What a weekend!

Way back at the beginning of the year I put in my entry as an individual artist in Derbyshire Open Arts. 

Knowing that I would be showing both knitted wire and porcelain, I combined the two in an image. 

This was fun, as it is hard to tell the scale of the work from the image.

Towards the end of March the brochures were delivered to the studio, and I could start handing them out.

The entries for Long Eaton Art Room looked good together.

In the meantime, at the Art Room much organising was going on to showcase the various activities we provide.

Then came an unexpected bonus. 

I was mentioned in the Artsbeat May issue article about Derbyshire Open Arts. 

During the weekend I know that at least two people not from our area were prompted to visit as a result of seeing this mention.

I tweaked my studio to show off my latest work, and added a vase full of flowers from our garden. 

Knitted wire was shown at the window so that it glistened in the sunshine from around three in the afternoon.

 Porcelain was laid out rather in the manner of archaeological finds elsewhere in the studio.
Several people mentioned this. Maybe the couple of summers I spent in Cyprus on a dig are showing their influence.

Over the course of the three days I didn't venture far from my studio, mainly popping in to see the other studio spaces upstairs.

On Sunday the Henna Fairy was plying her art, and I was quick to take advantage.

Here is how it looked four days later, but today you'd have to use a lot of imagination to trace the remains of the design.

I was there ... (2) random images

Cruising through the calendar listing of my photos this year here are a few to give a flavour of 2012.

Firstly, the Erewash Canal was frozen over in February, and as it thawed curious patterns showed up.

Ian and I have had some great walks. This one started from Matlock, also in February. Spot the camouflaged sheep in the landscape. 

In March I started to rent studio space at Long Eaton Art Room. This is the view from the window, out across the cemetery  Now the leaves have fallen, it is pretty much the same view. Only, the studio has much more in it than a branch off our greengage. We still have studios available, so get in touch via the website.

I can't remember the context of this image, perhaps it is just as well. Fortunately, I spotted the laundry from a distance, and had my camera ready as I came into range!

I love pylons, insulators etc. I would have sketched this, but I was out walking with a camera to hand.

Things I see that offer scope for texture work, whether in knitting, crochet, ceramics or metal need to be documented and stashed away for future reference. Maybe even just the idea of photographing the fuzzy stripes has imprinted it in my vocabulary of mental textures.

Sometimes I just go for the plain pretty things too. This was in Edinburgh in the spring, part of a council planting.

But more often it is the strong images that win out. Colour always excites me. 

So do multiples.

Plenty of white paint ...

I've been silent for too long.

The reason why, I've been busy at shows and seminars and most of all preparing a studio for myself at Long Eaton Art Room.

When we opened the Art Room in 2006, we had hoped that sometime we might be able to have studios for rent.

Well that time has come, and I have taken the plunge and rented space for myself.
I was so impatient to get on with the painting that I forgot to take a camera along to do the "before" image.

My phone camera died on me in August, and I really miss the spontaneity of having it to hand.
But, not enough to go through all the hassle of selecting and purchasing a new device.
This one, bought three and a half years ago is purple, just the right size etc. etc.
As with the two previous handsets, I'm inclined to wait until it dies before replacing it.

So, back to the studio, this is a room with a view!
The walls were an unattractive (to me) shiny magnolia/beige.
Three full coats of matt white emulsion were needed to cover this up, and that took a long time.

Then having brushed over the dabs of the beige that were on the ceiling I realised that I needed to paint that too.

Oh, how I wish that I'd painted the ceiling first!
It would have been much easier to see the difference in colour when the room was less white.
I'm not sure that I really got it all covered, but my eyes start boggling looking for tine differences in colour above my head.

So, now it is painted and I can sit and look at the view into the cemetery.
On the windowledge at the moment is a small branch off a gage tree from our garden.
Just before the leaves came out I shaped the tree, and I thought that the branch was too attractive to be consigned to the compost heap.

I hope that being here without the distractions of home will help me to focus and develop my own practice as an artist.
So I am about to pick up where I left off when I graduated in 2001.