Camp Creative

 Tee shirt printed from the silk-screen

 Prints from the silk-screen onto white cotton.

Prints onto a blue/grey fabric that once were curtains in my campervan.

The group of us who were camping all decorated a silk-screen that we then printed from, using gorgeous gold ink, onto bright pink tee shirts!

It's like we've all joined a cult!

The fabric I printed will be used in future textile collages; probably appear in an August/September Moon piece. And some others, I imagine. 

Eyemouth beach-combing

Last weekend I spent the Solstice at Eyemouth in Scotland; at my friend, Paula's place. I spent many happy hours walking on the beach; collecting stones and sea-glass. 

 Treasures; a small handful of sea-glass.....and a stray button........

And even found quite a bit of green sea-glass. I'm thinking of how I can use them in my textile work.......I've passed on 2 pieces to my friend Paul, who has a small drill. At some point he'll drill a hole through each, and I'll make earrings out of them.

Some of the small pebbles I collected. I brought back a big bag of larger stones with me; they're in the garden; waiting for the right place to sit.
I've also noticed that a lot of the photos I'm taking on my phone, have this square (of the photo shape) and the circle within it. I'm considering this. And; I've begun painting again. Well......one painting. It's a step forward; I've not painted for three years.

Star Carr

 The Derwent River

This section of the River Derwent has been canalised, for quite a length. A long straight section, that I'd guess is relatively recent (?)
I stood, and sat here, for a number of hours, soaking in the landscape; watching the wildlife; drinking in the silence.
Close by is the site of 'Star Carr'; where during archaeological digs last century, deer horn helmets/masks were discovered in the peat. These are now in the British Museum. Not, sadly, in either Hull, or Scarborough Museums. Needless to say, they are a highly significant find, and nothing like them have been found anywhere else in Britain.

I saw a hare in the field next to where I sat. Always an amazing sight. No deer, though, although they are round and about that area still.
Did some sketches and took photographs. I'm planning a painting based upon that landscape, which was the reason for my visit. 
Artists have worked there in the recent past, and you can type in 'Mesolithic Interventions' and find the blog for that project; there was an exhibition in York Art Gallery a few years ago.

More information about the archaeology can be found here.

'chicken scratching for my immortality'

The campsite I stayed at had lots of chickens wandering around; they were really tame, and I crumbled up some breadcrumbs for this one, to tempt her closer. The sunlight really caught her colours. 

Beacons Festival

Last weekend I went to Beacons Festival.

Listened to music; drank beer; ate food; enjoyed the sun....when it shone! And tried to avoid the rain!

On the Saturday, it was glorious weather. The sky was blue; the clouds were little fluffy ones!

The sunset over the fields, and the hawthorn tree, was spectacular.

For 3 days, I sat in a field, camped up in Blanche, and chilled. Bliss!  

 And after Beacons? I drove off to explore North Yorkshire, and look for Star Carr!

Felt & the Uffington Horse

Some embellishment on a piece of felt I made recently on the G&Guilds course. Based on my visit last year to Wiltshire, and camping at the site close to the Uffington Horse.
I'm stitching onto a second piece of felt which will sit with this one....a diptych of felt/s!

Isle of Islay; drawing with stitch

The snow has arrived! It began to fall yesterday afternoon, and just kept coming....
I'm guessing it will freeze tonight. Though there doesn't seem to be enough to cause major disruptions here in Wakefield. 
However, the days are starting to stretch out and we're enjoying lengthening daylight. Today has been bright and sunny, as the white snow has reflected the light. Cold, but lovely.


Looking back to last summer and a holiday spent on the Isle of Islay, here is the second 'sewn drawing' based on a pencil sketch I did in August 2011. It's from our visit to the nature reserve at Loch Gruinart, an RSPB site.
We had a walk round, through woods, and fields, and generally enjoyed ourselves. 
I'm enjoying the challenge of recreating a pencil drawing onto fabric, using thread as the 'line'. For these 2 sewn drawings, I've used sashiko thread; which is quite like embroidery thread, though slightly 'fluffier', and with a more matte quality.

Onionskin Dyeing

I have quite a backlog of photos to upload here; but here's a photo of a poppy in my garden.

For next summer I'll have to get myself sorted so that I can try and get dye-ing the colour from them!

The most exciting thing is that I finally bought India Flint's book 'Eco-Colour'; expensive, but beautifully put together. And LOTS of information within. My mind was a bit boggled when I finally opened it to have a look. I've decided I'm going to take it on holiday with me, and take some fabric.
She's convinced that you can be a 'peripatetic dyer'! so I'm going to try it out. We'll be off camping in Blanche the campervan, so it will be quite a challenge to dye in such conditions.

I've started at home with some onionskins; thinking that was pretty straightforward and simple to do. So far it's been one piece of paper, folded and held together with clips; but it resulted in a lovely pattern and pale yellow colour.
I've now had a second piece of paper soaking in the onion skin infusion. Will hoik that out tomorrow, and see the result. Then l'll prepare a piece of fabric to soak.