A Little Bit Of Gesso & Ink

Making background papers is always fun - and useful too - so I put together a little video tutorial to share with you on these. They're very quick and easy to do, require only a few ingredients and will give you some lovely results!

I have been having some time off from creating to nurse my poorly dog who's got pneumonia but he is, thankfully, on the mend now so I thought I'd ease myself back into things with a little play time. Hope you enjoy watching.

Hot Work

It's been incredibly hot here for the last three weeks or so, too hot really for printing before the paint dries on the plate, but I have finally got round to doing a little something. In a previous post I mentioned that I'd won a Gelli Arts giveaway and had some boards to make texture plates with as well as a 6" gelli plate. So here are my first attempts.

The top picture shows a plate made with stencils and modelling paste. The band across the top was done with Golden crackle paste which, as you can see, produces a craquelure finish when it dries. The one in the second picture has stencils and modelling paste again with the addition of glass bead medium across the top.

I have to say I had mixed results with these when I used them on the gelli plate. Joan's post here shows some excellent prints using this idea and I was hoping to have something similar to share. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't totally satisfied with my results. The patterns didn't always show up particularly well on paper and that may be to do with the way I constructed the plates - perhaps the modelling paste isn't even enough, or perhaps it was something to do with the heat or my choice of paper, I don't know. I will try again though and report back, and if you fancy having a go yourself I highly recommend the video I linked to above.

Anyhoo, here's a card I did make successfully with the texture plates - gelli printed and collaged!

Gelli Journal

 

I have been gelli printing a lot this last couple of weeks and decided to go ahead and make my new art journal with a pile of the prints I'd done. I'm really looking forward to working in it too!

Check out the video below if you'd like to have a guided tour of how I created it.

October Colours

I love this time of year, especially for the wonderful colours. Here's another journal page trying to capture it all.

Studio Makeover The Upcycling Way - Part the Second

Here it is, finished at last! I can't tell you what a relief it is to have my studio finally sorted and also how much I love it, and the wonderful Vincent for finding the materials and creating it for me. If you want to makeover your work space for practically nothing it can be done. Almost everything in here was repurposed from other parts of the house - like the old G-Plan sideboard for instance, or the sewing table which came originally from my mother's house and was languishing under our stairs. Most of the wood for the shelving came from a local yard which salvages old timber and sells it on for a charitable trust. The black kitchen counter top was rescued from a skip, as was the wood for the battens holding up the shelf ends.

My room has gone from hideous, cluttered mess with virtually zero organisation to being somewhere I can't wait to get into each day and, as a fantastic bonus, I unearthed all sorts of treasures I didn't know I had whilst sorting and organising everything. I even 'discovered' this old cabinet which came from Ikea about 20 years ago and gave it a makeover too! It'll be perfect for storing sewing related bits and bobs.

I ♥ my studio!

Being Here

I admire my dog. He has many fine qualities, not the least of which is his ability to live entirely in the moment. Faster than you can click your fingers he will go from being deeply asleep to bouncing off the walls when you mention the word 'walkies'. He always exhibits total absorption in the here and now, whatever may be happening. All dogs do this naturally, indeed so do all animals, with one exception. Yes, us, of course.

I want to be more like my dog, but it takes a a lot of practice.

A Little More Inspiration

Come to the edge, He said. 
They said, We are afraid. 
Come to the edge, He said. 
They came. He pushed them... and they flew.     

Guillaume Apollinaire

Ode to Joy

One of the things I most often write or say when someone comments on a piece of my work is how much fun it was to create. It's true, I love to paint, sew, knit, collage, make books and it is fun, a lot of fun! It's often also difficult and frustrating work if I'm honest, but I rarely if ever mention that, maybe because the two things seem on the face of it pretty contradictory and therefore hard to believe. The reality of work for a great many of us is that it's something we do 'out there' whilst dreaming of the weekend, summer holidays, retirement. We are very fortunate - I am very fortunate - when we can do something we love as our work because that can change everything! 

It can also, however, be a source of conflicts too; ones which lead us to feel awkward and needing to justify or dismiss our creativity in a time-equals-money obsessed world. Whether you work full time as an artist/artisan or squeeze your precious creative space from the remains of the day it may be hard to keep the faith that what you have to offer is valuable and unique. So, the other day I came across an article by Quinn McDonald which touches on this very subject. What she wrote struck an extremely strong chord with me, so much so that I wanted to share it here with you.

'We don't think our work has value in the "real world". We don't allow ourselves to think that art is "real work". When someone congratulates us, we are quick to point to the fact that we were having fun, as if that diminished our effort or talent. Interestingly enough, when history judges a culture, it doesn't do it on how fast business turned around jobs, but on art, music, inventions and other creative work.' *

I need to be reminded of this occasionally. It won't stop me telling people how much I enjoy what I do but it might help me remember that joy is a vital part of life and that far from diminishing my work it is a condition to be welcomed and cherished for us all.

* What Makes You a Professional Artist? by Quinn McDonald, published in Somerset Studio March/April 2008

Inspiration Friday

I don't know what I'd do without my books. They provide so much inspiration and hours of delight, not to mention all the new things I have learned from them! Whilst going through my studio I've uncovered one or two treasures which had inadvertently got hidden away so I thought this was a good opportunity to share some of my favourite  titles with you and ask you to share some of yours with me.

In the top picture is the very first quilt book I ever bought and if you've never done any quilting but would like to try it this is a really good book to start with. The quilts have enough interest without being too complex and yes, most of them can be made in just a couple of days. Artists' Journals and Paper, Metal & Stitch are both books I would never be without, wildly inspirational and great reference works for all manner of techniques. Colour is a brilliant read which tracks Victoria Finlay's travels in search of the fascinating history and origins of the colours and pigments we know today.

In the second photo you can see two more of my favourite go-to volumes for pure inspiration in design, texture, colour and form and The Artist's Way which I bought quite a few years ago on a friend's recommendation but have never got round to reading. Think I might do so finally!

So, just a few titles from my shelves, but what are your favourite books, the ones you love to look at and go back to again and again? Do tell me, I'd love to know!

*****

Bibliography:

Quick and Easy Projects for the Weekend Quilter by Rosemary Wilkinson

Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella

Paper, Metal & Stitch by Maggie Grey and Jane Wild

Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox by Victoria Finlay

The Artists' Way by Julia Cameron

Kimono: Vanishing Tradition by Cheryl Imperatore

Art Forms From The Ocean by Ernst Haeckel

Thought For The Day

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering. ~ Winnie the Pooh

Thanks to Kitty for reminding me of this great Pooh quote!

The Joy Of Eggs

We discovered these at the supermarket the other day. I was totally entranced by the colours of the eggs which are extremely difficult to photograph as they are such subtle and soft shades of pinky buff, blue and green. Hope you get the idea from the picture though, and an Old Cotswold Legbar sounds like a truly magnificent animal to me!

Ghosts of Naples

 

Here's a little something I started ages ago and have only just got around to finishing. There was something entirely different there before the ethereal young lady and I wasn't at all happy so I put it away. But then she came to the rescue and now I think it's one of my favourite pieces. That's how it goes sometimes.

The View From Here

 

Another rare day of that wonderful de Chirico type light meant I had to go out and shoot a few pictures round the neighbourhood. 

Studio Makeover The Upcycling Way

Regular readers will know that I have been in the process of rearranging my studio workspace for, oh, months now. So to prove that I am actually making a little headway with it I wanted to share this very useful - and cheap - idea that Vincent came up with.

He found a whole load of pine slats, of the type which are used in wooden beds to support the mattress, thrown out with someone's rubbish. They were earmarked for burning in the stove but, after hearing me gripe about adequate storage for all my art supplies, he thought again. Each slat is about 5ft long by 6" wide, making them a great length for above my big work table and just the right width for storing pots of brushes, glues, gels and all those other things which I want to have within easy reach when I'm working. He also attached a row of wooden clothes pegs along one shelf which come in very handy for holding stencils, drying painted card and paper or just hanging odds and ends from. And there you have it, space for all the necessities as well as room for favourite displays!

Pride of place goes to, as always, my beautiful Japanese Neko or lucky cat who was a gift from Thea a few years ago and never fails to make me smile with his happy face! Click on the picture if you'd like to have a closer look at what else is there.

Patience, My Love, For Spring Will Surely Come

I haven't painted anything in a while. Often, ideas for work will come to me in that borderland between waking and sleep; unfortunately, the next day I frequently can't remember them, which is why I really should keep a notebook by the bed.

This watercolour started life with a bird who spoke to me, everything else followed from there. When do you get your best ideas? I'd love to know.

Things I Almost Need

My sisters in Studio33 (see below, right) and I often joke about trips to the art or book shop where we will inevitably find, and come home with, a host of supplies which we 'almost need' and therefore just have to buy!

Well I did just that today, although in truth I really did need some of these things. I get large sheets of Murano pastel paper to make my notebook covers because, after lots of experimenting, I discovered that they are the ideal weight, they come in lots of gorgeous colours and they have a really nice texture. They are also a pain to store as I don't have a plan chest or anything similar to keep them flat in. If anyone has any top ideas for storing A2 sheets of paper in pristine condition on the cheap please share, I'd love to hear them!

Anyway, whilst at the art shop I also bought a bunch of card and envelopes to make some more greetings cards for PAD and some foamcore board for.... well see, here's where we get to the almost needed stuff. I got it just because I thought it might come in useful. Ditto the watercolour palette and the acrylic ink and dip pen. And the thing is, as anyone who creates will know, there is inspiration to be got simply from having nice, new materials laid out before you. I can honestly say that I've never come home with art supplies and later regretted buying them. They are always used sooner or later and they're a heck of a lot cheaper than a pair of Jimmy Choos!

Nature Walk

I always love it when I can find new and creative ways to use existing pieces of work. For this journal the inspiration came from a bunch of collage tags I made last year. I enlarged one and printed it out then backed it with kraft paper and added a metal washer and string ties to make an unusual cover. I'm really pleased with how it came out and can just imagine sitting on a windswept beach jotting down ideas and observations along with a sketch or two in it!