Paint like Picasso
22 July 2018
Back in the Spring I had a wonderful view of the Picasso Exhibition at Tate Modern in London.
I blogged about it here, thought not so much on Picasso since there were limitations on the photos you could take. I am not at all clear why - but I guess some of the works had been lent and there were rules imposed by the lenders.
Anyhow, that exhibition was quite impactful. It helped me understand Picasso a bit more - but I'm no art historian and my education is very lacking. Still a long way to go, though I do understand how he pushed the boundaries.
Meanwhile, over on the wonderful sharing community that is the Internet, I found this little video. It explains how Picasso painted this "Bust of a Woman" dating from 1909, just as he was beginning to explore Cubism.
And if you dig around a bit more, you find an explanatory page which puts the picture in a bit of context.
I hope you enjoy.
Oh, by the way, you have until the 9th September to see the exhibition. It is at Tate Modern. Worth the queues in my view.
Bucks Art Weeks 2018
17 June 2018
How did it get to be Bucks Art Weeks again so quickly? This is an annual event and it seems like only yesterday that we were packing up after Open Studios 2017 - for Bucks Art Weeks is Bucks Open Studios re-branded.
If you have been with me on the blogging and art journey for a while you may remember that my first foray into Open Studios was back in 2015 when I was living in Winslow. Sadly, that was also the year my Dad died so it was, overall, a strange experience.
However, it was an adventure, and reading the blog post back I remember what hard work it was to get the space organised. For that first venture into Open Studios my lovely friends Rob and Andy (of Rob Turner China) came to help us set up.
I should probably explain at this point, that the Us is Mix3d Stitch - because there are 3 of us and we all use stitch in our work. My Mix3d Stitch colleagues are Jane Charles (sometimes known as Smallbeans or Smallstitches) and Yvonne Elliott. (Jane is on the right in the picture below, Yvonne is on the left and I am in the middle).
Back to Open Studios - for the following two years we were at Christ the Cornerstone Church in Central Milton Keynes. You can read a bit about our adventures here. A fabulous space, but two years on we were ready to downsize again and make it a bit more 'domestic'.
Yvonne kindly volunteered her space (I have long since left Winslow, our first venue), so we set too to organise her work space into a display area.
This area is predominantly Jane's work, with one of my lampshades at the back.
We did not have big wall space so I only displayed smaller works, and of course a selection of lampshades.
We also took over the lounge - somewhere nice to sit and drink tea but also more wall space. Some of Yvonne's work and one of my lampshades.
Another corner in the main room. This is all Yvonne's work.
I took a selection of handmade cards over.
And my hearts - cut from my abstract paintings.
Buck Art Weeks runs from the 9th to the 24th June. As I type this there is one more week to go and we will be open again next weekend.
If you are reading this and you are anywhere near MK then our venue is 19, Kenchester, Bancroft, Milton Keynes. We open at11 am next Saturday and Sunday - the 23rd and 24th June. If you are reading this and you are in MK do pop in. There is tea and cake, as well as lovely arty stuff.
If you have been with me on the blogging and art journey for a while you may remember that my first foray into Open Studios was back in 2015 when I was living in Winslow. Sadly, that was also the year my Dad died so it was, overall, a strange experience.
However, it was an adventure, and reading the blog post back I remember what hard work it was to get the space organised. For that first venture into Open Studios my lovely friends Rob and Andy (of Rob Turner China) came to help us set up.
I should probably explain at this point, that the Us is Mix3d Stitch - because there are 3 of us and we all use stitch in our work. My Mix3d Stitch colleagues are Jane Charles (sometimes known as Smallbeans or Smallstitches) and Yvonne Elliott. (Jane is on the right in the picture below, Yvonne is on the left and I am in the middle).
Back to Open Studios - for the following two years we were at Christ the Cornerstone Church in Central Milton Keynes. You can read a bit about our adventures here. A fabulous space, but two years on we were ready to downsize again and make it a bit more 'domestic'.
Yvonne kindly volunteered her space (I have long since left Winslow, our first venue), so we set too to organise her work space into a display area.
This area is predominantly Jane's work, with one of my lampshades at the back.
We did not have big wall space so I only displayed smaller works, and of course a selection of lampshades.
We also took over the lounge - somewhere nice to sit and drink tea but also more wall space. Some of Yvonne's work and one of my lampshades.
Another corner in the main room. This is all Yvonne's work.
I took a selection of handmade cards over.
My new stitched mono-prints.
Buck Art Weeks runs from the 9th to the 24th June. As I type this there is one more week to go and we will be open again next weekend.
If you are reading this and you are anywhere near MK then our venue is 19, Kenchester, Bancroft, Milton Keynes. We open at11 am next Saturday and Sunday - the 23rd and 24th June. If you are reading this and you are in MK do pop in. There is tea and cake, as well as lovely arty stuff.
Mono printing on tissue paper
3 June 2018
Bucks Arts Weeks, formerly Bucks Open Studios, is nearly upon us.
So, I need to crack on in the studio.
Time to break out the print plate ( I bit of acrylic sheet - I have no idea where I got it! I might have hoiked it out of a bin somewhere!)
But I have rigged up a drying rack in the studio - a bit of string and a few pegs. Low tech but very effective.
I print onto tissue paper, then then I stick the tissue onto rag paper, hand colour and stitch.
Here, I added a bit of additional collage from my paper stash.
And stitching brings the whole thing to life.
Tate Modern and a weekend in London
31 May 2018
Back in April we had a mini break in London.
We stayed at The Rookery - a bit of a luxury, and one of London's most unusual little hotels.
It is tucked up Cowcross Street in Clerkenwell - just a stone throw up from Smithfield Market.
Now I am not a bit meat eater - in fact, I am almost veggie - but Smithfield is a historic corner of London. And poor old William Wallace met a grisly end in this corner of London.
The Rookery, it must be said, is not budget - but if you ever want to spoil yourself in London,it is worth every penny. It is like a little refuge tucked behind a very nondescript front door. In fact, you would hardly know there was a hotel there at all.
Not our room -but it could have been. It's a bit like staying in a historic house.
But this one was! That little bust in the fireplace was not at heavy as she looks!
Those books are genuine. All over the hotel are there are little piles of vintage books.
There is no restaurant at the hotel - you can order a simple breakfast, but as there are lots of places around for early morning sustenance this is not a problem.
Our first morning we went and had breakfast at The Modern Pantry in St Johns Square - just a short stroll away. Delicious - but I do recommend you book. It got very busy.
And we discovered a hidden little garden - the cloister of the Church of St John.
It turns out that this little patch of London has a long history - it seems that the square originated in the twelfth century as part of the priory of St John. This was the English base of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knight Hospitallers.
Over the centuries, what with the ravages of the Catholic Church under Henry VIII and later the town planning of the Luftwaffe, the priory is long gone. But a little garden and cloisters remain.
Apart from luxury accommodation and rather good breakfasts, we were also there to absorb a bit of culture.
Our primary reason was to see the Picasso exhibition - Love, Fame, Tragedy - at Tate Modern.
And, although crowded this was brilliant. Basically, it took one year (1932) of this extraordinary artists life and laid it out through his work. And I think for the first time, I really got the genius of Picasso.
Photography was very restricted, so the images here are borrowed from the Tate.
It is on until September. Worth a visit if you are in London (book in advance!)
But elsewhere in Tate Modern we found this.
I cannot tell you how impactful this piece was.
Called 'Pavilion Suspended in a Room' it was by Cristina Iglesias.
Steel - yet it seemed 'stitched together'.
And we also found this by Eduardo Paolozzi - Tapestry from 1966 (you may recall that on a recent trip to Edinburgh I discovered a piece of Paolozzi sculpture outside the RBS Building)
Of course, as a Textile artist, I could not resist this.
Spring - what spring? (A bit late!)
28 May 2018
The seasons can be a bit bonkers.
I am tippety tapping this in late May - here in Milton Keynes we are having a bit of a heat wave punctuated by dramatic thunder storms.
But I am having a little photo sort out and edit and remembered that back in April I saved a few photos under the title " Spring - what spring?"
And back then the cold and the wet seemed interminable - would it ever end?
Spring flowers did their best, but dog walks seemed to be a constant battle with the mud.
Even the monk at Bradwell Abbey was beyond saturated. I think he was beginning to get wet rot!
Mind you, my daffs were a joy. They flowered for weeks on end. They love it a bit chillsome.
And my tulips were showing signs of promise and delight (Oh - I do love a tulip!)
And as the days got longer we enjoyed some lovely dog walks. This little corner is at a local graveyard at Bradwell Village.
And then, down by the railway line - just look at that blossom. Hawthorn, I think.
A very short while later the tulips did their wonderful thing! Did you tell you how much I love a tulip?
That is a lavender behind. Looks a bit grey but I forgive it because the bees just love the flowers.
Spring seemed long and wet and grey. But now my tulips seem but a distant memory.
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