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 )

 

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)

“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

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! ;@)

“The Return of the Native”

Rain, rain, rain.The beginning of September has brought an end to a fairly miserable summer for me, “things can only get better” ( touch wood)! The heather on the moor is almost finished and the leaves are slowly beginning to turn.

I started doing these designs for New Leaf but have decided to rework them as possible pieces for an exhibition in October, since although I love the dull colours I’m fairly sure they are not “on trend” for kids fashion.

So, this evening I’m hoping to do a bit of drawing, coffee drinking and being inspired by “men and sheds” ;instead I expect my thoughts will be with a certain airplane, making its way back from Canada…a little too early and a little too late.

Meanwhile, you just have time to head over to Louise Broomhead’s blog and leave a comment in order to win a set of her lovely cards.Another event you might be interested in is VenetiaRed’s “Dress to Impress and Destress” tomorrow night in Middlesbrough.(Details below)Unfortunately I won’t be able to de-stress as I’ll be at work more likely feeling distressed!

I also received an e-mail from Catherine Howard a designer maker and technician from CCAD who is starting a networking group for people working in the creative sector. The first meeting is on September 19th at the Ship Inn, Low Road, Middlestone, County Durham. DL14 8AB. Tel. 01388 810904.( contact Catherine if you want more details cjhoward01@hotmail.com)

Ok, thats enough free publicity! Back to the sketchbook.

4,708 Miles West

Today I got down on my knees in the vegetable patch and searched for signs of life… I found microscopic beetroots and tiny spinach seedlings. It’ll be a long time before a meal can be made from that crop! We had a lovely evening walk and came across a woodpecker’s nest full of screeching babies, some tiny pink flowers I’d never seen before (must look them up) and a gamekeeper who invited me to his wedding.

I’m enjoying just randomly doodling in my sketchbook at the moment. The green cow parsley and flowers are a heat transfer sketch for a t-shirt and the page also includes fabric collage and stitch as well as bits of a map of Canada.The bear is a quick sketch of brown bear from Berlin Zoo which I saw on TinyHappy earlier in the week. ( I’m not sure how I feel about zoos though, bears need to be free I think)

Time to head up the apples and pears now and read a bit more of “Atonement”.Don’t forget its CCAD’s degree shows (including Textiles and Surface Design at Hartlepool) next week; opening night is the 4th of June.

The Bees Are Suspicious

I have finally put some things in my little virtual shop. You can have a look by going to KimTillyer.Etsy.com. The photos aren’t fantastic unfortunately; it really is getting desperate this lack of broadband situation. I just had to get my brother in Wiltshire to upload the images in to this post for me, which is crazy but also nice because he made up the title which made me smile… thanks little brother!( they must be the wrong bees…)

More family stuff… I made this flower necklace for my daughter’s birthday on Thursday. I really like it ( and luckily so did she) so I’ll be making a few more for the Etsy shop.

Now I must make some coffee. I had a good afternoon in the garden, discovering snowdrops and new shoots, under the rotting leaves that I’d forgotten to cut back in the autumn.The moles have ravaged the lawn but its so exciting to venture out and hope that soon all will be spring green.

Anyway, its worn me out so I’m off to put the kettle on.

Oh, here is a link to the blog of my friend Suzanne Auty who is another 3rd year student from CCAD’s Textiles and Surface Design degree. I love looking at these blogs and seeing how everyone is getting on.

Message in a Bottle

The trouble with working at home is that there is so much distraction, or rather, it is too easy to sit in pyjamas reading left over bits of the weekend’s papers! I should be sewing but I’m including updating this blog as part of my working day as it’s providing a link to the world beyond Witchmountain.

I was e-mailed by a student at CCAD this week and after a discussion about natural dyes she mentioned that my work was featured on WGSN (an online resource for students and professionals giving access to trends, inspiration and industry news). Its so flattering to see that they picked my designs after seeing them at New Designers and lovely to get a bit of an ego boost ( how nice to be included in the “Generation Now” section, ha ha!) but it’s made me wonder again about how on earth use of imagery can be controlled, or even if it should be…

If Helen hadn’t pointed it out to me I would never have known that WGSN had used images of my work, particularly as you can only access the site with a PIN number given to college.I guess they must have an arrangement with CCAD because photography at New Designers is not allowed without permission.

I was pleased to get to the Designer’s Market in Middlesbrough last Thursday, there were some great stalls and I’m kicking myself for not getting my act together in time to take one myself. It was so good to see a few people from my old college group and get inspired to start making some stuff to sell.

Time is the thing ;so enough of this waffle, its time to get some work done! Goodness, how am I going to fit Christmas in?

Winter

I haven’t been well this last week so I’ve been spending alot of time reading the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls-Wilder. There’s nothing like re-reading a childhood favorite when you’re poorly and those books make me feel so cozy with their tales of the hardships of pioneer life in the 1880’s. At the moment I’m up to “The Long Winter” which makes the two inches of snow today seem like nothing; however, I am snowed in and enjoying preparing fabric for some Spring designs.

The drawing above is of the willow house last winter.

I’m also doing a few postcard sized pieces which I wanted to send to the TS1 5X7 exhibition in Middlesbrough. The deadline is Friday though so it looks like I may not manage it unless the roads are good by then…

I’ve been thinking about the students at CCAD who will be just panicking about Minor Project and Dissertations around about now…Good Luck!

Leaves and Berries

Here are some lovely Rowan berries to get into the Autumnal spirit. The Rowan or Mountain Ash is also known as the Witch or “Wicken Tree” and is supposed to bring good luck if one takes root in your garden. One hasn’t taken root in my garden yet which could explain the lack of people hammering at my door offering me work!

At this time of year the berries look almost luminous on gloomy days and today is certainly one of those. It is cozy though to get the stove going and curl up with my latest bit of design work (some more heat transfer prints on fleece). I also got a chance to follow Lyndsay’s instructions and learn how to put a © watermark on to my images-thanks Lyndsay!

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Helen Stevens at Cleveland College of Art and Design,telling me about an event she is organizing at Middlesbrough Town Hall. It sounds great and I’m hoping to be able to get some stuff together for a stall.Apparently there are still stalls available so anyone who’s interested should take a look at the website, www.designersmarketplace.org.uk. Should be worth a visit anyway and as I’ve said before its about time Middlesbrough made the most of its creative talent.