This Is Everything We Are

I get really irritated when I visit a blog and only find apologies for why there haven't been more posts of late! For that reason we'll gloss over the fact that I haven't been here since January!! I have been posting on our DMTV blog so please check that out if you want to catch up with what we've been busy with recently. I also post on Instagram several times a week if you are missing me!!

Here's one of the projects that's been keeping me occupied. This is a small version of a much larger quilt already in the pipeline. We're working towards our exhibition at Festival of Quilts this summer and we've called the exhibit, 'This Is Everything We Are'. You can read our artist statement on Laura's blog if you'd like to know what's inspiring the work we are creating for the show.

This particular piece is a digital print of a design I created on my iPad. I've superimposed a photograph of a moth over a photograph of a hexagon quilt I'm making and added a layer of descriptive text from an old book behind that. I've added smaller versions of the same image along the bottom of the design and tweaked the colours and transparency to make them more interesting. The three layers have been tidied up so that some areas are erased and then they are merged ready for printing. I'm hand quilting each hexagon with a Madeira 30 cotton thread but plan to machine stitch much of the background. The black border you can see is where I plan to add text.

Probably in much the same way as you can see here on another of the moth quilts I have in progress. The black border fabric is the same as the black and white fabric you can see in this quilt - it bleaches really well so some of my text might be discharged rather than applied with fabric paint. I have to sample that first to see how it works! There are three of these quilts in various stages of completion and I've posted more images on the DMTV blog.

I have five quilts on the go at the moment. I don't usually work that way - I'm one of those people who like to finish a piece before I get diverted by something new and more exciting. I am finding though that it's making me more productive - I can have some hand stitching to kill time when I'm out and about and frantic free machine quilting when I'm in the studio and can focus. It doesn't look like progress is being made but all of a sudden several pieces are done - at least that's what I'm hoping! In between all that there's DMTV! If you subscribe to our online TV you'll recognise this chap. What you haven't seen though is his friend.

Yes he did get finished! I loved having a doable project like these kingfisher portraits and will certainly be making more. There's no shortage of subjects in our garden at the minute. It may still be chilly but the birds have decided it's spring and I can hardly get any hand quilting done as I'm distracted by their antics on the feeders outside my window!

Thanks for reading today. I'll be back again soon - Linda x

Mixed Media Moths

I hadn't planned to start a new mixed media panel this week but while I was tidying stuff away in my studio I unearthed some lovely paper bits and pieces.

These two sheets of handmade paper were some we had dunked in an indigo vat years ago and promptly forgotten about!

They'd been stashed away in a crate with some of my painted papers and some coloured photocopies of symbols that I had waxed for a project inspired by all things oriental.

My old favourites, the hole punches made short work of cutting a few squares in two sizes.

Then it was time to audition a few waxed paper moths that were also lurking in the bottom of the crate. Should the squares with their button details go in a column on the right or on top of the large waxed rectangle of text on the left??

On reflection I like them better arranged on the left and a layer of orange fabric brings a flash of colour that helps balance the composition. Just need to attach the moths now and it will be done. Amazing what you can concoct when you only intended to tackle some of the heaps in the studio but I have to confess - I never did manage to make the room tidy!

Bye for now - Linda x

Landscape painting - moving on slowly

I should start by saying I don't do much landscape painting. I much prefer the solid objects of a still life or the fascinating features of a human face or a bird - subjects you can describe because of their definite shape and form.  I think that landscape is much more amorphous and vague and that makes it hard for me to get my teeth into it but sometimes it's good to step outside your comfort zone and try something you don't find easy.

We've had such glorious sunsets and sunrises this last couple of weeks I really wanted to try and capture the light between the bare trees, especially since we also have a covering of snow which adds to the drama by creating beautiful blue shadows.

At the moment this looks like nothing on earth but you have to start somewhere! All I'm doing is staining the canvas with dilute washes of acrylic paint. I've used Alizarin, Cerulean, Lemon Yellow and Titanium White with a touch of Mars Black to darken the crimson. My normal painting style is quite tight and controlled but I want this to be more about the atmosphere of early morning in the garden than it is about fiddly detail. I'm using bigger brushes than usual and silly as it sounds, I'm favouring longer brushes so I am farther away from the canvas as I paint!

Because the bare branches are so fine and delicate without their leaves in December, I'm experimenting with a technique that may or may not work. I've put down large blocks of colour in the areas that are the darkest and when they are completely dry I plan to overpaint with the pale sky colours again. I'm hoping that will mean I can scratch through the pale layer to reveal something of the dark beneath. Fingers crossed it'll be OK!

It's a leap of faith and if it does work you'll see the results here soon. If it's a tragedy I'll paint over it and you'll never see it again!

Hope you are making time for yourself to be creative in the run up to Christmas!
Bye for now, Linda x

End in sight?

I promised not to post any more wintry pictures on instagram because endless images of snow do pall after a while don't they? Couldn't resist sharing this one with you though....

That's the roof of my garden studio with some hints that a thaw might be coming!! Trouble is, it dipped to -13C last night so those icicles might hang around a bit longer yet.

Our country lanes are very icy and snow ploughs don't bother about us but being cooped up does mean I have time to finish some abandoned projects. Remember these blocks from DMTV? I've put them into the simplest arrangement and have decided to add a border, machine quilt it and then finish with a pieced binding. It's only small but with lots of stitch it should look pretty on a bedside table. That big empty space in the centre is just crying our for a lovely bit of quilting!

You might remember these blocks too. I made them for the DMTV video about establishing and working with a limited colour palette. I'm quite liking how those blue squares pop! I'm fancying to hand quilt this over the holiday. Always like to have something useful to keep me occupied when the only other available distractions involve overdosing on chocolate and trash TV!

I can hear snow sliding off the roof as I write this - perhaps the end of the siege is in sight! Roll on spring!

Bye for now - Linda x

Painting glass today

Well, not painting on glass of course - just trying to paint glass in my sketchbook. Yesterday at the market I found this lovely ink bottle.

I usually look for green glass but this one is more blue than green - just as gorgeous though, especially as it only cost me £1!

I've got a growing collection of bottles and I rarely spend more than 50p or £1.

Some are housed in cabinets.

And I have ten green bottles lined up on a shelf in the loo. Several of these were dug up in our garden - there were no rubbish collections many years ago so refuse was just buried in a hole! Amazingly the bottles were completely intact when we found them and most have local connections that make them more interesting.

They all make great subjects for a very quick watercolour. No initial pencil sketch with this, just dilute watercolour to draw the basic shapes of the outline and the reflections. As you can see, this is still wet - I'll add a few more washes once it's dry and next time I'll try to make it fit the page!

Hope you have a Happy Sunday! Linda x

Never too late!

They say it helps to keep learning new things as you get older don't they? The concentration required to pick up a new skill stimulates the brain cells and slows down their deterioration.

With that in mind I've joined a ukulele band! The first session was last week and to be perfectly honest I just mimed most of the time. It was fast and furious and I had no chance at all of keeping up. Luckily, there were about 80 people there playing their hearts out and a raw beginner can get away with murder when the music is so loud! How anyone is expected to read words off the song sheet, look at the chord diagrams, find the right strings and strum and sing at the same time is beyond me at this point.

Since the first session I've been making time to practice a few chords. I would have thought my hands were quite flexible because of all the things I do with them - sadly it turns out that's not the case. That's F above - quite a stretch for me.

But G is much worse - I feel like a finger contortionist! 'He Who Gardens' has been playing guitar since he was 11 years old and is being encouraging. Apparently all I have to do is practice. I have already made quite a sacrifice - I had to chop off my too long fingernails so I could even reach the strings. Oh the things we have to do for our art!!

I'll let you know how the second session goes. Bye for now - Linda x

Are you shopping for Christmas yet?

I don't suppose it's escaped anyone's notice that it's November this week - time to start scouting around for special gifts for special people!

I realise this sounds like blatant promotion (and we normally avoid advertising in any form!!) but I wanted to let you know my talented daughter Frances has added a range of beautiful clutch purses to her online shop at Max&Rosie.

She has lots of gorgeous cosmetic bags, scarves and brush rolls, as well as cases for eyeglasses, all in amazing, contemporary fabrics. Please take a look on the run up to Christmas. Frances only makes limited numbers of each design and when they're gone they're gone! Everything is individually made, with great care, here in England and she's happy to ship worldwide.

Frances tells me there is even more Christmas loveliness coming to her website soon although I expect these will be snapped up in the wink of an eye!

I hope a visit to Max&Rosie might solve some of your shopping dilemmas and if a proud mom can't recommend her daughter who can?

Bye for now - Linda x