At Last...

the Evolon book is with the printer, which means that it is FINISHED...and it will be ready for FOQ. Hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who contributed, the copy will be in the mail for you as soon as I get them in my hot and sticky hands.

And yes, in case you were wondering, that IS the front cover. The background is one of my pieces, whilst the two pieces in the image in the centre are by other artists. Sally Bramald made a magnificent (and prize winning) whole cloth quilt for the book, which is the image above, while local artist Yvonne Autie made a wonderful rag rug bag, a close up of which is seen below. They both did a great job!

So what's to come in the book? Oh, two types of dyeing...no, make that three, or even four, as two types of rust dyeing are covered... what else? Working in series... knitting with Evolon (yes you read it right... doll making... clothing... I've tried to include something for everyone.

Now to get on with the Brusho book with a clear conscience!

Catching Up

a
with all the things that have been in abeyance recently. One of them was running a test print for Jill Arnold on Bertha, my lovely 24" Epson printer. As part of her MA (which she passed with distinction), she and another student collaborated on a knitting project, which involved a knitting survey. The results of that, together with a lot of knitting, form an installation, which they want to recreate for an upcoming exhibition. Bertha will be used to create five, six foot long banners with information from the questionnaires printed on it. We'll be using Lutradur 100, which has wonderful texture. That seemed really appropriate for a textile based project, though we did consider canvas, also.

I also took a couple of pictures of the gallery as I set it up...or at least, how I set the walls up; some of the ceramics and other craft works have been moved around since I did it. I tried to create a flow of colour and texture round the walls; the images show the first two sections. See what you think; notice how nicely the textile work fits in with the paintings. It's astonishing that so many galleries seem to be allergic to textile art...their loss, I think.

Tomorrow, Exquisite Evolon goes to print for the first time, and I settle into writing the Brusho book, in order to meet the deadline of 30 June...wish me luck! And I'll be lurking on Etsy, adding more items to the shop, I dare say, including some new beads. Not that I'm obsessive or anything...

Several days later...

and I'm excused from gallery duty. I promised you some pictures, and then singularly failed to provide them, mea culpa...will take camera in on Tuesday, and let you see what I did. What I did discover is how easy it is to irritate a gallery person. All you have to do is provide your work to them with no labelling, so they have to work through all the paperwork to find out the title, medium (sometimes it's not obvious), artist name and price. Or fail to fill in the paperwork properly, so that the gallery person can't find the above... Or, for that matter, provide new work without the wherewithal to hang it, so that said gallery person has to take time out to string the backs of paintings. Yes, it all happened to me, and I found it really irritating. An object lesson in How To Make The Gallery Person Your Enemy. Reverse it, of course, and you'll have a friend for life.

Meanwhile, I've taken the step of reopening my Etsy shop, in a fit of...I don't know quite what. Mostly, I think, it's the recognition that the job market is super quiet at present, and the likelihood of an HR job to supplement my income is very unlikely. So, this week, the Evolon book goes to print, ready for its launch at Festival of Quilts in August, and some of my smaller pieces of work go into the Etsy shop. I'm starting to dye again, as a fair amount of hand dyed fabric sold at Open Studios (hurrah!). I'll pop some of that onto Artmixter's Emporium, if anyone is interested. And I'm completing the work on the new Brusho book, which I hope to finish by the end of the month. I've learned lots about how to work with this stuff on fabric, as well as on paper; it's been fun to do.

So, that's where I am with it all. And, of course, there's Bertha, too, the setting up of profiles so that we can provide artists with consistent quality prints that are the colours they intended, as well as getting on with my own work. I think that's probably enough to be getting on with right now, don't you?

The images are of one of the beads I made last week, using Evolon which has been coloured with Brusho... I'm really pleased with the way they have been turning out, and yes, they'll be around on Etsy very shortly, if you're interested.

Returning From The Brink Of Disaster...

...or how to survive One Of Those Days. I'm definitely having one, and much of it centres round this piece, called 'Cave Drawings I'. It started as an inkjet print on Evolon, as I'm writing a section about doing just that thing at the moment. I then added some net, and some stitch, but felt it needed Something. A gel transfer, I thought. Forgetting, of course, that I hadn't actually set the ink (I use a spray). So, what happens? Ink runs in one section. No problem, I thought, just whip the gel back off again, which I did, and we'll add something to that area. I know, a print done on Bondaweb.

Problem was, the Bondaweb wasn't sticking well to the backing sheet, so I covered it with greaseproof paper and ironed it. So well, in fact, that it stuck to the greaseproof paper. No, that has never happened to me before, and to be honest, I didn't believe it. So I ran it through the printer, fusible side up. Nifty print of a fossil. Try to iron it onto the piece. It did. Trouble was, the paper didn't want to come off again. Stood for half an hour peeling it off laboriously. Some of the Bondaweb stayed on the piece, some of it didn't. In the meantime, I'd forgotten where exactly the original problem area was. Ahem. And I left a few pieces of the paper on the cloth, as they looked interesting.

Meanwhile, ran two other pieces of Bondaweb through the printer. One was successful; the other was eaten by the printer, and disgorged itself slowly in shreds. That kind of a day? Oh, yes. Still, I'm quite pleased by the work. Wait til you see the next one in the series...if I get that far...

What Do You Do...

when the BBC is showing a feature length episode of Casualty? Well, I don't know what you do, but I sit and stitch by hand. This piece has been hanging around for a while, only a third done. I used to take it to the Gallery to do on open days, but that stopped when I got the Paid Job. Last night seemed like a good moment to resume work on it, and despite a little jockeying for postion amongst the cats, and Merlin deciding that the thread was To Be Played With, I got quite a lot done. I'll be doing Open Studio in May this year, and I'd like to have some new pieces to show, other than the work I'm doing with BB. Besides, hand stitching is possible in lunch hours and the like, when I do go back to work.

The piece is provisionally entitled Strata, reflecting the way that the stitches increase in size in some places, as well as the markings of the rust, which seem stratified, somehow. The cloth is rust dyed silk habotai, stitched with cotton hand dyed threads by Myfanwy Hart. I very rarely dye my own threads, too fiddly for my liking, but I like Myfanwy's. I've got some rust dyed Evolon still to play with; there's instructions for that in the upcoming book, two different methods. I love the effect that rust dyeing gives; must do more of it. In the meantime, though, I'm happy to work on the first of BB's pieces; pictures of that tomorrow.

It's lovely to be back on the blog. Thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting for me to come back...and a particular thank you to everyone who comments. I read every one, and appreciate them greatly.

A Leap Of Faith

Last year was the year when I made my first true leap of faith. When we realised that the future of my husband's employers was a little...well...shaky, I decided to go back into HR. For me, that was a leap of faith. I didn't know if I could cope or not with the demands of paid employment, which was the reason I got (really) ill in the first place, last time round. But needs must when the devil drives, and I spent a joyful five months working in a great place, which is now, sadly, closed. You would have noticed the quiet blog, here, which was a direct result of the Paid Job, and for that, I'm sorry. I missed talking with you all. Now, though, I'm about to take another leap of faith, which is to continue to look for paid employment (anyone looking for a proactive HR Manager?), but to combine it with a simplification of my creative life. I'm coming back to textiles in a focussed way, with a bit of mixed media on the side.

You see, I've got a new toy. She's called Big Bertha, and she's a printer. She's not any old printer, though; she's an Epson 7880 (check her out here). I'm going to be working almost exclusively with images that are derived from photographs, just like the image at the top of the blog, one of the illustrations for the new Evolon book (more of that in a minute). She's too big for my studio, so she lives in the gallery in Dereham, where we'll be offering a range of services for artists and photographers based on BB. Watch this space for more details... but first, I need to master using her on cloth. That starts next week... the gallery may not know what hit them .

And the Evolon book. Yes, I know, I promised it for last year. I failed...but for a good reason (for once). I'm adding two new chapters, one on using evolon and the printer, another on distressing with heat. It will be ready in March; I hope you'll think it's worth the wait.

Oh, it's good to be back. I spent part of this afternoon in the studio...would still be there, but himself has a migraine, and the embellisher makes a lot of noise... I'm half way through working with my first large scale image on Lutradur. It's really exciting!

Finally, I wish you all a Guid New Year... one that is joyful, exciting and creative, just like mine!

Professional Procrastination

Never put off til tomorrow what you can put off til next week... no, that's not right, is it? But lots of people put things off indefinitely, and I can be numbered amongst them, sometimes... Usually, I'm waiting for 'the right time'. That special, elusive 'right' time, when I'll a. feel like it b. have everything available c. want to do it d. know I can do it e. have the time to do it....and I'm sure there are lots of other things that have to be in place before I can do whatever it is.

Now, if what I'm trying to do is something unpleasant, you could perhaps see the point in putting it off. But often, what I'm aiming to do is, in fact, what I WANT to be doing...or so I say, anyway. So what's wrong with that picture? I don't let anything get in between me and a bar of chocolate (my friends and colleagues will confirm that). So why would I let things get in the way of making art? Sometimes it's to do with not being ready. I have an idea for the new Quilters Guild Contemporary Quilt Group challenge, for instance. It's part of a much larger idea I have about scars, erosion and things breaking through to the surface from the depths. I've been playing with this for a while, working with marks and images in between the writing of the books. Sitting here, now, thinking about it, that series has been ready to make for a while. I've just been doing other things, like writing, and the Paid Job, and Festival of Quilts. All of those things are great fun, and a good way to spend my time. However, and it's a big however, it doesn't get the art made.

So, what do I really want? At the moment, I want to finish the Evolon book, which is so nearly done that it hurts, to send away all the orders I've had for the completed book over the last few days (thank you all!) and to call the bank for information that I need to complete my tax form. And oh, yes, I want to make art. So, today and tomorrow, I have the time I need to clear my feet, fulfil those orders, meet with the art teacher at the school to discuss a potential project, nip to the doctor's to collect my happy pills (always important!). I'll also run a workshop on Tuesday night, and hopefully go to my friend Jill's opening (it's her MA finals show, and I don't want to miss it). I might even manage to shoehorn a haircut into Tuesday pm... And then I have three days at work. And then it's the weekend, and I have four whole days to focus on the art and the book.

Procrastination is fine, if you've got the time for it. I don't. So I have focussed on the essentials, my commitments in the short term, and I've decided how to tackle them. Many of these things are just a phonecall away. That takes five minutes from a whole day. The post office will take an hour, so will the school visit. But that's still a lot of time to get moving on what needs to be done. I'll be able to sit down with the Evolon manuscript and see exactly where I am with it, and scope out how I'm going to finish it in the next week or so. I've done enough worrying about fixing it; now it's time to fix it. Deep breath, and on it goes.

I talk about procrastination at some length in the Creative Focus book. It doesn't get a chapter to itself, though; it isn't that important. We just make it important in our heads. A bit of planning and a lot of focus gets us to where we want to be, and quickly, too. And I might just get a small bar of chocolate to reward myself with after all that work...I am on a diet, after all! But the main reward for this kind of planning is the feeling you get afterwards, that you have achieved everything you needed to, and the time ahead is now clear to get on with what you really want to do.

ps You know you're not making enough art when you can't find a new photo for a blog post... this one is 'Sun God', one of the projects in the upcoming Evolon book, a rust dyed and stamped piece of Evolon, ready for stitch.

There's The Good News....

and the not so good news.... but there's more good than bad, hurrah! And even the bad, has some good attached...

The good news is that I'm back, after a long blog break which has had a lot to do with me returning to the world of Paid Employment, and combining it with Self Employment, and struggling to find the time to turn round, much less write my blog... The good news is that I'll be at Festival of Quilts, and when I'm not teaching, I'll be demonstrating at Spunart's stand (D25). Anyone coming to my Instant Postcards workshop will have the chance to work with the new Lutradur XL, which I think is amazing. It will make fab postcards, and I'm looking forward to making textile and mixed media books with it. I used the sample that Spunart sent me to back some small quilts; it's great for that, too. So hopefully I won't have to do too much ironing at FOQ this year; I plan to make a small book while I'm there.

And I'm not coming alone; I'm bringing two books with me. Lovely Lutradur is at the printers as we speak, along with 'Finding Your Creative Focus', my book on getting round creative blocks. They will be available from me during FOQ, and I'll be selling them through the Other Blog, as we did with the CDs (which will still be available).

The bad news, or the less good news, is that Exquisite Evolon is not going to be ready for this year's FOQ, though it will be ready by mid September, according to my printers. Part of the reason for that is that I'm working with a wonderful photographer, Haydn Rodgers, who has introduced me to his friend, designer Terry Symonds, who has created amazing covers for Lovely Lutradur's printed version, as well as 'Finding Your Creative Focus'. He is now going to work his magic on Exquisite Evolon; I'm sure you'll find it will have been worth the wait! In the meantime, feast your eyes on a couple of Haydn's photos for Exquisite Evolon, showing the jacket that is one of the projects in the book. There is layer upon layer of surface design on the jacket, and there are step by step directions on how to achieve this look, as well as the construction methods. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Sidetracked...

...again. I went into The Little Green Shed (TLGS to its friends)to redo one of the projects in the Exquisite Evolon book which I'm working on, which was fine. But then I had spare paint. And then I knocked some paint over. And all that resulted in a couple of interesting monoprints, which you'll see some other time, and this interesting piece called 'Mask' (click on the image to see a larger version, I think it's worth it...but then, I would...). It is A4 sized, and ready to stitch...or not... I can't make up my mind. Does textile art have to have stitch? Discuss.

I was delighted to see that Sandy had a good time at TLGS at the weekend...and that was without cake... I hope everyone who came over the weekend had as good a time as I did! See pictures of TLGS, and one of wee me, here

And now, of course, I'll have to tidy up TLGS for the last weekend of Norfolk Open Studios. There may not be cake this time, as I can't stretch a birthday quite that far, but there are always biscuits...

Keyhole Kate

I mentioned at some point that I was going to make dolls as one of the projects for the Evolon book. I spent some time today working on them, and here's a preview of the prototypes. Both are called 'Keyhole Kate', and they are, I think, great fun to look at and quick and easy to make. The small one is a brooch; the larger, a proper 'stuffed' doll, about I love the keyhole shape; it just asks to be reinterpreted as a doll... and here she is, in her beaded best. I've been making all kinds of other bits and pieces for Exquisite Evolon, including an interesting bag, something I rarely do. I'm really looking forward to FOQ; I'm teaching a workshop on working in series, and we'll be using Evolon. The more I use it, the more I like it!

Tomorrow's workshop at the gallery focusses on making little books, using some of the paste papers we made last time. I didn't get photos of the papers, though they are at present in my book press, flattening out, but I will remember my camera tomorrow, and we'll be able to look at the work. Last week's workshop was great fun, lots of laughing, coffee, wine (for those of us not driving) and chocolate... so roll on more fun tomorrow!

Deadlines...

really aren't my thing. I just got a polite email from Virginia Spiegel, reminding me that the deadline for Collage Mania is...well... Wednesday. That's okay, thought I, I have my pieces done, I just need to photograph them and all will be well with the world. Wrong. For some reason, I made them smaller than the required size, which meant that mounting them was the order of the day. By this time, of course, I was a tad overexcited. As luck would have it, I was given a load of mount board by my gallery, so cutting it to size and mounting the pieces was quite straightforward. And, as you can see, they photographed fairly well, too.

The first piece, Being Blue, is made from hand made paper, with a layer of voile over it, and has pieces added on both above and below the voile, and a machine stitched circle. The two pieces that follow, Grey Moon and Almost Four, are made from Evolon, and will feature in my book, 'Exquisite Evolon', when it appears in the summer; Grey Moon is embellished with pieces of silk, while Almost Four is an original print. Finally, Dizzy is collaged cloth, with some beads attached. All four pieces have been included in honour of my much loved friend, Lynn Bunis, of whom I have written before. She lost her fight with cancer last year, so it seems only fitting that two of the pieces I'm submitting feature cloth from her stash, as she was an American living in Scotland, and Collage Mania is a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society.

If you haven't come across Collage Mania before, check it out! The list of participants is here
This is a great opportunity to purchase some wonderful art from some very well known artists, at affordable prices, and in a very good cause. Run, don't walk!

Evolon? What's Evolon?

It's at times like these that I really wish we had textured images, because trying to explain Evolon without offering you a piece to stroke is really rather difficult! The technical explanation of Evolon is that it is a microfibre cloth made from polyester and nylon fibres mixed together. To touch, it feels a bit like suede, or chamois leather, or even a very thin velvet. Because it is non woven, though, it doesn't fray, or discard little fluffy bits of yarn when you cut it (they make me sneeze, so I'm very grateful). As you can see, this lovely white cloth takes transfer dye beautifully, and it's lovely to stitch, either by hand or by machine; the top piece is machine stitched, the other has silk fabrics attached using the embellisher.

I met Evolon by chance; I had been talking to the lutradur agent in the UK, Mervyn Williams, and he showed me all sorts of interesting fabrics. The one I really loved was Evolon, and the poor man only had one sample at the time. Emphasis on the 'had'!! I enthused at length about it when I discovered how well it stitches and dyes, and the rest is history. I'm writing a book, Exquisite Evolon, which will be ready for Festival of Quilts this year (if it kills me...); I'm intending to show the many different ways that this versatile, strong and truly lovely fabric cn be used. Yes, I'm biased. Sorry, can't help it! If you are looking for some Evolon, try Mervyn's site Spunart; if you ask him nicely, he'll send you a sample, too, and you can have your own Evolon to fondle!

I Stink...

of a remarkable combination of throat lozenge and vinegar. The throat lozenge, clearly, was taken internally; the vinegar, however, despite its healing history (Jack's head and brown paper, to name but one instance...), was not. I'm working on the Exquisite Evolon book this week, and decided to include a section on rust dyeing. Even as we speak, some incredibly rusty bits and pieces are smothered in evolon, lurking in a large seed tray, covered in bubble wrap, next to the central heating boiler. The cats are disgusted. They are, however, unlikely to mistake it for their litter tray...I hope...

I'm working hard, but getting nowhere, or at least it feels that way. And I've had a fluey type virus, which is continuing to lurk in my system (hence the stinky throat lozenge). Now, though, I'm off to do some evolon painting; my good friend Alison Lowe, who makes fab bags, has agreed to design one specially for the book, so I'm off to paint some evolon specifically for it. Clearly there are no images of the ongoing work to be shared (looking at bubblewrap in a seed tray is not my idea of fascinating... I'd rather watch paint dry, which is, of course, what I'm about to do next...). So I've put up an image of 'Blue Trees', which is an Evolon print I made a while ago, and is now resplendent in its frame.

By the way, I meant what I said in a previous post; I'm looking for artists to feature in the gallery section of Exquisite Evolon. If you have a piece of which you're particularly proud, and would like to see it published, this is your chance! Email me for more details. Oh, and a PS; there are still a couple of places available in the masterclass I'm running at FOQ this year, check out the site here for details!

Coaching and Writing...My Other Hats.

Ever wondered what a creative coach does? Well, I have tried to explain here, but there is nothing like hearing it from someone other than the coach! I'm featured on Anna's blog, Serendipity, here, so if you would like to see what I do, click on the link and find Anna's story.

When we get stuck, I think it is because we lose sight of what is important to us. Sometimes it takes a conversation with someone else, someone unrelated, to help us to see what is in front of our own noses. When I work with people, I remind them that they are the expert in their own process; I'm just a sounding board. Any answers you come up with during a session belong to you, not to me. I'm delighted that Anna got so much from her session with me. I'll be following up with her in a week's time, just to see how she is doing. I think it's essential, when you get an injection of enthusiasm, that you follow it through. Support is something we all need.

Of course, you don't need to be stuck to work with a coach. You might just have the feeling that there is another direction you could be taking, if only you knew what it was... Talking to a coach about your work can show you that hidden path. Or maybe you aren't sure about the direction you are going in, or just plain what direction to take. A conversation with a coach can clear that up in your own head, which, of course, is all that's needed. Or maybe you need to learn a particular skill, like managing your time, or how to motivate yourself. Working with a coach can sort that out, and help you to create a process that is tailored to your needs.

I've been asked about the book I'm writing currently, too, so I thought I'd mention it here, as it is related to the coaching. 'Extending The Zone' pretty much covers all the things I've mentioned here. I wanted to write a book that combined my art experience with my self development management experience. All the tools I've used in business, like time management, apply in the art world, too. It's just a question of tailoring them to suit each individual, and the book is written in such a way as to encourage you to work in your own way, in your own pace, and tailor the process to meet your needs. I hope it will be out in the Spring...it's nearly finished! It will appear as both an Ebook and a printed book, so you will have a choice.

So, that's what I'm up to at present. Working on the book, and working with other people, as well as making my own work. And of course, working on Exquisite Evolon, the follow up to Lovely Lutradur. I'm having a really good time, I have to say, combining all the things I love to do...just like this coach recommends!