coming up for air
May 11, 2013
its been awhile since posting here, have been in total overwhelm……. day job taken over, new kitchen being fitted in my home, one thousand and one pressing demands just felt I have been drowning !! I did manage to get away in between this mayhem and get total rest and sunshine with friends in Malta. But plunged back in the deap ocean again swimming against the tide this week
Coming back up for some air ! Once this project is ready for the launch on 6th June I can breath again and get back to my creative self !! I am lucky my day job is creative, its been such a huge part of my life since March, very rewarding but I need to start my own path again soon. Its like there are two of me, one creating environments for people to enjoy and another feeling a little frustrated that she hasnt time to express a new path……. It will come, can feel it my bones !!
Here is a piece that I worked on some while back , drowning in the ocean……….(click on image for a larger view)
About change
March 12, 2013
Awoke to stillness again, the dead hush that only snow can bring……. so peacful. A wintry white blanket with snow swirling in the blustery wind. Not a day to venture out. thank goodness work is no more than 30 paces away from my front door !
So where does the change come in ! well I have been sewing, sewing a quilt, still not finished, so many squares and rectangles to sew, I am beginning to get bored of sitting at the machine. So this evening in quiet meditation practice, I just took a pencil and let it roam around the page. shapes were forming, I shaded and moulded them and hey presto this is what materialised. A complete change to sewing, just me, stillness, pencil and paper and The Mother Tree
from sun to snow
February 23, 2013
Beginning of the week was 10 degrees , blue skies and sunshine, today, Saturday, its thick white skies, flakes a fluttering and snow-capped roof tops and -1 degrees
I love the way snow seems to blanket sound, everything is quiet, like time stands still. The colours of snow reminded me of a piece of work I made . It started life as grisaille painting, a still life of some treasured items of mine , silver and reflective. Taking a photograph of it to study the tonal qualities I started to play with it digitally and turned it to this…………… exactly what today has conjured up for me
I call this my snow mandala
this is the original piece of work , a creative exercise in trying to capture differing qualities of metal, stone, and shiny objects
Very Happy
January 16, 2013
Its official, an image of my PAPERCUT GARDEN is going to blown up huge and used as a backdrop in 7 Jewellry stores in London…………….. Due to be installed on Valentines Day
Very Happy
A day of contrasts
December 11, 2012
sunday a day to relax and put my feet up………….. Well that is most Sundays, but yesterday it was full, very full ! and very diverse experiences.
BRASSERIE ZEDEL- a lavishly decorated 1930;s space, a former grand ballroom, marble adorns the walls and columns , gold leaf acanthus leaves. In fact the whole lower level area contained the American Bar, a dark , warm and inviting space, and the Crazy Coqs, a cabaret venue. First though it was two Mr Hyde Cocktails, served up in old style champagne glasses, it was rich with creme de Cacao and light with whisked egg white, quite something actually…….. looking around, the bar certainly looked good with its 30′s style lighting, mirrored shelves and the pretty boy bartender doing a mean dance with his cocktail shaker. Then moving on walked across the hallway and into the lavishly decorated French Brasserie, a bit brightly lit for my liking, but its a grand space alright, full to the brim with chattering heads. Looking at the menu I can see why, it’s so cheap ! Anyhow sitting there with my spanish friend extolling the virtues of the spanish language and not allowing me to get a word in edgeways, my thoughts drifted off to earlier in the day……….. a place so totally different in every way.
when the train reached London, I took cab to the WALLACE COLLECTION in Manchester Square, where I met my wonderful family of friends and spent 4 hours sharing our experiences of life, especially as we near the Solstice and the amazing planetary alignments that are taking shape. The food was a little disappointing, no actually a LOT disappointing and not how I remembered it at all the last time I visited. However the space is wonderful, a glass roofed courtyard in the centre of the museum, flooded with light, its airy and spacious. and quite a contrast from the lavishly decorated furniture galleries that surround it. Although full it was quiet, relaxed and good place to be with friends. I recommend it, but perhaps afternoon tea maybe more appropriate and then a stroll around the galleries. This museum is home to many a famous painting, the wonderfully whimsical Fragonard – The Swing. and even The Laughing Cavalier ! !!
although a lovely day connecting with friends, it was oh so good to get home …………………
!
Dreaming continued
September 18, 2012
More developments on the dream theme. pencil sketch
Dream State
August 27, 2012
yesterday I bought myself an amazing hand made book all about the night life of trees. Each page hand screen printed with the most exquisitely detailed drawings in blue, white, turqoise, green all on black paper.
today in my doodlings my unconcious mind was trying to connect with those trees I am sure, all about the seeds we plant, how they incubate in the darkness and one can see in sketch that they are taking shape, little buds still slumbering in their dream state. Dreaming of who they are to become.
Think I would love to make a beautiful book like the one I bought, not sure how to go about it. Guess will have to learn some book making skills !
St Andrew’s , Hambelton, Rutland
August 12, 2012
Beautiful church in the lovely village of Hambleton, carved angels and cherubim and even boasts windows by Edward Burne Jones. I hadn’t realised just how picturesque all the villages around Rutland Water, actually were. Limestone built cottages, some thatch, some stone tiled, all very unspoilt.
the carvngs inspired me to paint, not sure the effect is quite what I wanted, but I enjoyed painting with my easel out in the sunshine
colourful life
July 22, 2012
Not much time for painting and creating on paper for me of late, although an oil sketch a week or so ago was a wonderful outlet. Its all interior work, drawing, plans, autocad, should it be stone floor, wood floor, lighting issues and on and on. Last project 
putting finishing touches, soon be able to post some images, then another huge project in Derybshire to complete in August. Its a colour filled life at the moment, today full of greens, a beautiful drive through the Peak district, and also blues, love deep blues, magentas, turquoise and green………………. tomorrow? cool blue pool, fitting out a spa.
wild and windy
June 16, 2012
worked in studio again today, gave the tree spirit another layer of oil, its had many reworkings, today one of many. She still hasn’t lost her sense of balance in the composition, sometime when I go back and work on a painting I lose it totally, but this one, she has a real strength of character, she is very powerful ! A bit like the weather today, its wild and windy out there !
something different
June 12, 2012
took a few assorted objects down into my studio, a treasured teapot form marrakesh, a metal upturned wastebin, an apple, a cup measure and a few odd little boxes, stood them all on my desk, and started painting!
it made a change to concentrate on shapes. Usually its a kind of inspirational meditation set to some music, soothing music, and then as something stirs within and the outpouring starts, it just flows, the head is not engaged. I noted with the objects, first I had to choose, which seem to take longer than I thought, then they had to be displayed and then I had to think about composition, a very much mind based way of doing things. All in all an enjoyble time, but somehow I love just letting all pour out from my soul, its one of the most intense feelings and its so all consuming……………………
The trees are still talking to me
June 5, 2012
my creative journey continues, the forests of trees that hold such abundance. Somethings calls me when I walk amongst the dancing leaves, the verdant lushness, their vitality and majestic power.
A dear friend posted this beautiful poem, I had forgotten just how beautiful these words were, a poem I had ready many times a few years back, but had faded in the mists of time…………….
The Family Tree
May 2, 2012
The Creative Journey continues
deep in the woods
May 1, 2012
another colourful journey
inspired by trees
April 22, 2012
drawing, painting, walking, reading, my spare time is taken up with these things. My days are spend creating interiors, all good stuff, but its not freedom, a lot of constraints. Drawing allows me to express what I sense and just lately its something about the spirit and energy that abounds when I walk in the woods.
My studio has been littered with ideas, written descriptions, and little sketches. my first sketch I would like to capture as a tiny miniature with raised gilding and jewel like colours like a medieval illumination. then through a series of sketches I came up with another tree spirit this time in oils and much biger. Its not finished yet and I am sure will go through many transformative colour changes. But here is where I am for now…………..
