This has been a long time in the making. I am sure you know how it is. You start something full of good intentions to progress quickly, but then stuff happens! Work (Paid employment!), life, more art, other ideas - you know, just stuff (and lack of discipline!) So those good intentions fell by the wayside.

This began a good couple of years ago. There was a prompt to enter journal quilts into an exhibition (I forget where and who was running it) and the theme was Memories in Black and White.



I was fiddling about with an image from my childhood.



My father was a very good amateur artist.  Had he come from a more middle class background I am sure he would have gone to art school, but for his generation and someone from his background, that was never going to happen.

So a bit later on, when we lived in Leicester in the early 1960s he went to evening school.  I remember lots of pots and jugs very much in the style of the day, but his major piece is a large sculpture we lovingly called 'Fred and Mabel', but I have no idea why.

It hangs on my parents garden wall to this day, peeping out from behind the ivy.



It was a technically challenging piece to make.  He had to make a clay sculpture first, I think (I never saw that), from which he cast a concrete mold (like an enormous jelly mold) which was huge and heavy.  From that he made the final piece, layering up fiberglass with a resin 'glue'.  Once set the concrete was broken away and the final, and very light, piece was revealed.  

It was initially painted quite a bright bronze, but now it has faded to a more metallic brownish colour.  And the fibre glass does need some repairs too.  It is coming up to 50 years old.  I think he finished it in about 1965 or 1966 (we cannot ask him now as he is suffering from dementia and must be in the final stages I think). 

You can see the Henry Moore influence I think.  Dad was a huge fan. 

So, having started this piece a while ago, but never really finishing it, I got cracking this year and with a bit of an effort managed it in time for Christmas.  I gave it to Mum and Dad as a Christmas Present. I am not sure if Mum appreciated it really (Dad certainly didn't - or not obviously) but as an image it means a great deal to me.  So I hope they can enjoy it. 

The technique was quite simple.  The background is tissue bonded to calico with a PVA water mix, and while still wet sprinkled with black Brusho Powdered inks .



Although 'back' the powder is a mix of colours and the effect when spinkled dry onto wet is just lovely.  There's a good tutorial here.

Silver highlights were added with foil and bondaweb. 


The actual image was mono printed onto lutrador (the finest weave) and then stitched onto the background and the ivy leaves are painted nylon (just acrylic paint in green and yellow) and then stitched with water soluble film so hold them in place while stitching.  The leaves were then in part stitched and stuck onto the back ground. 


I played about with a few ideas before settling on the lutrador.  I chose this because it is very subtle and I wanted to convey the concept of faded memories really. 






I love this piece, both the technique and the subject matter.  I have other ideas running around in my head, but oh so little time!!  

(ps that while line in the picture is a reflection on the blooming glass. I really need to learn how to take decent photos!)

The Last weekend in November was a celebration of makers.

In my last post I told you about this years workshop sale, the annual retail jamboree in South East London when I go and help my friends Rob and Andy.

Well, that same weekend was the Camberwell Open House event- where a number of artist/makers throw open their doors and welcome in the adoring public.

I did not have time to go to everyone, but I did seek out the house of Gabriela Szulman.

I think I might just be a little bit in love!

You know me, if I have one of those restless nights and being of a sharing and caring nature, I go wandering around the web to find lovely stuff to share with you, dear reader.

And via a very convoluted route involving fashion and style for the older woman (thank goodness for Helen Mirren and L'Oreal!) I came across the artist Sue Kreitzman.

I won't tell you about Sue because my interpretation of her philosophy will not do it any justice. Instead I suggest you follow these links to find out more about her yourself. I really really urge you to have a look. Her style might not necessarily be to your taste (I couldn't live in her flat - I would be just too creeped out by the dolls heads and mannequins she uses. It's a thing from my childhood. I must have been given a couple of ghastly dolls I think, for ever since then I have struggled with anything doll like, except, of course, the beautiful mixed media figures that Daughter No 1 makes). 

But I digress, popover and have a look (look at the videos too. There are a couple of links to videos about Sue where she describes her history as an artist and her philosophy or manifesto).

http://majesticdisorder.com/sue-kreitzman/

Okay, so what did you think?

For me I think what really hit home was the fact that suddenly, and seemingly out of the blue, she found Art. She came to Art relatively late but since then has had an overwhelming drive to create art. And it subsumes everything she does. She lives it (look at her flat) she wears it (look at her clothes) and she seems to breath it with every breath. 

I am not as consumed as Sue, but this strikes such a cord. 

 A very good friend said to me the other day, and he wasn't being cruel or unkind in any way, the world doesn't really need another stitched picture. And my response to him was "yes I know. But I have a drive to get stuff out. It is like it has been locked inside me for so long and now I have found the tap to release it." Sue manages to express that much better than I was able to.

And read her manifesto here 

So, if nothing else, I hope you will throw out any beige. For beige will kill you!

I think ( hope) I might be a WOW!! 

And then two pieces of inspiration hit. 

First of all this from Beryl Taylor ( a new one to me but she is clearly well known in the textile arts world). 

It was the paper and the beads that clicked. 

So I auditioned some beads. 

Coming together nicely, I think, though this lazy photo, taken with the iPad doesn't really do it justice. 

I did not manage to get stitching done on both pieces but here is the first, well on the way. 

I have put a mount in front of it to help me gauge the effect. 

The stitching was done over polyester organza which I then burnt away with a soldering iron, because that was less fiddly than using scissors and you can get close to the stitching. 

It's coming together, but still needs some more work. 

I need to let it rest now for a while.  It may need a bit of beading, some hand stitching or some more machine stitching. I'm not sure yet. 

Watch this space. 

And so I then did a bit of mono printing - using a sheet of plastic, acrylic paint with acrylic retarder (to slow it 'down' - I did want to be able to lift the paper up after printing and not be left with a stuck mess!) and tissue paper.

That gave me this (subsequently stuck down onto rag paper with matt medium).



And I have been fiddling about with additional printing, sticking, inking, more sticking etc. And I have been using some gold paint, hence the rather glossy photos. 

I feel I may be getting somewhere - so much so that tomorrow I am planning to get the sewing machine out and put a bit of stitch into them.

You know me!

If, for whatever reason, I am finding it difficult to be creative there is always the Internet - and I've found these to share with you. 

First up is a wonderful technique for laminating paper and then using the papers. Ellen Golla is an American artist who has always worked with paper ( by that I mean collage etc.) and is now into handmade books etc. 

This post illustrates the possibilities of sticking papers together with things trapped in between as a foundation for other art. 

Now I do lots of sticking paper down onto other things, but don't call it lamination. It's just what I do.   But perhaps I should.  Anyway, this shows there are lots more ideas to explore. 

Next up is a painting tutorial. This is not too full on and gives a good insight into how the artist built up his picture. I though it might make a useful reference. 

Have a look at the stunning creation, the Tansu Gothic on Randi Pankhursts site. 

So many possibibilities, so little time! 

I seem to have lost my Mojo!

Okay, so I am trying to do a drawing a day (well almost) and while that is satisfing up to a point I don't have any new work on the go. As a result, I have a bit of an itch but I'm struggling to scratch it! Does that make any sense at all?

Perhaps it's because things just feel a little bit disjointed all round. There have been changes in the day job, good changes but still changes, and I think, if I am honest, I feel as if I am treading water at the moment waiting for the next direction to present itself. Since I don't share much about the day job here, because the purpose of this blog wasn't to share the trials and tribulations of the day job but to share a creative life outside of it, that probably doesn't make much sense either. But having written it down, I do feel a bit better and a bit clearer on why the blockage may exist.

But just because my Mojo has disappeared it doesn't mean I'm doing nothing.

In no particular order my activities over last weekend were as follows:-

1.  Quilts delivered - another liaison in a carpark, this time the car park at the Redditch needle Museum. You may remember that I was involved with the 'Dislocation' Contemporary Quilt stand at Festival of Quilts. Since then I have been storing the 44 quilts in a neat stack under one of the tables in my studio. I have also been dispatching and collecting various quilts as they went on separate little journeys. I am pleased to say that the waifs and strays made it back in time to be reassembled in the stack and delivered to Amanda Wright Who is taking them to the court exhibition in Holland.  

2.  Dog walked! Also dog's claws trimmed, which might not seem like much but said dog hates having his toenails cut.  And we found these beauties on our walk, growing on a local allotment. The last hurrah of summer!

3.  More paper beads made. I seem to be quite addicted to the idea of paper beads and if I find scraps of paper that look promising rather than throw them away I am spending a happy hour rolling cylinder beads. I am beginning to assemble quite a collection where are they all tend to be the same shape. One thing I now want to sort out is how to finish them. Some people seem to use UTEE while others dip in a varnish. Any ideas? 

4.  Print blocks made. If you doubt, make a print block! The first I used inspiration from my sketchbook from Spain, the town walls at Avila. The second was just a random shape.

5.   Mono printing using the new wall print block and other print blocks from my collection (I call them blocks, but really they are foam shapes mounted on cardboard).  I used a piece of plastic and acrylic paint mixed with a retarder. I rolled the paints and retarder onto the plastic with the brayer, lifted paint off the surface of the blocks, and then printed onto tissue paper, pulling two prints for each image. I think I now have some potential materials to work with. Perhaps that will get my Mojo back!

Okay, so having written it out it doesn't look so bad! 

My favourite drawing pencil is still my 'work' pencil, a Rotring pencil with a 0.7 mm lead. I did not buy this pencil, it was a freebie from somewhere. It has Kingspan printed on the side. Kingspan make insulation materials and I think I might have picked it up at Ecobuild. (There's an example of the day job impacting on my 'dark' side.)

I am finding that the easiest thing to look at and draw are other peoples drawings. So I am using the internet to find pictures that I then draw. Ok, so that's not so pure, but actually doing something seems more important than where I a source the inspiration. 

Mostly I am sketching tea or coffee pots, but I follow the blog by Clive Hicks - Jenkins ( without doubt one of my favourite artists, discovered through Steph and Chloe Redfern).  And Clive posted this lovely, lovely sketch on his blog. 

I need to try it again, but using crayon to add colour. 

Go and visit Clive's Blog http://clivehicksjenkins.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/gold-and-death/

And I really loosened up this evening so I'm feeling bold enough to share ( though promise you'll keep this to yourself, dear reader!) 

Here you go.