Just a reminder that the blog has moved to my new web site at http://www.helencowans.co.uk/weblog

See you there :)

Helen

A Birthday weekend should start on Saturday with the sun shinning, a glass of wine, children occupying themselves and a good BBQ. But it is only complete if you have some VERY special friends to share it with.

An afternoon walk to the river and a reminder of just how much it changed last September in the floods. Where Malc is standing on the RHS used to be river bank. Yes, it's changed THAT much.

Sunday morning started with present opening. No, you can't see me preshower/premakeup/prehairbrushing in my jammies.

Post candle blowing. I was cruel to DH and lit lots of candles, he gave me a token white glittery one.

In the afternoon we headed over the waves (well along the Causeway) to Lindisfarne (an island when the tide comes in).





The Perfect Beach? Only one other family within miles... on a Bank Holiday Sunday afternoon. But Shhh..... don't tell everyone Northumberland is this beautiful. It's not called the "Hidden Kingdom" for nothing. Why do you think we moved here???



An evening meal out in Wooler. The chef did a gluten/dairy free special which was gorgeous. Two pics of old friends (we met 24yrs ago!)


And the men - who have also been good friends for 20 years.

The kids were no trouble all weekend. Not a squeak. Looks like the boys will be good friends too. Good job really!

I even liked the dog (Ozzie, 5 months old).

Photos from Lindisfarne Priory are on the Photography blog here. Go and take a quick look.

Over the school holidays my wonderful son volunteered me to do a morning workshop for the holiday club. I had 11 kids aged 4-9 and decided to make masks. Here is DS with the ones we made at home.


And a table full of complete masks - phew! 4 hours hard work but really enjoyable and the first time I have taught children.


A dream come true, finally I have my Bernina Artista to play with..... trying to work out how to digitize my own designs...... thank goodness the shop gives me 6 hours free tuition. DS was fascinated (so was DH).


The studio is gently taking shape again. Its taking hours to clean every surface, bottle and box. I'm hoping to be in there working properly by the end of May. Lets not rush this. Lets go to Ikea and buy some new storage solutions :)

The Studio is all painted and ready to organise. It will take a few weeks as everything needs a good clean and I still need to conserve energy.

In the meantime there is another post on the new Photo blog - here of pictures taken at Lordenshaws near Rothbury in February.

Well here I am in England - not in Andalusia as planned. Had to cancel as I was unwell.

Expensive disappointment. Anyway I spent a few days in bed and am starting to get about again, though still more than exhausted. Back to bed tomorrow.

My kitchen is finished and we have moved everything back in, including the ducks. It all looks clean and fresh and the cream paintwork looks light and airy. I got some herbs and these are growing well and lovely to use in cooking.

A few weeks ago I headed to Alnwick Gardens and too some photo's. They are up on my new photo blog- if you were following the "County of Castles" or "NE71 2009" these are now deleted and replaced by an all encompassing site.

Helen Cowans Photography

Progress of a sort I guess. The ceiling and most of the walls have hardboard now. You can see the remaining wall with the insulation in the background. The skylights have arrived - but they are still in the boxes on the floor.

Now of course its the holidays, so no more progress until Tuesday at the earliest.

Then it all needs painting and putting back together.

Maybe it will be finished for May?

I can't find the energy to be bothered any more. Since November I have had to suppress my creativity. The only way I could cope with not making art was to block it out and not think about it.

No scribbling in sketchbooks (because then I would want to start making / painting).

No art photography.

Not much blogging.

Not much of anything really..... just existing..................


I am looking forward to my trip away...... needed a new carry on bag with wheels. Got exactly what I needed - internal padded pocket for a laptop and a flashy pink lining - you can see a bit peeking through at the top where the handle fits.

DS saw it and said

"That's really Gothic!" I must now teach him about Baroque :)

I have nothing really to blog about atm - the studio is being fitted as I type. Finally the joiners have returned to finish the work. So I still cannot do any serious textile or fine art work.

I thought I would tell you about a trip I am going on soon..... To Andalusia in southern Spain. The area where Moors settled and built the most wonderful Islamic architecture.

I've seen pictures in so many books that it will be a real treat to see the details in person. Sketchbook and camera at the ready....

This is where we are going....

Granada and Cordoba will be our bases for 2 nights each.

A visit to the Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba is planned.....





The hotel in Cordoba......

The car we have hired (well, one has always dreamt of doing a "Jackie O" impression with the long scarf and sunglasses in an open topped car)

A visit to the Alhambra Palace.....



And our hotel.......

Well, you only get to 40 once. Might as well celebrate!

One day I will invest in VW - this shop is in Newcastle.... just down the road.

A few weekends ago DS and I went to York - the journey down was much better than back home (York Station was filthy, drunken football fans, non-existent service and having to change trains half way home).

Without DS I would have been into this shop... could only grab a picture when passing.


Had a look in Mulberry for a reduced bag (they have some good bargains here) but the ones I liked were still too expensive.

York Minster was wonderfully Gothic and we enjoyed a good hour here looking at old tombs (I think 1504 was the oldest Bishop we found), finding the "dragon" and admiring the Gothic features.
DS took this picture of the Minster from the City Walls.

Going back to that Gothic dress for a moment.... here I am creating the FME motifs - thread stitched onto water soluble fabric. You can see the full dress two posts below.




Washed, dried and stitched into place.

In response to a comment..... petoskystone said...

"beautiful! am looking forward to seeing you wear & walk in it."

Not a chance :) My curves are too wide and curvy and my boobs are too big!

Now I promised you a look at the studio - this was taken this morning. You can see the silver insulation on one wall and the painted boards at the back and on the ceiling.

Views from the far end.




So when it gets this bad - a girl gets in the car, heads for Starbucks coffee and "free from" chocolate cake. Round trip of 80 miles. What else can you do? Of course I did some shopping too and we almost booked a trip to Venice.

The workshop is still unusable as is the kitchen (being decorated) so I have no where at all to work. The only way I cope is by trying not to think about it - hence very little blogging. Tomorrow I will show you how the studio looks just now.

But in the meantime I have released the Autumn Workshop list. To book send me an email (link on right). I can also come out to groups to teach and if these dates don't suit you I can arrange a private workshop for 4+ people. Nothing this Spring as I have no idea when the joiners will be finished.


WORKSHOPS AUTUMN 2009

Needle Felting by Hand or Embellisher Machine £35 Thursday October 22^nd 2009

Use the embellisher (or needlefelt by hand) to create wonderful wall hangings and 3D sculptures – add angelina, organza, foils and more to really get the most out of your machine (or hand technique!)

Goddess Wall Hanging – Two day course £65 Friday 30^th and Saturday 31^st October 2009

Using templates and raw edge appliqué to create your own goddess hanging. Use hand or machine stitching to quilt and enhance the design and add beads for some glitz.

Wired Flowers £35 Friday 6^th November 2009

Use organza and water soluble fabrics to create fabulous 3D wired flowers and seeds.

Velvet Transformations £35 Thursday 12^th November 2009

Paint, foil, stencil…… manipulate. Use this very special fabric to the best of its ability. Small additional charge per person for paints etc

Towers in a Day £35 Friday 27^th November 2009

Create small towers using appliqué and bonding. Various patterns and designs available. Sewing Machine required.

All workshops run from 10am – 3pm, unless otherwise specified. Maximum class size is 8 -10.

Tea, coffee, juice and chocolate biscuits are supplied, participants to bring a packed lunch.

Participants supply own materials (unless specified) – a requirements list will be sent out prior to the course. Specialist materials will be available to purchase on the day.

Full payment is required on booking and is refundable only if your place can be rebooked.

Map with directions and a list of local B&B/ Hotels is available on request.

STUDIO OPEN DAYS

11^th – 13^th September 2009

11am – 4pm each day

NEW WEB SITE LAUNCH MID-APRIL 2009

www.helencowans.co.uk

*ONLINE CLASSES COMING SOON*

I have been in hibernation beavering away working.

Here it is..... the first part of the Gothic section of the "Concealment/Revealment" series.

Thought I would share these words with you. I wrote them in response to a question on a yahoo group which was something like "when are you an artist?"

Tell me what you think. Am I right?

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Art is subjective. What is art to one person is not to another. Art has been described as eliciting an emotion in the viewer and can encompass almost anything these days..... Selling art, being published, exhibiting is not an indicator of an artist BUT....

I believe you become on artist when you live, breath, sleep your art. When it becomes impossible to live a day without thinking about it. When you start to dream about it.

When you simply HAVE to create.

When it is not an option any more.

When you become horribly, indescribably frustrated if you can't create.

When it becomes a complete obsession.

*******************************************

Strange this as I trained and worked as a scientist........... so can you become an artist or are you born as one? Ask my mum (Hi Mum I know you read!)...... she'll remember me drawing as a small child, then getting into photography and now textiles.

But I am also a biologist and always will be.... life simply fascinates me.... how does it all work? Bacteria and viruses, genetics, cell division, animals, plants, evolution...... blame David Attenborough for that! He is one of my hero's.

Creating a costume - Tutorial Part One

Over the next few posts I'll take you through the processes I use to create a costume (this doesn't explain every single technique - more an overview, ask me a question if you want to know more). I also had a play with my new Flip Mino video camera - so you also get to see my first ever published video's - there's room for improvement but it's a start.

It doesn't have its "proper" title yet..... lets call it the "Grey Gothic Dress".

Think Sleeping Beauty........ twisting leaves, blood red, tall and elegant.......

Creating a costume - Tutorial Part One

I'm not a dressmaker, certainly not a couture dressmaker. I can't create patterns.... so I use commercial designs (usually Vogue) and adapt them. I admit to hardly reading the instructions, I take the shapes and that's about all.

If its a complicated design I make a "mock up" using cheap muslin (roll from Ebay £25 for 50m). This design has the sleeve in two parts - a front and the back is all in one with the back bodice..... yes, confusing.

But when it is constructed the most amazing thing happens and the sleeve (cut on the bias) twists and drapes. Wonderful.

I drew out the skirt front (just one half that's enough) and I sketched out the design taking inspiration from a Medieval illuminated manuscript.

I then ink in the correct lines..... I don't draw every leaf, just one which I use as a "master" when I am tracing off the design for appliqué / stencilling.

In the picture below I have traced the design onto acetate ready to cut out to make a stencil.

Cutting the stencil

To decorate the fabric I decided to use Markal oilsticks. Break off the skin and scrub the oil paint onto a spare piece of acetate plastic. I used three colours; Paynes Grey, Iridescent Charcoal and Silver. Mainly I used Silver. Use a small stencil brush to apply the paint, don't put too much on and shade gently.

Stencilling the fabric

I stencilled all the dress parts (I used a Sharpie marker to draw around the pattern pieces). The fabric is a grey polyester taffeta to which I've bonded a thin vilene to give stability.

The next stage is to trace the motifs onto bondaweb, iron this to fabric (I used a red velvet and the front and reverse of a red polyester taffeta), and cut out. This takes hours and even with good padded scissors my hands hurt. Pain and suffering for ones art.

The motifs are laid out and ironed into place. I have a super sized ironing surface. Much wider than a normal ironing board which enables me to lay whole width of the dress front flat. (Made from MDF covered with wadding and cotton fabric stapled to the back).

When completed the pattern pieces are pinned into place to see the overall effect. Sorry about the photo quality - you all know what I'm going through with the studio being out of action.

Mai- Britt asked me if I was back in the studio? Erm, no......... and I am really unhappy about it. This is the side where everything is stored for now. The other side is empty.



After a trip to the dentist (not too painful) we drove past this wonderful shop - can you see the chandeliers?

A trip to the Biscuit Factory Art Gallery and DH had cake.....


Whilst I was eating a sunlit salad...

The dress mock up is complete and I know what I'm doing with the construction now.

The sample is also Feb's Journal Quilt. Its finished now and I must get a picture taken. The actual dress will be in this style with the grey fabric, red appliqué and stencilling. More later in the week.