Tips for finding inspiration

26 December 2016

We all have dry patches. Sometimes it seems that my own dry patches go on for weeks.



So posts like this can be very useful!

http://www.artistsnetwork.com/new-articles/technique-tuesdays-10-tips-for-finding-inspiration

I particularly like this post because it is varied and practical and warns against always relying on the internet!  Get out and look at art! Brilliant.

I hope you are not having a dry patch but if you are book mark this link for both eye candy and assistance! 
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Quick idea - gift tags

21 December 2016

Christmas is sneaking up on me. As always, December slides past me in a complete rush, and all my best intentions to be on top of everything fall by the wayside.

And this year it's tough to feel Christmassy with all the horrendous things going on in the world and the whole looming Brexit mess and the next incumbent of The White House. But hibernation for a decade isn't an option so here's an idea for some quick and effective gift tags for you. 

I used bought heart shape tags. Pre cut with a small hole and made of white card. I got mine in Hobbycraft. (They do other shapes too)

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/white-heart-tags-7-cm-30-pack/577657-1000

No great design input - I scribbled over the tags with neo colour water resistant crayons then sprinkled on faithful Brusho inks. 




Spritz with water then leave to dry. 


And then paint with Fresco Paint Metallic Glaze ( paint on very lightly - Brusho will run again if it gets wet so you want to quickly and gently just coat the tags to avoid to much re- activation). 



And you have yourself a rather classy tag. I used blues but of course this would be fab with more seasonal reds and glitter! 





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Handprinted, Bognor and Lisa Hooper

18 December 2016

Here in Blighty there is a very useful supplier of materials and general goodies for all things printmaking, including Gelli plates.

They also have a lovely website.

Based outside Bognor Regis (which is such a wonderful name for a place - and infamous for where King George the V is reported to have said "Bugger Bogner" shortly before his demise) Handprinted is run by a textile artist. So what's not to like!

Anyway, they also run a blog and recently featured the work of Lisa Hooper.

Now I love prints and was particularly taken with the work of this artist, previously unknown to me. And just look at that printing press!


Pop over to Handprinted to have a look at their goodies and also the Blog about Lisa Hooper. 

http://www.handprinted.co.uk/ramblings/meet-the-maker-lisa-hooper
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Lampshade making tutorial

15 December 2016



In my post about lampshades here, I said I would share a lampshade making tutorial with you.

I could have done this myself, but I am not geared up for filming (lots of artists are and I admire them, but my own films are a bit, well amateurish! And there are some great tutorials out there. 

I got my supplies from Dannells - they have fantastic kits to get you started and also the component parts once you get going. And the very best double sided tape I have ever come across. 

Here is their instruction video for a basic drum lampshade. 




Of course this uses a commercially available fabric. Which is absolutely fine. But the basic principle of making a lampshade offers lots of possibilities, such as:

  • Embroidered fabrics or papers (as I did)
  • Hand printed fabrics (I know that Miesje Chafer in Eastleigh has made lampshades from her own printed fabrics, but there is nothing on her website - still worth a look though) 
  • Use some sketch book designs and get them printed onto fabric. If you are in the UK then Laura Kemshall offers a fabric printing service. 
  • You could experiment with patchwork but I suggest experimenting a bit and shining light through the fabric as the seams will show when the light is turned on and might not give you the effect you want.

Happy lampshade making.


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Lampshades - it's been a production line

11 December 2016

This story begins back here, when I was experimenting with new inks. And maps! 

I had a plan and that plan has now come to fruition. 

But, dear reader, let us recap. 

You may recall I inherited a box of old maps after my dad passed and Mum was having a bit of a purge. She was up for throwing them away, so I volunteered to liberate them and offer them a chance at new life. 

I could have left them alone and just cut them up, but where is the challenge in that? 

So first up I coloured them with powdered inks - Brusho in this case but for some I also used infusion inks which include a walnut stain giving the colours a vintage feel. 

I use the powders dry - sprinkling them into the paper and then spritz with water. 


These inks have to be fixed. They are not permanent and if they get wet again will run. So when dry I used a universal fixative to make the colour permanent. 

I then made two styles of lampshade using these coloured maps. 

First up the closely embroidered shades. 


First of all I used coloured papers and foil to collage small organic shapes onto the coloured maps. 


Then I used organza to layer over the map. 

I backed the organza with Bondaweb. 


To make the organza manageable, I used squares and rectangles of the backed organza which I layered over the paper (these were substantial shapes, at least 6 inches on the smallest edge. I did not use little fiddly patchwork organza pieces). I pressed these down onto the maps with an iron in the normal way. Map paper is very forgiving and will happily get wet, dry out again and then take an iron without complaint.

Then I stitched. 




And here is the back of one of the maps showing the stitch detail. 


To make the lampshades I used kits available from here ( in fact, I only used one actual kit, the company sells the component parts separately. And I have to say they also sell really good double sided tape.)

I will share the tutorial on making up the actual lampshades separately.

Here is one of the finished articles. 


 I was very pleased with the result. 

Next up, much simpler sewing. 

Again I used maps coloured with inks. But this time all I did was use larger images cut out of a book which I stuck with a dab of clue just to position them and then stitched in place. 


Drum shape and oval shape. 




And finally a series of granny lampshades just using stitched papers, though some of the papers were from my stash of decorated papers (texture with gesso then coloured with paints and inks). No embroidery or embellishment st all - I just stitched the panels together. 

Now, it's very difficult photographing lights. There must be a knack. I haven't got it. 

But you get the gist. 

I love all of these I will be market testing them at The Workshop Sale. It will be interesting to see what reaction I get.  


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Folk art

16 November 2016

I follow a number of different blogs. Sometimes I am a regular reader (I never miss a post by Sheila).

Others, I confess, I dip in and out depending on what captures me.

And one of these is Poul Webb - and look what gems he has just found and is featuring!





I won't steal his thunder. 

You must pop over to his website to see the gems he has uncovered. Wonderful. 






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Jessica Sporn collaged backgrounds

14 November 2016

I love Jessica Sporn - her energy and commitment to her art.

And she is very generous, she shares a lot of techniques on her blog or on her Youtube Channel.

And I found this and thought it a very useful tutorial to make collaged and painted backgrounds.


Once I have cracked my latest project I want to try a bit of painting - or rather something without stitch. I wonder if I can?  This could be a useful starting point.

Hope you enjoy it and it gives you a few ideas too.
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Excuses, excuses....

12 November 2016

So, dear reader, yet again you must be feeling that I have neglected you. (Although you did have that little tour of London to enjoy). My blogging has been a bit sporadic!

But I have been putting my poor sewing machine through hell and back. And something had to give, and it was updating this blog. 

So where were we? (other than in London)

I was testing new inks in a previous post. Getting very excited about the possibilities that a bit of walnut stain mixed in with the ink powder would create. 


Then, wouldn't you just know, I reverted back to Brusho. Well for my next immediate project at least. 



I'm on a bit of a mission. Let me explain. 

Every year for as long as I can remember I have been doing the Workshop Sale with my lovely friends Rob and Andy. I have blogged about it many times. 

And last year I was brave enough ( some might say foolish) to jump in and do the sale off my own back. 

And this year I am doing the same. I have booked a space. 

And I want to test a new idea. 

Hence the radio silence here ( not because I want to keep it secret, but because I have been putting the ever faithful Pfaff through its paces). 

So, having tested the new inks I decided I needed a bit more pop - something a bit brighter. Hence back to Brusho. This was because I knew I was going to be using organza.  I needed something that could hold its own beneath the organza.

I used paper ( coloured book pages and gold foil) for collage. 





I backed the organza with Bondaweb. 


And I stitched and stitched. 


This gives you a flavour. 


Along the way we had a technical failure. The bottom stitch was failing horribly. Looping and jumping, I wound and rewound the bobbin, I kept re- fitting the bobbin casing but nothing worked.

In desperation I ended up on You Tube. I cannot even remember  the link, but it wasn't the bobbin at all. The simple message was 'if the bobbin is failing, look to the top' ( yes, I know, I know!!!) and the needle had dropped a fraction. Just a simple re-adjustment and all was sorted. Stress levels reduced dramatically!

Anyway, the finished product will soon be revealed so I will leave you here - which is incredibly annoying I know, but I am not sure if this is even going to work quite as I intended.








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Time out - day trip to the big smoke

8 November 2016


It's been full on in the studio and in the day job and there are family stresses to keep my grey matter churning and provide a lure to the dreaded Insomnia - and on top of that Gaz, my old dog is, I fear, sliding slightly disgracefully ( well it is Gaz, otherwise known as "Asbo Dog" and for good reason) into the twilight of his days. 

So, no excuse needed to grab a bit of time and head down to the big smoke to catch up with Son No 1 and partner. 

A beautiful Autumn sunny morning - very chillsome but bright. The train was packed! Why are so many people heading into London on a Sunday morning? The Arsenal shirts were a bit of a give away - a home game I am guessing, and like most Premier League teams, I'm also guessing that most of their supporters don't live within walking distance of the ground. 

It's amazing, but as I gazed out of the train Windows I realised that most of the fields, far from being brown after harvest and shutting down for winter, were already shimmering with new green shoots - Autumn planting. Anyone know anything about farming? What is planted in Autumn? 

By Hemel Hempstead the train was jammed - sardines springs to mind - and the sky was beginning to fill with ominous thundery grey clouds. (In fact, by the end if the day it was raining, but there's lot to tell you in the meantime.) 

First up, brunch in Soho. 

Princi in Wardour Street. Chaotic service but delicious scrambled eggs and coffee. It was packed and as we left the clientele was beginning to change over to lunchtime pizzas. 

It was good - not a destination, bucket list, "somewhere I should go before I die" sort of place, but good if you're in Soho and in need of breakfast. (For a bucket list breakfast you can't beat The Wolsey on Piccadilly, if you're wondering). 

Next up Christie's in St James. 

Now a high end art auction house is not my usual hang out, it should be said. But the reason for popping in was the BFC/Fashion Arts Foundation and Royal Academy of Arts fashion arts commissions pairing four fashion designers and visual artists to collaborate across art forms. 


The resulting works are on display at Christie's galleries in St James until 11th November after which they will be auctioned off. 

And one installation is a collaboration between Kit Neale and the sculptor Jonathan Trayte - a fully functioning cafe with free coffee and cake. The installation is called Milk. 



It was not busy. Sunday and St James is not really a throbbing London hub. It comes to life during the week and I saw pics from earlier in the week when it was really busy. 


I just loved the quirky furniture. 


And the stone and marble table tops. 



Some of the furniture has light fittings incorporated into it. 


 This tree (below) was by Alex Mullins and Amy Petra Woodward.


This rather industrial installation was by Agi and Sam and Joe Fraser. In truth I could not really relate to this, or indeed the tree. 


And then on the way out I spotted this little pair of figures "Maquette VIII The Watchers V" by Lynne Chadwicke. 


And then we meandered up to Mayfair. 

We cut up through Burlington Arcade - the Lalique shop caught my eye. Look at that vase! 


And the Jimmy Choo shop window - a vertical table top. (Difficult to see, but that's supposed to be a pile of little macaroons in the bottom).


And then into Sotheby's to see the collection of art belonging to David Bowie that is being auctioned.

Sotheby's was heaving. I'm not sure they quite realised what a visitor attraction they had unleashed. It was so busy it was difficult to see much of the work. 

A few highlights. 


This Cornish harbour by Bryan Wynter. 


A stoneware vase by Bernard a Leach. 


"Fatherland" by Ken Currie - a mixed media painting on a map of Bosnia.  The estimate on this was almost affordable. Ken Currie is still alive. 

Below, I loved this print by Wyndham Lewis. 


And finally there were a couple of huge paintings by John Bellamy. I could not photograph the whole thing so the images below are details from either end of a rather powerful triptych.




There was lots more - it was just too crowded to appreciate properly and certainly too crowded to photograph. 

One thing that did occur - My Bowie must have had a lot of wall space to enjoy his art collection. He really did have a lot of art work. 

























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