Trade Secrets

Its a grim day today and I’ve finished the piece I’ve been working on so even though I’ve written loads this week I thought I’d go all school marmy and give you an insight into some of the ways I make my work. Look away now if you only stop by to laugh at my attempts at being an “outdoor type”.

So, in the previous post I showed you the kodatrace I’d drawn; I still have a bit more to do to it before screen printing but I thought I’d test it by doing some Cyanotype printing.First I had to prepare the paper and fabric by painting it with a special light sensitive coating (Potassium Ferricyanide and Ferric Ammonium Citrate). This goes on a yellowy green colour and needed to dry in a dark place before I could quickly arrange my drawing under a sheet of glass ( you can also use plants, feathers or even photographic negatives ).

Left in the sun ( this is the main problem for me , what happened to all that March sun?) the paper/fabric changes to a dark, dusty blue and then it is the moment of truth! Quickly run to the sink and rinse until the water runs clear…and as if by magic…

The rich cyan blue continues to develop as it dries and part of the fascination of this process is that it can be very variable and a bit hit and miss. Some of my experimental prints went a bit blurry because I’d put them on the table outside , on a cushion, under a sheet of glass, and they jumped off, blown away because the weather has been so wild.Anyway, you can get loads more information and instruction from this website if you want to give it a go. I’ve also seen this product which gives the same effect but in other colours… it sounds great but will have to wait until I’ve made my fortune and can do shopping again!

I’ve been using the printed fabric to do some hand embroidery which has made me realise how bad my poor old eyesight is getting. I’d really never noticed  until this year as I’ve always been massively shortsighted but now I’m having to peer over the top of my glasses to thread my needle and its impossible with contact lenses. Goodness what a depressing birthday treat… an optician appointment to get bi-focals, it’ll be a new set of gnashers next! There was an exhibition of wood engraving by June Crisfield Chapman when we visited The Bowes Museum last week , which was beautiful but it made me wonder how strong her glasses were and if years of reading ( and working at the pub) by candlelight have caused my downfall?

Now I just have to finish off this new cushion before putting the kettle on again. I’ve really enjoyed making this one and it will probably be listed on From the Wilde where Helen is doing a fantastic job promoting Witchmountain.Have a fabulous weekend everyone; I’ve been told I’m being taken somewhere for my birthday on Monday …perhaps its Specsavers!!

Don’t forget the giveaway competition, I’ll announce the winner when I get back so do leave a comment, you still have time.

“Lift me Higher”

Today, while the chickens sunbathed outside the window, I recovered from the weekend by drawing kodatrace designs with Lindsey. We drank coffee, ate sponge fingers and tried to whistle the national anthem while laughing. I can’t wait to do some printing and I do need to plan my time well as you only get 3 hours; my usual scatter gun approach will have to be tamed ; especially as I really can’t waste any fabric ( not at £22 a meter!). Once printed I will be able to add embroidery, hopefully while lying on a chaise longue in the garden, under a parasol.

The critical phrase in that last paragraph was ” recovered from the weekend”…once that would have meant in a darkened room with a bucket of painkillers and a lavender compress; not any more my friends …

No, I love dark sweaty clubs, thumping bass,unsuitable footwear and all the vices that go with them but I have to admit you can’t beat looking out at the world from the top of a very tall hill to lift you higher…as it were. The heat of my MacBook is soothing my tired legs and I have absolutely no guilt about the chocolate bar I’m about to eat when I finish writing.Just somebody please smack me if I ever buy a pair of beige “ladies walking trousers” .

Yesterday’s adventure was truly beautiful, once the evil uphill bit had ended and I could breath again. The ridge from Hopegill Head to Whiteside was lovely, despite the snow which fell from a clear sky and seemed to float upwards in a most dizzying way. On the way down ( known as the descent to fell walking types with beige trousers… ) I bounced over hummocks of springy moss and felt as though I could walk for ever.We cooled our feet in the icy beck with banks full of tiny violets (only visible to people who were starting to want to lie down)  and within moments of getting back in the car I was nearly asleep; so much for walking forever.

I have yet to spot a red squirrel but I did see and hear a wild raven for the first time, initially assuming it was Rupert making rude noises! I had only ever seen those at the Tower of London; poor city birds who must stay confined or, it is said, the Tower will fall.

Huge and enormously grateful and shy THANK YOUs to all the  people who have stopped by lately and been so kind and encouraging. In the spirit of random sharing here are some lovely people and places I’ve discovered recently… Bruce Hardy ( stunning pictures of the Lakes), Maricor/Maricar ( embroidery ), Les Ours d’Uzes ( in French so I’m luckily not able to buy everything on these pages and run about pretending to be in Wuthering Heights. French textiles and fashion …and les Ours means bears doesn’t it?)

Reading “Wild Olives” William Graves

The Reckoning of Time

“What a difference a day makes…24 little hours…” Last week I was in the garden, avoiding wasps and baring my poor old wintery legs to the world. Yesterday was a sideways blizzard which caused the stove to belch wood smoke into the kitchen and eventually cut off the electricity, phone and radio signal for about 14 hours. So this morning I made tea and porridge on the wood stove, worried about the poor plants, (newly emerged and 3 days ago basking in 20℃ heat) and wrapped a sleeping bag around the fish tank to try and keep the long suffering tropical fish from freezing to death. All this, combined with last week’s Pointless Petrol Panic, has given me the feeling that we are living on the edge.An open fire means we can at least keep warm and boil a kettle but the ideal would be solar panels, back boilers and a wind turbine. Even the radio failed until I switched it back to FM from DAB…

Goodness, I’ve really decided to embrace middle age, listen to me ranting on! But seriously, I’m really looking at the way I live and trying to make it more sustainable.The good thing about horrible weather is that it keeps you inside and I spent much of yesterday making  “kodatrace” colour separations, ready for doing some screen printing at CCAD after Easter. I can’t wait to have a day printing. The fox design will be two colours and then I’ll add embroidery before making them up in to cushions and possibly t-shirts.

Oh how I wish I had a slice of that cake left…I sometimes think I should have become a baker instead of going to art college. When “The Great Witchmountain Shed Project” gets off the ground I will be able to combine the two and we will draw and sew and print and eat cake all day long.

Now, before I go and draw some more foxes I thought I’d remind you about the strangeness of the Yorkshire weather by showing you these pictures I took on Sunday. Bridget’s blog about Port Mulgrave was so lovely that we went over to Runswick Bay and walked along the beach and the cliff top path to look down on the  little collection of fishermen’s huts.It was a glorious day and the rock pools were sparkling with pearly shells,and polished stones. I could have sat all day with a hamper of tea and sandwiches and a sketchbook ( I had neither unfortunately). Instead we skipped and slipped about on the seaweed covered rocks, searched for fossils and battled with brambles in a shortcut up the cliff.

I plan to have a lot of picnics this year and resolve to always carry a small sketchbook and pencil ,as I’m forever complaining that I wish I’d brought one. So, I leave you dreaming of warmer days and hoping that the cold snap has got the wasps but spared my plants! Don’t forget to have a look at From the Wilde and let me know what you think. Have a wonderful Easter.

The Wild West (of North Yorkshire)

Last Monday seems like weeks ago, so much has happened; or rather it feels as though it has. My head is buzzing with new plans and old hopes and fears…of which more later.

One thing I am going to have to solve is the camera problem… today I’m trying to take “professional” product shots to send to a new online marketplace I’ve joined, but using a camera phone just isn’t acceptable! The biggest frustration is trying to photograph landscapes though.Yesterday we went to Arizona….No! obviously not, it’s the Yorkshire Dales but it does feel like a BIG landscape. We had gone to Twistleton Scars for climbing ; this involving me sunbathing in a fetching red helmet and listening to curlews while Rupert got his bearings , thus giving me a lot of time to compose fabulous shots, only to find them looking less than impressive once I’d pressed the shutter. I needed a good zoom lens and some sort of large brimmed hat so that I could see the display properly. Oh dear, a bad workman always blames his tools, and before you go thinking I was some sort of super woman I’d better own up that I refused to leave solid ground and was a thoroughly rubbish climbing partner- we did have a lovely sausage bun and pint of tea in Ingleton though!

So, last week I had my meeting with Vicky Trainor, followed by visits from my fabulous creative friends, Lindsey, Bridget and Helen all of whom (along with your kind and encouraging comments recently) have got me fired up to keep going and try a few new directions. One thing I have done is join the online gallery From The Wilde in the hope that Helen Wilde’s amazing talent for promotion and links with the press will give my work a bit of a boost. I’m going to create work that is exclusive to From The Wilde and is a little more “up market” ( including the boxed and numbered cyanotype brooches below, and my bear cushions)

Possibly the biggest plan though remains firmly on the drawing board until all necessary permissions have been asked for and hopefully obtained, this is the dream of creating a small workspace/gallery/coffee shop in one of the buildings here at Witchmountain. Permission is only the beginning ,because then the real work of finding the £5,000 ( minimum) to make the building usable , will have to start in earnest. I’m not sure if I mentioned this a while ago but I was recently told that “small” grants were no longer available but bigger businesses were welcome to apply for up to £65,000; madness since a relatively small cash input could potentially raise my family above subsistence level and presumably therefore benefit the economy rather than be a drain on it? I don’t know; maths was never my strong point!

So, perhaps one day I will be able to offer you workshops on Witchmountain, with homemade cakes, lashings of coffee and maybe even a luxury yurt to stay in… what do you think?

Until then I will put the kettle back on and try to make a few more of these…

I was so excited to find that I could hand draw stencils for my cyanotype printing instead of just using leaves and flowers, feathers and old college koda traces.Before I go I’d just like to thank you again for reading, don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook too. x

Listening to :- “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” by Judith Kerr

Autumn Blues

This weekend I have been scuffling through Autumn leaves, dreaming up plans and making interesting “mistakes” with cyanotype. Sandwiched between two days of Novembery grey gloom, Sunday was the kind of day that makes you feel fizzy with excitment and possibilities. Perfect weather and a stunningly beautiful walk in a big circle around my house; sometimes its good to really explore the place where you live. From the top of Hawnby Moor, Witchmountain was a tiny dot and by the time we got home , through ancient oak woods, prickly dried heather, ink black pools and slippery wooden footbridges, it was dark and I could hardly bend to untie my poor old green DM’s!

I had to keep stopping to sniff the air and the leaves, Autumn smells so good…although perhaps the flask of hot Marmite slowly leaking in my backpack was confusing things a little.

Back to today, a flat grey Monday that finds me still sitting here struggling with motivation at lunchtime. I went to bed so full of ideas and plans but sometimes its hard to keep up the optimism and drive when nobody seems to want what you have to offer. Hard times eveywhere at the moment and a bit of personal re invention may be called for soon or I will be growing a beard, wearing pyjamas all day and only conversing with the birds!

So, the cyanotype is turning out to be lots of fun, although , as I said before,I do need some form of light which is the hardest part just now!I also need my printer to stop being so stroppy and spitting out the acetate complaining of a paper jam! The pieces I left on the windowsill to develop yesterday initially made me very sad; no design showed up and they were pale green instead of blue. I forgot about the “happy accidents” that often occur in printing and dying. After ironing dry, the most beautiful subtle patterns appeared and I can only assume this was because I was using wool instead of cotton. I just hope the designs don’t evaporate like invisible ink, a case of the emperor’s new clothes..

Goodness, its so dark now, and not even 4o’clock yet. I’d better have a run around the garden to soak up the last dregs of daylight before plugging in the sewing machine and making more coffee.

What is Autumn like where you are?

A Stolen Day

Another week begins on Witchmountain and I’m feeling cautiously optimistic; actually I’m feeling on top of the world but I’m really superstitious about shouting about it.  Other times I’ve said “Hurray, things are great just now” only to almost immediately loose internet connection, stub my toe, dye all the washing blue or receive a huge pile of bills in the post. Well, anyway, I’m feeling inspired, I’ve been out for a walk and done some gardening and its still morning so I have an afternoon of making and hopefully drawing to look forward to.

I’m really hoping those chemicals for making cyanotypes arrive today, and the labels to sew into my new wallets. Then I need to sort out my tax return and give some more thought to “target markets” and new places to sell things.

We went to the Lake District this weekend. At last, after a summer of disappointing weather we caught a near perfect day, stolen from fast approaching winter and as usual I have returned with cobwebs blown away and some lovely memories to inspire me.

The first thing that I wanted to show you is this amazing house, Rigg Beck . The  original Purple House  burned down in 2008 after a facinating history which included visits from poets, artists and actors. I’m not sure whether the new building is a private house or not but it certainly fits perfectly within its surroundings, even the flat roof is planted with moorland and alpine plants, while the curve of the main slate roof echos the summit of Causey Pike beyond.Proof that new buildings needn’t clash with the landscape in such sensitive and beautiful areas as the Lakes.

After our  attack on the summits of Causey Pike and Scar Crags I stumbled back to the car feeling like I had one leg shorter than the other and was desperate for tea and a cosy sit down. Rupert was probably desperate for me to stop moaning about all my various aches and pains too, so we made hot foot to Temporary Measure in Keswick . I just LOVE this place and it made my day to meet Emma and finally get to have that tea and cake I’ve been promising myself since I first saw the shop last year.

Have a look at the website and you will see the squashy sofa we sat on while enjoying this huge floral pot full of tea and the most delicious ginger fudge cake ( I’d earned it after all that walking and no butter for a week!) Then of course, being a sucker for bears I had to buy this small canvass which means I now have to stop typing and get back to the drawing board, or the sewing machine or whatever will be most likely to bring home the (veggie) bacon.

Oh, I almost forgot, I signed up for the Sketchbook Project again yesterday; late as usual so I’ll be panicking, but really looking forward to when it comes to London for the first time next year. Who else is taking part? Send me a link to your profile so we can compare notes ?

 

“Creating a Life Worth Living”

Yesterday I received two things that should be helping me use my time more productively.The first was a book called “Creating a Life Worth Living” by Carol Lloyd and it was very kindly passed on to me by Jules from Adventures in Thread , the second was a link to a very funny article by Charlie Brooker. As a reaction to being bombarded with information by Google Instant, as well as the other distractions the internet provides, Brooker recommends the “Pomedoro Technique”.The fact that I then spent time reading related articles and then telling people about it on Facebook instead of DOING something kind of proved a point.

Well, today I have been busy messing up the kitchen with some screen printing and heat transfering on little t-shirts with the idea of selling them at the November Designers Marketplace. I’ve also been doodling in the sketchbook which I’m finding quite hard…the paper is very thin and it is also very small (20x13cm). The subject (“I’m Sorry I Forgot You”) was chosen from a list so don’t worry if you think some of the words are a bit odd, I’m not having some kind of relapse.

Tiny little bits of each page are pleasing me but overall I’m as negative as ever!Now, I think I can smell burning t-shirt, I’d better check the steamer! If any of you are at a loose end this weekend this looks like it might be fun…

Personally I’m not a big fan of London pigeons, or those in any city actually, but I’m sure Selvedge and the V&A can make them look lovely!

Bleak House

Driving in the dark; the black road is edged in orange and russet as the larch needles fall like snow.Its wild and windy and a catalogue of small disasters has made it a bit bleak up here on Witchmountain ( the heating has stopped working, the washing has blown away and Jake accidentally knocked over a bottle of water in my room so that it has actually been raining on me ,INDOORS, smudging my drawing and almost killing my poor old computer!!)I can’t stop eating toast either, I’m going to end up big as a house.

Apart from all that, my new Gocco stuff came the other day ,so tomorrow I’m going to have another go with a new design and some fabric inks…as well as continuing to play with the old heat transfer dyes. This bird is a little doodle I’m going to try out tomorrow as well…that’s if I can brave the freezing house and don’t get tempted to stay snuggled up with Tove Jannson. I’m watching for the postman too because my Moo cards should be arriving soon….

( Reading “Who Will Comfort Toffle?” Tove Jansson. Listening to: the wind)

Here and Now

I learned that there is something called “Grab” on my computer so I can take shots of my screen…here is what I was doing at 5 o’clock! the reason I asked my brother about this was because I wanted to print out some blog pages to put in a book for the York exhibition; why is it that when you want to print it out the result is totally different to what you see on the screen? Does anyone know how to do this?!

The images above have been printed on to cotton ready to be stitched in to.I bought some “Jacquard” inkjet cotton and also some discharge paste from Ario and have been having fun experimenting. Ario were amazingly super fast delivering my order so I thought I’d give them a plug here, it all arrived the next morning,despite it being lunchtime when I placed the order.

Enough free advertising! I must go and do battle with the moles now, if only they would just pop up a few feet further over, in the field not the lawn…

Owls and Unicorns

September already.School term starts on Wednesday and it seems strange not to be thinking of going back to college.So I dug out some old pieces of embroidery whilst searching for inspiration. The fabric had been dyed using heather, strangely turning out this murky green rather than the amazing purple that covers the moors at the moment.I’ve been trying to take a picture while the heather is at its best, but the weather has been so gloomy and I’m not particularly fantastic at photography.Anyway it’s impossible to capture the way it feels to be completely surrounded by purple and green with the scent of honey in the air.

( Yorkshire Heather Honey as produced by Trevor Swales of Osmotherley, is the best in the world.Sadly this year many of his bees were struck down with a virus so stock up quick if you want some for your toast! Apparently it will be gold-dust this year…)

This unicorn is part of a design sheet I’ve been working on for Redhill Productions.I know I’m meant to be doing flat Illustrator work but I just couldn’t resist printing it out on to fabric and stitching into it a bit.As you can see from the owl above, I like to work with layers of print,appliqué and distressed fabric so I guess I’m just going to have to try harder to make my designs more commercial!

Reading :”Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” Hunter S. Thompson

Listening to : The Police “Bring on the Night” !!