hello another bird

a corner of a new painting..... I have been working on this one for some hours over the past few days - and now it is completed, (ready to go into my shop tomorrow with a few other pieces...)

see here for the complete 'just before the fennel flowers'

As I put the finishing touches to this one, I noted how the sky outside had turned from blue to grey, the stormy grey that makes the garden glow.... the greys of this painting....

simply

a detail
of a mixed media work..... 'somewhere else.....'

name the book

Found feather..... I think it is magpie's..... a small prize for the first person who can id the book it is resting upon..... clue: american female author.... leave your answer as a comment and make sure I can contact you

early stages of a still painting..... not the first layer but 3/4 layer infact..... this is the working out where shapes are going to be stage, and how the space is going to work as a whole..... a lot of work yet.....

mosaic monday

1. post raphaelite sm, 2. sneak peak winged migration group show at bookhou, 3. Idyllic Dreamer, 4.And Far Away..., 5. She Couldn't Balance, 6. catching a little sunlight, 7. last summer sketch, 8. No one is buying it, 9. ghost labels, 10. Untitled, 11. Sketchbook, 12. print, 13. shelter, 14. Untitled, 15. Untitled, 16.Poppy, 17. 23. Epiglottis, 18. "Over, Under, Through" Page Layout, 19. IMG_0002, 20. Forest 02, by Amanda

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

a happy hot monday to you...... I am in the 'safety zone' of the living room with a fan close by.... outside is so hot, too hot.... yes the summer is doing her mad visit thing.... and I have a craving for beetroot - that always happens.....

many thanks to the artists featured here for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts.

This week I am continuing on with my 'still' painting series... and am also contemplating new stitched work.... 

I hope toward the end of this week thurs/fri perhaps, I will add a few new clay personages or amulet people to my shop, along with perhaps new stitch and painting - yes definitely one or two larger still paintings

have a very good and creatively happy week ahead x

sketchbook Sunday

pages from a sketchbook.....

it is so hot today - yes the heatwave has arrived - here it is our two and a half days of summer (ha).... I need a nap:)

hello little bird

corner detail of a painting I have just finished this morning

see the painting on flickr here

we are supposed to be having a heatwave this weekend but so far it is damp and chilly.... with thick cotton wool clouds - but you never know.....

painting buttercups

I picked a few from the garden lawn.... they are a little motif in a larger painting I am working on - more will be revealed when the painting is happy to be seen....

thank you for kind words re: the new look to this blog & thanks always for your comments

have a very good weekend

are you my amulet

I've been working again with clay, but a new project..... tentatively working out who/what.... I had the whisper in mind : amulets.. I wanted to know what kind of charm might appear....

I'm not sure who this little fellow is... he reminds me of someone from one of my sketchbooks.... I've made a few like him now, all in shades of grey, black, white.... I am going to see how they like to be for a while and then decide what more...

a string thing

random string sightings

1. String laid on wet paint, to create texture

2. A ball of string hanging from a tree - the string was once covered with peanut butter and nuts for the birds

summer solstice

thank you for all your comments on yesterday's post....

new fiction 'collecting clouds'

tiny heads - a happy conclusion

I made over one hundred tiny heads.... beginning January 1st of this year.... I had a big crazy idea to make 365 tiny heads, but after three or four months of tinyheading (that is a word, you can type it), I decided to rest my fingers and save my nails... well no, I kind of lost my head thing a bit and decided to quit whilst I was ahead....

ok no terrible head metaphors

thank you to everyone for their comments and for cheering me on as the days went by....

Now it is Summer Solstice tomorrow, and traditionally I use that date as a time to draw a line and start again, it's like having a new year halfway through.... So I am putting this project, officially to bed, to rest, yes to rest those weary heads.....

or not so weary.... I think many of them have a story to tell. I may take some more photographs of all the chaps together, all the blondes etc.... all the specs....

I would like to give some of these heads away. I will keep some of them. I may sell a few and as suggested give some money to charity.

The tiny heads say hello and farewell....x

mosaic monday

1. DSC00466, 2. Voices in her head, 3. rust and peeling paint, 4. Dog - Thinking About the Secret, 5.together they were brighter than the sun, 6. IMG_4982, 7. The Faces, 8. water large neckpiece, 9.Architektur, 10. S/T Acrílico sobre papel. 2011. 21 x 29, 7 cm, 11. 10611, 12. This is the memory we share., 13. i am here, 14. Untitled, 15. Untitled, 16. in the hoop WIP Soul, 17. 164, 18. volver, 19. tiny painting, 20. West Virginia

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Happy Monday.... as mosaics happen, this is a very curious one and I hope you enjoy exploring the textures and ideas here - many thanks to the artists and photographers featured.

The week starts cold and blank-skied. There is a vase of pretty stocks on our windowsill and they really do make a difference. Their smell is that spicy old-fashioned garden smell... sweet.

Days ahead - I had planned to re-open my bigcartel space, offer  new 'still' paintings - but have had a change of heart and instead will be offering a couple in my etsy shop and holding on to a couple for a little while.... I am just waiting for postcards (details of paintings) to arrive from the printers and then they will be 'in'...

A change of heart is not a bad thing, you know. I am trying not to be so rigid and ease up on too many plans and projects. Let the possibilities in this summer.

Summer solstice this week - time to make a 'warm and welcome' change to things, for myself and for this blog. So from mid-week on you may see things a little differently here. I am going to try sharing an image or two every day, something you won't find elsewhere, not on flickr, just for here. Will be glimpses into my little world and things that catch my eye. A blog can be so many different ideas, and I have increasingly wished to move away from 'plugging it' to sharing my world a little more..... I hope this makes some sense.

I'm very grateful to everyone who has purchased something from my shop recently. I know these are difficult and unknowing times. Understanding a desire to purchase is not always a possibility. I try to buy handmade from others when I can too. Several copies of my latest zine 'Violet Goodenough' have already been sent to readers, and I have had some very encouraging feedback. Thank you. Over the coming weeks I shall be offering a wider range of prints and other items in my shop and I hope you will enjoy taking a look.

Have a very good week ahead and more soon...

new pages & books - sketchbook sunday

a small artist book 'something quietly'.... various sized pages, with a little found text
this little one will be in my shop tomorrow, as a one-of-a-kind book


and new sketchbook pages







I find sketching, painting and drawing with black gouache and a brush - just works for me more than pencil these days.....

x

new new new

new stitches



as per several requests - new prints!

enjoy taking a peek at my newly-updated shop when you have a moment - thank you

have a good weekend x

gentle summer

new plant dyed fabrics.... gentle strips, echoes, summer tones... ready to make a visual poem or two

stitch, collage, just looking at...

will be in my shop tomorrow - as I am going to offer hand dyed fabrics now and then

also tomorrow: new paintings and stitch

new paintings

shadow player



yet perhaps maybe

mosaic monday

1. dancer Mei, 2. Portrait Study # 10, 3. on the bamboo baord, 4. foréstal,, 5. MANIFESTO vol 1 | page 2 + 3, 6. Adding Flare to the Ramshackle Shed, 7. the feast, 8. nuni&shai, 9. silhouette, 10. Aaron Smith “Diddy”, 2011, oil on panel, 24” x 24”, 11. Aaron Smith during the opening of "Coterie of the Wooly-Woofter", Sloan Fine Art, NYC, 12. Drawing 06-11-11 A, 13. Untitled, 14. Aubade Magazine Issue 4 June 2011, 15. detail from "Palm Springs Airstream", 16. I Was Dressed to Party, 17. The forgotten heroines, 18. toy top & friends, 19. silent nature, 20. S/T. Técnica mixta. 2011, 21. studio, 22. Mañana!, 23. Silhouette Wall with Table, 24. Illustrated Quotes, 25. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Good morning...... another damp start to the week.... but look up there! It's another interesting mosaic for you to explore, surely..... Thanks always to the artists and photographers featured for sharing their great work. A nice, eclectic one this week I think....

Thank you for all your comments re: my post yesterday and the new still paintings.... 

This week I am working on finishing one or two further paintings for the still series.... I'm also eager to get on with my black gouache work because if I am honest I love the spontaneity of that so much... not that it is 'easier' - in many ways it is far 'harder'. With the acrylics on canvas I have been painting and painting over, making many layers, purposely creating a texture and building up tones... whereas with the gouache it is immediate, no going back, no rubbing out or painting over... 

I like the challenge of them both. 

Also I have new fabric collages in the works. And using the fabrics I dyed way back last summer feels like a good thing. It is a happy cyclical process, with new fabrics being dyed right now also....

I'll be updating my shop with a few new things then, later this week. 

Oh my zine Violet Goodenough has been selling nicely, thanks - and there are copies available in my shop

Thanks always and have a good week ahead x

Still Paintings

So far..... more coming along...
paintings will be available from June Tuesday 21st June - along with postcard series it's in the detail - (featuring details from paintings....)

mentions

I will start with a few things I want to share, happening elsewhere...

many thanks to Darryl for featuring my work on his excellent blog red handed

and thanks to everyone who gives me a mention and link, much appreciated

A special charity art auction you might like to explore:
http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2011/06/oaxaca-streetchildren-grassroots-shrine-auction-opens-today.html

*

I'm slowly but surely working on new new new

the paintings on canvas for a 'summer show' using my bigcartel online shop, is coming together in its own quiet way.... it is indeed going to be a small collection of quiet, thoughtful paintings - larger and thoughtful canvasses - the working title for this is simply: still

I'll share a few photos over the weekend

Here's the centre pages of my newest zine Violet Goodenough available now

rain or shine

a new gouache sketch.... it is not in my shop just yet but may be one of the selection for my update later this month....

We have had a day of sun and showers here. It's rather late for me, so I will keep this brief. I've had a busy day. Thanks to people for purchasing my newest zine - copies are on their way.

Thanks also for recent comments. I keep meaning to explain a little more about my tiny bundles and natural dyes project - as a few people have asked about method. I make the bundles simply with plant material wrapped in the fabric. Then I put them in the dish with alum water (that is water with a large pinch of alum dissolved - I make the jar of water and keep it to use in solar dyeing). I hope this helps. I'll share some new pictures soonish...

mosaic monday

1. experiment / play, 2. sketchbook, 3. 無, 4. through the gap, 5. Untitled, 6. Altoid Watercolors, 7. 2011, 8. Untitled, 9. coll, 10. LettresIntimesZine06, 11. ., 12. Untitled, 13. migration, 14. la pesca del día, 15. s e e d s, 16. trees_metalbinding, 17. Untitled, 18. stmay30a, 19. vento frio do pampeiro, 20. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

sketchbook sunday

black gouache sketchbook pages

oh black gouache
how I like you

it is finally raining here, just now and again we really want rain to come......

enjoy the rest of your weekend - lots more next week

112 & dye bundles project

i've sort of lost my tiny heads.... 'skill'... spent forever painting this one and so, perhaps, she may be the last for a while... as I am working on much larger paintings

I am happily busy with the new paintings - and am keeping busy with them - once I have a few more completed I may just show you - well, the idea is to share them with you! 

in other news....

I have continued with my tiny dye bundles project..... there are now seven little dye bundles sitting in the sun..... let's see if I can remember the plants wrapped in cotton: lady's mantle, rose, black viola, hyssop, fennel, greek oregano, orange/purple viola

have a very good weekend

I hope to show you some new sketches on sunday.....