Happy Birthday To Me...

and it has, indeed, been a happy day. I haven't done much of anything. Opened a couple of presents, drunk lots of coffee, chatted on the phone to friends and family, read a truly frivolous book, nibbled some very nice bitter chocolate; what more could a girl want?

The other thing I did today was to put stuff in envelopes to send to friends. I own Dijanne some black lutradur, which I've had for ages, and not got round to sending. And there's some promised fabric for friends, and the collaborative book going to Arashi... And then, there's the cloth in the picture, which is my starter piece for a surface design round robin that I'm taking part in on one of the lists I belong to. I think it'll be an interesting piece to work on...there's lots of empty space, just asking to be filled up with colour, texture and anything else anyone can think of! It is a cotton poplin, which takes dye like a dream. We're sending journals with the pieces, and I think it will be interesting to follow the development of the cloth as it goes round the group of five people.

Drift II ; a different take on the same size of canvas.

Drift 1. Amazing how a lick of paint can change things...

And So It Came To Pass...

that Verily, I became Norfolk's Most Unpopular Artist for last night. For lo, Robin did point out that he has to go out on Tuesday evening, also, so if there was to be any suspending of paintings , it would have to be then and there, or not at all. So, being me, I went for then and there, and had an evening punctuated by muttered curses, imprecations and other unpleasantnesses... but it was worth it! I now have ten pieces, strung and ready to hang. The photos prove it, lots of paintings, and a couple of textile pieces, one of which may seem familiar. Yes, I went with the four squares...but I do have another canvas, and another, single square to put on it. But I tried painting the background, and that seemed to work, so I cut some more squares, and came up with a second version. Not sure if I can legitimately call this a series, but hey...

So, just some admin to do, and I can deliver them happily to their destination, a little village called Bintree. I can say that with some certainty. This time yesterday, though, I was desperately hunting for the piece of paper that had the details on it, having spent a couple of weeks thinking, really must put that info in my diary... and of course, when I went to do so, I couldn't find it. There was a weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth....well, the tooth thing, anyway. There was an emptying of boxes and a clearing of tables. There was a phoning of friends, for commiserations and support...Sally even turned detective, and found an exhibit going on in the right area, with the right woman's name as curator....but the wrong church, as I discovered when I had a terribly civilised conversation with her. And she invited me to their private view, which can't be bad...

Finally, when Robin came back from Amsterdam, and before he started adding screws and D rings and who knows what to the paintings, he went methodically through my paperwork, and lo and behold, he did find the piece of paper I was looking for... Really must put that info in my diary now....

Deeply Unpopular

That'll be me, when Robin gets back from Amsterdam this evening. I knew there was something that we were supposed to do at the weekend, other than wander round other studios, and chatting to artists... And that was.... welllll...... getting the work ready to hang at the show I'm in next weekend. The paintings, and a couple of textile pieces, are to be delivered early on Thursday morning. Wednesday is my birthday, and we're going out for a meal. That leaves this evening, and Tuesday evening to put the hanging accoutrements on ten pieces. Yes, I could do it by myself...but I'm not exactly known for my grasp of the concept of 'straight'. As in 'hanging straight'. Or 'straight line'. Or even, 'equidistant'. So this task will fall to Robin. And he was up at 4am to be in good time for the early flight to Amsterdam for a business meeting (don't be jealous, the offices are right next to the terminal building). I think I'll tell him when he phones from Amsterdam, as he usually does before the flight. That way, at least he'll have the flight time to cool down!!

Now, where was that screwdriver...

And finally, the journal page. As you can see, I had a bit of a thing about calligraphy at that point...

One of the spreads from the collaborative book

A spread from the altered book that started all this off!

Logical Progression

It's fascinating to catch oneself building on previous learning. Some time ago, I got interested in altered books. An altered book, for those of you who haven't met that particular animal before (most people say, what, an altar book?), is a book, usually an old, unwanted, but well bound book, which has been altered by an artist. It might contain collage, more writing, painting...a whole range of techniques. Mine are usually very simple. I make paintings in them. Paintings are things that are usually hung on the wall, inviolate. No matter how textured, people don't touch them. A painting in a book, though, is meant to be touched, and a whole different relationship is created between the viewer and the image.

A couple of days ago, I decided to work on the collaborative project that I'm making with Arashi . It sprang out of a little book of paintings that he has been making, and featuring on his blog. We thought it would be fun to make collaborative works, where we respond to each other's paintings. Not being one to waste time, or do one thing when I can do two, I also began to varnish an altered book that I'd made some time before. I don't know about you, but when I'm working small, I always mix too much paint (and the reverse applies, big paintings never have enough...). What, I wondered, was I going to do with the excess? I don't throw out paint, I use it...but on what? So I made a collage, and that was fine...and still had more... And then I picked up a journal, an old, filled up journal, full of drawings and notes. Journals like this have always annoyed me, somehow. The text is interesting, the drawings will doubtless relate to some painting or other, but the whole, as an entity, I always feel is somewhat unsatisfying. But they lie around in the studio, and I leaf through them occasionally, and so I did that day. And a light came on in my head...

I used the last of the paint on a page of the journal...and was hooked, instantly. This was clearly the missing element of the journalling. People making artist's journals usually do this kind of colouring before the text is added, but I feel that that is somehow inappropriate for me. But working in reverse, after the fact, rather like the work in the altered book that I was varnishing, now that made sense to me. So, to show the progression, I'll upload a picture of each; a spread in the altered book, the collaborative book and the journal. See what you think.

Production Has Halted...

on these dolls, one of which went to Helen Simpson to wish her luck on her opening on Monday. Truth is, I've run out of bases for the twigs, and it's a lot easier to work on them when they are standing upright. When you work with them otherwise, you really need an extra hand, one to hold the twig, and the others to tie, bind, paint or whatever... The one pictured is Lady Lichen, who will appear in the exhibit we're running in September, Elemental.

I went to the framer, today, to collect three paintings that he'd framed for me. I don't usually care for frames, but two of these pieces look wonderful, framed, and the third will be fine once I've painted the frame...it doesn't suit the piece in natural pine, but will look good once it has changed to turquoise! Photos tomorrow, perhaps. I'm astonished how different the pieces look, now. More intense, somehow. It's intruiguing...something to ponder. Along with the thought of today, or rather, yesterday, do you really have to work this big? To which the answer is, yes, sometimes. And never, in textile. Guid gear, sma' buk, is the Scottish saying that covers it...good things come in little packages... That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

This Morning's Surprise...

was in my inbox when I came back from the post office, an email from my friend Sheila Browning, trainer and facilitator extraordinaire, and occasional artist, who uses her creativity to make magic in business, and occasionally in watercolour, too. I made Sheila and her lovely husband Archie a quilt to mark a significant anniversary, and they have it hanging in their hallway, as you can see from the photograph she kindly sent. It was made on the theme of gardens, as Archie is a gardener par excellence, and shakes his head over my weeds whenever he visits. It is quilted with a floral motif, as you may be able to see if you click the image to enlarge it.

People do ask occasionally if I make 'normal' quilts. By this, I think they mean functional (it's that, or the opposite must be abnormal, and we just won't go there...). Well, this is as close as it gets, these days. I have a log cabin quilt for my own bed, which must be about 20 years old now, doesn't time fly when you're making art... Robin's mother has a crazy quilt for her bed, which I made, also for a significant anniversary, and I seem to recall that Sheila and Archie's quilt was intended as a lap quilt...but clearly, it got diverted to a wall. Andrew also has a single bed quilt, which still seems to be living here with me...and I'm wondering if he wants one to mark his wedding. Sarah, any thoughts? Instructions? Whatever?

Sun Circle

I'm slowly getting back to some semblance of normality, and decided to clear out the paint studio, as there was altogether too much in it for me to contemplate actually working up there. So, I discovered several paintings that I'd forgotten I'd made, including one Very Big one, quite how I forgot that one, I'm not entirely sure... and, once that was done, and I'd cleared space on my table, I was able to work on a little quilt that my friend Sally Bramald sent me to paint. As always, the quilting on it was exquisite...it's just that, while brushing blue onto the centre circle, she managed to spill the paint...only to discover, as most of us have at some point, that (a) spilled paint goes everywhere and (b) once it's on, it's on... However, her loss was my gain, and I had a pleasant time adding more paint; I only hope she likes the end result. I think I may foil it...give it a glisten or two. Sun Circle it is, and it deserves to shine. And I have to say, it looks better in real time than it does in this photo...sorry, Sally!

Silk paper...for a water inspired totem doll.

Silk...

in this case, silk paper, part of the fruits of yesterday's work. I'm very pleased with it, it will look good on my totem dolls. I like, when I make these dolls, to use natural things, and silk certainly fits the bill. Just as well I don't have to worry about a winter wardrobe for them, though!

If it's May, and Norfolk, it has to be Festival time, and also time for Open Studios. I'm hoping to get round various studios this week, but this evening, I'm off to an opening, Helen Simpson, my partner in crime for the 'Creating Community' workshop, is showing at Open Studios (in St Margaret's Church in Norwich, for any locals reading...), so I'm going to go and enjoy looking at more of her work 'in the flesh', as it were.

Forgotten Pleasures

I had forgotten just how much I enjoy working with silk fibres. I decided to make some silk paper to adorn my totem dolls, and found some fibres from the fibre factory, which I bought the last time I was at an exhibition. Gently coloured, extremely soft, it has been therapeutic working with them. I rarely make silk paper, it was hugely fashionable for a time, and, being contrary, I stopped making it. But the fad or fashion or whatever it was seems to be over, and I had a happy time this morning making three sheets, two of beautiful blues, one of muted pinks and ecrus, leaving the lovely packet in the photograph to play with, next time.

I've been thinking about the turtle quilt, and have decided how to quilt it, very simply, but quite heavily. I enjoy painting quilts...the trick here will be to quilt so that the eye can interpret little bits of turtle amongst the paint, but not to recognise that the borders are different... so, a cup of coffee, some chocolate, a rest...and back to work. It doesn't keep the demons at bay, just mutes them, so I can get on with things...

Design Matters

Vernon asks good questions. Yesterday, he asked about the small embroidery piece I showed yesterday, 'I'm wondering why it became necessary to reduce it down to the bare minimum when repetition is one of the most effective design tools?' He's right, of course; repetition is effective, and it's one of the cornerstones of textile art, especially piecing and quilting. So I thought I'd try to answer his question, and I've put both pictures up side by side today, to let you compare.

When I started writing this, I thought the answer was simple. It was, I thought, a question of space. The canvasses are small, 8" square, the embroideries, 2.5" square. Putting four small squares on a small canvas felt somewhat squashed up, to me. A single square works better.
Or perhaps, a bigger canvas would look better.

And then I realised that that wasn't the whole truth. It is also a matter of where the viewer focusses the attention. In the four square piece, what pulls the eye, I think, is the flow of colour over the four squares, the way some colours and stitch move one way, and others, another. We look at the four, as if they were one. In the single piece, the eye has nowhere to go but the interior of that one embroidery. It is still; there is no movement outwith the edges of the piece. It is quiet, contemplative. I prefer it, though I still like the other piece...and will go buy a larger square canvas, next week, to see if that works better. It may not.

I think this is a wonderful example of working in reverse. I'd love to say that I consciously worked all this out, but it's quite obvious that I didn't. My unconscious was busy, designing, whilst the rest of me thought I was playing with some offcuts. At the end of the day, who cares...the end result is there, to be enjoyed. Which one do you prefer?

Outburst. Made from my own handdyes. The lower piece has been discharged and painted, too.

Turning Turtle, ready to quilt and paint

Sometimes...

we make things over complicated. Why have four embroidered squares on a piece, when one looks better? And why think about why you're depressed, when you can think about what to do to get yourself out of it? The why, I've discovered, doesn't help any, other than superficially. The what to do, is much more fun...even when you don't feel like doing anything other than pulling the covers over your head and having a damn good cry.

So...today, I pieced. Piecing, for me, is like knitting. If I'm doing it, it's a Bad Sign. But I talked to my new framer about stretching a painted quilt, he said, bring one in...but I don't have one to take in with me. I do, now. Turning Turtle, made from bits that someone gave me...eco, I think...aka Elizabeth Cherry Owen. And, while I was at it, I made 'outburst', too. Two bits of unrelated fabric put together...that look like an explosion...or the kind of thing that you say when you just can't bite your tongue any more... Turtle, will be painted, which is why it really doesn't matter that I couldn't find the fourth matching bit of border, most of which will disappear behind the work anyway... (note to self, tidy up that damn workroom, when you lose a piece of cloth you cut seconds before, it's time and then some...). Outburst, though, I suspect with be a quilt. No lutradur, no paint. Just quilt. Now, there's a novelty, for me at least.

Then, just to cement the improvement in mood, I went shopping. Food shopping. Robin is off to spend the weekend in Edinburgh, so I bought things that I like. Melon and strawberries for breakfast tomorrow, the ultimate self indulgence... and some fresh raspberries...and did I mention the Haagen Das Cookies and Cream icecream...? Oh, I did get chicken, and salad, and the like...but pudding always makes me feel indulged...

Scrap It

I'm in the kind of mood where I look at the work I've done, and think. Scrap it. This is rather an unfortunate frame of mind to be in when trying to select what to submit to an exhibition taking place later this month. Paintings, mainly. The textiles always manage to escape this kind of mood, perhaps because I'm infinitely more confident about them, than I am about the painting. Still, I took three pieces to the framer today, it'll be interesting to see how they look with frames on. I hate frames...rarely use them. Still, they have their uses. And the frames will be plain as plain, though I may paint them if I don't feel comfortable with the bare wood look...

This kind of mood is difficult to throw off, I find. It usually leads to a downward spiral, where not only the paintings are no good, but I am no good, either. And that's just no place for a depressive to go. Sometimes I know why the mood is around...extra stress, or an argument...other times, I am less sure. But for the meantime, I'll hold off on any big decisions until the mood has passed (they do, even when they are black and gloomy), and probably go for a nap.

Scrapping it, though, could also be the title of the piece I've photographed. Four small squares of lutradur over velvet, the trimmings from an earlier piece (the three red dots piece), arranged on a small, white canvas. Whether the canvas will remain white, or not, I'm not sure. I may cover it with something, or I may paint it. Either way, though, it seems to have an integrity of its own. Or it will have, when I get those damn squares to line up straight!! So it's not all gloom and doom today...perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Musing on Tuesday

Well, I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do this week. But I did make a start, clipping all the twigs to size for dolls, and beginning to make a tree totem doll, swathed in green silk fibres, with silk fibre hair and a feather in it. She needs sleeves...perhaps cascading leaves... sequins or beads, maybe... or lutradur leaves, such as Dijanne has in her gum tree pieces.

I'm tired, today, not entirely sure why. Robin had a tooth extracted yesterday, and has combined it with a viral infection (not, hopefully, in his mouth...), but has gone in to work determined to Soldier On... I woke in the night and couldn't hear him breathing, and had one of those moments where you think...is he? But we both woke at the alarm...so that was fine. And yes, I did check!

Another small piece, Flying A Kite, just a bit bigger than journal sized. It was quite comforting to be reminded by my friend Lynn that I do, in fact, make larger pieces from time to time. She tells me she might have room in the new extension they're building on their house, to hang a quilt I made them as a 'welcome to Scotland' housewarming present. It was, she reminds me, quite large, but I forget the dimensions.

Must Go Do Something...that was the last of the photos I've taken recently... or perhaps a nap?

A New Week.

Wonder what will turn up this week.... there's nothing in my diary, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nothing will happen. And there are plenty of things to be getting on with. I've begun another chapter of the lutradur book, and there are a couple of pieces in progress to illustrate one section of it, so they need to be worked on. Our next door neighbours (the ones in the converted chapel) cut down an ash tree, and gave me lots of twigs suitable for totem dolls, and I'd like to make some of those for the exhibit in September...dolls that represent the elements... so that's on the cards, too. Screenprinting with the big screens will have to wait...it's too windy today, and the weather too unsettled.

One of my goals for the year was to focus my work into one major theme, Before The Angels. That isn't happening, mainly, I think, because I have a tendency to work on whatever comes to mind, and then remember about the angels and think, oops...oh well! There's a bit of me that thinks that discipline would be A Good Thing. But the rest of me thinks that there's enough discipline in just turning up to Do The Work... Ah well, I never was a structured person. Queen of Chaos, that's me!

Postcards....

Just to prove I haven't forgotten my friends, I've been making more postcards...partly at a play day at Helen Howes' studio, with an interesting mix of people. Helen started us off, asking us to make a postcard with a line and a dot, using anything we could find in the studio...so I made the green piece to the left of the picture. The piece next to it, is the same green handdyed cloth, but with a scrap of some lovely fabric that Heather was working with. She kindly let me have some bits and pieces of fabric to take home, so doubtless it will feature in future cards!

Mostly, though, I played with stitch, and the other picture shows another set of cards, all made from the same fabric, a handdyed polycotton. No matter how often I do this kind of thing, like making small pieces, there's always something new to learn. Thank goodness! How boring life would be if we knew it all!! I think what I discovered yesterday, was that there is a use for small scale commercial prints, other than traditional blocks...they work really well in postcard sized pieces. I don't possess very much of that kind of thing (if any...), so perhaps a bit of swapping is in order, some handdyes for some small prints...hmmm...

More of The Same, Part II

It never ceases to amaze me just how differently these pieces end up. Some are more successful than others, but they are clearly from the same starting point... isn't that the joy of creativity, I suppose?

The next step in this process, methinks, will be to increase the size...so I get to do some more dye painting, and have some fun with it on a BIG scale (Helen, be warned, your tables are bigger than mine...), before cutting it up and stitching. Or maybe even cutting it up, stitching it back together and stitching.

I was talking to someone yesterday about how to develop work from a piece that you're happy with. I talked about finding the things you really like about a finished piece, and working out why that is, then finding options that would give you a similar result, but using different materials, and with a different effect. So, we talked about replacing couched fuzzy yarn, which she had used to great effect, with some beads. Similar textural feel to it, and similar movement in the piece, but the strength of the line itself would be diffused, slightly, depending on how the beads were positioned.

Quilters are known for collecting techniques, that they never use again...this is a good way of introducing them into your daily work, without pain! But remember: you have to focus on the good stuff in your work. Too often, we are busy looking at the line that could be straighter, or the colour that might not just have been what we wanted, after all...we criticise the piece into oblivion. Sometimes, those 'faults' just can't be seen by anyone else...and we have destroyed a perfectly good piece of work by nitpicking it to death. Look for the good bits, and build on them. You know it makes sense!

More Of The Same...

I was talking about cutting up pieces of hand painted fabric and working with them at a small size, last month, sometime. I thought I'd show you two more pieces, both from the same piece of fabric. It never ceases to amaze me how different pieces can turn out, even though the same original starting colours and textures are the same. The top piece is foiled, as well as stitched, the bottom just stitched. I dyed some turquoise fabric yesterday to use to back these pieces, as most of them seem to have some turquoise stitching in them. The addition of the fabric makes them sing.

Below, there is a larger piece, which is made with lutradur, but which carries the ideas on from some of the smaller pieces. Three Red Dots is related to Those Postcards. Its colours are a bit more definite in real life, the photograph was taken in bright sunlight...which is all we have here, today, sunshine and heat. Suddenly, it's spring going on summer, and I'm not complaining.

Down, Down, Down...

sixty feet, to be exact. Grimes Graves is the site of a Neolithic flint mine, a huge expanse of flat land with sudden craters, as if a space ship had been using it for target practice. One of the craters has a hut structure above it, and has been excavated out, so you can go down a steep metal ladder to see what is there. I don't like confined spaces, usually, and have been known to exit, stage right, when visiting mining museums that have shafts that can be visited. This, however, was fine, a vertical shaft which was well lit, and which proved fascinating. This photo doesn't do it justice (must fiddle around with PSP...or go back and take some more ). The textures on the rocks are incredible, even withstanding the modern penchant for adding initials to anything historic.

You will remember the newspaper article about a possible artist's community in Norfolk for artists with mental health issues. The response has been slow, but steady, and included an invitation to show some work in an exhibit at the end of the month, which I'm delighted about. Somehow, though, we got talking about depression and art on alternativequiltlist, the list I run on yahoogroups for textile artists. To cut a long story short, there was enough interest for me to decide to start a new yahoo group, artfelt , intended to support artists who deal with mental illness issues as well as creating art. As someone said to me recently, neither is easy to deal with, sometimes. I can't tell you more about the group; we will decide soon how we want to operate, and what our purpose is. If you're interested in joining, click on the link above, or email me direct.

Les Fleurs Du Mal

seems to be the title of this new painting. Not sure, entirely, where it came from (the painting, that is...the title is courtesy of Baudelaire, a 19th century French poet). Don't really care, to be honest. Just that a lot of my paintings just now seem to be garden or flower related. Me, who has brown thumbs, and regularly forgets about her garden...

Finally, I can get back to normal, Robin back to work, me with nothing structured to do. Feels goooood! Back to bed with a cup of coffee and my goals notebook, see where I've got to, and what needs doing this month...a chapter of the lutradur book, for sure. A play day at Helen's on Friday this week. And I need to find a temporary home for a painting that currently hangs in the studio. It is large, too large to hang in this house...but it has to move...I knocked my (rather unstable) palette over a couple of days ago, and left it bedaubed with inappropriate colour, which had to Come Off. Ah, the joys of creativity!

One of the pieces that June collaborated with. I think she has taken it a step further...June?

Norfolk Garden. Look carefully, and there is a figure in the garden...it's the closest to a self portrait I've made

Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

I was downloading some pictures from my camera to share with you today, when I noticed a folder that dated from almost exactly one year ago. So I added those pictures to my disc, and find myself wanting to talk about them.

I can see from the earier file, that I was collaborating with June Underwood; we were early on in the collaborations, I think this was one of the first. I was painting, working with the idea that 'joy is a quality of light', which produced 'Norfolk Garden'. And I was working on the beginnings of an idea for a new approach to art quilt making (at least for me), that I thought perhaps had a book in it, perhaps not...

What I find interesting, is that a full year on, I am still working on these things. The collaborative works have quietened down; June is working on her own stuff, and hugely successfully; her 'Mind Has Mountains' is currently on her blog; for me, it is the best thing she has done so far. I am still exploring that idea of new approaches to quiltmaking, and it is producing quilts that are paintings...or should that be paintings that are quilts? either way, I think the identity crisis is all mine, the works don't care what they are called!

As for the painting, the new piece is 'Chimera:Blue Goddess'. Like the piece I painted a year ago, 'Norfolk Garden', it plays with the idea that we are immersed, intimately linked, with each other and our surroundings. I don't do the science, but they tell me that our molecules are constantly reshifting and regrouping, leaving and, perhaps, returning... and if that's not right, I don't want to know about it, because I find it hugely comforting, somehow.

The new thing, I suppose, is the lutradur, that Dijanne introduced me to a while ago. The downside, if it can be considered such, of such an active, artful life, is that I find it difficult to apportion my time between all these diverse activities. I've been working hard with lutradur, so the painting has been left quietly sitting in the studio. I've been drawing with stitch, recently, as in the little postcard sized pieces I showed recently, so the drawing with pencils and pens has taken a back seat.

But that is only a problem if I forget that all these activities are really one and the same. They are the making of art... of expression. And that, for me at least, is all there is. Excuse me, I'm off to Get On With It!

PS

Whilst I've not been around this week, it has come to my notice that my friend Thelma has been very kindly tooting a trumpet on my behalf! I spoke about the little books I made, the Visual Poetry series, and about the 'Flying Dreams' series, of which she owns number two. She has very kindly put pictures up of both pieces of work on her blog, so that you can see what I'm talking about.

The One That Got Away

I talked about making a piece for an exhibit that had the theme of spring. Somehow, through illness and just general vagueness, I missed the exhibit...but I still have the piece. Originally, I started with a wool pieced base, but couldn't get it to express what I wanted to, and so have ended up with this piece, instead. It is called Emerging Spring, and it reflects the way that spring suddenly pops up, in gardens and fields, a shock of bright green amongst the dark browns and blues of winter. It is a piece of very fine hand dyed cotton, with wool felted into it randomly, machine quilted on a layer of dark green velvet, and mounted on a green cloth, stretched over canvas.

The idea was very simple. I hope the piece reflects that, even if the getting there was more complicated than I'd thought.

Locked Out

Well, who knows how long it will be before you read this? (Nearly a week, as it happens). Apparently, Blogger isn't satisfied with doing strange things to my blog the last time I posted (as you can see from the apparently identical, though differently titled, pieces from a couple of days ago). It told me it wasn't going to publish the first version, so I gave in, wrote another version, it published that, but when I went to look at it, it had published both. So I deleted one. Not so's you'd notice on the blog, as it is still there... ah me. Or it was when I wrote this originally...it seems to have gone now. Now, it has decided that I'm a spam blog. Or its spam-prevention robots have decided this. It seems to think that I post a lot of rubbish. I'm offended. Greatly. But I've applied to be unblocked...so presumably, eventually, I'll get to send this post.

Am I cross? Oh, yes. But it will give me time to sort out some interesting pictures from the sixty or so I took when out with Andrew, Sarah and Robin at Grimes Graves on Tuesday. Meanwhile, you'll just have to make do with a painting, 'Green River'. And the thought that I haven't really been doing all that much, art wise, other than pining for my studio and patting the odd bit of lutradur.

Normality Returns...

my interview has been printed in the EDP (sadly, it's not on line, though the newspaper itself it), and it was very helpful, making the workshop sound interesting and my work sound good, too. It's very gratifying when someone prints that my work 'sings from every canvas and cloth. Vibrant, energetic colours, different textiles and textures make you want to reach out and touch them'. Which is just the kind of effect I want to have on people, so I'm delighted.

Now, though, it's back to what laughingly passes for normality around here. Dealing with calls about the workshop (I hope), and the related admin, like creating posters and fliers, and getting back to work on some of the pieces I prepped earlier in the week. Like this piece here (click on the photo for a larger view), 'Three Blue Dots', a carry on from the Eight Blue Dots and a Blue Circle which I showed you a few days ago. I've decided to keep them together, and have a variety of thoughts on how to mount them, of which more another day. But, in the interests of international friendship and all that jazz, I'm in the process of making some more postcard sized pieces to send to my friends.

My son and his fiancee are en route to here to stay for a couple of days. With all these visitors, the house is remarkably clean and tidy, wish it would stay that way without the endless effort it takes to keep it...sigh...

Well...

I've done it, now. I talked to a very pleasant reporter from the local paper, about life, art, dancing with the demon depression and this new group we're trying to form. The article should appear tomorrow, complete with photographs, fortunately all with work in them, so there's something to look at other than wee me ! I have no idea what the reporter will say, but I know that what I said was that when you live with depression, you have a choice. You can disappear under it, allow it to take charge of your life, and live as if there was nothing other than depression in your life. Or you can accept it for what it is, a volatile illness that comes and goes in intensity, and live with it, focussing on what you are able to do, and not on what you are unable to do, and get on with doing it. And accept that sometimes, the demons will take over, and you will not be able to do anything at all for a while.

So, now I can perhaps get back to work! Maybe after a nap...

Fame At Last?

I recently met a lovely lady named Helen Simpson, who, as well as being an accomplished artist, is an occupational therapist specialising in employment and mental health. Understandably, she has a particular interest in working with artists. After a couple of long conversations, we agreed that there was a need for a group that would bring together artists with mental health problems, to see if we could support each other in meeting our personal goals, and to share information and support in facing the kind of challenges that artists with mental health face in day to day life.

Today, the press release advertising the workshop that will mark the beginning of the group was issued, and I've just had a phonecall from the local paper. They want to do a story about the group, and are coming tomorrow to interview me. I've never done anything quite like this before, so it will be a new experience for me. But I'm working on the principle that all publicity is good publicity. So, wish me luck!

One Of Those (Less Than Perfect) Days

You know the kind of thing. You visit the doctor, who doesn't know what's wrong with you, whether it's a virus, a bacterial infection or what. You break sundry machine needles. You fall asleep in an uncomfortable position and wake up with a stiff neck.

But there were some good points to today, too. I got a surprise package in the mail, my diary and sketch book, lost somewhere between Edinburgh and Norwich, sent by a kind man in Norwich Airport, thanks to the letter from the dentist with my address on. And a book from Amazon, 'Figuring It Out' by Colin Renfrew, an archaeologist with a passion for modern art. It is subtitled, 'The Parallel Visions of Artists and Archaeologists'; I said recently (and possibly, it might have been here), that I saw artmaking as part archaeology; this book talks about the way that artists and archaeologists think...and how the thoughts of the former might well be fruitful for the latter. And, I suspect, vice versa. I've wanted for a long time to talk to an archaeologist (any archaeologists out there fancy a dialogue? Just drop me a line.). This book may be the Next Best Thing.

And then, there's the work. Lutradur on velvet, stitched and cut back, to prove that applique can be trouble free and interesting, using lutradur. The image shows a section of it, waiting for more stitch. I'm pleased, so far, anyway. Not bad going for a less than perfect day.

Beauty and the Beast, Hustling!

Hustle

I woke this morning with no voice to speak of...or should that be, with? Not that it bothered Robin unduly, as he left the house on autopilot before 5am, to catch the early shuttle to Amsterdam. What a gadabout! It did disrupt my day quite convincingly, though. I had intended to go to Helen's workshop and take some photographs for my soon to be finished website (I have to keep telling myself that to encourage myself a bit, it's hard work this website stuff, and I'm not doing anything technical at all). But somehow, Spreading Germs didn't seem like a good thing to do, so I cancelled, made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow and...well...did some housework. I figured I felt rotten anyway, so I might as well use the time constructively. And I now have a nice tidy downstairs, ready for an assortment of visitors.

Now, that's the third time I've typed this post. Every time I've tried to add a picture, the machine has crashed...so this time, I'm sending it without one. The photograph I tried, and failed, to send, is of another of the pieces I'm experimenting with, the randomly cut pieces of handdye with some stitch. This new one made me think of Beauty and the Beast At The Disco. Now that's rather a long title for a very small (journal sized) piece...so maybe The Hustle will do instead...

A Day Off

Well, I had to have one...Robin is off work for the holiday weekend. So we went to buy bits and pieces for the computer, including a Paint package that I've wondered about for a while... and ended up in a Jaeger factory shop. No, I got nothing.... not even a scarf. Hell, I'd have settled for a handkerchief!! Robin, on the other hand, came out with a large bag containing a suit, two shirts and a jacket. There's something very wrong with that picture...sigh...

Meantime, the cats sat at home wondering where their dinner was, and the dolls sunbathed in the conservatory. Made from the same pattern, they seem to have come out male and female, he, the supercilious one, perches on top of a six foot bookcase. (note the Mummy on the shelf below. No, not his Mummy...) She, who seems to be annoyed with him, sits on the window ledge, glaring. They don't talk. Just as well, really. There's enough noise in the house without quarrelsome dolls joining in...

The Jury...

is still out on yesterday's cards/piece. So it's not too late to tell me what you think...

Meanwhile, I'm going back to work. I made up a number of small pieces in the same way as the postcards are constructed, and intend to play with them today. The first of them, 'Flower Girl', is pictured here. It has been on my mind for a long time, that idea of taking a pieced of dyed/painted fabric, cutting it up, stitching and reassembling it in smaller units. Whenever I've focussed on the idea, though, deliberately tried to do such a thing, I've found it impossible to do. Yesterday, focussed on the making of postcards, rather than the making of Fine Art, the latter just blossomed... Sometimes, all you have to do is stop thinking. Or at least, stop thinking about The Idea...just let it take shape as it wants to. And it will.

More, Or Less?

I had this intention, to make postcards. Well, I owe one or two, and I thought it would be a good way to ease myself back into work. So, I cut up a piece of dyepainted cloth, which I liked, but, other than using it with some lutradur, didn't have any specific ideas for. And look what happened... I seem to have a series of little dyepaintings, clearly related, Eight Blue Dots, One Blue Circle. Now that I've finished them, the whole seems to be more than the sum of the parts. I like synergy, when it happens. It is almost never intended, but is a gift when it arrives.

But it does give me a dilemma. What to do with them now? Split them up, and imagine that dynamic spread over the world from the US to New Zealand with sundry other places in between? Or keep them here, framed and interacting, or perhaps in a box, so that I (or someone) can take them out, rearrange them and enjoy the new meanings? Decisions, decisions, decisions.... Meanwhile, I've taken out some more dyepainted cloth, ready to slice it up and try this particular exercise again, on a slightly larger scale.

Simple Cloth

You may well have come across Jane Dunnewold's book, Complex Cloth, which describes many different ways of making marks on fabric, combining several layers of surface design to make the 'complex' cloth for which she is, quite rightly, famed. I taught a workshop on dyeing last weekend, and had a very happy time with my students, making simple cloth. Or is it?

Well, yes it is. It's very simple to make. The techniques are simple. Relax, scrunch (or fold), pour, rinse, wash. How easy is that! It's the results that are complex. I know a lot of people who avoid dyeing because they think it's too hard for them to learn. I'm here to say, it's easy. And fun. I warned the class to wear old clothes, but particularly enjoyed the lovely lady who modelled a binbag in place of an apron. We decided that the black bin liners with the drawstrings would probably be the couture model, a touch of the Vivienne Westwoods, methinks!

Meanwhile, thanks to Kitty Johnstone for letting me share images of the cloth she made at the workshop on Saturday. And thanks to all the students, I don't know about you, but I had fun!

Retail Therapy

Or that's what I expected, anyway. A wee trip out with Kittie to buy thread. What I'd forgotten, was that I haven't been in Edinburgh for a long time. So when I said, can we go to 'The Embroidery Shop', a veritable Aladdin's cave of threads and fibres, she said...nope. It is no longer... Well, what about the quilt shop I used to teach at. Ditto...gone... Well, I thought, while I'm out with the Bold Boy, I'll pop into John Lewis. No, Madam, they said, we closed our dressmaking department two or three years ago. Sigh. So I had to content myself with this lovely ball of yarn, which is much more interesting than the scan suggests, full of metallic yarn and odd excitements.

But I did manage a quick detour into Borders, where I bought 'The Art of Will Maclean'. I love Will Maclean's work, it is truly wonderful, as a quick search of the internet will prove to you. He works not just on paper, but with found objects, and for me, his work is quintessentially Scottish, rooted in Highland culture. Wonderful.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes for a happy time...I had that, and more! Workshop and talk both seemed to go well, and I'm hoping to have some photos to show you of student's work. Sadly, I had so much stuff to take with me that I couldn't take my digital camera, too big to fit into the suitcase. Must start looking for a baby digital to carry around in my pocket...that would be good for workshops and the like. And there are stories to tell, but I'll save them for later.

The 'Bisy Backson' reference, incidentally, is from Winnie The Pooh. I think it's Rabbit (or was it owl...) who has that as a sign on his door. Busy, back soon, I think he meant... but that in itself wove a story. I'm very fond of Pooh Bear. I have a large print which used to be in my workroom, which showed Pooh and Piglet pacing round and round a large tree in the Hundred Acre Wood, with the caption, Thinking, Thinking, Thinking....

So. I got back, yesterday, from a wet and windy Edinburgh to a windy Norwich, then to Longham and the four cats, all of whom required at least one cuddle... I think it's obligatory that fibre blogs have at least one mention of cats, so that was mine. Tomorrow, it's the optician, and new glasses (and hopefully I'll be able to see, better....), and some work on some postcards that I cut out today. Onwards and upwards, as they say...

For today, though, a Scottish looking visual...what happens when you ask PSP to 'pattern' a picture of green and red leaves with a light background...it is vaguely reminiscent of Black Watch tartan somehow combined with thistles...

Bisy Backson

I'm off to Edinburgh, to teach dyeing, visit my son, his fiancee and their new kittens, give a talk and generally have a good time. Back on Tuesday.

Keeping The Faith

A couple of weeks ago, I showed Heather and Helen a piece called 'Shapeshifter'. I wasn't happy with it, oh, no, not at all. They made supportive noises. Helen pointed out that I'd be adding lutradur, and that it was very early on in the development of the piece. I struggled to articulate the meaning of the piece, what I was trying to achieve with it. I cut it down a bit. It still didn't look right. Sadly, I didn't take a photo at that stage...wish I had.

A couple of days ago, I picked it back up again, still despairing, and put it on my design wall. I wondered about adding lutradur...and then finally, did. Experimented with different colours and designs. And finally, added the new layer, cut it back in some places, and then added more marks. It now says what I wanted it to. I wanted it to feel wild, mysterious, challenging. Almost threatening. I think it does that now.

I'm glad I kept the faith with this particular piece. I rarely ever abandon a piece, of my own or of someone else's. Sometimes people send me pieces that they feel are failures, and I experiment with them, try to help them to be what they want to be. Altered quilts, I think. One of them will be going to this year's Festival of Quilts in the UK, a joint piece between myself and Thelma Smith. It began as a top I didn't like, and sent to her. She changed it, sent it back, and I worked on it some more. It's amazing what can result from perceived failure, if you invest a little more time and energy in its growth. And your own, of course.

Blue Tree Dreams

I spent part of the morning working on the piece I showed you yesterday (or maybe the day before...I forget). It has found its name, Blue Tree Dreams. It seems to have a structure, now, and a meaning. After all, what would a blue tree dream of? What it was, and what it is, combined, I suppose. If you click on the image, you will get a larger view. Now, I have to decide if it is finished. I think it might be...but doubtless, if it isn't, it will tell me.

Now for the boring stuff that has to be done before I go away, like washing, and ironing. Sigh.

Work In Progress

I'm feeling a bit better, today, which is lucky, as I've got Things To Do. The month's goals to consider. A workshop to prepare for, a talk, too. And a visit to the dentist, in all of that.
There's also the work I was doing last week, that has been at a standstill, waiting for me to pick it up again. The picture today is a scan of a work in process, which is, as is the way of things, going its own sweet way. The scan shows about half of the piece, which, in its present state, is lutradur fused onto a green background. You can see a treelike structure dominating; I rarely use deliberate representational imagery, but a tree suggested itself, and I went with it. But then, instead of allowing the image of a tree to dominate, the stitch wanted to develop from and around it. So, I find wood-like stitching developing from the original image, and beginning to take it over. I rather like that. I'm not sure where the piece is going, and that's good, too. I'm just taking a line for a walk...and enjoying the view.

Visual Poetry

While I recover, slowly, here is another picture of books, this time a trio of books I made some time ago. I called them 'Visual Poetry'; as you leaf through the images, they seem to tell a story of sorts, or at least they do to me. Sadly, I no longer have them, so I can't show you what I mean, but I do have a box of unfinished Visual Poetry books to work with when my ear gets back to normal.