Designing a print from commission to finish
31 March 2015
As you know, I love a good wander round Blog Land.
So much lovely stuff out there. Things to explore, things to try out, things to admire and things to just gawp at.
One blog I follow is Purple Podded Peas - the blog by Celia Hart who is an illustrator and print maker.
To be honest with you, I am not sure how I found Celia, but I like her style very much. To me it has that 'mid century' feel to it. I am not sure where she studied or who her influences are, but she lives in rural suffolk and grows purple podded peas and other unusual things in her vegetable patch.
Recently she had a commission to do an illustration for an article in a magazine - in fact I believe it is a column in the magazine and she will be providing a regular illustration.
She very kindly and generously shared the process of ideas, through the sketchbook development to the final print here. Go and have a little look. Worth a read, I think.
And she has a little on line shop too. You can buy cards and fabric. How lovely is that!
So much lovely stuff out there. Things to explore, things to try out, things to admire and things to just gawp at.
One blog I follow is Purple Podded Peas - the blog by Celia Hart who is an illustrator and print maker.
To be honest with you, I am not sure how I found Celia, but I like her style very much. To me it has that 'mid century' feel to it. I am not sure where she studied or who her influences are, but she lives in rural suffolk and grows purple podded peas and other unusual things in her vegetable patch.
Recently she had a commission to do an illustration for an article in a magazine - in fact I believe it is a column in the magazine and she will be providing a regular illustration.
She very kindly and generously shared the process of ideas, through the sketchbook development to the final print here. Go and have a little look. Worth a read, I think.
And she has a little on line shop too. You can buy cards and fabric. How lovely is that!
Getting organised (a bit)
29 March 2015
The creative muse is having a wee break - probably something to do with lack of sleep again - but I did manage to drag my weary body into the studio one evening this week.
This is a lovely reference collection.
The metallic Glaze gives a lovely subtle sheen. It does alter the colour of the underlying paint slightly but that varies in the light. I think there are tiny flecks of mica in the paint which is where the sheen comes from so the effect varies depending on the light source. Real potential with this product, though not sure where yet.
But the Treasure Golds -oh I am in love! I think possibly the nicest 'gold' products I have come across. Here I applied the colour with a small brush. You don't need much, th pigment is so thick. If you use too much you block out the colour underneath - not the purpose of the exercise.
You can see from the photographs how the different golds work so differently on the same colour paint. This is very exciting! And I only have two colours from the whole range. There are 21!
I could get dangerously tempted!
Right , I thought, time to get organised.
But don't worry, this isn't going to be a post about tidying up.
Instead, I thought I should start to creat myself a product reference book.
Somewhere on the web I have seen a lovely blog post by someone who has done just this. And if I could remember, I'd share that with you.
But I don't! Sorry.
Anyhow, this artist (she's out there somewhere. She might even be reading this post.) had a lovely little sketchbook kept for just for this purpose.
Somewhere on the web I have seen a lovely blog post by someone who has done just this. And if I could remember, I'd share that with you.
But I don't! Sorry.
Anyhow, this artist (she's out there somewhere. She might even be reading this post.) had a lovely little sketchbook kept for just for this purpose.
But no nice new virgin sketch book to hand - so I used paper instead. I think I will have to make a file.
I got out all of my Fresco Paints - those I already had in stock and the new ones I received the other day - and I painted them onto the paper.
I did five 'blobs' for each paint colour.
And then, when dry, I coloured one column of blobs with the new Metallic Glaze, one with the Amber Green Treasure Gold and one with the Florentine Treasure Gold.
And here are the results. The first and last columns are just the colour - the finishes are 2nd Column, Metallic Glaze; 3rd Amber Green; 4th Florentine. The photographs are taken under an electric light. And I thought I would spare you the whole collection. A choice few photos.
I did five 'blobs' for each paint colour.
And then, when dry, I coloured one column of blobs with the new Metallic Glaze, one with the Amber Green Treasure Gold and one with the Florentine Treasure Gold.
And here are the results. The first and last columns are just the colour - the finishes are 2nd Column, Metallic Glaze; 3rd Amber Green; 4th Florentine. The photographs are taken under an electric light. And I thought I would spare you the whole collection. A choice few photos.
This is a lovely reference collection.
The metallic Glaze gives a lovely subtle sheen. It does alter the colour of the underlying paint slightly but that varies in the light. I think there are tiny flecks of mica in the paint which is where the sheen comes from so the effect varies depending on the light source. Real potential with this product, though not sure where yet.
But the Treasure Golds -oh I am in love! I think possibly the nicest 'gold' products I have come across. Here I applied the colour with a small brush. You don't need much, th pigment is so thick. If you use too much you block out the colour underneath - not the purpose of the exercise.
You can see from the photographs how the different golds work so differently on the same colour paint. This is very exciting! And I only have two colours from the whole range. There are 21!
I could get dangerously tempted!
A little parcel in the post
21 March 2015
Recently I treated myself to a little something from those lovely people at Paper Artsy.
Some new paints (on the green/beige spectrum as I think you can see).
I also bought a new glaze. I have yet to try it but apparently it gives an ordinary acrylic a metallic sheen. That could be useful.
And then they kindly threw in a few free gifts.
I found an ink pad and tested them.
I don't really use stamps, but having said that they are quite nice, and the numbers in particular might be useful at some point.
You can apply it with your finger.
Laura Kemshall: Welcome to the Wooden House
20 March 2015
Laura Kemshall: Welcome to the Wooden House: It's taken a lot of work but we've gone from this... via this... to this... Our Wooden House is finally finished. ..."
And if you follow the link you can have a sneak peak, and most exciting of all I'm going in a course there in April!
I'll report back with oodles of photos which no doubt will take all this shed envy to the next level.
There will no doubt be some lovely art too.
More Shed Envy
19 March 2015
This shed envy is getting to be a recurring problem.
A little while ago I think I mentioned that the lovely Laura Kemshall had got herself a cricket pavilion. I had a bad case of Cricket Pavilion Envy.
This time, the shed in question belongs to my friends Rob and Andy. It's not a cricket pavilion so doesn't have the heritage and breeding that Laura's has, but in my opinion it is still a thing of beauty to be envied!
Here it is in their new garden up against the side wall.
In truth, this probably doesn't do it justice since it is looking a bit like a railway carriage, but it is far more handsome than this picture would suggest.
It is painted black because black is such a useful colour in a garden. It makes the object painted 'blend' in to the background. This will soon have climbing plants up the front wall here and an asparagus bed in front of it (the current plans anyway.)
It is 6m x 3m. In side this gives it the feel of two distinct spaces.
The inside walls have had a wash of white, and Rob and Andy put two small velux windows in the north facing roof slope. So it is full of light - ideal for artists.
Andy is running electric cables through plastic trunking and you can see that there are going to be plenty of power sockets. The trunking fits neatly against the walls.
The floor and roof has added insulation that they have put in. They did not insulate the walls, so it will be interesting to see how cosy it gets in the height of winter and that it does not overheat in the summer. It was chilly the day I visited but felt comfortable inside. The windows are double glazed.
Here you can see the full length. The far end will be the area with the decorating table etc. and has a sink (you can just see it on the right hand side) and the near end, close to the door, will be more of a display area.
The kiln is installed in the garage, and they will keep it there. This picture is taken from the garage door so they won't have miles to walk to fill and empty the kiln.
A little while ago I think I mentioned that the lovely Laura Kemshall had got herself a cricket pavilion. I had a bad case of Cricket Pavilion Envy.
This time, the shed in question belongs to my friends Rob and Andy. It's not a cricket pavilion so doesn't have the heritage and breeding that Laura's has, but in my opinion it is still a thing of beauty to be envied!
Here it is in their new garden up against the side wall.
In truth, this probably doesn't do it justice since it is looking a bit like a railway carriage, but it is far more handsome than this picture would suggest.
It is painted black because black is such a useful colour in a garden. It makes the object painted 'blend' in to the background. This will soon have climbing plants up the front wall here and an asparagus bed in front of it (the current plans anyway.)
It is 6m x 3m. In side this gives it the feel of two distinct spaces.
The inside walls have had a wash of white, and Rob and Andy put two small velux windows in the north facing roof slope. So it is full of light - ideal for artists.
Andy is running electric cables through plastic trunking and you can see that there are going to be plenty of power sockets. The trunking fits neatly against the walls.
The floor and roof has added insulation that they have put in. They did not insulate the walls, so it will be interesting to see how cosy it gets in the height of winter and that it does not overheat in the summer. It was chilly the day I visited but felt comfortable inside. The windows are double glazed.
Here you can see the full length. The far end will be the area with the decorating table etc. and has a sink (you can just see it on the right hand side) and the near end, close to the door, will be more of a display area.
The kiln is installed in the garage, and they will keep it there. This picture is taken from the garage door so they won't have miles to walk to fill and empty the kiln.
They are about to embark on a major remodelling exercise of the whole house (they moved in the autumn of last year) but having the studio set up and working will mean that while it is chaos all around they can still decorate lovely china.
By the way, if you want to treat yourself, pop over and buy a couple of mugs. You can never have too many mugs, in my opinion. And life is too short not to drink your tea or coffee out of nasty mugs.
Buckinghamshire Open Studios
13 March 2015
Back in January I told you about a one day course that I did at Morely College. I blogged about it here.
I hinted that, with a couple of colleagues, I hoped to do an 'open studios' event later this year.
Well - it's happening! We are in, and now it is full steam ahead with the preparations.
So, let me explain how we got to this point.
For a few years now I have been visiting open studio events in and around Milton Keynes. The Bucks open studios runs for the first three weeks every June. I have seen textile work, ceramics, printing and painting in venues as diverse as peoples Garden Studios, converted garage studios, churches and village halls.
I have marvelled at the quality of the work on display and the generosity of the artists who share their work so publicly. I have sipped tea in beautiful gardens adorned with stunning ceramic sculptures and, if I am wholly truthful, I have been a little envious of some of the stunning spaces that local artists work in. And I have wondered - could I do this? Should I do this?
I guess for us all there is always that nagging self doubt - am I good enough? Is my work good enough to share with other people? For the last couple of years I have tested this out with other textile people. I have submitted work to the contemporary quilt gallery at Festival of quilts and I'm pleased to say that I had have been selected on the two occasions that I submitted work. I have also entered machine embroidery pieces at the Uttoxeter quilt and stitch village event which runs every year in April.
But I am not really a quilter, although that is how I started on this journey. Really I am an embroiderer or, I suppose, mixed media artist. I guess the point is I don't really fit into a box very easily. And for this reason I don't have a particularly strong drive to enter work into the general Festival of quilts exhibition. I love looking at other peoples quilts but making them myself doesn't really float my boat artistically. So the question in my mind has been how do I show my work? What is the right environment? Who is my audience?
And for this reason I have been wondering about open studios for a little while now. And I have to say that really last year I thought, yes, I really ought to try the open studio event. So towards the back end of 2014 I did a bit of research and discovered how to apply for the Bucks open studios.
It was actually very straightforward. Once I'd found the organisers website (and my timing was perfect since the application had to be in by the end of January) it was then a case of joining the Visual Arts Group, who run the Open Studios event in Buckinghamshire, and then submitting an application.
I did not want to do this by myself, I felt from a visitor's point of view that a variety of work on show would be more appealing and I also was concerned that I might not have a large enough body of work to fill the space. So I contacted Jane Charles, who I had met doing city and guilds a few years ago, and she jumped at the opportunity to share the space. Jane in turn contacted another textile artist, Yvonne Elliott, who was also very enthusiastic about the opportunity.
So three of us are going to share my studio space.
Meanwhile, joining the Visual Arts Group and applying for the open studios seems to have opened more doors. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a local portrait artist, Peter Keegan, who invited us to partake in the Winslow Art Trail. This is really a localised promotion of the open studios event in the North Bucks area where we are based.
So with a couple of months to go we are focused on organising our contribution to the promotion of the event. We have a page on the main open Studios website, we are contributing to The Art Trail and we are designing a promotional logo for our own work.
And of course we are all busy creating new work. Peter advised us that last year over the 5 days he was open he had over 200 visitors! That is quite a daunting statistic but if we focus and we are organised I'm sure we will be fine.
DIARY DATE - BUCKINGHAMSHIRE OPEN STUDIOS RUNS FROM 6TH - 21ST JUNE 2015
DIARY DATE - BUCKINGHAMSHIRE OPEN STUDIOS RUNS FROM 6TH - 21ST JUNE 2015
So many books
10 March 2015
A bit of a browse along my bookshelves makes me realise just how many textile, technique or art related books I have.
These are but a tiny selection!
I've shared this one before - I'm such a fan of Mark Hearld.
Do you have a lot of books like this?
If I am honest, there are some that I hardly look at and some that I really don't like. I suppose I really ought to do a cull.
But then again, they're sitting on the shelf, not doing anyone any harm. Ok, they might collect a bit of dust, but I can live with a bit of dust (which is a good thing because the housework muse visits very rarely!)
And if I am having a dry patch, then they can be very comforting (just like reading other peoples blogs - they're a comfort too!)
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