Exhibition is up!

Its been a fun day – lots of laughs and now the exhibition is up and ready for you to visit if you live close enough.
It’s at Paxton House, near Berwick upon Tweed from the 9th –29th June.
I’ll be there Fridays and Sundays 11am-3pm.

For those too far away you can see a slide show here

There is no official “preview” party, so I invite you all to my virtual preview night / morning depending on your geography!

 

Many, many thanks to DH, Dave and Margaret!  This was at the end of an enjoyable day.

Pre-exhibition days

I feel as if I’m in limbo waiting here.

I seem to be in control – is this an illusion?

Journal Quilts

First four completed for the Contemporary Quilt Guild Challenge 2011. 
All 10x10 inches.

Painting day

A second day of painting for the exhibition.  There are already several paintings finished but I wanted to do more.
As you do, with just two weeks to go.
You know how it is – this creative urge comes and….. well, you just HAVE to go with the paint brush…

In progress;

Drying;

Beautiful colours in the waste water hint at other pictures (also my Blip for the day);

And the trampoline was successfully removed from the tree with just three bent poles (and the tree survived fairly intact too).

Another tantalising glimpse

I decided a while ago that I wouldn't show you finished work before the exhibition opened. 
That partly explains the lack of textile blogging recently, normal service will be resumed shortly.

I’m planning to show you a few pictures of art work each day whilst the exhibition is on. 

Here are a few shots from the studio today.

Please note the textile pieces are unmounted in these pictures, hence the crinkles.

Two photos of very small sections from a large painting.
What can you see?

The LAST WEEK!

Morning everyone!

Today is the start of the last week of work before the exhibition. 
(I know it doesn’t hang until  two weeks on Wednesday – but there is a school holiday next week and I’m mum 24/7 so I have to think of this being the last week to work).

This is how the studio looked last week – lots of work waiting to be framed.

Todays job is to clear this and set up the studio for painting and dyeing. 
There are a few paintings to finish off and fabric panels to dye.

Then during the holidays its a trip to the framing shop and a day spent trying to get that last bit of fluff out of the pictures before sealing them (yes there is always ONE piece of fluff hiding away when you are cleaning and you only see it when you hold up the picture for a last look…. then you have to start again… and then sometimes the gremlins strike again, and again……)

Here’s a sneak preview of a work in progress (now finished). 
Beautiful, stunning hare photo courtesy of Chris Sharratt Photography.

Updated Home Page

I’ve updated the front page of the web site to make it more colourful.  Do you like it?  Excuse the joins.

When friends know you TOO well!

"...and frankly, he just didn't match her purse (handbag for those in the UK)"

Been meaning to blog this for a while – from my VERY good internet friend in Montreal…..yes we swap shoe info.  Sad but true.

This is also the Blip of the day, sorry for the overlap, it was just too good not to post here too.

BTW I am stitching, like mad, but I keep forgetting to take photos!

Then I decided to make a larger version…

Must be mad, but I decided I wanted a large purple free hanging piece for the exhibition (all the others are framed).

More dyeing and 10’s of hours of hand stitching later….I’m almost there.

Transferring a design for some FME

Exhibition Reminder

 

Inspiration from the Coast

I belong to a textile art group who have chosen “Coast” as the title for the next exhibition, so I headed to Bamburgh one morning. 
At first there was NO ONE around on this beautiful beach. 
Surely it must be one of the best in the country????

I wish I taken my gloves, it might be May but at 9.30am it was freezing!!

A panorama taken on the iPhone;

No one in sight.  At all, quiet perfect;

I was especially fascinated by the dunes and the grass.

Lots of ideas mulling around but I must put them to one side, only two weeks working time until the exhibition!

Finally, its Proud Mummy time again

DS won the “Best Newcomer” in the u11’s at Alnwick and his team won the best team in the Mini’s section.

Don’t let the blue skies fool you, we stood in pouring rain and a thunderstorm before the skies cleared!

A hard question to answer

I wish the world were at peace, what does it hold for my child?

I’m not one to get political but what do you answer when your 10yr old asks “Is it good that OBL is dead?” 

Friend of mine came up with the answer;

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" - Martin Luther King

Berwick Town Walls

For the 14-15 years we’ve lived here we’ve never done a complete wall walk around Berwick.  So Saturday after a great football game (Wooler Juniors won 4-1 – YES!) we headed north east to Berwick, despite a few grumps from the Xbox addict.

I took loads more photos but it seems the UV filter has been scratched (I lost the lens cap somewhere on Hadrian's Wall) and the photos have marks on them - I need to get it replaced asap.

Here are the two road bridges.  The one at the front built in 1603 on the command of James I of England / James VI of Scotland – apparently he was not impressed at the wooden structure he had to cross on his way to his English coronation and commanded a stone bridge to be constructed. This bridge is still in use.  Behind this is the main road bridge built in the 1920’s.  There’s also a railway bridge, don’t think you can see that.

Here you can see the shape of the walls, more information here (though why “Undiscovered Scotland” has a page on an English town?….. its been a long story and many battles for control of this area and its not over yet!) and more info here and here.

Guns protecting the harbour and the entrance to the River Tweed.

Looking down on the town.



I was teased about this one – more building textures and doors.  After the pictures I took in France its now a standing joke with DS.