Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Have a lovely Christmas everyone. And may 2017 be Peaceful for us All XXX

First of December

My tree won't be up for weeks yet; my decorations remain in the loft; I still have presents to buy.

Yet.......yet.......I'm glad to be in December.

This has got to go down as one of the most miserable and gloomy years in memory. I shall be well pleased to see it over. 

And over on FB people are moaning about xmas; and pish and tosh-ing all over. And yet.........this is the darkest time of the year; and leading to the solstice, where the light will shift. The year will turn. I like the lights we switch on, to lighten the darkness. Until my tree is up, I'll settle for lighting candles.

Nash

and wipe the lies from the World

Paul Nash

 An exhibition of Paul Nash's artwork has opened at Tate Britain. It's on for a long time so I think I'll be going in 2017........which feels like a long way away, yet isn't. Paul Nash; one of my most favourite of artists. I've seen lots of his paintings and photos in various municipal art galleries. To see so many together will be a real treat. 

Something to look forward to; that Spring will Bring.

Meantime; I've bought this. An amazing luxury for me; but a thing of great beauty; and very moving. Nash served in WW1; and was an official war artist in WW2. The UK still has 'war artists'. We are still involved in wars. 

It will soon be Remembrance Day; 11th November.

This book/graphic novel serves to push us to remember. Nash's paintings do too. As we move into the Dark; let us light candles, to Remember.

Halloween

Not a lot to write about. So I will wish you all a Happy Halloween.

Georgia O'Keeffe

 Exhibition at the Tate

 Stunning paintings

Making me want to paint again.

So; I need to empty the studio of the books that were stored there while I had some work done on the house.

That woman could paint.

I am awestruck.

May Moon 2016

May Moon completed.

Exhibited at Westgate Chapel as part of September's Artwalk.

On with June now

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. 

May Moon

Just begun stitching 'May Moon'. It 'may' take some time.

Uist; 1998

Sketch from a visit to Uist, the Outer Hebrides. It was wondeful. My perception of the Land was drenched colour. The Light was intense. I felt so free. We camped in the campervan. I sat, drinking whiskey, and smoking; watching the light change on the hills.

Direct Print from Wood

 The first print; on a cotton fabric I rescued from a skip. Quite thin cotton.

I then took a second print, without adding any fabric paint to the wood. Fainter; but I think I can use it.

The chunk of wood in my garden, that I used as the surface to print from. I simply painted fabric paint onto it, and placed fabric on the top, then gently rollered over it. Of course, I'm now loking around my garden, to see if there's any other bits of wood around I can make prints from!

Collogaphy Prints on re-purposed silks

Using the silk from a sample book I rescued from a skip, I printed from one of my collography plates. 
A recent experiment of mine was to make a direct print from a chunk of wood in my garden. It's drying in the studio.  

February Moon 2016

Completed; and photographed on a camping trip in May. I took some fabric and stitching stuff along, so I could work on this project. It was beautiful weather, and I worked on this, and another piece. 
Very slow stitching.

January Moon 2016

This is part of what I'm working on for this year. I'm making a fabric collage for each month; later on this year, I'll be exhibiting them as part of Wakefield ArtWalk.
I'm using a mix of fabrics; but trying to use a lot of the fabric/s I've dyed using plants.
Each piece will have this circle; the same size; for the full moon. I've almost completed the March Moon; just a few final touches.

I got a lovely pile of fabric sample books the other week. They were in a skip, about to be thrown away, so I did a bit of skip-dipping, and brought some home. Amongst them, was a book of silks.......now you might know that I try not to use purchased silk. I shop around for second hand silks; clothes; remnants etc. So this sample book is an absolute treasure. 
A deep pile of silk, in different colours, even though they're quite small in diameter. Some of these will find their way into this current series. And the couple of pieces that are white/cream, have been popped into the pomegranate dye-pot.   

Stitching the Turmeric

Stitch; working on the third month of 2016.
I'm making a fabric 'collage' for each month of 2016. This is March. Each piece will include a circle, for the full moon. I'm planning on including as much fabric as I can, that I've dyed with plants.
I've a few final touches to make to February, and to complete this. And have the designs done for April and May. 
I've begun to stitch the full moon of April. And decided on the fabrics. What will June bring?  

Turmeric

Silk dyed with Turmeric; then over-dyed with pomegranate.
I haven't been able to post here for months, as google randomly decided to not allow me access to the blog. Today, just as randomly, I seem to be able to post again.

January stitches

Close-up of the piece I've been working on in January. I was struck by something Heather said on her blog, about stitches as lines in a drawing, and the three dimensionality of them. So I wanted to get that; don't think I'm there with these photos. It needs strong sunlight; so the next time it's sunny, I'll have a go. I have to complete this piece, and start thinking about February's circle.......already halfway through the month........

Spring; the difference 2 years makes

 March 2014; the daffodils outside my house, well in bloom.

January 2016; the daffodils in the Chapel grounds, about to emerge.

The season has certainly been wetter, warmer, and in terms of the plants, faste, this year. Daffodils are out all over the place in Yorkshire. The snowdrops have only just come out; and at the same time, so are the daffs. Today is lovely and bright sun; though it's still cold. I'm longing for the brightness though; these grey days have gone on and on, relentlessly. So I'm welcoming the bright yellow, of sun, and daffs. Heralding spring ahead; despite the warning of global change.

January Circle and; British Museum

This circle is the piece I'm working on at present; it goes with the 'star' piece in the earlier post. The whole project will take a while!

And this.......is the Gundestrup Cauldron.......I went to the British Museum to see the Celts exhibition. This was worth the visit! 
The above stitched piece, of circle and star, will include something that refers to the Celts exhibition; not sure what, yet.
And now.....here's February.

star

unfinished, imperfect, star

black flags.......

A week can be a long time.........

12 Moons

 12 Moons; completed

 12 Moons; the backside

 in process

 in process

in process

It's taken a few months to complete this; I was determined to get it finished before the end of the year! Cut the last thread last night. It's the first stitched piece of a planned series. I usually work in sets; this one continues the habit. This has no dyed fabric in it; the set will have much more plant dyed fabric. I've got a huge stash of fabric I've dyed, and I love the process of dyeing. But it's time to begin using, as well as colouring. 2016 begins with creativity!  

turmeric on silk

Happy New Year to 2016
It's been quite a year of transitions, for me. Settling into my new job; making new relationships; getting out and spending more time with people; camping and travelling more; being ill; getting the trees cut back out the front of my garden. 
We had the horrendous floods in Yorkshire over Xmas; though I haven't been personally affected, we were at risk over the xmas weekend. I can only imagine the dreadful conditions people are currently coping with.


I've had some more personal transitions too; it wasn't only the trees that got cut back this year. 
A number of my friends have had a crap year; and so I'm glad to see them through all that. So I'm welcoming 2016; I hope you have a peaceful and love-filled year. I will try my best to! 

The opened bundle. Silk with the turmeric dried on it. I've left it to dry, and settle a while; then I'll iron it, and see if that fixes it. I've not used a mordant at all; it's an experiment. See what happens. I do like the marks made by the binding though; I hope the silk retains that. It may need some overdying at some point though? Have to wait and see. 

 The dried turmeric on the silk, before I opened the bundle.

Letting the silk soak in the turmeric; it's in a cup, so it's only a small bundle of cloth.

The cup with the turmeric mixed in water; I left part of the fabric out of the mixture, to see if I could get a graded colour......because it's yellow, it hasn't got as much contrast as I'd like.