first steps back

the first few steps to achieving most things are often the hardest

but they begin by putting one foot firmly in front of the other

and trusting that you are going in the right direction

and, more importantly, for the right reasons

I took those (very difficult) first few steps back in January

by deciding that I wanted to write on my blog again
 

I was away from my blogs for a very long time ... 

I now realise, in hindsight, that I was still getting over
some family things and I believe that, subconsciously,
I was also aware of the deteriorating health of my darling Daddy

who passed away in December 2012

I don't want to go into it all here ...
it's all too painful ... and always will be

but I acknowledge the past few months have been difficult

and now I'm trying to get back to many of my art projects
that were shelved ...but not abandoned

it's very true ...
that spending time creatively can help the healing process

time to lose oneself in an all consuming project or

quiet time to think and process thoughts and feelings

so ... I've been doing just that ...

at my own pace ...

walking on the beach ...

playing with textures on my own photos ...

pushing the pieces around for a still life shot ...

posing tiny little shells ...

enjoying joyful yellow flowers ...

with subtle scents of spring ...

finding inspiration from beautiful words ...

 high above ... the clouds parted for an instant
and a watery gleam of sunshine broke through
the wet streets threw back the reflection of this light
and stone and slate were washed in gold           

anticipating springtime in mosaics ...

discovering a clump of snowdrops on a wintry walk  ...

 enjoying the sprinkling of snow we had

on the Cornish cottage rooftops in January ...

and enjoying new challenges and ways of looking at things

one word wednesday jar project

an inspirational photographic group that looks at refraction,
reflection, distortion, opacity, light, bokeh, colours, textures
and subject matter through the medium of a glass jar or vessel ...
with focus on a title containing only one word

week 1 of the jar project
23 January 2013

we are now on week 9

and I will share some of my jar photos here in coming weeks

I'm finding it such a joyful project

inspired by the snow and ice we had in January

I made a crystal snowflake to go in my first jar photo

I love the refraction through the glass and the pebbles behind

 

also in snowy January ... I had a lovely day with my friend Jo

she took me over to Sally Snape's shop at Perranarworthal

a most wonderful patchwork/fabric emporium

Coast and Country

where I indulged in a little retail therapy

I can justify most of these purchases as they will be used for work I'm producing

for an exhibition of textiles in St. Ives in Autumn 2014 ...

yes ... I've started early for once!!

beautiful lace and soft pastel linens

fabrics with seedheads and starry shaped notions

these are a few of my favourite things

and if you can get down for my show in 2014

you will see that these tones all fit in nicely with my sketchbooks

on a seed pod and seed head theme

 

other "extravagancies" included beautiful batik fabrics

in shades of wintry moon and ocean blues

 ... and lunch at The Olive Grove

where Jo and I exchanged gifts and had a very lovely time

pottering round the nurseries ... looking for snowdrops

in January the moon was beautiful ...

I captured it ...

 

and printed it ... and made a card

I was amazed when it received 240 "faves" on flickr (thank you)

 

I love moons and mussels

in that particular shade of denim blue ...

moons and mussels

1. sky bubble 2. bubble bokeh 3. california mussels 4. drop cliche! 5. earth dandelion 

 6. La Javanaise 7. bulles 18 8. beach bubbles 9. arrivederci inverno 10. a blue moon 

11. IMGP3855 12. blowing bubbles in Torquay 13. sweet nothing|s 14. beach butterfly 

15. ying/yang 16. 20091101-_MG_9115 17. turnstone 18. untitled 19. untitled 20. rain on window

and curating beautiful mosaics ...

those winter blues

1. braving a blizzard 2. brrrrr ! 3. promise 4. in the bleak midwinter 5. frozen fingers

6. vintage - snow in September 1959 7. sculpted doily 8. lagerstroemia indica 9. untitled 

10. natural dyed pouches 11. beach pebbles in January curonian spit national park, Russia 

12. haiku stash 498 13. untitled

more misty blues ...

1. willow 2. among snowy mountains 3. a delicate world 4. waning lines 5. | 6. untitled

and during very cold weather I love to make these ...

they are so pretty ... I have them hanging all year round ...

to enjoy their sparkle and reflections

snowflakes

 well ... this is all for now

as I say ... it's a start

 and life is "full on" at the moment

with making for my shop and the other projects I'm working on

not to mention my show later this year

"sew ... a needle pulling thread ..."

so there will be a bit more on that later

thank you for visiting x