22 September 2012

Yes, there it is in the title, the C word . . . but given that the shops have festive wares already I don't think I'm the first to mention it!

I had a lovely day yesterday at Steph’s making cards in readiness for both the Windsor Emporium in October and a Craft Fair that Emerald Gallery are taking part in November and that Cath kindly asked me to supply some cards for. I know I won’t be able to produce enough cards on my own for the November Fair so asked my chum Steph, who you will know from previous blog entries is a 'card making extraordinaire' to take part too.

I filled the back of my Smart car up (again) with a selection of crafting stash as you never know what you may need!  Steph had raided her Craft Room (deeply envious) and bought out everything Christmas related into the kitchen already. Between us we had soooo much stuff it was a bit overwhelming and difficult to decide where to start.

Steph decided that we needed some Xmas music playing in the background to get us ‘in the mood’, much to her daughter Annabelle's amusement, but we had to turn this off in the end as it got quite depressing.  Steph is the quickest card maker I know and while I was faffing about trying to decide what to do she had made four cards in the time it took me to make just one!

That said, Steph spent a while trying out new techniques and ideas afterwards (involving Flitter Glu and Charles Dickens) and by the end of the day I managed to overtake her on the production front (10 v 4) – something that will never be achieved again believe me! In fact Steph worked through her ideas on Sunday and produced another seven cards at last count so my lead is overtaken already.

We had a break for lunch and a trip to Hobby Craft in Aylesbury to get some more ideas and inspiration and I was really proud that we both managed to resist buying more Xmas themed stash and stick to using what we already had.

The cards that I produced were a bit fiddly to construct with the threads and buttons but I was pleased with the finished result. When you need to produce a lot of cards I find it easiest to pick a few designs and then do variations on a theme so that you can get a little production line going.  Ten is a good start but I'll need to get a wiggle on and produce a few more!

The products I used for the cards on the slideshow below are:

1. Miniature Christmas themed post cards (Blade Rubber Stamps, London: http://www.bladerubberstamps.co.uk/ )
2. ‘I believe’ 12 inch glitter card stack by Mindy Terasawa (Hobby Craft)
3. Vintage sheet music (Charity Shop)
4. Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads (peeled paint; worn lipstick and festive berries)
5. Stickles Glitter glues (fruit punch; lime green and icicle)
6. Sakura Gelly Roll and Metallic pens (clear star; gold and silver)
7. Bakers twine (The Ribbon Girl: http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/catalog/ and Blade Rubber Stamps)
8. Thread off cuts (Oliver Twists Threads)
9. Vintage buttons from my Grandma’s Button Tin
10. 6 x 6 inch card blanks

It was lovely to spend a day crafting with Steph as weekends get booked up so quickly. To able to spend a day in good company, chatting, laughing, putting the world to right, drinking tea, eating chocolate and crafting is a rare treat.

13 September 2012

After the great time I had at the mixed media workshop at the St Ives School of Painting I could hardly wait for the relief printing workshop the next day with Lee Stevenson, a member of the St Ives Society of Artists.  This was held at the Crypt Gallery which as the name suggests is in the basement of the Mariner’s Church. The church has been a gallery for the St Ives Society of Artists since the 1940’s and is located off of Norway Square.

Lee was busy setting up when I arrived and I found a table space with a set of equipment for lino cutting that I had last seen and used when I was at Terriers Middle School back in the 1970's and I got a bit nostalgic. There were about 12 of us in the class and it was a lovely surprise to see a face among them that I knew, Glenys Horn who used to work at the District Council in the team behind me – what a small world! Glenys told me that she and her hubby come to St Ives every year for the Festival fortnight as there is just so much going on.

Lee gave us a demonstration of the types of marks / cuts that can be achieved by the different shaped blades and showed us some finished lino cuts to give us an idea of what can be achieved, when you know what you are doing! Lee explained that he liked to paint his lino with a thin coat of greenhouse whiting to start with so that you can easily see the drawn image that you want to work from. He also reminded us that if we were planning on reproducing a recognisable landmark in our work that we needed to draw this in reverse on the lino as a mirror image of the plate would be printed. Lee demonstrated how we could use a black type of ‘carbon paper’ to transfer our images and we were off back to our tables to have a go.

A lot of the other workshop attendees had come rather better prepared than me and had sketch books with ideas already mapped out. I had decided that I wanted to include my seagull logo as part of my cut, but when faced with the A5 piece of lino I knew that it wouldn’t be enough. After looking through photos on my camera I decided to include the lighthouse at the end of Smeaton’s Pier as well – meaning that I had to think about drawing this backwards.

There wasn’t much time for drawing and I soon found I had done my seagull too big and could only just squeeze it on to the lino. Lee had provided a little heater to warm up the lino as this made cutting much easier. It was quite therapeutic to cut into the lino and see your image appear – but you had to think carefully about which areas you wanted printed (left in relief) and which areas you wanted white (cut out) to make sure that you cut the rights bits out of your image. I must have been holding the cutting stylus not quite right as found that my middle and ring finger rubbed against the cut groves in the lino and I scraped the skin off which was quite sore by the end of the class (why do you never have a plaster in your bag when you need one). If you look closely at the pictures you can see my blood on the finished plate . . . 

Lee then showed us how to ink up our lino plate using a water-based ink and how to take a print. He showed us a ‘low tech’ way to print that did not require a press. Lee used a wooden spoon wrapped in a soft cloth to rub over the paper to transfer the ink – something that could easily be achievable at home.

I was just delighted with the finished result – and proud that I managed to not cut off the seagull’s feet and beak! I know the composition and scale aren’t quite right but in the end felt this added a bit of charm to the piece and will definitely be giving this a go again. 

The lady on my table advised me that the Oxfam shop in St Ives sells art materials including equipment for lino cutting which was convenient as I had to walk past this shop on my way back to the apartment. I also remembered that my brother Jamie had invested in a set of lino implements that he was planning to use when he had some time off work last year to recover from an operation. Jamie hadn’t used them in the end and I am delighted to say that he has ‘donated’ them to me and they are waiting in my studio in readiness . . . !

You can find out more about the St Ives Society of Artists and the courses that they run clicking on the link below:

http://www.stisa.co.uk/

You can also see a selection of Lee Stevenson lovely lino cuts and etchings on the link below:

http://www.stisa.co.uk/artist-gallery/lee-stevenson/

12 September 2012

After a lot of discussion and faffing about with possible holiday locations Ben finally booked us a week in St Ives for September. We visited here in 2010 and loved it and so were both keen to return (Ben for a Blas Burger and me for the art).  We soon found out that the week we chose coincided with the start of the St Ives September Festival where the town is transformed and celebrates all things arty and cultural. There are Open Studio events, exhibitions galore, music and open air theatre and poetry reading to name a few!

For me this was just a spectacular week to visit as both the St Ives School of Painting and St Ives Society of Artists were running workshops. To be fair to Ben, I controlled myself and just booked two – a mixed media workshop and a relief printing workshop.

I arrived early at the Porthmeor Studios and met our tutor Liz Luckwell who was setting up the studio ready for us. We were in the upstairs studio at the back which overlooks Porthmeor beach – a truly stunning and inspiring location. Being left handed I located myself at one of the easels by the window so as to be able to see the still life that we would be working from (with the bonus of being able to watch the surfers too).

Liz began by giving us a potted history of the school. It was established by Borlaise Smart and Leonard Fuller who made a pledge to each other during the war that if they survived the trenches they would start an art school in St Ives. The Porthmeor Studios that house the St Ives School of Painting are still in the process of being renovated as part of a £4miilion restoration project.  You can read more about the history on the Art Schools website: 

http://www.stivesartschool.co.uk/history.html

Once we had learnt how to set up an easel properly we set about producing a series of quick sketches of pots to ‘warm up’. The first with our dominant hand in pencil, the second off set and over the top with our non dominant hand with a graphite block (this was much better than my first one!) and a third sketch using willow charcoal which I haven’t used for years.  This really set the scene for ‘speedy art’ and I surprised myself with being able to keep up!

Our next exercise was to use a view finder to choose a smaller section of the still life to draw in charcoal and then fill in the negative space with a compressed charcoal stick. I haven’t used one of these before and it gave a most fabulous dense black tone when rubbed and a few of us in the class transferred charcoal fingers to faces unbeknown . . .

We then moved on to learn a bit about colour mixing with acrylic paints (something else I haven’t used before) and drew out another still life of pots in row using charcoal ready to paint. Having not used acrylics before it was interesting to try different ways to apply the paint and to learn that you can add the darks and highlights at any stage which was quite liberating compared to watercolors that I favour. I have a large selection of acrylic paints at home that I have never used and this has encouraged me to break them out and have a proper play now.  This was a really quick ‘painting’ exercise and unlike Diana, who was sitting next to me on the table, I was only able to complete a few of my pots in the time we had.

Our last ‘mixed media adventure’ of the morning involved collage.  This was a bit different to the type of collage that I usually do and I have quite a bit more work to do to finish this piece when I get home.

The time went by so quickly and the workshop came to an end all too soon. It was really refreshing to do something completely different for a change and I thank Liz for devising this fast paced mixed media feast for us. I haven’t done a formal art class or workshop for many years as I always used to struggle to get things completed and over thought work rather than just jumping in and having a go. I was surprised that I was able to keep up with this class and can’t wait to get home to continue to try out new media and get back into the habit of drawing again. 

There is so much history at the Porthmeor Studios and so many outstanding artists have worked (and continue to work) from here that it was a real privilege to step through the doors and feel part of it – even if just for a few hours.  I’ll definitely visit St Ives for the September Festival again and this time will book a class for every day of my visit.

http://www.stivesartschool.co.uk/index.html

Entry from 02 September 2012

After getting my name added to the ‘artists’ waiting list for the Windsor Emporium back in August I was really excited when a spot became free for the September event and said 'yes' to Jackie immediately. Excited - and a little bit apprehensive as well if I’m honest as I hadn’t expected a place to come up so soon and didn’t have a lot of stuff ready to exhibit or got the things that I needed to display it nicely on a table. A few emails later and Lis and Jules’ both gave me some ‘top Emporium tips’ and my initial panic reduced considerably!

I ‘borrowed back’ my remaining original pictures from Emerald Gallery and Cath also kindly helped me get organised by ordering some easels, archival tape for fixing prints and a portfolio / browser from one of her suppliers.  I borrowed a large table covering from the Art and Crafts Society to go with a couple of smaller vintage table clothes that I have and emptied some storage baskets to provide some height to my display – and after a few frantic evenings of hand embellishing prints and making cards I was ready to go (thank goodness it all fitted into my Smart car).

It is a strange sensation to be sat at a table while people walk by a look at your art - and one that I am still a bit shy about. I’m also learning the best level of interaction as some people like to be spoken to, but others just like to look. I am pleased to report that my work seemed to raise more smiles than frowns so I’m taking that to be a good thing.

Jackie had a great mix of exhibitors this month and there were tables of antiques and vintage treasure alongside hand made bags and cushions; scented hand printed pillows; silk kimono-style tops and scarfs; different original art styles; different original jewellery styles; photography and next to me gorgeous scented candles and votives.

I recognised one ladies work from a Collective Art in Marlow show a while back but hadn’t had the chance to speak to her. Lesley De Matos under the name of Country Girl Corner had an array of shabby chic fabric gifts ranging from Kindle covers to soft toys to framed embroidered pictures that I just loved – and if it hadn’t been the wrong side of pay day for me I could have done some damage!

http://www.countrygirlcorner.co.uk/index.html

I also got chatting with another artist called Leigh Glover who had one of his works accepted for the BP Portrait Award last year – what an achievement given that thousands enter and only 55 were chosen for display.  The Emporium is a relatively new venture for Leigh and he has found it an effective way to raise awareness of his art and visits to his studio in Perivale.  I told him that my studio is my kitchen table that I aspire to have a ‘proper’ studio like his one day!

http://leighglover.com/index.htm

I was also pleased to be able to meet Caroline Crawford – a new ‘Emerald Gallery Girl’ who had a large display of work at the entrance of the Emporium.  I had seen Caroline’s work at Cath’s earlier in the week when I had picked my paintings up – and it was nice that she recognised my work from visiting Cath's too.

http://carolinecrawfordart.4ormat.com/home

My brother Jamie and chum Vicky popped in to say hello in the morning and Cath and Ann visited in the after lunch which was lovely.  4.00pm came around much sooner than expected and it was time to pack everything up. I am so grateful to Ben for helping with the bag carrying up and down stairs and ferrying to and from Windsor.

There is still a waiting list for dates for the rest of the year – so fingers crossed for another vacant spot in the not to distant future . . .

For more information about Windsor Emporium please visit the website or facebook links below:

http://www.windsoremporium.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/WindsorEmporium

Entry from 24 August 2012

I can’t believe that it’s been three months since our last installment of crafty fun at Steph’s – just where does the time go?

I always stop off at M&S in Risborough on my way over to Aylesbury and buy a couple of tubs of chocolate naughtiness as a ‘craft table treat’ for after tea. This time I decided to get two tubs of the caramel crispy bites as Steph’s daughter Annabelle and me are addicted to them.  When Annabelle opened the door, I showed her what I had bought and she squealed with laughter (the most delightful giggle you have ever heard) and said that they had done the same and we now had FOUR pots to consume . . . oh my.

Steph had made a lovely photo album for a friend who had recently had a baby girl. This was full of cute little pink teddy bears that had been hand stamped and coloured. During the evening she made a ‘Brag Book’ to take for the new Grandma to pop photos into so that she could keep this in her bag to share with chums too.

Tamsin had some fun decopatching an old vintage map onto wooden shapes to make brooches. She had bought some crackle glaze and inked over the top of this, once dry, with our favourite Tim Holtz’ Distress Inks to give a more worn effect.  We decided to conduct an experiment to see what different effects we could get with some of the mediums that I had bought along: Glossy Accents, Crackle Accents, Distress Stickles in Picket Fence and Rock Candy – the results were interesting!

I spent the evening hand stamping sentiments onto some old book pages in readiness to make some cards. I also OD’ed on the aforementioned chocolate treats . . .

Steph finished the evening with a demonstration of guilding with Flitter Glu and guilding flakes using one of my Bo Bunny stamps of a crown. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t used my guilding flakes kit yet and this has inspired me again to have a go!

By the way, we didn’t eat all of the caramel bites – only one pot (honest).

Entry from 5 August 2012:

One of the many things that I learnt about in Jules’ Print Shed (see earlier Blog entry) was that both Jules Rumsey and Lis England regularly exhibit their work at the Windsor Emporium. The Emporium is run by Jackie Couzens and is held on the first Sunday of the month from March to December upstairs in the Guildhall in Windsor. It’s an ‘emporium of art, crafts and objects of the extraordinary’ with a Vintage Tea Room selling fabulous cakes.

http://www.windsoremporium.co.uk/

I had not come across this before and agreed with Cath that we would go and visit Lis at the event in August to find out more. Cath had a ‘surprise’ weekend in Dublin sprung on her so I headed along on my own to find out what it was all about.

The Guildhall is a very grand building up by the castle on the High Street (opposite Cath Kidston / TK Maxx) and you have to ascend an impressive stone staircase to gain access to the Emporium.  The room at the top of the stairs, on this Sunday, held an impressive display of vintage treasure which was a delight to look through. 

The main room houses some fine art and chandeliers which set the thirty or so table/ stalls off the great effect.  There was a range of art and crafts on show – along with antiques and more vintage wares.  Lis’ table was in the smaller side room which was also home to the Vintage Tea Room (how she managed to resist all of the cakes and goodies I have no idea). The stained glass windows in this room are stunning.  It was great to see more of Lis’ lovely pictures painted on old book covers – and to see the finished version of ‘To the Lighthouse’ that we saw at Jules’.

Lis had kindly shared my website with Jackie and said that I may be interested in taking part in the future.  We shared a pot of tea with Jackie who told me more about the Emporium and said she thought my work would compliment the Emporium and would be happy to add my name to the ‘art’ waiting list – how exciting!

There are some lovely photos of the Emporium's facebbok page in the August Album on their – especially look out for Lis’ picture of her darling little Scottie dog.

http://www.facebook.com/WindsorEmporium#!/media/set/?set=a.403570379704865.90538.128697570525482&