art studio home from home

we are away for a week...a bit closer to home this time

and I'm digging the lights outside our apartment.

not on public transport for a change....means I've been able to bring

more art stash than I could ever use in a week

sewing stuff

painting and drawing stuff

sketchbooks

brushes, tapes, paints

papers, papers and more papers

printing sets

rain is predicted so maybe I'll use it all ;)

operation finish off some art

It was good to sit down tonight and finish off some bits and pieces that have been hanging around for a while...I've put them together in a little medley.

bed and breakfast chic

Thank you for your comments to my last post. They really help.

Just like a short break at the seaside in kitsch heaven.

not a farrow and ball wall in sight


totally unpretentious

a refreshing change

badgers and squirrels on lace are the new Conran

loos like this are hard to find

quilted toilet paper and plastic flowers

frills and lace

Bridlington is the new St Ives

I don't feel much like blogging these days..but maybe if I do it will help. Cancer has got a hold of my lovely Dad and it's breaking my heart. It's so hard to see someone you love suffering so much and knowing that he will be taken away from us. I lost my mother to cancer when I was 11 years old. I don't know if I can get through the next days, weeks, months and years. I'm just doing my best to get through each day.


Today my friend took me to Ulrome on the East Yorkshire coast to see some caravans and chalet's that she saw a couple of year's ago. You can see photographs of them here. We were shocked to find the sea had eroded the land and the dwellings had disappeared. I found these broken tiles at the edge of the cliff..I reminder about how temporary everything is in this life.

patchwork crochet

anyone know how u join crochet squares together?

shell and bone

it was weird drawing these two things one after the other. I drew the skull first but when i went on to the shell i started seeing a skull in it. Brian Cox was telling us the other night that everything on earth is composed of the same chemical elements...and now i'm kinda wondering if skulls and shells are made up of similar stuff? drawing one seems a bit like drawing the other.

And what happens on a sheeps head (or whatever this thing was before it died and i drew it)...where it's skull becomes it's horns? What happens to the skin around the horn?...it cant just stop otherwise it would just peel back and little beasts would be able to crawl inside. How weird that horns are just bones sticking out.

oh well..i'm going to make some eggy bread.

plump

we've been making cushions around here...

and now we've got a lot of plumping to do

yay

spring is finally here

1000 birds

n

If you haven't already visited

the blog of my friend

and colleague, Makiko Hastings,

then I recommend that you do.

Not only will you

find the most magical post I have ever seen in blogland,

but you will see

gorgeous photography,

a giant teapot,

her wonderful studio being built and

her perfectly yummy ceramics being made.

Desperate to do something to help

her beloved Japan and her

compatriates at a time of such

unimaginable crisis,

Maki is now working on her

1000 bird project to

raise money for

the Japan Tsunami Appeal.

We need to get behind her.

please visit Maki's blog and show your support

publisher patchwork

st ives palette

one of the things i don't like about blogger is that its such a bloomin faff to get pictures in the order that you want them (aaargghh). I've just tried dragging this lot around and its taking forevever so here they are in the wrong order. now that little rant is over...what i wanted to say is...

one of the things i like about blogging (says she who hasn't been around here much for decades)

is the distance it gives you from your artwork, a chance to record and look again with a slightly altered eye or perspective.

i've always known that i love st ives in cornwall. it's a special place for me and one of the things i love about it is the colour. the light is special in st ives and i just love the colours of the sea, the sky, the white washed houses, the cobbled streets, the weathered boats and the rugged rocks.

i didn't realise how much this had seeped into my bones until i took these photos for this blog.


in response to a recent post helen commented that my painting reminded her of rusty boats by the sea which put a happy smile (thanks helen) on my face because i luuurrrrve rusty boats by the sea.

i didn't realise as i was painting these (unfinished as usual) canvases that they remind me of st ives...all chalky and weathered


I'm sure there's some boat shapes in there too

perhaps even a harbour wall

but this is the picture (above) that most surprised me its like i subconsciously painted the rocks the sky and the sea in my sketchbook. Even the potato print when i stamped it twice on the page came out as the cornish flag (the cornish flag is the coolist ever..a white cross on a black background). st ives must be calling me.

the final hidden message came when i checked the photos i'd taken - on top of a sketchbook i bought in st ives last year.

ahhhh if only it wasn't so far away and so expensive to stay there...house swap for the summer anyone?

untitled post

once paintings are started, almost finished or complete i like to pick parts out with a camera and make new compositions

i dont have a very good camera -

so these colours aren't quite the same

and no matter how hard i try

i cannot fathom the mystical ways of blogger

so that i can display the images

in the order that i want them

so in some sort of random fashion

here are a few mini compositions

details

scratchy bits

perhaps some shapes and lines

that i can use again or develop

this is almost finished..

but i wish i'd used oils

and not acrylic..

especially for the printed parts

i'm not into the plasticky

look of acrylic just now

gonna save up for some more oil paints

i'm enjoying painting again

and have quite a lot of other work

in progress from just a few 'stolen'

days avoiding other commitments

i'll show you them soon