so. Central Rain

The view from Witchmountain is not like this today, the sky is heavy as lead and it feels like October. I’m really looking forward to London now as my head is starting to be as cloudy as the sky with too much thinking and not enough doing.I need a change of scene and a bit of inspiration.

These are details from sketch book pages and a little tiny moccasin I made to draw. I’m going to have a go at making some that will fit me, but its always a bit annoying making things that have to be a pair because the second one just seems like a chore! I guess I should have more patience.

I know I promised no more bears but this one just snuck in without asking.

I had an interview on Monday with an agent (very rare this far from London) and have been asked to have a go at doing some designs for girls age 6 to 11. Its all exciting but also makes me realize that college hasn’t really prepared me for the reality of being asked to produce “at least” two designs a day. I also need to “clean up” my designs and get to grips with Illustrator…a steep learning curve.

So, time to put aside the computer and do real things. Until next time…

Singing in The Rain

What a grey and miserable Midsummer’s Day. I’m sheltering in the kitchen before I have to go and do a bit of farming while my neighbours are on holiday.

Anyway, here is a cheerful character to brighten up a wet afternoon! Hippy Doll is a true vintage, circa 1967, I don’t know what my mum was thinking when she made this for me(!) but let me say she has been a fantastic role model, particularly her inability to sit up straight and her mad curly woolen hair!

I’ve finally sorted out my room and found a home for all my work… under the bed.I have an interview on Monday so I’ve been trying to put a portfolio together.Unfortunately I also found a crack in the wall through which you could actually feel the wind blowing..I thought it got a bit chilly in there!

The piece above was one of the designs for digital print that didn’t work out properly. I wanted to use it as a background to stitch into. Below is a design for a skirt that I made last year using my favorite heat transfer technique and layers of inkjet printed organza.

 

Well, I must go and brave the weather now. Just time for a quick recommendation…have a look at the work of Penny Macbeth who is Jane Thorniley-Walker’s sister. She does amazing portraits and makes wonderful flamboyant clothes and textile art. What a talented family!

 

What Goes Up Must Come Down

The show came down alot quicker than it went up, thank goodness and I now have 4 years worth of work piled up on my bedroom floor ( hope the dodgy beams hold out!).Next stop New Designers, July 3rd-6th. Here are a couple of details from Final Major Project, no more bears after this, honestly! They are heat transfer prints on cotton velvet with hand embroidery. The red bear is my favorite, he started out as an experiment using stencils and painted splodges, and as often happens, turned out to be better than the “real” pieces.

I looked on Tubbyphunk’s website this week and found some images of our show catalogue. They do look pretty good all together like that but I still can’t decide how they compare to previous years. I love the “eco” concept and the handmade element, but it would be interesting to know what “the industry” thinks of it. Anyway, for more points of view take a look at Carl’s blog and www.tubbyphunk.com.

At the weekend I painted the bathroom green and black and watched Atonement at last ( yes I cried, of course I did). I wish I could just swan about like Keira Knightley in that green dress but actually I think it may be time to put on my wellies and mow the lawn.

New Adventures

There are only two days left of the exhibition at Hartlepool Art Gallery so here at last are a few pictures of my bit, with Carl Liddle’s amazing digital prints just visible in the background.Carl is one of the students nominated for Texprint, along with Jess Blackwood,Samantha Harrington, Claire Salway and Zena O’Connor.

The work comes down on Monday and then in two weeks we’ll all be in London for New Designers. I’m really looking forward to it now. It’ll be interesting to compare our work with that of other colleges ( I hope it is interesting and not depressing!). Its at the Business Design Center, Islington (right near Angel tube) and well worth a visit as its not just textiles but ceramics and jewellery as well.

I’m hoping that this time I will be able to persuade someone to come to Fabric with me, its been far too long since I had a good dance and by then we should have had our results and be able to celebrate! If not I will have to wait until August and REM in Manchester :@) !!!

Friday the 13th and its raining on my washing. I hope its not bad luck that I posted some cv’s today. Its pretty cold so I’m going to look for another jumper and some fluffy socks and bake a cake for Father’s Day.

orange bear

Here is another bear to celebrate having had 1000 hits since starting this blogging lark;thank you. The drawing is a study sheet from my sketchbook and includes some motifs adapted from those used by the Déné and Kaska tribes of Native American Indians.

Today we had a visit from the external examiner who talked to us individually about our work and how we felt about it. She had also read our dissertations so it was nice to get some feedback from someone coming to it from a fresh point of view.

Today was also the day for planning the rota for New Designers which was a bit like getting toothpaste back in the tube! Quite a few students have interviews for Texprint while they are down in London. This is a great opportunity for them so, GOOD LUCK.

Tomorrow I’m going to take some photographs of the degree show and hopefully post them when my friend plugs me in to his Ethernet… so keep tuning in.

 

Misty Mountain Hop

Well its been a while but here is the view from my hilltop, taken early one morning ( which is highly out of character for me).

The opening night of the degree show went pretty well, although at one point I had to do a bit of emergency repair with masking tape and a hammer& nails. Thank you to every one who came, and those that didn’t still have time ( until June 15th). As usual I will post some pictures when I get near civilization but for now you will just have to believe me when I say that everyone’s work looked great and so did they, what with all the posh frocks and skyscraper shoes. I think we all got really stressed putting the show up, knowing it had to make the work look it’s best but only having a day to do it. I really wish I had given it more thought (there was a piece in “Creative Review” recommending that a degree show should be approached as a project of its own, not just flung together at the last minute) but in the end I reckon it wasn’t too bad;its always hard to view your own work objectively and its a shame that you often learn from your mistakes when its too late to change anything.

Meanwhile up on Witchmountain the grass is high as an elephant’s eye and the sun has got his hat on.A runner bean has decided to emerge at last but at this rate there I won’t be overrun with produce! on the subject of gardens,here is a link to a blog written by the guy who designed our degree show catalogue, he’s also a dj, (calls himself Tubbyphunk) but the garden blog is Homies & Gardens

I’m off to brew a pot of coffee and treat myself to a Violet Cream (or several).