Still...

hoping for Spring and better moods...thanks to everyone for the supportive comments. The piece above is one of a series of eight ACEOs I made today. Still working in yellow!

Bad Day...

Haven't struggled with the demon depression for a while, but the past couple of days have been difficult. So I decided to work with yellow... and the painting resulted, Spring I. It looks bright enough to cheer everyone up, even me. It's amazing how colours affect our mood. I'm making a whole series of works that will contemplate Spring; it seems like a good thing to be doing right now, when the nights are beginning to stretch out a little bit.

Usually...

I tell people I can spell in four languages. And indeed, I can. But that's not what this photo shows...sigh. I'm involved in a swap in one of the ZNE groups I belong to, and I made these ACEOs for it.... The theme was cherubs. Did you spot the (not so) deliberate mistake? I didn't...not until I uploaded the photo, anyway.

For reasons best known to my unconscious, I want to work with yellow today...so I'm off to put the heater on in the conservatory and start work!

And After Lunch...

I discovered that I'm featured 0n laundry... check it out! And thanks to Stella for featuring me and my work!
(and yes, thanks, lunch was great!).

Out To Lunch.

...in all the ways that matter! I've been busy with the kind of thing that nobody thinks artists actually do. Things like admin, promotion, letting the cats in and out (how did that get in there...), creating databases... thrilling stuff, I admit, but essential. I created my mind dump of what I'm up to at the moment, as well as future plans, and began to realise that really, I do a LOT, and if I don't get control of it, it'll drive me...well... out to lunch!

Bubbling Up is another of these red acrylic paintings, slightly bigger this time, at 9" by 12"/23cm by 30.5cm. This one is destined for Dawanda, though. I discovered today that my German-English dictionary didn't contain the word 'acrylic'; perhaps it's time to buy a new one....

Love A Challenge?

I know I do... so I set one for VAST members. VAST is one of the Etsy street teams I belong to, and we're having a challenge to make something on the theme 'Simply Red' for February. So here's my piece, an abstract painting which, surprise, surprise is very, very red!

We're going out to lunch tomorrow, so I dare say I won't get much done in the way of art. On the way to hospital yesterday to get my hearing aid fitted (it's on the other blog), I bought some paints and canvasses to work with, and a number of boxes to keep things in, starting, I think, with the scrap fabric that is lying all over the floor in the workroom. The woman with me laughed. She said, I can't imagine you tidying up after yourself. She may have a point...sigh.

Desperately Seeking Susan...

or at least, her snailmail, so I can send her ACEO to her... I know one or two Susans, but really don't know who this one is .

Bouncing back after a tummy bug, parcelling up things to send to people, contemplating the cunning plan... time, I think, to deal with that. It's a bit like wrapping an awkward parcel. You think it's going to be difficult, so you delay, and prevaricate, and worry... and then you do it, and find it's easy! Lets hope that the same can be said for my cunning plan, which in its wildest form will be nothing more than a mindmap....or possibly even just a minddump... everything onto the paper, so that I can see where I am and what I need to be doing...

Aerial Dive is just the thing to encourage me...whoever that is doing the diving looks unconcerned about the whole thing. She doesn't worry about where she is going to land, just goes with the process until she reaches the point of landing.

Thank You Very Much...

to everyone who commented on the last post, and congratulations to the first five ACEO winners; if you haven't done so already, please email me with your snail mail address, so that I can send your prize to you!

Finally, I'm about to make A Plan, A Cunning Plan. I've been putting it off for several months, now, but I feel ready to attack it. The way to eat a mammoth (if you ever wanted to...), is to do it one bite at a time; the only problem is that you have to work out what all the bites actually are, and which are more important, more urgent than others. So that's what I'll be doing over the next couple of weeks, that and finishing my part of the lutradur book. So there... And beginning to work towards the exhibit I'm having in October, Mixing Up The Marks. And.... well, I'm sure you get my drift; I wouldn't be me if I didn't have fifty things going at the same time! And no matter how many plans I may make, doubtless my life will remain as Entangled as this painting, one I made several years ago. Detail shots are here if you wish to see them.

The Cost Of Cloth...

...is not measured by money alone, you know. In my case, it is measured by the effort it took to lug a large wheeled suitcase around London, up and down staircases, along pavements (playing find the taxi when the tube shut the line I was using to get to the station...). I have bruises. Big bruises. No, really, very big bruises. My muscles are complaining. And that's two days after the event. Poor moi? Oh, yes. But it was worth it... I brought home a cornucopia of cloth, a small fabric mountain, ranging from brights to pastels, from commercial prints to some very nice cloth for dyeing. Thanks, Sally, I had a great time!

Now, though, it's time to get back to Real Life. Today is Housework, with maybe a bit of playing with some bits and pieces if I don't fall asleep first... Perhaps some new ACEOs like this one, acrylic paint on paper.

ps It would appear that this is my 500th post... wow! I never thought I'd get that far... but there you go. First five people to respond to this will receive an ACEO each!

Off To Pack...

for my weekend away, but someone told me about this... I do get around! See you on Tuesday!

Gallivanting...

off to see Sally tomorrow, back on Monday with piles of fabric, I hope...I expect... Farnham Maltings hosts an annual sale of quilting fabric, and I'm told it's wonderful. I'm hoping to come back to an insulated shudio, as Robin is staying here with cats and two rolls of insulation. So today, I shall do a bit of housekeeping, a bit of packing and perhaps a bit of sewing... I feel a doll coming on!

I don't feel too bad about it all...I spent yesterday and the day before working with acrylics on paper, and have some interesting results, like the one above. I'd like to make more of these on a much larger scale (these are 10" by 14"/25cm by 36cm), though I think mounted and framed, these will be interesting to look at. As always, all feedback welcome!

Hope you all have as good a weekend as I know I'm going to have!

Look What I Got!

A 'You Make My Day Award'...hurrah . Thanks, Sandra

Now I get the pleasure of nominating some people who make MY day...

Well....

There's...
Mags
Sally
Dijanne
Carol
Thelma
Olga
June
Sonji
Rayna
and, last but not least...
Lynda!

All great bloggers, and many of them great friends, too! Thanks for what you do, folks, it's much appreciated here, at least...and doubtless much further afield!

Congratulations!

to Jean Levert Hood, whose name came out of the hat for the 'other' postcard...which turns out to be 'Hearts And Flowers'. Thanks to everyone who took part! Jean, I'll be in touch!

I've been making more ACEOs over the past couple of days; I'm truly enjoying the process of working at a small scale, though I have to say I don't really see myself making Inchies...though I've said that before about other things, and have lived to see myself actually doing them, so who knows? The two shown here are oil paintings on paper, the special heavy paper that is made for working with oils. Most of my work features mark making, and yesterday, I talked to my friend Jill about a possible exhibition on the theme, 'Mixing Up The Marks', which would feature our work with a particular focus on markmaking. I have to call the gallery today, to discuss it. Wish us luck!

I Was Asked...

by another artist to make a textile postcard for her, blues and greens and a vaguely Valentineish theme, that had to be able to go through the post. So this afternoon, I went upstairs and played for a while; the results are here.

The first one is made from lutradur, with fused commercial cotton heart shapes; the other is commercial fabric with hand dyed cotton gauze over it. Both are machine quilted.

I wonder which one she will choose. What do you think? Vote here for your favourite...I'll put all the names in a hat on Tuesday and whoever's name is chosen will receive the other one. In the unlikely event that she wants 'em both, I'll make one specially for you instead...how's that for an offer!

For now, though, I'm off to do some more sewing!

Rather Slow...

at getting back into the swing of things, though I have posted elsewhere. Partly, that's because I had a wonderful Christmas. One of the highlights this year was meeting up with my sister and her family, whom I hadn't seen for far too long a time. And of course, Christmas Day with my son and his fiancee in their new house was a wonderful experience. And yes, you know it, I got very, very tired after all that, and a visit to lovely friends Alison and Michael near Inverness just before the festivities, too. So here I am now, surfacing slowly, getting into the swing of things.

Last year has to have been one of the happiest of my life. Lots of things contributed to that... my sister coming back into my life has filled a gap that I didn't know was there. Finding a wonderful therapist with whom to work, and coming to a position where depression is no longer the centrestone of my existence, has been a revelation. My lovely husband continues to be the loving, supportive man he always has been. It's a joy to watch my son grow and change at this exciting point in his life, too. My etsy venture has proved to be great fun, and I have met lots of wonderful people through that medium, and discovered that people really do like my work! And I am surrounded by loving friends, many of whom I have never met other than through the internet. Truly, I am blessed, and am profoundly grateful to all of you...you know who you are!

So much for last year. For this year, I'm not sure. I feel that a change is in the air for me, for my work, more particularly, but I haven't yet worked out what it is, so in the meantime, I'll continue with what I'm doing, especially the lutradur stuff. And yes, we WILL finish it soon, that dratted, but lovely book on using lutradur that I'm writing with Dijanne Cevaal. I have more book ideas to work on, too, but that takes priority. For now, though, I'm finishing work that I started last year, like this piece, Moving To Centre, a small lutradur art quilt. Like it, I too am moving to centre. Wish me luck on this part of my journey...

At Last...

I'm feeling almost human. It has taken quite a while to shake off the effects of the flu or whatever virus invaded my system. No fun at all. Today, I'm wandering around doing The Boring Bits...creating custom boxes for things that have to be sent, a painting via etsy to the US (above), a shoe shrine via a swap to Cambridge (below)... Nobody thinks about this kind of work when they envisage the artist at work, do they! I hate it with a passion, but it has to be done, the packing, the admin, the visits to the post office... And I've been trading work on etsy, acquiring some lovely small pieces of art and a couple of lovely handbags in exchange for pieces done by me. I profoundly approve of barter!

I'm really signing off, here, for a couple of weeks. Holidays, family and friends all beckon. I will, however, be back just after Christmas, doubtless with a lot to say, as usual! I'd like to thank everyone who comes to my blogs, who looks at my shops, who sends me encouraging feedback. You have no idea how important these things are to me. I spend most of my time on my own; you all remind me that there is a world out there, and that I have a place in it. Thank you. Wishing you all joy during the holiday season and throughout the year.

Wabbit

The Scots have a word for everything. Wabbit is just how I'm feeling, run down, a bit wobbly on the pins, tired...not ill, exactly, just recovering. So I spent part of the time looking at paintings, intending to take some photographs. I had forgotten how many smaller paintings I've made...these two are interesting. They were made at around the same time, with the same palette, but how different they are. The first, Tranquil, was a reflection of how fleeting such moments are; the second, Signs and Totems, is another of those paintings that reflects how our minds struggle to make sense of the marks we see, whether random or structured. Are these indeed signs and totems, or are they but random marks? Is there a story here, or not?

I also found myself waking to a fleeting moment of fame, I'm featured here , to my great delight. I find Dawanda a difficult environment to be in, but I'm hoping things will settle down...in all three languages!

Despite all the things I need to be doing, I'm going to rest some more today, and hope that I can start shopping for Christmas next week, in between hospital and dentist appointments (I lead such an exciting life...). And then to Scotland, friends and family, food and feasting...sounds good, huh ?

When Life Hands You Lemons....

you make lemonade. So, when life hands you a virus, you go back to bed with a sketchbook and some hand sewing. That's what I'm planning for today. I got as far as the post office yesterday, just round the corner, and had to sleep all afternoon. Today, I'm tired, and would have slept in, had not the fire alarm needed new batteries, and therefore started to beep loudly just outside the bedroom door... sigh. It's cold, it's raining and it's miserable, so I'm going back to bed to draw! And maybe to sleep, too. It's good for one.

The image is Bronze Sun, an ACEO. It is one of a series made from the same manipulated image, cut up into aceos and painted/altered. The original image was of one of my paintings. It's an interesting thing to do, all told; I intend to do more of this, particularly with paintings that I feel are not as successful as they might be.

I don't like...

being ill, and this virus or flu or whatever it is is NASTY... two days in bed and I don't feel much better. Sigh. Just to give you some eyecandy...Dreamscape is a semi abstract landscape in encaustics...it will get onto etsy eventually...when I feel better...but not today...
sigh.

Unclean, Unclean....

flubound, to be precise. Maybe not as uncomfortable as egg bound, but not being a bird, I can't comment!

A piece of cloth to brighten up the bad news...some hand dyed cotton. I'll resume normal service as soon as I stop coughing!