Pity the Fool

No snow yet, but it’s on it’s way so I’ve heard.I’ve been doing a bit more doodling for Valentine cards; combining hand done elements (stitch, collage,drawing,print) with Photoshop.Here is the page from my sketch book and below, the finished design ( As usual all images on this blog are © KimTillyer 2009).The deadline for the competition has been extended until next Sunday but I’ve now used up my 5 entries and I think I should have taken a bit more time over them, oh well.

I just finished feeding the ponies and bolted back in to the house to make myself another pot of coffee and my treat for the day …a couple of books by Nick Bantock. Nick is a collage artist and author , now living in Canada. His book “Griffin & Sabine” was made into a computer game called “Ceremony of Innocence” a few years ago; but I prefer the physical reality of books to virtual reality of the screen.Now my hands have warmed up so I’ll say goodbye for now and snuggle down with those books.

( Oh goodness, I just realized I hadn’t disconnected from dial-up internet when I went outside, chatted with my neighbour, made coffee for David, brought in the firewood….I am going to get a MASSIVE phone bill…)

Solid Air

This blue sky was not today’s; today was fog,mist and endless shades of grey, green and brown. Mud ,mud ,mud. So, is this why I’m stuck in a colour rut, avoiding the bright summery colours that I should be using to make my designs more cheerful and jolly ? I feel like the green and grey have soaked into my bones…

Well, at least I had a productive day ; attending a Businesslink course on “Exploring Self-Employment” and calling in to the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk. The course was fine but not really specific enough for what I needed to know.It was good to meet the other people though and to talk about our ideas. The main point seemed to be to make sure you never undersell yourself, have belief in the value of what you do and do lots of networking.

These beautiful etchings are by Norman Ackroyd CBE,RA. whose work will be exhibited at the Zillah Bell Gallery from February 6- march 21.The staff at the gallery were getting very excited as they unpacked the boxes! Oh I wish we still had all the old etching stuff, I’d love to have a go.

Anyway, I’ve decided this post is dedicated to the memory of John Martyn who died yesterday. I listened to “Solid Air” as I drove to work and still love it, 25 years after I first heard it. These etchings could be made of solid air I think.

So, I hope my electric blanket will have done its job now and it will be safe to go to bed. The wind seems to be battering the windows and the drive home from work was pretty icy…will I wake up to snow? Brrr.

A Trip to the Waterfall

I’ve had fun this morning, fueled by much coffee, sending off some entries for the Tigerprint Valentine competition( since I was shamed by Lyndsay who got her beautiful card done in double quick time.)My first attempt is shown above, in crazily bad reproduction ( the only way it would upload before I turn 90!); you can see all the entries on the Tigerprint blog. Its nice to have a change from the kid’s embroidery designs and mess about on the computer for a while.

So, this was the scene last Friday when Carl and Lyndsay brought cake to the mountain and we walked to the waterfall to see if our careers had floated by without us noticing..! It turned out to be an inspiring day because over many many cups of tea, slices of cake and peanut butter on toast, we decided to do some doodling and planned to enter the Tigerprint competiton.Lyndsay showed me a few tricks on the computer as well; so it just proves that its really important to have creative people around you to offer support and encouragement ( and also a bit of friendly competition…I would probably not have bothered with the Valentine thing if Lyndsay hadn’t).Its easy to become discouraged and stuck in a rut without the creative environment of college.

Well, the fog has closed in around the house but its cozy in here with my freshly painted stove and calamine walls.I really must sew now, there’s no excuse.

Theft!

Have you noticed how the pallet is often more interesting than the painting? This is my pin-board in the corner of my cluttered kitchen and I think it looks so much nicer than some of the final designs I’ve done lately. I love the dusty colours of the used heat transfer paints and wish the effect on fabric was more predictable. I am pleased with some of the results though; it’s just that each design takes so long and I’m still not guaranteed a sale!

Its been a bad week here on Witchmountain, with shortages of firewood, hay for the ponies and a robbery on Sunday. Someone took Jake’s motorbike from the shed while I was at work in the village.Its not nice to think of someone spotching about while I’m not here and so cruel to steal from a child.

Anyway, on a more cheerful note, I’m hoping to catch a bit of Obama’s inauguration speech before I have to go to work. Last night we had a competition to try and name all the states of America…I got about 40 before admitting defeat! If you can’t make it to Washington D.C. today then Dover Books have an Obama paper doll book so you could act out your own inauguration ceremony! ( Dover also offer a free weekly download of images from their design books if you visit the website ).

Russian Bear

I had to show you these ! I was listening to a thing on Radio 4 about a Russian version of Winnie-the-Pooh that was animated in the 70’s (?). Vinni Pukh was hand drawn and features a lovely brown Russian bear, so much nicer than the nasty yellow Disney one. The background looks like it could be embroidered doesn’t it. Anyway, if you live in a place with sensible internet connection you can see the cartoons on YouTube ,I will have to wait until I go visiting next.

Green Shoots!

Things are feeling a lot more cheerful this week. I’m getting a bit more used to the idea of designing for Spring now that my cold has gone and there are some bulbs trying to grow in the neglected pots outside the door.

I’m struggling to find images to post that don’t cause copyright problems so this one is a muddle of bits from an embroidered design that I’ve disguised by Photoshopping it! Its made me wish I had access to the digital printer and screen printing facilities that I didn’t use enough while I was at college.Talking of college, I found a few more blogs from students about to start their Final Major Project. I really can’t believe it was only a few months ago that I was there; it does feel a bit like watching the bus you were meant to catch speed  past with everyone waving out of  the back window..

I had a visit from Lyndsay McBean who had managed to retrieve some of my old work from Redhill Productions( 5 months later…hmmm) Anyway, she’s got a lot of designs to do for them and I think she’ll do well because her painting and Illustrator work is so good and very professionally presented.Good Luck Lyndsay and thanks for coming to Witchmountain, I love getting visitors… always a good excuse for more coffee!

Right, time for a bit more sewing.

A Taste of Honey

A belated Happy New Year to you! Above is a clue to explain my absence. I think I may have cleaned out the remaining stocks of Trevor’s Heather Honey making strange and slightly alcoholic cold remedies. The worst thing has been the terrible New Year gloom that I have only just started to shake off. Is it because I broke a mirror on New Year’s Day or First Footed my own house after a nasty shift at the Golden Lion? Anyway the design work hasn’t been going so well and its been hard to remain upbeat and motivated.

Lisa at New Leaf has been fantastic, offering encouragement and guidance. Its such a different world to that of art college. So, whereas I love all things vintage , slightly frayed at the edges and a bit strange ;designing for the actual market involves careful following of seasonal trends and not drawing bears for summer! I have to say it is hard at times, particularly trying to balance what I see as my “real” work (designing) with the job that actually pays the bills ( pub wench!) and also being a fabulous mother who doesn’t ever leave the children home alone with a Potnoodle for tea…(oops!Oh the shame!)

So, here is my kitchen table with evidence of work in progress. Its time I got on with it so here are a couple of links for those in the mood to browse. Helen Rafferty is a 3rd year student at CCAD and has just started her blog. She e-mailed me for some advice and also pointed out that my work was on WGSN which helped to cheer me up a bit. I think it is so important for artists, students, designers or whatever ,to support and encourage each other as it can be a lonely existence. I was going to put in a link to my daughters blog but when I looked she had pressed delete by mistake, apparently it will get sorted out next week!

Back to the sewing hoop now.Lets hope 2009 turns out to be fabulous and full of inspiration and excitement! x