winter through jar light

towards the end of January ...

I was particularly aware of the tone of winter light
a soft greying mauve ... of a late afternoon
no matter the time of day ...

driving in snow in Manchester

and towards the end of January ...
I was in Manchester for a very sad family occasion
far too soon after losing my own Dad

snow in Manchester is always very nostalgic for me
for it reminds me of my childhood days
 growing up with special and very close cousins
when every single winter holiday it snowed without fail

it's the reason I love snow and snowflakes so much ...

driving in driving snow

 and there was a beautiful winter light ...

in the skies
in the trees
in my studio
and in my jars

week 2 of the jar project

30th January 2013

twinkle lights always cheer ... don't they
I've had mine on a lot lately!

the twinkle of fairy lights add a little magic to my display
of pebbles and fossils
and things on my studio windowsill

 

 for week 2 of the jar project ...
I used one of my own photos of St. Ives harbour
curved round inside the jar for distortion and then I
wrapped some iridescent snowflake garland around the photo
and around the top of the jar to finish

it made quite a delicious little piece ... which I'm still enjoying

"iridescence"

 

 I'm really enjoying the jar project this year ...

it's a weekly photographic project that
explores refraction, reflection, distortion, opacity
light, bokeh, colours, textures and subject matter
through the medium of a glass jar or vessel

what was meant to be a "moment in art"
turned into something I will enjoy for a while ...
sitting amongst my pebble and fossil collections

as often happens ...

the colours inspired a mosaic

winter light

1. cherish each moment 2. . 3. diving (a bird a day: 13) 4. winter symphony 

5. bridge 6. mr. roboto 7. closing circles 8. illustrating nature 9. cozy memories 

10. untitled 11. heavy light 12. transcending 13. print on wool scarf

 

week 3 of the jar project
6th February 2013

I began by experimenting with some acorn cups I'd found
that were brown with a soft pinkish hue
the soft light in the jar was amazing

these were photographed at Mum's
on a very wintry day

 this jar is called "projects"

it represents the way I often combine projects ...
sitting the jar on my "wreck this journal" project
in which I'm working my way through the prompts

I love the light and wintry tones
the soft reflections in the glass and
the opacity of the delicately embroidered flower

 and looking through the jar at the changing winter sky
of dark clouds and a peep of sunlight ...

a jar perspective

winter trees through jar light

with soft reflections

it's a beautiful world seen through a jar

why not have a go ...

place an object of your choice in an old jam jar
(nothing fancy needed here for this project!)
photograph it from different angles through the glass

notice the distortion and refraction
notice the way light, edges and shapes change

lay the jar on it's side
or photograph your object through the bottom of the jar

hold the jar up ...
and photograph your backdrop through the jar

fill your jar up with water ...
how does that affect your viewpoint ...

is your jar reflecting light from your environment?
record what you see and how it makes you feel

photograph, draw or collage a shape from your jar ...
there are many directions this project may take

inspire yourself ...

"the winter ended"

and then finally ... the winter ended

this is a textile art heart I made for my shop recently
the final wintry white one for quite a while

I loved stitching this one with melted sheers and crisp white satins
silver snowflakes, clear Swarovski crystals and other seed beads
layered over silver fabrics

 

I was pleased with the layers ...

the look I was trying to achieve was one of snow piled up in drifts

to finish I added a very pretty Swarovski crystal heart

I'll be back again soon ...
I'm spring cleaning this weekend
housework, windows, garden ...

the flowers and daffodils are blooming
the birds think it's spring
they are very busy to and fro with nesting materials

the clocks went forward in the early hours
and it's now British Summer Time ... hurrah!
now all we need is some warm sunshine
have a great weekend x

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

the last mosaic of winter

the last mosaic of winter ...

1. beachcombing 2. frozen sycamore leaf 3. snow on the moor Zennor 4. sea washed 5. sheep detail in the harvest scene 6. lace motif 7. fossil collection I | 27-02-10 8. pieces of the collection 9. old lace trimmed curtains 10. running with sunbeams... 11. french knots sheep 12. vintage lace napkin and chair 13. french knot sheep button

 a nod to the coldest winter we have had in St. Ives for yonks

and all the sleety showers and hail stone storms this weekend

perhaps that's why the spring tides have been so awesome!

thank you for all your kind comments left here

and on my facebook page, flickr and twitter ♥

projects that I'm keeping up with at the moment include:

 mosaic monday

tag tuesday
wreck this journal

the jar project on wednesday

monthly crow days
sketchbooks and work for exhibition in November 2013

and ... updating my shop

I've started making hearts again (but sold out over the weekend)

I am working on more ... with a St. Ives theme

and some new ones for Spring

I've recently enjoyed some Crow Days with friend Jo

making faux chenille samples and a newspaper journal

again, very much with a St. Ives theme

and using pieces from my erosion bundle ... remember that?

lots to share ...

as you can see ... I am trying to get back to blogging again

but I have a bit of a backlog of photos to sift through ...

it all takes time ...

wishing you all a very creative week ahead ♥

St. Ives spring tide

the spring tides in St. Ives this week have been absolutely awesome

I am sure you will enjoy this little clip ... 

have a great weekend and thank you for visiting

rainy days and mondays

rainy days and mondays

1. good morning 2. goodbye February! 3. drop cliche! 4. porthminster rain 5. mixed signals 6. too ripe 7. it's raining... 8. vintage spools of thread 9. . 10. blue eyes (Jeanne) 1917 11. . 12. after a spring rain 13. pussy willow

I'm having a spring sale in my etsy shop

Monday 11 - Thursday 14 March

for 25% off - quote SPRING2013

I would love you to visit my shop
and I hope you may see something you like ♥

inspiring St. Ives colours

my most favourite scene

with vintage handwriting texture

this week ... I love these colours

which have worked their way into some mini newspaper journals

and this week's photo for my jar project

dreaming of the sea

dreaming of the sea

1. beach finds 2. ♥ harbour view ♥ 3. life cycle 4. ++ 5. the nap
6.seaside shells ... 7. running into the diamond sea
8. light sea storm 9. amour 10. leaving the circle 

11. 04232702 12. a midnight green gift 13. 16 pebbles

a sunny monday

a fresh start perhaps

and hoping to post a little here again