Another long break…

Again, apologies. But I’ve done very little art since the last post, and have been in a rather hazy world for the last month or so. Hopefully, the mist is slowly lifting, so here are the 2 little creations that I have done.

The first is an altered matchbox for a rather belated birthday gift. Luckily the recipient didn’t mind about it being late, and seemed delighted with her little ‘treasure’ box.

Open matchbox with goodies

I made the 3 flower embellishments (one on the box, 2 inside) from air-dry clay; the other items in the box were from my stash. The box itself was decorated with paper and paints, including crackle paint, an item which I love using.

The other item I made was a quiltie for a swap. An interesting one, we had to base our design on a photograph taken by our partner. Here’s the original photo (I’m sure Alis won’t object to me sharing it here):

And here is my finished quiltie:

Mostly fabric-painted cotton. The bench itself was printed onto cotton after having been turned into a ‘drawing’ using PaintShopPro and painted before being stuck onto the hand-drawn background. Finished with hand needle-felting and stitching.

And that’s been my creative output for the last month, apart from a few doodles in my journal. Still, I’m working on a collage at the moment, so hopefully there will be more to share soon.

Collages

Again, another long break from my blog Must post here more regularly, I know – sorry, folks!!!

Anyway, here is “Kite over the Moor”:

Kite Over the Moor

Similar to “Window on the Moor” (see “Oops”), using the same techniques. But lighter and somehow happier – having used kites in my doodles for a while, and loving the freedom/ flight symbolism, it was inevitable that one would appear in my collages!

Over the last week, I’ve done two more collages. Entitled “Urban Nature 1 and 2″ these are again on 7″x5″ canvases. I used textured papers, fabric, acrylic and Viva Decor paints plus air-dry clay embellishments. My first time making clay pieces for inclusion in my art, but certainly won’t be the last.

Urban Nature 1

Urban Nature 2

I had great fun with both of these and am pleased with the way my work has developed recently. I’m fascinated at the direction in which my art is going – wonderfully interesting, how it seems to be taking off on it’s own, lol!!!

Urban Twilight

Another long break without posting… partly because we went on holiday for a week, but mostly because I haven’t been particularly creative during the last month.

However, here is the textured collage that I did using various bits of card, bubble wrap, paper, fabric pieces and Viva Decor paints + Rub-n-Buff wax:

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as good from the scan as in real life – too many shiny metallic effects, lol! And not all of the textures are easy to see. But it should give you a good idea of what it’s like.

I really enjoyed working with the materials and the freedom of not working from reality. A year or so ago I wouldn’t have envisaged developing abstraction within my work but it does seem that my art is moving more in that direction of late. In fact, I recently bought a book on abstract painting and am using the exercises to explore the genre further. Hopefully, I’ll eventually share my efforts here

Oops!!!

I really have neglected my poor little blog!!! Sorry folks

Anyway, thought it way past time to update before you all think I’ve disappeared into the ether, lol. The end of April and May were pretty hectic, plus the inevitable fibro backlash has dulled my enthusiasm for creative endeavours. Luckily I still managed to do a little, and am now back in creative mode. Though for how long remains to be seen as another hectic time looms. So if I disappear again, you all know why.

Enough rambling! Here are some of my recent creations.

Poetry AB spread, part one.

part 2... showing the haiku that inspired the spread.

Used various papers, vellum and embellishments plus an image from the web for the above.

The other Poetry AB spread I did was quite different. Zen poetry was my inspiration, but I wanted a more tactile feel so the base is silk painted with Stewart Gill fabric paints.

SIlk, fabric paints, scrim, flakes and various embellishments were used for this one.

So, very different, and I think they represent how my art is developing at the moment. I’m being drawn more and more to working with textures and fabrics, experimenting with new-for-me materials and techniques. I’ve also had a small play with water-based oils, but wasn’t particularly happy with the result, so will resist showing that for now. However, I made a little collage (about 7×5″ I think!) for a ’surprise me’ swap that I was really pleased with:

Window on the Moors

Inspired by photos that I’d taken from the back of my son’s car as we drove through the Peak district. Again, fabric paints but on some cotton this time. A very textured wall using acrylic flint medium, black gesso and acrylics. Plus some fibres and a digitally altered window printed on transparent adhesive paper.

I was very pleased with the above collage, and hope to work further with those types of materials. Although I would prefer to return to a more urban setting. In fact, the collage that I’m currently working on does just that, but with different materials. For now, though, that’s all the eye candy you’re getting Hopefully I won’t leave my blog so long without posting again!!!

More from my Sketchbook Challenge

Just a few more pages from my parks, gardens and yards sketchbook.

Above inspired by flowers in the Winter Garden, and done whilst listening to Chopin.

 

Yard nearby of an empty house, altered slightly with crayon.

Photo of yards from street, with notes and diagram of typical ‘back yards’ in Sheffield.

Sketchbook Challenge

For some reason, I seem to have been ignoring my blog recently. Not sure why. Anyway, here are a few pages from a recent sketchbook, done as part of a challenge to fill an A6 pad in a week. I didn’t complete the task and still have a few pages left but don’t see it as a failure, as I did manage to do something every day of that week and gained a lot from doing so. Hopefully the other pages will be filled eventually
We all chose a theme to explore: mine was ‘Exploring Sheffield parks, gardens and yards’. A huge subject, but falling within my urban / nature theme. Although photos were allowed, each unaltered one we used meant we had to do 3 drawings, so I used as few photos as possible.

These are just a few of the pages; many of the drawings were done at home from photos as the weather that week was awful and my health wasn’t great. Even so the exercise was useful and it felt good to concentrate more on drawing than on photographs.

From defining what parks, gardens and yards are, I looked at specific ones within Sheffield, learning a lot in the process and realising that there are many, many parks and public gardens in the city that I’d never heard of, let alone visited. However, I think the most important part of the journey for me was exploring different techniques from detailed drawings to the almost abstract – or simplifications, as I termed them. The fence and the palm tree being two of my favourites.
Hopefully I’ll finish the sketchbook in the not too distant future – now that the weather is improving I hope to be able to get out and draw on location. Then I’ll have an even greater wealth of material to dip into for future urban projects, including collage and altered books.

Canary Wharf spread

 This is the second spread in my Urban Snapshots AB. It was done ages ago, or seems like it, but I’ve neglected my blog for a while – sorry!

Anyway, the two photos were taken in Canary Wharf, a long time before the collapse of the banking system. Yet both made me uneasy at the time. Probably because I just don’t feel comfortable within such a business-orientated environment. The top one is fairly self-explanatory; the second is a group of children with their nannie looking at gliders on display within the heart of the Canary Wharf banking sector. The nannie had been telling them not to touch anything, as the gliders were very expensive. Several bankers were around, chatting with the salesmen, obviously interested in buying and oozing confidence as well as wealth. The children appeared out of place and not particularly happy with their surroundings: like me, outsiders looking in.

The background for the pages uses various elements, including fake money, material and a tube map. Inks, paints and chalks have been used to tone down and create a grunge-like feel which I felt appropriate, given recent events.

Rest and meditation

 This is the first spread in my Urban Snapshots altered book project.

Both of these photos were taken in Sheffield. The one on the left is behind a restaurant, where the chefs and workers go for a quick rest or smoking break (I’ve seen them). What appealed to me, I think, was how the barred gate and the bleak surroundings make the place look rather akin to a prison; hence the addition of mesh behind the photo.

In contrast, the Cafe Azure in the Millennium Galleries has a wonderful peaceful and open decor with light flooding through the large windows. Usually it is busy but on that morning only one person, seemingly deep in thought, occupied the cafe and I couldn’t resist taking the photo as I passed. I framed the photo with paper rope, the first time that I’ve used this material – wish I’d discovered it earlier as it’s relatively easy to bend and keeps it shape.

The background for both spreads is a photo of floor tiles from within the galleries, printed on normal paper then coloured with chalks and inks.

urban snapshots

 

urban snapshots

Having been working away I thought it was long past time to update on my new project – an altered book entitled Urban Snapshots. Using photos that I’ve taken since I had a digital camera, the idea is to collage several within this old book. As you can see the cover has a grungy feel but not all the content will.

Inspiration came initially from the hundreds, if not thousands, of images that I have stored on my pc during the last 4 and a half years or so. They are not perfect photos by any means but in some ways that attracts me to them more. They are glimpses of urban living and environment; of people, objects, buildings, dereliction and construction. They are a record of life as it was at that moment in time and in that place.

I decided it was time to do something with them. Having started it’s clear that using photos in my art has been a development waiting to happen: I adore photography, that capturing of a moment, the freezing of time. Including my photographs within my collage was, I guess, inevitable. It’s just that it’s taken me time to work that out, lol.

Altering a whole book, however, is a daunting task: I’ve done pages in other people’s books and partially altered books but have never, yet, altered a book entirely by myself. The sorting and selection process to whittle down the hundreds of possible photos to a small number was also rather daunting. But labelling all my photos into progressively smaller groupings eventually shrunk the number into a manageable folder.

I make no apologies for cropping, sharpening, or otherwise altering the chosen shots for this project. They will, however, focus on the subject that made me stop and click. I’m hoping that the collage will enhance the subject in various ways, perhaps by highlighting detail or conveying emotion or hinting at stories.

So, that’s the general concept – an attempt to portray impressions of the dynamics of city life – people, buildings, culture, life as it happened – within this tiny selection of photos. A sort of time-capsule within an altered book.

It is also a way to challenge and develop myself and my art: I’ve been reading up on techniques, sorting out ideas and plans and compositions both mentally and within my journal, and tackling the occasional problem or glitch. Displayed here are the front cover and the intro spread. I’ll try to update progress regularly but if you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s probably because I’m actually creating

Intro spread for Urban Snapshots

Abstract Quiltie

abstract quiltie

It’s been a while since my last post, so I thought that I’d better update my blog before everyone wonders where I am!

Admittedly, I haven’t been creating much in the last three or four weeks. One of the things that I have done is this quiltie, a felted piece for a swap in the Unlimited Textiles group. The more aware may notice some similarities to the doodle I did in my journal and posted here on 1st February – it was, indeed, the starting point although not planned as such. But nice when a doodle can inspire my work – somehow makes the journaling seem more worthwhile!

As for what else I’ve been doing – some more doodling in my journal and sifting through ideas and photographs for my next personal project. After deciding on a title and format for this at the end of last week, I’ve finally made a start on the cover for the altered book, and labeled, sorted and even printed out some photos. No images to show yet, however. But I’m quite excited by the whole thing and, once the Welsh Open snooker is over, I promise to show you some images of my progress so far