sketchbook sunday

pages from my sketchbooks...... playing with line and water....

the last day of October All Hallows Eve, Halloween, Samhain,..... I wish you a merry time if you are celebrating (we have our bags of sweeties at the ready)... enjoy the rest of Sunday.

new yesterdays are coming soon...

I'm busy stitching.... a new series of yesterdays for November.... They will begin to be available from November 1st - that's next Monday!

My yesterdays dolls feature faces from my own vintage photograph collection, printed on to fabric. I like to use a small-ish selection of faces and give them a slightly different look each time.... The dolls are carefully stitched using my own naturally dyed fabrics. But for this new series I am also using some of my favourite Liberty prints and vintage fabrics...

hope your week is going well....

book Wednesday

'The Starke Sisters' by Kathleen Mackenzie... a book published in England, 1963. A vibrant red and pink cover design....The illustration is by Hilary Abrahams.  The book is what we now call a YA, young adult book, with a witty humour and easy style. There is also, according to my brief research, a follow-up title 'Another story of the Starke Sisters'. But I have not seen it myself. This author wrote numerous books during the early 60s.

And last photo is a view of one of my varied and eclectic poetry bookshelves.....

mosaic monday

1. Making a Little Magic, 2. Microscopy it is, 3. October/wip, 4. PLEASE, 5. one porcelain bud vase, 6. Untitled, 7. Nocturnal Night Flight, 8. silk sun keeping, 9. Urbana Alley, 10. meissen, 11. my collage detail, 12. Untitled, 13. Dream Boat, 14. Untitled, 15. Halloween is 10 Days Away, 16. Untitled, 17. help me, 18. ., 19. work in progress day 3, 20. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Another Monday, the last Monday in October...... my goodness.... many thanks to all the artists featured here for sharing their work via my Flickr contacts.

This week for me features new stitches and doll faces..... more on that soon..... continuing with sketchbooks (see yesterdays post), and spending time with family as it is half-term holidays.....

I have new work in my Etsy shop - and new coming to bigcartel in the next few weeks....

more soon and have a very good week

sketchbook sunday

 

recent pages in my sketchbooks..... the bottom image shows you my A4 'figures' sketchbook, each page holding a pair of figures, sketched quickly without too much worry over getting them 'right'.... I like to make many, many sketches.... I feel this is the way to explore, reinvent, allow ideas to evolve.. It is not about making 'brilliant pictures'... just as a potter may throw the same bowl shape over and over, or a musician may practice the same riff..... just keep making marks and make them over again until they start to make sense and you feel some rhythm.....

enjoy the rest of your Sunday and thanks for all your comments this week x

new work

 

a new mixed media embroidery - moments of wisdom... mounted on 10 x 8 inch mountboard

 And a new series of snowglobes for autumn/winter 2010-11.... I hope to make a series that takes us over the next few months, offering a variety of snowglobe characters, all densely stitched with intricate detail... this one measures about 7 x 5.5cm - so yes tiny details.... 

new work available here now

book Wednesday

A new feature for my blog: book Wednesday.... each week I hope to share with you a book from my vintage collection, a suggested read, or indeed a book I have made myself....

Today I went to my local Oxfam charity bookshop and donated a stack of books, as we have so many and I am trying to let go.... But the books I will keep are nearly all my older, vintage books. I did not leave Oxfam without purchasing a few new reads, including the one above. I was attracted by the dust cover illustration, very much of its time (1940s). I don't know the author but it seems to be an intriguing autobiographical story and I look forward to reading, once I have worked my way through the present 'waiting list' of titles.....

It is true I do collect books for their cover designs.They are fine examples of design history....

I have almost finished Vita Sackville-West's All Passions Spent - an excellent novel: I wonder why I have not read previously.....

mosaic monday

1. Mr Croc, 2. all seeing, 3. vintage dress for halloween, 4. This is not for sale., 5. bird cage, 6. owl face, 7. almost forgot the lichens, 8. Rainy Day in Paris, 9. zt, 10. Hoshikage (2010) Oil on canvas, ink, charcoal 275x200x45mm, 11. with applause, 12. pg 8 of 11- see them all, 13. Waves and rocks, 14. studio, 15. what is, 16. Los Musgoamigos detail, 17. Inside Box Detail, 18. écheveux, 19. sitting girl, 20. Female

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Good Monday to you..... mid-October, and apparently there is snow forecast for later in the week!..... I am hoping it does not reach this far south.... Many thanks to the artists featured in this variety of favourites via my Flickr contacts....

This week I am working away at new stitches and drawings, as ever.... I have some new tiny paintings to add to my Etsy shop in a short while. They are part of my 'feathers in her hair' series. I'll be adding more as and when.... Also some postcard prints are coming soon....

Novembermoon zine no. 1 is now sold out - thanks to everyone who bought a copy. I am in the planning stages for no.2, and hope to have it published and available early December. I have had some lovely and thoughtful feedback, thank you, and plan to make no.2 ever more interesting, with little extras and more new artwork of course. I think it will have a wintry feel.....

I have plenty to do, as always, so will wish you a very good, creative, happy week ahead x

sketchbook Sunday

A variety of recent sketchbook pages...... personally I rather enjoy the movement & simplicity of the first two, but just sometimes a more complicated scene takes over and there are layers and card gets taped to the page and painted over etc......

I've been meaning to share a photo of this so charming lavender heart....
my friend Carolyn (Love Stitching Red) made this and sent it as a lovely surprise, along with a selection of her own naturally dyed fabrics and card.... what a welcome surprise... the heart features a little Cornish cottage, a shell and beads dangling..... now on display alongside one of my poetry birds....

enjoy the rest of your weekend x

her sister sings whispered songs

a new mixed media embroidery arwork

(see my etsy)

this week has been so busy, I am looking forward to a quiet weekend..... I hope I may get the opportunity to share with you yet more from my sketchbooks etc.... thanks always for your comments and enjoy your weekend

feathers in her hair

Feathers in her hair.... a new series of tiny paintings (aceo size)..... I am working on these slowly and hope to have a few to make a small set/series...

meanwhile, I am very pleased indeed to be featured on French site maison.com

a new poem is coming in just a few moments to nevering.....

mosaic monday

1. ørkenrev1Desertfox, 2. cloth dream, 3. out and about 10.10.10, 4. Kittens at Sea, 5. mais oui, mon gros bêta, 6. top half of silk scarf first attempt at soy wax batik, 7. Untitled, 8. lloro/ cry, 9. 10 things, 10. Another closeup of vintage inspired apron apronology inspired, 11. page 14, 12. lonely dancer a, 13. DSC_0014, 14. S/T. Técnica mixta. 2010, 15. 53p45 cropped, 16. western corner, 17. Book Pages Embroidered in Blue, 18. 10j, 19. his view of the city, 20. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Many thanks to the artists featured in this week's mosaic, via my Flickr contacts.... A bit of a mystery tour for you this Monday, as there are several white spaces here - click on the corresponding link to find the image.... It is a bright, breezy and slightly chilly Monday here, the leaves are swirling, or should that be a-swirling!

A busy week ahead, I have new work to share and will be adding new things to shops... I have work to make for an upcoming gallery opening, more on that soon. 

I've been thinking about making a new mini-series of dolls and would be interested to know what you might like to see next? Most recently I made the tall hat chaps. I've been pondering a new series of yesterdays, or papier mache dolls, or..... ? It would be a small series of dolls for November I expect. Help me ponder this, if you like....

Have a very good week, more soon.....

painted sketchbook

more crouched figures.... interesting mix of moods here maybe.....  thanks for your comments this week and always.....


enjoy your weekend x

sketchbook stitches

a page of sketchbook figures..... at the moment I am attempting seated and crouching figures, and decided to try a leap also..... they are tiny and stitched quickly, as always, without stopping to move the needle, just start and draw and see who arrives......

I am slowly building a sketchbook of stitches....

meanwhile, a new poem over at nevering

figure studies

a new figure studies work......... seen here photographed alongside my black ceramics collection..... I have used blues, grey and black for this striking piece....the composition is very much like an open book, I think.... no escaping the book, no need to escape...... (it's here)

mosaic monday

 

1. 3, 2. glow, 3. ForestBeast 03, 4. steampunk brooch, 5. and i did., 6. Some beginning, 7. brush pot study, 8. ughhh thesis, 9. 101029, 10. Untitled, 11. big fun, 12. ., 13. ..., 14. Pos. 2, 15. Xilo, 16. Rescue team, 17. Painting wip, 18. Monica, 19. The materials: Emaki study, 20. Emaki study 20100929

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

First Monday of October and a grey damp day, as one might expect, but here's hoping the sun will arrive as the day......... hello and welcome to another week, time seems to be going by, where did September fly to? Here I am looking ahead at a very busy few days but first a thank you - thanks to all the artists and photographers featured here for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts. For this mosaic, I chose an almost black-and-white theme.....

So this week I am continuing to work on new stitches and lines..... I have work available both in my bigcartel and etsy shops.... I hope to add new things over this week.....

I am continuing to slowly tinker with this blog. You may see above a link that says 'studio november' -  to briefly explain..... last year I gave myself a month-long project called 'November painted book'. You can see more about it if you look back over entries for November 2009. Enjoying the process of painting in this way, I had in mind to put together some kind of future painting project.... Rather than a month-bound project, I have instead opted to create a longer-term project that will span as much time as it decides... it will be quietly there to see, new small paintings that I work on as meditative exploration, and I'll add images as and when... I may point them out here now and then. Yes some may be available to purchase, but not all. If interested in any painting then email me. At this beginning stage of things that is all I have to say about it and invite you to watch and see what comes about.....

This past weekend I had hoped to share some new sketchbook images but time got the better of me and the daylight is disappearing so quickly...... so I hope to share some sketchbook pages this week instead..

OK onwards with the day.... and I wish you a very good week ahead, more soon x

looking closely

a detail of a new embroidery I have just completed, this one is titled 'to be here when there's a moon....' ...a romantic figure holds a small pale grey chair.... I do like chairs for their storytelling and small chairs for their association with childhood..... this photograph shows me the stitching in much-bigger format, it is strange but also interesting to see... I can see the energy of the thread..... you can see the complete work here

thanks for all your comments this week - much appreciated.... it is a wet and windy first day of October here.... have a good weekend x