Time for A Little Something…

“Two blog posts in two days! Have you nothing better to do Kim?” Well actually yes, I’ve been busy making up my new digitally printed fabric into these rather nice purse/bags and I thought I’d better do a bit of self promotion. Everybody’s at it you know.

I’m GIVING AWAY one of these to celebrate the first snowdrops and the end of January! The fabric is an “eco fabric” made from re-cycled plastic bottles, lined with up-cycled cotton shirt fabric and the leather wrist strap uses soft leather off- cuts from a bookbinding studio. So, you can carry these bags without worrying that you might be making the planet melt and the polar bears will thank you for that.

Its been snowing here this morning and I need to go to the shed for more logs now so all you have to do if you want to win one of these is leave a comment here before February 1st. If you Re-Tweet this post on Twitter or share the link on Facebook you can have an extra entry.

Reading:- Selvedge magazine  Listening To:- 6Music “The Daily Planet” by Love

Cobalt

Well the days are lengthening and I’m feeling optimistic, the sight of a wood full of snowdrops will tend to do that to a person.( I’m pretty superstitious though and historically whenever I’ve written here about feeling upbeat something runs up behind me and knocks me flat…fingers crossed not this time!). This weekend we explored closer to home and again had that feeling of seeing a familiar place through new eyes or from a different angle. In the woods at  Arden Hall I lay on the ground to photograph the snowdrops and could smell the hint of wild garlic still underneath the slowly warming earth.

From where I’m sitting now I can see Hawnby Hill, which we were looking at from above yesterday, they are burning the heather and the sky is that wintery yellow grey again. Blue is a colour often associated with sadness but I’m not sure why… along with those Lakeland pictures last week, these blues lift my spirits .

 

So, now you may well ask, why are you using such dull sludgy colours in your drawings?! Well colour is a funny thing isn’t it? Blue is one of my least favorite colours, I’ve never managed to paint a room blue without it looking damp and depressing and of course I have a life long aversion to Tory Blue!  Still, I have one page left of the Sketchbook before it gets posted away to its new home forever…

The magpie is the page I’m most pleased with at the moment so I used it on the cover too. The cover is printed on to fabric and was designed using Photoshop and a photograph of the church at Wasdale Head, as well as layers of drawing scans. I then stitched into the print and added beads, leather and antique lace pieces.

I’m really pleased with the result and as usual don’t want to part with it. The point of keeping a sketchbook is to inspire and experiment with ideas. I think I’ve been too precious with it; thinking of it as a book with a narrative that needed to look perfect and finished. Re-discovering how much I enjoyed the “design” element (by using drawing and photographs to make the cover) has meant that the Sketchbook Project has fulfilled its purpose , for me, by inspiring me to do more of this in the future.

The book, with possible addition of blue page, will be in the post by next weekend and I can’t wait to see it and all the others in London this year.

So, the entire time I’ve been writing this, my new copy of Selvedge has been unopened in its envelope, with a bulge that looks like it might be a “free gift”! I can’t resist anymore so its time to put the coffee pot on and do some reading. Just time to mention that I was accepted in to Printsy today; a group of Etsy sellers who are printmakers. I’m very excited about this which I discovered via LinocutBoy‘s blog. I was also asked recently to provide a link on here in return for some digital printing. I’m so pleased with the result ( although I rushed into it and should have planned my design more carefully) and plan to get some more done soon. The link is under Canvas Art Printing and if anyone else would be interested in becoming a sponsor of this blog just get in touch ( I can provide a link banner for example)

Have a great week and thank you for reading. x

Cerulean

I was supposed to wait until tomorrow, my new writing day, but I just couldn’t wait to show you these photographs. Anyway, routine is dull and I refuse to start behaving with any self restraint just because it’s January. Look at the blue of that sky, I promise it was really that blue and the air smelled clean and crispy, not a breath of wind, everything sparkling with diamond frost.

The expedition began at the ungodly hour of 7am, when I was prised from my nest and transported from East to West through a magical landscape of sunrise and ghostly frosted hedgerows. Breakfasted with sausage ciabattas ( vegetarian ) in the Lakeland Peddlar and armed with sandwiches wrapped in paper,along with a flask of hot Marmite ,we began our ascent of Hindscarth. I have to tell you now, I was tricked. The hill you can see here ( Scope End) cleverly hides the actual summit, a million miles further up.I just assumed it was a gentler walk due to shorter days and post holiday unfitness, but no, it was a big trick to stop me wingeing ,clever.I’m only annoyed with myself for being too slow to make it back to Keswick in time for a visit to my favorite tea and cake place, Temporary Measure, home of big bears, pearly buttons and sticky,gingery cakes.

This is the view from the top, it looks like Mars.But as Rob Ryan says “Other planets cannot be as beautiful as this one” and its true; just looking at these pictures again makes me feel so ALIVE ,lifting the heavy lid of winter for a while and chasing away those nasty black dogs.

Back in the warmth of a Sunday kitchen I’m listening to Guy Garvey and planning what to do tomorrow when Lindsey  comes up for a day of coffee and creativity. I must focus, because in the middle of my lino print frenzy I was distracted by making tiny books with that bag of leather off cuts I told you about.I’m still on with the lino printing, stitching into the prints and trying to get a more consistent result; perhaps the beauty of it is that each one is so different though?

In other news, this exhibition has opened in New York with work by William Tillyer (Daddy, my Daddy!) and Robert Motherwell , amongst others. I’d love to go but I think I’d better stay and keep practicing with the mangle…

Listening To:- “Paper Tiger” Beck .Reading:- “IQ84 part3″ Haruki Murakami ( and as I write Mr. Garvey is playing “Paper Moon” Ella Fitzgerald which will mean something to you if you’ve read this book….)

The ACME Experiments Part 1.

Life has returned to “normal” today with everyone back at college and daytime solitude restored. Getting up in the dark was a shock to the system, it seems to have been the longest Christmas holiday ever, I’ve lost track of time, days of the week and all pretense of routine! Now it is time to snap out of it though and get things whipped in to shape. I visited two friends today who both inspired me in their own ways; one with tales of adventure and yoga retreats in India and the other with a box of leather off-cuts. I’ve mentioned Angela James before but today I visited her new studio in the village and came away with a box of jewel coloured off-cuts and serious studio envy!

Meanwhile, in the magnificent Witchmountain Studio I have been getting to grips with my new ACME mangle which is supported by a red wooden “A” frame that looks like it’s been pinched from a coconut shy in a fairground. Angie’s space is like a set from an interiors magazine shoot while my kitchen now resembles a pre-war hovel; casual visitors assuming I have no electricity to run a kettle or washing machine! Anyway, it works and it’s fun. Carving the designs into the lino satisfies any destructive urges I may have gained over the holidays and I’m sure it’s good for the little grey cells ( working out which bits to remove and which to keep and all in reverse).

I need to keep experimenting with the amount of ink/pressure of the rollers and type of paper but so far I’m quite pleased with the results.

Maybe one day , if I try hard enough I can produce something as beautiful as these …

Clockwise from top left :- Kay Nielsen , Angie Lewin,Kay Neilsen, Angie Lewin, Amanda Colville, Amanda Colville,Angie Lewin.

 

Now I really must say bye for now; I’ve been without a computer for a week after I melted the power cable ( and a mouse- a real one, but we won’t go in to that…) so I have places to visit before I switch off and return to my mangle.

Oh, I also need to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has been leaving lovely comments here, subscribing to the blog and following on Facebook and Twitter; you are all very much appreciated.

The Long and Winding Road

Dear loyal readers of Witchmountain I would like to wish you a slightly belated Happy New Year and hope that,for you, the year ahead is full of love and success. I’m writing this while distracted by the oak tree, wondering how it doesn’t break in this wild wind, the sky is yellow and grey and the stove is burning too fiercely. I’ve been looking at this picture (taken on the way down from Causey Pike) and it seems to sum up so much of what I’m feeling as a new year begins…a long uphill struggle or an exciting path to somewhere new? The fact that you can see the whole way to the top ,with every relentless meander and  zig zag, makes the climb unappealing ; a journey is always more interesting when you don’t know what’s around the next bend in the path, even though that makes it more frightening- well, it could be a hungry bear after all.

Gosh, that was a bit philosophical for the first post of the year! Here, as a counter balance, are some beautiful cakes from one of the nicest mornings I spent last year…

Vicky Trainor’s vintage coffee morning was a little oasis of prettiness and kindness with mountains of cake and plenty of coffee. I met some lovely people, all full of good advice, encouragement and inspiration.Since Vicky specialises in Wedding stationery many of the people there were photographers, make -up artists, designers and bakers of beautiful cakes. ( This photo is by Becky Mitchell and those cakes are available mail order from Daisy Cupcakes…I wish I’d eaten one now!) I think I need to design a range of things for weddings, what do you think?

So, I was advised that “Twitter is the thing” and reluctantly added ANOTHER online profile to my list. So far it has managed to do nothing more than steal my time as I now have yet another distraction( the most fun bit has been following Fell Top Assessors just for the curiosity value of reading a weather report from the top of Helvellyn , don’t ask me why, I’ve never even been there!) Anyway, Sara and I cobbled together this lovely “button” and if you would like it for your blog or website I will be glad to send you the html ( ooh! get me with the technical terms!) .

Its time to make some coffee in my new Folklore coffee pot ( THANK YOU Jane!) and make a start on the dreaded tax return. Batten the hatches, its stormy out there.

 

 

Press Pause…

The view from my window is a little different this Christmas, in fact there are primroses in the garden and leaf buds on the honeysuckle. I’ve been avoiding the internet and all its forms of communication these last few days, partly because I’ve been too busy and partly because I just went off it all. I didn’t want to sound like a Christmas Round Robin letter, either bragging or bemoaning the year’s achievements and boring you stupid when you’d rather be watching “Its a Wonderful Life” and eating mince pies. This is the first quiet moment to myself I’ve had for days though and its quite therapeutic to waffle on to an invisible audience ! The radio isn’t even on and all I can hear is the stove roaring and the  wind howling.

Anyway, I hope it was a good Christmas where ever you were; and if it wasn’t,then now is the time to breath a sigh of relief, take a little time for yourself and I for one will be helping in a homeless shelter or knitting jumpers for penguins next year!

So, the last week of 2011 and it’s WARM. I’m missing the snow that briefly smooths out all the sharp bits and gives the illusion of perfection (but I admit it is nice to be able to get about easily). I’m off to bake a pie now and give some serious thought to the Sketchbook Project which needs posting in just over 30 days. I shall return in the New Year with new ideas and new found enthusiasm ( hmmm, now where did I put that? I know I got some somewhere)  but for now I shall just say Season’s Greetings and much love from Witchmountain.

By the way, I am now on Twitter. I’m following advice but not at all convinced yet, its been more trouble than it’s worth so far, so, if you do the Twitter thing please follow me and I may be persuaded that its not a waste of time!Thank you.

Reading:- A lot of Christmas books when I finish IQ84…Robert Graves, Michael Ondaatje, Gillian Lynne…

Listening To:- The Smiths “How Soon is Now” and Kate Bush ” 50 Words For Snow”

Winter Light

Strange to think that in less than a week’s time it will be Midwinter and slowly, slowly the sun will start to return and the days will get longer. I’ve been thinking a lot about that strange and magical few weeks last winter and wondering at the rose tint of time that makes it all seem so romantic. The sun has been shining today and the sky is duck egg blue and vanilla, threatening an icy night ahead.

I’ve been drinking a lot of green tea this week and haven’t yet checked if it has caffeine in it…could this be why I was reading till 3am last night and then up at 7? Its 3pm now and after a day of cleaning, printing, wrapping, cooking and general sorting, I’m so sleepy I need to have a little snooze before going to yoga tonight or I will fall over. “Goodness” I hear you mumble, “whatever happened to the whiskey drinking, coffee brewing couch potato we knew so well? Green tea? Yoga?!” , well don’t worry, my default setting is still “cozy by the fire” .

I’ve been invited to a little vintage style coffee morning at the lovely Vicky Trainor’s tomorrow and we were all asked to bring a tree decoration to swap in a kind of Lucky Dip. I got carried away last night making this owly thing which looks like stained glass when you hold it up to the light, its a bit mad, I hope whoever gets it is pleased!

So much has been happening, what with the various giveaways and projects I’ve been taking part in, but the most exciting so far was my visit to The Dutch House, where Cecile agreed to take lots of my work. It is such a lovely place, I only wish it was closer, I’d be there all the time eating pancakes and wandering in the gardens. I’ve been offered a solo exhibition there next year and the chance to run some workshops! So this is very good news and I am now binging on Dutch Speculaas biscuits and wondering what kind of workshop I could run…

This news , as well as some lovely write ups, including this from Tiffany of the Curiosity Project , have given me plenty to think about as I plan how to keep the wolf from the door in 2012. Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to tell you all about the monster in the skirting boards , a terrifying game of hide and seek in a deserted building and the joy of being able to swim underwater…but maybe another time, I feel a nap coming on!

Meanwhile, here is a plug for my fabulous brother who has been involved in the photography for this beautiful Deluxe edition of Peter Gabriel’s new album, I’m very proud ( but where’s my copy York?!)

Who Killed Cock Robin?

December and right on cue the first snowflakes, icy roads and a dead robin on the doorstep- a gift from the cat or victim of a fight over the fat balls? Its been another busy weekend, with a surprise visit from Sara,a day at  Designer’s Marketplace and a friend’s dog to look after( the cat was not impressed and may have been attention seeking with the bird murder) . We also managed to squeeze in an eventful evening “down the pub” where it all nearly degenerated into a massive brawl when the singer fell out with the locals and the feeling was mutual. Rural Yorkshire life, you can’t beat it!

I spent Friday frantically baking mince pies and doing some last minute sewing ready for Saturday’s market. It was great to have Sara home to help me and it was certainly loads better than last year when the snow sent us all home early. You can see some photographs here, see if you can spot me and my mince pies! As usual the highlight was seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones, seeing all the other work on show and watching Its a Wonderful Life projected on a big screen; one day I must watch it properly, without sound it looked quite worrying! Anyway, the pies and free Port went down a treat and I had enough sales to cover the day so I’m happy enough. Thank you to every one who came.

Now, here’s a thing, this owl wallet has been the most popular item I’ve ever listed on Etsy, with 74 admirers and 7 treasury lists, yet no one has bought it! Today I listed a similar one and it sold withing the hour, bizarre. Anyway, now one lucky person is going to get it for free as I’m collaborating with Matchstick Molly in her “12 Days of Christmas Giveaway” . If anyone knows the secret of this design’s popularity, I’d love to know ( and how to translate that into sales). Meanwhile I flit from one style to another and my current cyanotype obsession continues.

So today I have:- listed new things on both Etsy and Folksy, baked a cake, walked through soggy, spongy birch woods with a Cairn terrier and enjoyed spending time with my lovely children, just relaxing and watching Frozen Planet. I’m really looking forward to concentrating on my Sketchbook Project now and thinking up some new plans of attack for the year 2012. I’m thinking maybe upmarket is the way to go.During hard times it seems that the rich stay rich while normal people tighten their belts and bear the brunt of the enforced austerity. So while some people are worrying about “How to Spend It “others are trawling charity shops and wondering whether to spend £12 on an owl wallet or save it to pay the supermarket bill… just a thought before I make another mug of chai and enjoy the last half hour of Guy Garvey flat out on my new yoga mat, (in the sleeping like a log pose).

May your December be cozy and prosperous and full of love. x

Listening to:- Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour on 6Music ( Doves “Sea Song” and Hilli with Lee Hazelwood “At the Top of the World”) Reading:- Mollie Makes and yesterday’s Guardian.

 

Drawing and Dreaming

Well its been an eventful few days. My wish came true and the fog was blown away by gales ; which also blew away chunks of peeling paint and bits of the window frames. Its ok, no real damage and anyway, the insides of the windows are all neat and freshly painted…you can’t even tell which bits are actually held together with scrumpled up Guardian newspapers and wood filler.

This weekend I helped Kev and Viv of ArtVanGo set up and take down, their stand at the Knitting &Stitching Show in Harrogate.It was hard work but even harder work resisting the urge to buy one of everything.Mountains of pristine sketchbooks and papers, racks of paints and dyes the colour of precious jewels, bottles of mysterious potions and brand new virgin silk screens. ArtVanGo also run a stand called Artists in Action where you can see …erm….artists in action, and talk to them about techniques, materials and so on. I was sorry to miss Dionne Swift ( who got me the job), but I did meet Ruth Issett who was demonstrating mixed media techniques ( here is a video from a previous year ) and who has written quite a few books on the subject. Jill Flower was another artist who specialises in textile applications on paper, making intricate lacey pieces inspired by Elizabethan ruffs.

Well, I was tempted in to buying the new issue of Selvedge Magazine , mostly because the cover fitted so perfectly with my idealised vision of Witchmountain, I would love to swan about in vintage lace and cozy wool with my pack of huskies and a few tame polar bears, before returning to my roaring fire to drink brandy coffee and eat turkish delight…oh hang on… I AM sitting by a roaring fire, drinking coffee and obviously when I next look in the mirror I’ll look just like the model in the pictures!

So, I’ve also been busy with this year’s Sketchbook Project and really enjoying using a combination of pen and ink with cyanotype.The subject is “Tears and Fears” but I’m being quite vague about it. I wish I had been able to afford some of those lovely inks and things from ArtVanGo but to be honest I don’t know what half of then are for! My other treat was a pack of inkjet printable cotton which will be used for making some more little wallets, probably, and a skein of beautiful orange wool which I’m trying to knit yoga socks with!!! ( no pattern and little patience)

Now I must leave you to do something productive, it is hard to set my mind to one task and tempting to go outside and do some strimming while the weather holds. This time last year I was snowed in, I feel quite nostalgic for those sparkly days of ice and isolation.

I’m sure there was more I wanted to tell you but it really is time to make more coffee and set up the sewing machine. Oh, but I just wondered, what is Cyber Monday?

Bear Hugs

I thought it would be fun to share with you the very postbox that is the starting point for the journey my Witchmountain parcels make to their new homes. This week I finally made my first sales on Folksy which has just had a big make over and I must say the front page does look pretty good at the moment , although I’m not sure about the new logo. Anyway, this is my friendly local postbox and its a very pleasant walk down the hill.

A little further down is this really pretty place where the winding road crosses a waterfall in a beautiful beech, oak and silver birch wood. The stone ruin is an old lime kiln but I think a bear probably lives in there.

So, this is a favorite circular walk ( not too far!) and I really should be doing it now instead of sitting here with the lap top burning my knees. , but the stove is on, its dull outside and the table is covered in half finished sketchbook pages…

When I went to the Biscuit Factory on Monday I found some small sculptures by Paul Smith which were of a girl and a bear. They reminded me of some of my old drawings and also of a photograph of me with a Francois Pompon sculpture in France so I dug it out and started scribbling…

The imagery is familiar from ancient folk tales and  Native American legends to the Philip Pullman books and was part of the inspiration behind one of my college projects. Then, I was introduced to the stunning work of Jackie Morris who is currently illustrating one of my favorite stories “East of the Sun , West of the Moon” , goodness, her bears are pretty amazing and I almost put away my pencils! Go and have a look…and I’m adding her work to my virtual Christmas wish list!( hint hint)

Well, all this sitting about won’t get the bills payed and I must get the second batch of Christmas cakes made, coffee needs brewing and drawing needs to be done. Next week I will be helping out at the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate, helping set up an art supplies shop …sounds like I’ll be spending more than I earn on delicious new supplies!

Keep cozy everyone; it doesn’t quite feel like winter yet here …

Reading : ” Mervyn Peake Two Lives” by Maeve Gilmore and Sebastian Peake