a month in sepia

So today I have made it - one month of taking a photograph each day and adding it to my sepia collection... There is so much more I want to explore, so will definitely continue on.

In other news, I've just added a few new gouache sketches to my shop.

mosaic monday

1. Inspiring in August Macke, by Alice, 2. Turmoil, 3. shadow dwarfs, 4. My workable today, 5. WIP: Starting to fill in the areas, 6. Stitches, 7. There and Back again, Page 7, 8. Untitled, 9. feel that children, it is sun, 10. DSC_0025, 11. The assistant of Miss Georgina Holmes, 12. INSOMNIA. Técnica mixta. 2012, 13. Child, 14. hearts of ice, 15. 273, 16. Untitled, 17. Sophie, 18. Paper Bag Row House Woodcut, 19. hush, 20. Shave the burdock roots into 1.5 to 2 cm strips

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Happy Monday to you.... riding on the bus this morning I was thinking of what I was going to type here: 'a beautiful sunny morning to you!' - well, the sun has decided to go into hiding since then. Oh well, I shall get on with the business of thanking my Flickr contacts for sharing their lovely images in this week's mosaic.

So this week, I am busy as always and hope to add a few new items to my shop as the week progresses.... I have some ideas for special stitched pieces and more...

I'm continuing with my daily projects and so far, almost a month in, I am getting to it each day. I think I have missed a couple of days of writing, but that's not so bad. 

I wish you a very good week.

look both ways

 

 This week's little book of sketches is smaller than last.... it is about landscapes and figures within - so my challenge-to-self was to make pages that could be equally pleasing viewed as this way or that - landscape or portrait. My apologies if I give you neck ache from turning your head to see how things look both ways....

 I've used a restricted palette again. The warm pinks and orangey-reds are something I like with the black.

Thanks always for your comments this week. Last week several people said how they were inspired to go and paint after seeing my little book - that really pleases me. I hope you enjoy your own sketchbooks. A tip for if you find the painting is becoming too muddy or overpainted - I wet the paint, even rinse under a tap, and then dab with a tissue. You are then left with the ghost of what you had. It might be a new starting point, or it might not, but is worth a try.

brooches

 
embroidery brooches
(see my shop for availability)

have a good weekend

gothic gardening

 thinking of plant shapes, how organic forms connect and how they may emerge....what is left of last year's seed heads...... years ago I became very interested in 'gothic gardening' and become a collector of black flowers - I still grow black violas amongst other things.... I've added a selection of smaller postcard sketches in my shop today.  Also this week I've been sharing new embroidery brooches - I'll hope to share some photos here too tomorrow....

sepia

sepia12-25, a photo by cathy cullis on Flickr.

I particularly like today's shot, so thought I would share it here.

Hope your week is going well.

mosaic monday

1. takamatsu city, 2. Untitled, 3. I put art everywhere., 4. postcards from whereva, 5. dolls, 6. Zine, 7.manos at Formex, 8. Untitled, 9. 38p67, 10. Untitled, 11. 073/365, 12. Untitled, 13. "Cassius play", 14.untitled, 15. Winter Beech Hedge, 16. 2012, 17. decayed rust dyed and rose tinted fragments, 18. ..., 19.Gonzo (circus), 20. restless

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Happy Monday to you..... this week's mosaic has so much going on - do follow the links to find out more about each artist  - many thanks to my Flickr contacts.

This morning is a gently sunny, mild start to the week. We have been noticing here an absence - of birds. Due to the relatively warm winter days and nights, birds are preferring to stay in the countryside, rather than visit our town gardens. I accept the logic to this - and hope the birds are enjoying their open spaces. However, we do miss them here. Yes it saves my money - I am not buying so much bird seed as last year. With the snow last year I was buying seed by the bucket and I am not sure I could do that for very long. It is quiet. Yes, there are birds about, I still see the neighbourhood magpies, pigeons and there are sparrows that come and go. But even the crows are in short supply around here. And I miss them. Working alone at home, I often look out to see the birds - they share my thinking space - and their movements keep me company.

So, besides bird news - what can I tell you - this week is going to be a  happy mix of things for me. I'm working on new embroidery artwork - hope to have a few more pieces in my shop this week. New sketches too, perhaps. My daily projects continue. For the writing please visit my notebook blog nevering. For the sepia photography please see my flickr set here. 

If I can make time this week, I am going to make a few changes to this blog - the template and layout etc... If not this week some time soon. I've seen a new template I want to try. It will mean having to move things around a bit and I hope to add a little more info, and other things.

Thanks always for your very kind comments. 

Wishing you a very good week ahead x

untitled book - watercolour

untitled book - watercolour and gouache on heavy watercolour paper

a selection, not all of the pages

this week I moved on from acrylics to my favourite medium -  I enjoy both watercolour and abstract.... I've said it many times here but oh I'll say it again: I like working this way, it feels 'right', no bravado.... like painting poems. not easy, not meant to be easy. A happy challenge.

preview

hello, it is Thursday already... I thought I should share with you a preview of some of the work that will be appearing in my shop from tomorrow....




 an embroidery cuff or bracelet - dreamers in grey & red - this is one of a small selection of embroidery artworks that I have completed... these things take time, I've spent quite a few hours this week working on stitch. However....

 

weather song

 

rain poem

 two new gouache sketches - so these and others will be in my shop tomorrow....

mosaic monday

1. 5 Ways to Breakfast, 2. my_bowl_is_full, 3. Untitled, 4. yellow, 5. snow window, 6. January 13, 7. 木皆兒工作狀態, 8. Socarraet (esbossos), 9. INSOMNIA. Técnica mixta. 2012, 10. tree of life, 11. 469, 12.Wednesday...11.01,12, 13. Frida, 14. grenade, 15. coffee and knitting, 16. handmade notebooks

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Happy Frosty Monday to you..... a few days ago we got our first frost of the year. It's been a mild winter until recently, with spring bulbs already poking through, flowers from last autumn making a lengthy encore..... But now for the sparkle of frost....

Many thanks to the artists and photographers featured in this week's eclectic mosaic. Follow the links for more details.

This week I have firstly to package and send several orders - many thanks!

I've new work to complete and hope to have a variety of stitch and other things in my shop later this week. Hope to preview and keep you posted about that here.

My daily sepia photo project continues - and many thanks to everyone who has been popping over to nevering to read my daily writing there. Thank you - I am reading your comments. The process of posting something each day is getting me to write more in my notebooks, generally. Not that it is all great writing, but just to write each day - well that is my goal for 2012.

So yet another busy week for me. I hope you enjoy your Monday - take care and more soon.....

sleep until spring

'sleep until spring'- is my second little book of the year, created over the past week.

 Whilst working on the first book a few ideas came to me: I would like each book to connect with the previous one. There could be a lot to learn and there's no point in sticking to safe: experimental is the key to these little books, for me.

 As I was painting all the layers and textures in book one, I was also making brush strokes on scrap papers, wiping strokes and little blotches of delicate colours. I collected these papers to use in this week's book.

And as I painted the sleepy portraits for this week's little book, I continued on making little abstract watery paint marks on loose papers. A selection of painted papers have been simply collaged, working as a painterly backdrop to smaller portrait pages....

 Just as I did last week, I've used a restricted palette for 'sleep until spring', with red used sparingly this time, mixed to make pink. It adds a little warmth and a hint toward spring, perhaps.

 The title of this book is a bit of irony, since my sleep is always pretty poor during winter - I am sure I am not the only one who looks forward to warmer, shorter nights to actually get some sleep! My body clock does not do winter particularly well.... Next week's book will possibly be a little different in shape - perhaps - I've got a few starting points to explore.....

warm earth

warm earth - still life

this is one of three paintings I have added to my shop just today... I particularly enjoy these tones and simple forms...

I've also added a new embroidery cuff artwork today.

It's been a busy week and I have not posted very much here - but I hope perhaps you are enjoying my daily writing posts over at nevering.

more this weekend - have a good Friday x

mosaic monday

1. tidying up the studio, 2. Untitled, 3. 8 januari, 4. flickr.com/photos/25179368@N06/6646863783/, 5.TODAY****, 6. zelda_49_bis, 7. 54570013, 8. a-312-w, 9. Chimonanthus, 10. wrestler, 11. Ink Faces, 12.Welcome 2012! :), 13. Falling, 14. P1120299, 15. She was determined to live life without compromise and with good taste., 16. studio wall, 17. tea shelf, 18. ..., 19. Emaki study 20111229, 20. we will happy !, 21. "Height and Distance", 22. the vagaries of a lucid mind, 23. Pig, 24. INSOMNIA. Técnica mixta. 2011, 25. Mystery of the forest - Pixie Ann

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Happy Monday to you.... on this grey day, though the sun is trying to come through.... Many thanks to the artists featured in this first mosaic of 2012. 

This week I am continuing to work on new work, a variety of ongoing projects. I've a new stitched piece that I am halfway through and am hoping it will come together as well as I want it to:) I am looking forward to working on that this week. Also, I have my next little weekly book to create - and thanks so much for your kind comments on yesterday's post. The daily sepia photo project is working nicely, so far so good. Also, I really would like to make time to get back into my 100 portraits on brown paper - we shall see.

So a busy week ahead and I have a new batch of zines to send out asap. Many thanks for visiting my shop recently - you may have seen the new zine, new paintings and new embroidery work too. Hoping to add new work regularly. Perhaps a few new items later this week.....

Wishing you a happy, creative start to the week x

little books - 1. winter blues

I've spent the past week making time to work in this little book..... this is the first book in my weekly series of small sketchbooks/artist books.

For this book, I decided on a restricted palette of white, burnt umber and phthalocyanine blue (yes I grabbed the tube to type that name, it's not a spelling I know off-by-heart).

It's not often that I choose to work just in acrylics and I did not think much about it. Except that I had played with these colours together previously and liked the possibilities. The theme 'winter blues' came about easily enough.I'm sharing here some but not all the pages....

What I learned this week: I like acrylics more than I thought.

What I tried that was a little different: I aimed to create texture and layers, and overpainted.

How much time did I spend on this book: quite a bit of time, spread over days, about 5-7 hours total. I did a lot of going back over.

Thoughts for next week's book: maybe more painting, perhaps.







this is actually quite a tiny page - but you are seeing it here larger because it's one of my favourites....





I challenged myself to a seated figure - that is something I am never happy with.....


Thanks always for your comments this week - much appreciated.

blue

detail of 'Blue Arrangement' - a new still life sketch

this is one of five new original paintings I have added to my shop today - along with copies of my newest zine: 'home'.

and the winners are.....

'sepia photograph': day 2

 Many thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway - to win a copy of each zine that I publish in 2012. Over ninety people entered, I wrote your names on little slips and my son did the folding and the shuffling of names in the magic hat. Three names were pulled out: Tiger, projectforty, Rikkianne. I have contacted you: please get in touch with your home address and I'll be sending zines later this week.

 My next forthcoming zine is out this week, copies will be in my shop from Wednesday. 'Home' is a little book of sketchbook sketches and photographs. It comes with a printed postcard too. Mosaic Monday will return next week. I need to catch up with my flickr viewing pleasure:)

 Thanks also for details of your projects for this year. I'll be adding links to the little 'other people's projects' section over there on the right - please bear with me for a few days as I get back into my stride after the holidays. My etsy shop is open and I'll be sending out packages from this Wednesday and then onwards, as usual. Hope to have new work in my shop regularly. I have new original paintings and they will most likely appear on Wednesday. New stitch work in the shop Friday or Saturday.

 Time has just flown by these past few weeks - it's a mild start to January here, a little chilly today but bright.

 Wishing you a good week ahead - and thanks again for your comments.

Happy New Year - my projects for 2012

A Happy New Year to you..... and MANY THANKS INDEED to everyone who has signed up for my zine giveaway (there is time until Jan 2nd 12noon UK time to sign up). Thank you for your very kind and thoughtful comments. 





This year I have decided on several projects to keep me busy.... I am aiming to make a small artist book/ sketchbook for each week of the year. Above is my first, simple blank book. I'll be working in a variety of media and exploring all kinds of ideas, different book construction and styles. I'm looking forward to starting on the blank pages and making each week slightly different. That will hopefully keep me busy and interested for the whole year. As I am giving myself just a week to complete - and will be working on this when I can find a moment between other things - the books will be small in scale and not hefty tomes. I'll be starting and finishing on Sundays. So from now on Sundays will be the day I hope to share books here with you. Right now I am not sure if some of the books may be available for sale or not, will see.....





I wanted a daily project also. Infact I have two. The daily visual project I have chosen is to take a photograph each day and explore sepia... I want to do this to increase my knowledge of photography and may through the year aim to take some film and develop myself. But for now I am thinking about all the possibilities of light and shade and subject: place, mood, living things. I'd like to take the unexpected. I'd like to make props and objects especially to photograph, and to make use perhaps of vintage sepia photographs themselves.


I'll be sharing my daily photo over at Flickr and here.


The other daily project for 2012 is daily writing and to do this I've decided to share something each day over at my nevering notebook blog. I'll not have time for posting polished pieces of writing each day, some may appear more 'worked on' than others:) I'll be sharing a mix of poems, notes, journal entries, stories, lists, fragments, writing about paintings, and other writing that comes about over the months. I'm thinking some of the sepia photos I take may inspire writing and vice versa......


As well as the above projects, I have also decided to join in with someone else's ideas:) My friend Carolyn Saxby is hosting a Tag Tuesday project. You can read more about here. It's my thinking that it's a good idea to join in with a group of people and try something a little different. So I'll not just be following my own thread all the time......


I'm adding links to projects in the sidebar over to the right there - so if you can email me with your 2012 project blog post I will link to it. I'm adding things as the details emerge, so there's no rush.


Thanks and all best wishes for the year ahead x