brought a pencil to draw light guidelines and so the lettering is very wonky. I stuck a bit of paper on top and did it again (this is the firstversion) and I did the lettering too big, but I guess every day is a school day…

Not quite finished with sketching shells, I went back for more, and drew these ones during a live broadcast on Instagram (are you following me there?):

I am still teaching in Enniskerry Village, and I do like sketching my fellow passengers if the angle is right. This time, I added some more lettering and drew the rather magnificent breakfast I had in the station restaurant, from a photo of course, as I have no truck with sketching hot, fresh food from life. It was mildly enjoyable sketching the brekkie on the Dart to Bray, but nowhere near as exhilarating as drawng something from life.

My

back lawn has become a paradise of wildflowers and I sketched and painted some during another Instagram live. This was a class, and one of the more popular this year, I think. Afterwards, i was treated to many beautiful depictions of students’ local wildflowers in Germany, North Carolina, California, England and I don’t remember where else. Wonderfully soothing.

During my workshop in Kinvara Plein Air I led a paint-out in Corcomroe Abbey. Now I am not one for “scenery” – it’s not what I do, really – but I found my groove with the play of afternoon sunlight on the ruined church…

…and of course I was on familiar ground sketching this lovely young artist beside me. I made a new friend during the fastival, and you can just about see her peeking out over the wall to the right of the main figure.

During the workshop itself, I demonstrated values and reflections along the Streamstown River at Thoor Ballylee.

I ran a free class a few days ago, and you can download it any time you like. A few people have told me they did the class but didn’t have the right colours. If you buy one of my beautiful cactus leather SketchPockets you will have everything you need to do the class, and if you write “I see seaweed on the seashore” in the comment box I will throw in a half pan of Shadow Grey: add this to the Quinacridone Magenta that comes as a 13th colour, and you’ll be all set to make this sketch and any number of other subjects. Here’s a link to buy the SketchPocket: https://roisincure.com/product/sketchpocket-black/ – that’s a black one but you will find the off-white version there too.

I love being driven from A to B and I love sitting in the back and drawing the driver. They are not going anywhere, give or take a little fidgeting. But I will accept that as the price of being chauffeured to and from my destination. This is my husband Marcel.

That’s it for now. Much as I love giving you the back story to some of these sketches, I don’t like to repeat myself in an artistic sense, as it’s no fun! But head to my YouTube channel and you’ll find it there.

By the way, I am already signed up for 2026: mid-April in Greece and early October in Italy, so save the (rough) dates. Meanwhile I will be teaching in French in Geneva this 4-6th September, and in Waterford 21st-23rd September.

Lastly, a cautionary tale. I met the girls from my secondary school for a 40th reunion. When I arrived in Dublin, I passed a shop selling the exact style of high-heeled sandals that I had been looking for: gold hither and thither and very comfortable. They were so nice that I bought them in silver too. Off I went to the school reunion, and one or two gin and tonics were had, and I was a little light-headed in the Uber on the way home. However, it was coming up to midnight and I hadn’t yet done the Connections, so I was beavering away in the back of the taxi trying to unscramble both my brain and the puzzle. The naughty driver prolonged the trip as much as he could, driving me up and down the sleeping residential street where I was going to meet my younger daughter, who was hosting me for the night. Eventually he agreed to drop me a good bit further than the spot where I had repeatedly asked him to drop me, and I found myself with a bit of a hike. Never mind, I had done the Connections and was onto the Wordle. Suddenly I went down, tripping on an access cover in the pavement: the combination of looking at my phone, wearing very high shoes and the two G&Ts I had had proving to be a triumverate of teetering. I had a bloody knee for my trouble, not at all adding to the picture of glamour you see below, taken by my daughter before the event. These kids and their photoshoots – adorable.

The jig was up. I am a woman in my fifties, and my ridiculously-high-heel days are behind me, especially because if I’m in heels, I’m probably having a drink. I made the only sensible decision. I left the beautiful gold sandals with my daughter, who is young. And the next morning, I took the unworn silver versions of the sandals back to the shoe shop on my way to the train station, explaining to the lovely staff that I had to be sensible.

But I have a lovely photo as a memento!