OK, I want it get warm again please.

Its like the big freeze here.  Even the rabbits look as if they’ve had enough - they’ve been covered over with blankets and plastic.  (What would we do without Ikeas £2.50 fleece blankets?) 
Everyday I have to defrost the water bottle, poor things.

DS is enjoying the holidays, two beanbags are better than one it seems.  There seems no let up in the cold weather.  Today and tomorrow its just above freezing, but more snow due tonight, Thurs and Fri. 
Surely January isn’t usually this cold?  Is it?

Footprints......

Birds prints (and rabbits but forgot to photo the rabbits!).....

Oh no, the fox?................

There's nothing better than tramping in virgin snow.

The moon at 2pm.

Feeding the rabbits.

The studio looking all forlorn.  I had to go across last night about 8pm, it was MINUS 2 in there. 

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve and the table is partly set in advance.

Christmas morning and Santa has been!!!

Its 7.15am and still dark outside.  Excuse the dreadful flash photo's.  Tree decorated by DS with minimal help from mum and dad.

Before...........

After............lots of lovely presents including a new "handbag camera" from DH along with some good books and DVD's, a sparkly pen and notebook, beautiful compact mirror etc........ 

My "AD" candle - lit to remind me of the great friends I have who are scattered around the world, most of whom I've just realised I've met this last 18 months.  Must get to Wales, Montreal and back to Australia to meet the rest :)

DS and DH - "mini-me" in full swing now DS has his own laptop.

Christmas lunch - variations on a theme - roast potatoes in goose fat and turkey for the carnivores and roast potatoes in olive oil with a quorn, mushroom and redcurrant sauce mix for the vegetarian -me).  After lunch we went for a walk in the cold crisp air and then watched Ice Age 3 - it's hilarious.

Hope you all had a good day - DS should be in bed soon and DH and I can go back to watching our film.

Eastgate exhibition, part 2

More images of work sent to Eastgate, not that you can easily get to Peebles atm, so I guess the opportunity for sales has decreased due to the weather.  The whole of the UK seems to have ground to a halt, yet again.  You'd think we never saw snow here. 

We've had a few more snow flakes today but not a lot.  It got to +2 degrees C so everything is trying to melt - which of course means it freezes at night (-5 degrees C)and forms ice.

I'm hibernating until after Christmas - the next ASDA food delivery is booked for Monday 28th, so no need to leave the house.

The first two pieces are revealed here for the first time on the web.

 

Hand dyed silks and hand stitch

Framed - 18x24cm, textile size 12x18cm

£85.00

Hand dyed silks and hand stitch

Framed - 18x24cm, textile size 12x18cm

£85.00

Acrylic and stitch, deep canvas panel

50x50cm £150.00

Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice!  Lets celebrate the return of more sunlight each day. 

I'd intended to visit a carved rock today in honour of the Solstice....

but...........

Snow - lovely snow.  I went out for a short walk. Beautiful.  The sun is just over the top of the studio.

   

I walked along the lane to the main road - looking north and then south.

And boys will be boys... whatever age.

 

But I think the beauty is in the detail.

Do you have snow?

We do!  And its beautifully light and fluffy.  Its also pitch black outside so snowballs and snowmen will have to wait until tomorrow.  Hopefully we can get the Pagan festivity symbol tomorrow - the tree - and start decorating.  The sun was SO low today - just about got over the top of the shed.  Roll on the solstice.

Some more pictures of work from the exhibition (btw Eastgate Theatre is in Peebles - it was pointed out to me that the information wasn't on the poster).

Here is another art piece made with hand dyed silks, hand stitched and beaded 
It's long and thin approx. 25x75cm (portrait).  It's on sale for £185.00. 
(The previous post the work is approx.30x100cm and £225.00)

You can only see a very small section here.... yes this is one of the two I deleted the full shots.

Eastgate Exhibition

 

 

The exhibition hangs today.  Here is one piece of work - there are several others and over the next few days I'll show them here.  For two new pieces I have close up shots but have stupidly managed to delete the full shots.  Daft woman.  I am SO annoyed with myself!

I can never think of good titles - so from now on some of the work (textiles and paintings) will be known by a series of numbers.

Here is a Landscape Impression in silks and velvets - hand and machine stitching and beading.

Do you like the new "gallery" format?

 

 

 

Biscuit Factory Visit

Last week Ian and I went to the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. 
Great lunch (they even coped with my diet) and some interesting art to look at.  We didn't like all of it, some was interesting but we wouldn't buy it and some we loved.  Just how it should be.

If you find yourself in Newcastle anytime make a visit.

 

I find myself drawn to ceramics - always have been - and I find them much more inspirational than any other art form.  Maybe this is why I love 3D textile structures.  Maybe I should have taken a course in ceramics.  One day I will when I have the time to travel and child free evenings I'll do just that. (Only 9 years to wait then).

We came home with this Raku fired vessel by Fiona Mazza.

Once home I realised the colours and textures echoed this recent work;

Something to think about - seems I'm changing direction.

Though I did also purchase this wonderful mug by Rupert Andrews, just to prove that purple and spirals are still in my sphere!

Playing around with the images to zoom in on detail;

Again echoing the colours I couldn't resist a third stool from Myakka.

We now have stool in, erm.... well Magenta, Purple and Turquoise.  What a surprise.

Just proves you can't change an old dogs spots.

Potential...

In the last post I showed you pictures of the studio after the Autumn clean and tidy.

Here are some of the items on the tables that are just waiting for the right moment....

Top layers are Lutradur, some painted with procions, the top layer stamped with acrylic paint and further embellished with rubbings using markal oil sticks - this is waiting for a layer of ink.

Bottom layers (crinkled) are bondaweb painted with acrylic paint.

  

DH came back from the USA with these. Can't wait to try them out.

A basket of goodies... some silks, some African fabrics (more on this in the next post).

There are quiet a few oil paintings that need finishing and I must get these done so they are ready for Septembers open studio weekend (third time lucky).

And at this time of year I need my heating on!  But now the walls and roof are insulated its snuggly warm even on the coldest day.

Time ticks away - must get on.... and who doesn't have those postcards from IKEA?