the rain it raineth every day ...

It's a grey rainy day in Cornwall.  Very heavy rain and rather blustery as well.  I do love the weather here in this exposed part of the far south west.  It's always very dramatic and very beautiful.

I was supposed to be meeting friends for beachcombing and swimming on our favourite, secluded beach followed by a visit to Kurt Jackson's studio.  I was looking forward to taking my sketchbook, paints and oil pastels, making some little drawings using soil samples and having a go at a Cornish sound walk, similar to the one I did in Norfolk with Debbie Lyddon.  I'm hoping that this still happens … but maybe this time next week.

Instead, I am making the most of being cosy indoors, watching the sky and the light change over the bay, as I work on a few small things and sort out my photos. One of my very good friends recently suggested I could make a book from the photographs I take daily of the changing light and colours across the sky and how it affects the seascape and the landscape on the far coast.  It's a lovely idea.  But just to notice it, appreciate it and try to capture it in some way is enough for me.  The many shades of grey, white and blue with touches of Cornish gold inspire something deep within me.

Who put wisdom within the clouds

Or gave understanding to the sky phenomenon?

~ Job 38:36 ~ 

I started these small collage pieces inspired by Mousehole fish and starry gazey pies.  They are just small little things for my sketchbook, inspired by the rich heritage of this and surrounding fishing villages.

They are still drying off on my desk and the next stage will be to cut them into small pieces and work further into them with oil pastels and stitch. I will share the little silver darlings next time.

Also, taking my time going through my Workshop notes and the many photos from my recent trip to Norfolk.  It would be nice to get my pieces from the Workshop finished, photos sent to print, and some small painting and collage pieces done to remind me of my lovely visit to Norfolk and time with Debbie Lyddon.  I think Norfolk will follow little silver darlings (and whatever magical things happen down on the secret beach).  Thank you for reading.

Snowed in

Well, that was an interesting week with the weather!

The "Beast from the East" meets "Storm Emma".  Siberian snow and 60mph winds meant we had a good 8 to 12 inches of snow in places with deeper drifts.  The "fuss" is that we don't get snow like this in Cornwall, not that often and not this thick!

We were snowed in for two days but it felt much longer especially when we had three power cuts, the longest for four hours.  We were very grateful for our wood burner and a well stocked fridge.

It all looks so pretty through the window but feeling cut off and isolated makes you realise how much you take everything for granted ... especially electric, keeping warm and making tea!

The snow has inspired my collages this week.  We are now on week 10, following the theme called "decollage".  Adding lots of layers and then tearing back to reveal images underneath.

"darling girl"

I used an advert from a 1950s magazine, a beautiful tarnished spoon, a snowy landscape, a few snowflakes from a card insert and some gelli printed tissue paper.  I like the feel of this one but I deliberated over whether to fill the white space, and then decided not to.  It Is enough.

Only last week ... I said I would be making only one collage a week from now on!  However, I find I get on a roll and this week I wanted to try working a collage on fabric.  This one has a cotton linen backing.  I worked some white gesso over it to prime first.  Then I collaged the same as I would on paper, using the layering/tearing back technique for this week.

follow in nature's footsteps

Other elements are waxed sewing pattern paper and a skeleton holly leaf from my garden.  The bird is a "blackcap".  The collaged background remains soft enough to handle and stitch into.  I have put it to one side to work on over the next few days.

My collages are 5 x 5 inches in an 8 x 8 inch sketchbook for week 10 of the collage project that I am doing with my sister Evelyn following the weekly prompts in The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman

"snowed in"

Also on my desk ... a snowy heart I have been stitching with lots of layers of thick chiffon snow and glittering snowflakes.  I used some of my painted textured cotton fabric too which, as I used it, made me think of compacted snow ... you know when snow has uneven bumps and ridges.

I also have winter beachcombing on my mind and I've started another with very pretty beach finds including a tiny barnacle, pearl shell and a lovely mussel.  The simple pleasures of admiring sea treasures, taking time to select fabrics and quietly stitching a shoreline walk.

I will share the snowy one and the winter shoreline walk quite soon.  Meanwhile, here is one I found when I was sorting through a box in my studio.  I made it a while ago and it's one of only a few that I have left in my personal collection.  The two baby mussel shells are still attached in a tangle to the mother shell.

"along the beach"

Thank you for visiting me here x

reassemble and squares/rectangles

These are my collages for the prompts of "reassemble" (cutting an image into squares then turning the pieces and rearranging them) and "squares and rectangles"

reassemble

I used a piece of craft paper with a vintage notepaper theme in shades of blush pink and soft brown.  It had beautiful handwriting, old typewriters and romantic pink roses.  I left a small space between the squares in a similar manner to the mosaics I like to make.

blush rose

My collage for "squares and rectangles" is all rectangles actually.  Inspired by the first collage, I went seeking soft blush rose papers and pieces from my collection.  I discovered a bag of my erosion bundle pieces from several years ago.  A lot of the scraps were stained with cranberry and rose teabags.  I included a tiny pressed flower and the image of the little girl.  She has the rosiest cheeks.  The words "Tha'lt be like a blush-rose when tha' grows up, my little lass" come from one of my favourite childhood books "the Secret Garden".  For texture, I've included a fraying piece of biodegradable fibre from a shopping bag.  All other papers have come from the erosion bundle.

All collages are 5 x 5 inches in an 8 x 8 inch sketchbook for weeks 8 and 9 of the collage project following the weekly prompts in The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman with my sister Evelyn.

I'm looking forward to next week's challenge of "decollage".  It looks to be an interesting technique similar to one I did in my Surface Treatment Workshop sketchbook last year. 

From now on, I will only be doing one collage a week to meet the themes as I want to pick up my textiles again.  A short break from stitching has done me the world of good.  However, as I mentioned at the start of January I am taking things nice and slowly and doing whatever takes my fancy this year.

Thank you always for reading my rambles ...

image pairings and strips

These are my collages for the prompts of "image pairings" (cutting an image in half and working the two sides into two distinctively different themed collages) and “strips”

“the green beak of some bird”

Above - I layered mainly vintage papers with a book loving theme.

“Y is for yacht”

A nautical themed collage with shipbuilding images, a German stamp with ships, a snippet from one of my photographs with sea spray and a label from the Cornwall Soap Box from St. Ives (it smells wonderful).

“say ‘cheese’”

Vintage papers, magazine image, snippet of original photo and a faded pressed Californian Poppy from the garden.

“love at first sight”

I used mainly vintage papers with some waxed papers for beautiful texture.

“strips”

Taking two images/papers and re-arranging them into strips helps to focus attention on different elements and patterns in the image.

Throughout this project I have endeavoured to use texture on all of my collages.  I like to use small pieces of fabric, stitch, buttons, waxed papers or lavish layering to achieve this.  Texture is always a hard thing to photograph, however I love running my hands over each collage in my sketchbook as much as I love considering and choosing the elements of theme and colour.

All collages are 5 x 5 inches in an 8 x 8 inch sketchbook for weeks 6 and 7 of the collage project following the weekly prompts in The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman with my sister Evelyn.

the weekly collage project

It's been a few weeks since I last posted something here. I've got a little bit behind with sharing work online just recently although I have been keeping up quite well with making weekly collages for the project I'm doing this year with my sister.  I now hope to rectify that with some catch up blog posts over the next few days.

In this post I am sharing my collages for week 5 - following the prompt of "colour plunge" from The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman.  Colour plunge essentially refers to choosing a colour and creating monochromatic collages using only (or mostly) tones of that colour.

I chose to work with autumn tones with a wintry feel, using pretty blueish greens, greenish browns and ochre yellows to create little stories of walks in the countryside.  I like that my collages have evolved from simply using random papers and bits and pieces already in my collection.

I tend to file my collage papers in a monochromatic fashion so I found this "challenge" quite easy and got a bit carried away.  I ended up with eight collages for this prompt and hope you enjoy seeing my "mostly" monochromatic little stories.

“mediocre”

I call this one "mediocre".  I was trying to create an organic feel with this one.  The skeleton leaf (found in my garden) in symmetry with the statue, the roots mirroring the bare tree branches, lifted off text on vintage paper and some lovely green silk fabric with a frayed edge that looks like soft dark green grass.  It has a wintry feel with the blue green tones and bare bones of the trees, roots and leaf.

“the stormiest of skies”

The colours in this one were inspired by the indigo clouds in the landscape.  It was a paper I was using to paint on.  I enjoyed creating the layers with a piece of my collage work with oil pastels, a piece of my hand dyed silk and a vintage photo of mother and daughter from the sixties out for a walk in the lanes.  Do you think they will they make it home before it pours with indigo raindrops ...

“unsuitable shoes”

“taken in the garden - October 1943”

A gentlemen poses in a garden with a sunlit backdrop through the trees.  I used an image with bokeh and old wallpapers to match and give a nostalgic feel.  I used old fashioned photo corners to attach the photo so it can be lifted off again.  There is some very nice old writing on the back and someone has written "taken in the garden October 1943" in black ink.  I wonder a lot about who this gentleman is, who took the photo and how their life may have been during wartime.  The photo came to me in a random bundle.

“brownish leaves and gnarly roots”

Seventies girl is out for a walk amongst the falling brownish leaves and greenish gnarly roots.  I added texture with dark brown bark paper and real leaves.

“bloom”

I called this one "bloom" which is a play on words and represents the floweriness of the vintage patterns, the real pressed flower from my garden and the pretty bloom in the cheeks of seventies girl.  There are lots of layers on this one and seventies girl came from a sewing pattern.

“I giggled to myself”

I used my favourite ochre yellows and papers and textures from my own artwork such as rusted tissue paper from an erosion bundle, small collages with oil pastel, gelli plate prints and textured/painted fabrics.  The image came from a magazine.

“mermaids singing”

Inspired by the spine of a paperback book.  All background papers are my own work from either paintings, textures created on The Surface Treatment Workshop or erosion bundles.

Thank you always for visiting me today and for all comments here and elsewhere on Flickr, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.  If you would like to follow along with the collage project please feel free to follow the weekly prompts, make and share on your pages.  Also, please do have a look at my sister Evelyn’s page where she shares her beautiful collages and creative journey with watercolour painting.  Her blog is inspirational.

Next post - week 6 - pairings

black and white with a charge of colour

This week I am sharing two weeks' worth of collages for the project I am doing with my sister Evelyn, following the prompts from Randel Plowman's book The Collage Workbook.  

My first two collages are BLACK AND WHITE (the prompt for week 3):

I call this one "in the winter season".  It's a mixed media collage using a vintage image of two little boys pulling sleds, torn papers and tissue paper.  All my collages measure 5 x 5 inches.

This is "blanc et noir" which is apt because I used an image from a French magazine, which I then covered over with other imagery, an advert for Parazone, artwork with black pastel, a sweet wrapper with skeleton and some words "the twinkle in his eyes made him look younger".

Texture was created by gluing on some netting, letting it dry and then ripping it off again.  I stitched into the collage with black thread.

Below are my collages for COLOUR CHARGE (the prompt for week 4) and, again, both collages are 5 x 5 inches.  Colour charge refers to adding one ore more colours to a black and white background.

I'm back with my St. Ives theme for these, inspired by the work of Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis.

In my "Barbara Hepworth" collage I used an image from a magazine advertising an exhibition of her work that was held at Abbot Hall Art Gallery and also one of Barbara Hepworth's loose charcoal drawings that I dipped in wax.  For the colour charge I used two pieces from an erosion bundle I did in 2017.  Some cotton linen hand dyed orange and rust and a rusted piece of artwork which I ripped up and dipped in wax.  Some subtle colour charge here.

Below in my "Alfred Wallis" collage I used an image he painted of St. Ives cottages and some printed numbers given to me by paper swap friend Heather Harker.  It also features one of my fabric Alfred Wallis cottages with stitch in black.  For colour, I have added some of my hand dyed ochre yellow cotton fabric and a small piece of monoprinted paper in blue and ochre.  I associate these colours with St. Ives, especially the ochre yellow reminding me of lichen coloured rooftops.  For randomness, I added the little figure just because I like it.

If you are inspired to join in the collage project, please feel free.  You don't have to share online, just do it for fun.  Just one or two small collages a week ... it's do-able I think.  Till next time when we explore the theme of monotone ... thank you for visiting today x

white on white

Week 2 of the collage project and I have just the one collage to share this week for the theme of WHITE.  Lots of layers though, exploring tones of white on white ...

My collage is 5 x 5 inches on heavy duty watercolour paper.

Layered with torn vintage book pages, white washed text, several layers of tissue paper and embellished with torn paper lace, texture washed up on the beach and a vintage mother of pearl button with original thread still attached.

Evelyn has already posted her collages, three in all, if you would like to take a look, and our next prompt is "black and white" which I'm looking forward to.

Also this week ... I've had a tidy up in my studio, mainly going through piles of textile work and have organised into "do-able" piles.  I've started adding stitches to some winter hearts and I've also glued in some sketchbook pieces, so I'm really enjoying the pace of things at the moment.

Thank you for your comments on last week's five minute winter collages.  I very much enjoyed making them.  Till next time ... x

Taking things slowly ...

A new year, a new start and I am very pleased to be back posting here on my page again.  This year is all about having fun and being happy.  Creating beautiful things and exploring new ways of working and expression.  Being thankful for the smallest of blessings every day, taking things slowly and achieving personal goals.

I have a brand new project that I will be working on with my sister Evelyn.  We chose a collage project for this year.  Fifty weeks of collage prompts from Randel Plowman's Collage Workbook.  Each week we will be exploring composition, colour, new collage techniques and themes, some of which will be out of my comfort zone I'm sure!  But that is a good thing.  I must push myself. 

Please note - I won't be sharing the techniques here just the finished collages and a note about what prompt I am following.  If you wish, you can purchase the book or sign up for Randel Plowman's Online Collage Workshop which starts on 13th January 2018.  Randel Plowman's Online Collage Workshop.

Week 1 - was all about gathering the required materials for collage, spreading out on my desk and pushing pieces around until they speak to me.  I quickly sorted the pieces into piles of type of material, colour or theme ready to use.  Then the challenge was to work quickly, creating five collages in less than five minutes each.

Once I started, I was very surprised to find how nostalgic I felt about the pieces.  Random things came together to create new stories.  A mix of childhood memories and future plans; places I have visited or would like to visit; older and current experiences; vintage and contemporary thoughts.

My collages this week have winter colours or a winter theme.  I used some beautiful images and scraps of paper that my friend "Lawendula" sent me.  Some of you may know her for hosting the paper swap collaborations.  My dear friend FM sends me a winter parcel from Germany and I send her a spring/summer parcel from Cornwall.  It was a joy to use some of these special pieces.

In observation, all of my collages have special meaning here.  The first one "blissfully happy" has a snowy wrapper from some chocolate and ginger mince pies given to me by friend Sue, some of my own artwork on fabric and paper and a vintage tapestry wool wrapper.

The reindeers are special.  They remind me of a small Bambi figurine I bought for my Mum when I was very small.  I used my first pocket money to buy it and she still has it, bless her!

All of my collages are 5 x 5 inches worked on heavy sketchbook paper and professionally pressed.
I think I will build up a bit of a collection of them before finally deciding how best to present them.

Other things this year ... I will finish up the Surface Treatment Workshop but not to any deadline.  I'm already on my third sketchbook with that project.  In 2017, I filled five Seawhites sketchbooks, in all, with textiles, paintings, drawings, collages and samples.

I will slowly get back to my textile work and paintings.  I have many projects on the go and, perhaps, this year will be more about picking up and working on a variety of projects, finishing off eventually but to no timescale or deadline.  I want just to be happy in the moment, in the doing and creating.  I expect there may be some new hearts this year too, as I have new ideas for them and they are calling.

Yes, a slow year, I think.  Slow and productive.  More slow stitching, small projects and whatever takes my fancy!  Sending love x

a hello from Cornwall

Just popping by to say hello.  I'll be catching up here in a couple of days.  A family visit followed by a mild recurrence of my illness (not connected lol) have had a slight impact on what I've been able to achieve in the last couple of weeks.  I've finished my samples for week 20 (glazes) and week 21 (embedding) for the Surface Treatment Workshop and have also started on week 22 (pours).  I just need to have a little photo session but here is an "in progress" shot from my phone ...

Meanwhile, talking of "pours" ... I found my neighbours' decorators' paint can rather interesting ...

and this lovely view started my day off beautifully this morning ... love that sky!

See you soon ... x