Little Pearls

Last night I nearly ran into an owl sitting in the middle of the road in the thick fog…he was lovely, with giant eyes and he didn’t move but just gave me a look as if to say “please dim your lights I’m very busy hunting for my supper”. November is grey, green and rusty brown; everything seems to be covered in spider’s webs and little pearls.

My Gocco owl prints needed jazzing up a bit so I added a bit of heat transfer,water colour and random bits of collage.Maybe I’ll be able to sell a few at the Christmas Extravaganza in Osmotherley Village Hall on December 6th if Lindsey will let me share her stand.

Since I last wrote I’ve been having another look at Holly Flanagan’s blog and  Facebook group, discovering her fantastic success since leaving CCAD. She’s designing for Hugo Boss and meeting all sorts of famous artists and designers so HURRAY for a Textiles and Surface Design success story!! I think she might be at the next Designers Marketplace in Middlesbrough so grab a bargain before she gets too famous!

( Reading: last weeks Guardian!   Listening to: Dandy Warhols )

 

Fly Me To The Moon

Today was the first day of ice and mild panic about Christmas…there were also ants in the kitchen and sheep in the garden.

I had a first attempt at making a lined purse with a zip and it kind of worked so hopefully I’ll be able to make a few to take to a couple of craft fairs and re-stock my Etsy shop which is looking a bit empty. I want to do a simple print and a tiny bit of embroidery on them , then I’ll have to set up a production line on the kitchen table. This one has some machine embroidery doodles I did ages ago and was just a quick experiment to see how long it took .

Now I have to go and get some sleep , its been a long weekend…but here is an image by the artist Peter Callesen , whose cut paper work is AMAZING. I loved this piece called “Alive, But Dead”. I struggle to cut out a simple stencil without chopping off the wrong bit but some of Callesen’s  work involves the cut out part becoming a three dimensional object such as these flowers or an angel in a cage; take a look at his website, I’m adding him to my wish list for when I get rich and can actually afford ART !!

DANGER “explosive atmosphere”!!!

I’ve been looking in my old “concept journal” from Minor Project at CCAD. These journals continue to provide ideas and research information so I’m actually heartbroken that the one I did for Major Project, with all my bear imagery, got lost by the college. ( If anyone sees it around the place PLEASE let me know ). These images are quick water colour sketches and heat transfer prints; I think I need to get a better camera though…

I had some more interest from a gallery today so I really do need to get some work ready to show them otherwise I will have missed the boat again. At the moment I’m waiting for new Gocco supplies and still struggling with the ink jet printer which is SO  frustrating as I needed to print out some cv’s and a job application form, grrr.

Bear Hugs

Doodling at silly o’clock at night last night; I still think bears not owls. And on a related subject, look at the sign I saw today in the field next to my parent’s house…I’ve never noticed it before and its actually hilarious in a bitter sweet way ( oh, and quite appropriate for Guy Fawkes Night too). I’m going to make some T-shirts…there’s inspiration all around us! x

(Reading: “The Winter Book” Tove Jansson)

” Why must she see owls and not flowers?…”

Heavy rain and multi-coloured carpets of fallen leaves and berries; the water at my house is undrinkable again, resembling watered down beer. On Sunday night I stood in the garden and watched the almost full moon racing through the clouds at a dizzying speed; concentrating hard to see the real picture…the moon moves slowly like an hour hand, while the clouds fly at break neck speed, and I stay still.

Anyway, enough ramblings, I’m writing to report my first Gocco success!! Annoyingly the design was a bit rushed and I’m kicking myself for not taking more care but it seems to be that you have to draw on the shiny side of the paper (thats the only thing I did differently).Unfortunately this is like drawing on waxed paper with a felt pen…there must be another way?

Here is a picture of Lindsey Murray, manning her stall at the Guild Hall last Saturday.We had a funny day, the event was a strange mixture of craft, bric-a-brack and knock off handbags (!) but was a learning curve. I think we learned that it is important to pitch your product to the right market so I’m hoping to work towards getting a stand at the next Designers Marketplace.

Now I’m going to have a look at my new book “Illustration Play -Craving For The Extraodinary” Viction:ary 2003, which just arrived today and is full of inspiring images of contemporary illustration such as collage, embroidery and amazing 3d paper cutting.Time for another log on the stove, there’s a chill in the air.

x

“One For Sorrow” ?

A little bit of good news today as I got a call to say I’ve sold a piece of work at the Saltbox gallery!

The Magpie was a print and embroidery sample for Minor Project during my degree at CCAD and its sale has given me hope that my new policy of NOT saluting Mr Magpie every time I see a solitary one, is actually bringing me luck. On this basis I think I will turn all superstitions on their heads and make a point of walking under ladders, putting new shoes on the table eating late blackberries!

I’ve been messing about with my bear drawing, creating brushes and simple repeats. Now I need to test my printer to see if the nice man in Ink to Print has managed to unblock the magenta print head.

Tomorrow I will be in York, helping Lindsey Murray with her stand at the Guild Hall…an early start so wish me luck, I’m not so great at mornings!

Have a good weekend.Enjoy Halloween x

“The owls are not what they seem…”

I think Autumn might be my favorite season. The rusty colours, smell of musty leaves, damp earth and slight decay mixed with the smoke from the wood stove and seasonal bonfires.Even the food of the season is cozy comfort food in shades of orange and brown! ( Pumpkin soup, baked potatoes and toffee apples).

Yesterday was a murky,foggy day, darkness drawing in fast (” oh no not another of our trips out in the dark!” said the kids) but we went to Thorpe Perrow Arboretum and scuffled through the leaves, trying to catch the falling ones before they landed so we could make wishes ( I did, but its a secret what I wished for).Aren’t the white Rowan berries lovely?

I didn’t get any pictures but I fell in love with the huge Eagle Owls in the falconry center, with their giant teddy bear eyes….must draw more owls.

Back on the mountain during one of my coffee and inspiration sessions with Lindsey Murray, I decided to give up on Gocco for the time being and revert to my old favorite, heat transfer. The first print worked really well on a piece of dyed curtain fabric but I’m not so sure of the pink background below;and the second print is always a little paler.

Now I need to do a few household chores before I get ready for a rare tv night, watching “Natural World” at 8pm ( a documentary about…..BEARS, surprise surprise!).

Magic Beans?

Another Gocco disaster! Jake thinks the screens might be duds or maybe the bulbs, since the image was only partly burned onto the screen. I drew a much more bold design this time, thinking it would be more likely to work, but have ended up consigning another useless screen to the stove’s flames.My only hope now is to stock up on some new supplies and hope that solves the problem…any ideas anyone?

Well, today’s events at work mean I may be having to take my design and artwork a little more seriously which is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m pleased to say that last week I managed to complete a group of six designs for New Leaf and will be starting some new things tomorrow after a trip to town on the hunt for some fabric.There’s also the chance to take part in a few craft fairs in the run up to Christmas; so off I go to have a think about what to sell to make my fortune…what I need is a cow to swap for some magic beans.

“Meek Bears …Affable Wolves”

Messing about with my heat transfer paints today and brewing endless coffee on the stove.These two sad looking bears are quick doodles using left over heat transfer papers, I like the way you can keep layering and reusing the papers to get very subtle effects.

If I were fantastic at paper cutting, like Rob Ryan or someone, the effects could be amazing. Must invest in some new blades for my knife…

I just discovered the blog of Trend Bible who contacted me after my graduate show at New Designers (2008). In the end they didn’t use my work which is a shame because it looks like a really interesting publication; some great inspiration and research, and they’re based in the North East.

Well, its time to put another log on the fire and do a bit of stitching.

(Listening to : “The Imagined Village” Various Artists/Real World – a contemporary reworking of English Folk music, including a great version of Tam Lyn by Benjamin Zephaniah and Eliza Carthy)

Caffeine and Sugar

A wild party in the village to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday this weekend,so it was nice today to have a quiet time getting down to some work and recovering from the excesses.

My motivation was helped by Lindsey coming up armed with a huge box of jelly teeth (an odd concept…toothbrush shaped sweets…) and a drawing board.Lindsey also works at the Golden Lion and is another of Osmotherley’s artists,currently in her final year of CCAD’s Textiles and Surface Design Degree. So ,coffee and sugar fueled we worked and put the world to rights all day. It really is so much easier to work sometimes when you are not alone and distracted by everything ;so thanks Lindsey and Good Luck to all the CCAD 3rd years!

Now I must do a bit more sewing and then I need to start the last Haruki Murakami  book on my list ” The Elephant Vanishes”, it had better be good, I’ve been saving it because the next one isn’t due to be published in English until 2011( I suppose I could try to learn Japanese before then!)

Until next time – here is a sign that I should have taken more notice of! ;@)

Fragile

Well I spent ages drawing this flowery bear last night but initial Gocco experiments were a total failure. I’m not entirely sure why , which is annoying because one of the major drawbacks with Gocco is that many of the parts can only be used once…and they’re not cheap or easy to find.After I’d ordered it I found out about another system called EZscreen which I’m wishing I’d gone for instead…oh well, you live and learn.

I’m not at work tonight because I’m still battling the cold…but here are a couple of images that have cheered me up today…a big fat bumble bee, busy in the garden yesterday and a funny group of characters outside a deli in Cape Cod that came in an e-mail from my parents today.I wish I could just jump on a plane and fly out there tomorrow, it looks fun.

I’ve just found out that today (Oct 15th) is “blog action day for climate change”. I was reading Olive Bites and will now follow some of her suggestions for eco computer use by switching off ( after changing my homepage to Blackle ) and going to bed to read “Sputnik Sweetheart” by candlelight.