And another image for the guessing game…
Hwyl,
Mari
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Castell Coch?
It’s gorgeous!
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Dealing with the past can be difficult. A former father-in-law of mine belonged to a generation that meant he was a member of the Hitlerjugend in his youth before becoming, in later life, one of the loyal supporters (‘rote Socken’) of Mr Honecker. The way things turned out, you could say, in rugby terms, that he played for the wrong team. Twice! But enough of that. Welsh and art are our subject now. Viel Spass beim Lesen, Malen und vor allem beim Walisischlernen! Mwynhewch! 
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I haven’t been back home for several years, but passing spectacular Castell Coch when driving to the Rhondda from London was always a welcome sight which meant there wasn’t much further to go. You’ve really captured it beautifully in its autumnal glory!
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Sometimes I think images like that can be artwork in themselves (maybe I’m just fascinated with pigments and palettes!)
For instance, this is a random snap I took at an artist friend of mine’s house - the palette boards were just propped up outside the shed and caught my eye!
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‘DRYCH AR YR HUNLUN’: If you’re lucky enough to live in Wales, in the Cardiff area, you might well want to visit the exhibition opening tomorrow (Sat 16 March) at the National Museum. This is apparently the first time that one of van Gogh’s many self-portraits is being exhibited in Wales, together with a number of others by very different artists. I’ve battled through some of the reports that have appeared in Welsh on the BBC and other websites and picked up some arty words and expressions. Siaron, please feel free to add them to the vocab list, if you think they’re useful, and thank you for correcting any mistakes I might have made.
Hunanbortread - Selfportrait
Hunlun - Selfie
Amgueddfa - Museum
Arddangosfa - Exhibition
Drych - Mirror
Celf - Art
Celf y Gorllewin - Western art
Artistig - Artistic
Ar fenthyg - On loan
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Here’s. my watercolour list–dyma fy rhestr dyfrlliw:
Watercolour paints (W&N, artist’s quality)–Paent dyfrlliw (W&N, ansawdd arllunydd)
Watercolour pencils (Derwent)–Pensiliau dyfrlliw (Derwent)
Watercolour brushes (Kolinsky sable or best synthetic)–Brwsys dyfrlliw (Kolinsky sabl neu synthetig gorau)
Watercolour paper (heavy, rough, cold-pressed)–Papur dyfrlliw (trwm, garw, oer-wasgu)
Putty eraser–Rhwbiwr pwti
Glass jar for water–jar gwydr ar gyfer dŵr
Sponge (natural)–sbwng (naturiol)
Bleach–Cannydd
Tissues–Hancesi papur
Razor blade–Llafn rasal
Q-tips
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I have been painting for 70 years, having dipped into my elder brother’s watercolours when I was 3, so have tried many makes and materials over the years–strictly as an amateur, and mainly self-taught.
Before we emigrated, I invested in a couple of fine sable brushes (which are outlawed here in Canada), and artist’s quality paint. Wow, what a difference! I used to buy good paper, then soak and stretch it on a proper board–what a palaver! However, if you want to use bleach, a sponge or razor blade either to correct an area or for effects, nothing beats the heaviest, best quality rag-paper you can find. Yes, this is expensive, but folks, this is also my passion and main ‘fun expense’. Besides, my husband has also known exactly what to buy me for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas–hence my collection. Just saying 
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The Welsh for a Q-tip (or ‘cotton bud’) is ffon gotwm (plural ffyn cotwm) 
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Got it, thank you Siaron
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It’s always a bit tricky when brand names become a generic name 
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I’ll bet these sun-catchers cast beautiful stained-glass effects and certainly offer a wonderful screen from anything you do not want to see—like heavy traffic, which we have here too, being on a main road. The copper wire wrapping technique is intriguing and would contrast perfectly with the ‘bottle green’. I love that particular combination of colours in nature and artwork. As for recovering the copper wire—brilliant!
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Castell Coch it is! Full marks to you and Jason and Siaron who all guessed this correctly.
Sorry, I have not figured out how to respond to several people at once, but thank you for your comments on this.
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What a great exhibit this will be. And what a great addition to our vocabulary list Jason. Thank you for battling through the write-ups to glean these words.
Now I am wondering if there is a way we can capture this growing list of words. Thoughts anyone?
The plaster and the palettes almost speak of a similar texture—daubed on, like ‘wattle and daub’ I suppose. But you have to take credit for having a keen artistic eye to spot this.
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You nailed it Jason—pairing the image, so skillfully created, alongside the teasels.
Charity shops, church rummage sales and back lanes (here) are perfect places for finding frames and other treasures. Good for you.
Despite my ‘expensive taste’ in watercolour materials, like you and Siaron, I find it very creative and hugely satisfying to repurpose and make use of ‘found things’—scraps of drift wood and fabric for instance. Is this true of others reading this thread? Please tell us.
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What a beautiful story—thank you for sharing this with us.
My husband used to sing in a wonderful choir that toured Europe before COVID. (Several of the members also sing in a Welshman’s choir in Vancouver.). The warm reception and generous hospitality in a little German village, where we were billeted one night, was quite incredible.
The choir performed in the beautiful old church, then we all want to the village hall where a banquet was ready, but as if that were not enough, the family we stayed with looked after us royally. We stay in touch. I thought you would like this photo I took. The father was a master cabinet-maker and woodworker who built and furnished their home.
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Do you know that the cabinetmakers and carpenters still serve their “Wanderjahre”? Once they’ve finished their apprenticeship they travel the land in their outfit, men and women wear the same) and work for keep and lodgings only for various masters to extend their skill and knowledge base. They used to have to do that for 7 years, now it’s three, I think. (I should have looked it up before writing!) before they can take their final exams. Their guild is/used to be a very proud one. If a member had dishonoured it, they would have the earring ripped out of their earlobe and would thus be branded as someone dishonourable. (It still happened when I was a child.) Thank you for the photo, a blast from the past.
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It’s definitely not Wales–I know–it is S. America, home of Y Wladfa. However, there is another reason why I am including this watercolour besides connections with the Welsh colony in Patagonia. It has to do with vocabulary, and why I’m really excited by our developing a list of useful words for creative folk on this Salon Creadigol thread.
Years ago, I had to learn S. American Spanish to be able to communicate with colleagues and workers at mines in Chile, so with an emphasis on technical terms. It was very effective for work, but pretty limiting for social conversations when I could only talk about mining equipment and mineral processing methods.
Learning Welsh, or any language, has proved similarly limiting for me, because just when I reach the point of being able to try a conversation, I have lacked the words I need to discuss what I am passionate about. Have you found the same? For you, it may be fishing, cooking or bog-snorkelling–whatever.
No doubt, if I were to do my homework on the Forum, these and many other topics have already been covered–maybe artwork, crafts and other creative interests, like poetry too. It just occurs to me that it be great if we had our own thematic dictionary. Does one exist for Welsh already? If so, please point me in that direction. In the meantime–thank you to the folk who have been contributing to this thread, and please–bring it on–I want to learn more!
Diolch yn fawr iawn,
Mari
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This might be a good starting place - Browse A-Z – Y Termiadur Addysg
There are subject boxes you can tick to narrow things down - in the screen shot below, you can see I’ve ticked ‘Art, Design, Technology and Construction’ (there’s also a box for ‘Engineering and Surveying’ for you Mari!), then you can browse by letter, but the site is also searchable for direct needs. It’s a handy site to have a play with!
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