deep in the woods
May 1, 2012
another colourful journey
hooray its the weekend !!
April 5, 2012
Oh my its been busy………….. thank goodness its the weekend, meditation and painting, what more could I ask for !!
just love these colours, so inspiring, work of the wild beasts, the fauvists
Ballet Russe
April 4, 2011
Thanks Mr Bowery, it was because of you I came across this image, I thought it was a costume of yours, but then I read it was in fact a costume for the Ballet Russe designed back in 1935 !
Leon Bakst drawings I have always admired, and recently when I watched the Chanel / Stravinsky story my interest in the Ballet Russe became more prominent in my life again. I find the colours so inspiring. Diaghilev was a very clever man, he put together composers and artists the most avant-garde of their time, Braque, Stravinsky, Chanel, Picasso, Matisse and Nijinsky the famous dancer and produced the most inspiring and challenging ballets. He was not at all afraid to break with convention and his passion paid off, however at his death it limped along but was never the same again.
The boldness, the colours, the loose shapes, ballet costumes had never been seen like this before. I just love them, the colours sing out, I so would love to have been around to see their opening nights, especially THE RITES OF SPRING, apparently this caused a riot and they had to close down the theatre!! It’s hard to believe that now, but here is a collection of some the hundreds of costumes that were designed and made especially for each ballet.
Could they be transformed into paper sculptures, could the colour combinations be transformed into my design work and paintings, somehow they will have an influence, my creative mind is like a sponge, its absorbs everything around me so that one day it will be expressed in some form again as I continue along this creative path
Colour creates an elevated mood
March 10, 2011
I saw this clip this morning and just knew I was meant to. It was a true gift. Colour lifts my soul, there is no doubt about it. Expressing with colour is so beneficial to the psyche. I find myself attracted to colour in my daily life more and more, bits and pieces I buy for my home lately are wild they make a wonderful contrast to the dark grey that forms the basis of my home. My own personal clothing in the main is colourless, but inside me pulsates with many shades of violet, orange, yellow, mauve, magenta, vermillion, a whole rainbow. Who wants their house painted? any takers?
colourful day
March 6, 2011
vintage fare, mexican embroidery, todays find………… where will this end up? not sure, buying lots of colourful things lately, could be destined to be upholstered in the back of french chair? or just a humble cushion, but wherever it ends up in my home, I know it will bring a big smile every time i see it……….
Oh and also some vintage adverts for Schiaperelli’s perfume Shocking by Marcel Vertes, now these are for my bedroom , this is for sure
marriage made in heaven – converse and marimeko
February 8, 2011
CREATIVE UNION
absorbing the energy of the sea
February 7, 2011
The Secret Life of Waves – waves are not water they are pure energy passing through water and by the law of the universe, energy never dies……….
watch this documentary here on iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=the%20secret%20of%20waves
Port Eynon – Gower Peninsula. a wonderful weekend walking by the sea, so invigorating, after watching the The Secret Life of Waves I now understand why I am so drawn to the sea.
Walking to the Worms Head, looking down onto Rossili Bay on a very wild and windy day.
The Gower Peninsula, Wales, A wonderful weekend with the ones I love
sunset and sea
January 16, 2011
I enjoyed a most creative day with a dear friend of mine in her studio. She is a felt maker, and we sat together , chatted about our creative endeavours, and what was inspiring us, we pulled out lovely coloured wools, my selection inspired by the beautiful sunsets down at the sea that I had been photographing over the month I had off from work. I had gathered a stone that was really special to me and the sunsets themselves so significant. So away we went, laying out the strands of wool in the sunset hues, soaping and rubbing. I knew I wanted some kind of tendrils, not sure why, but now I can see. My finished pouch that holds my treasured stone has taken on the life of a sea creature, perhaps an anemone e or a squid like being. I am so pleased with the piece, it feels so special and has become a very treasured object.
2011 a new path of creativity
January 3, 2011
Well its arrived, a new year and new decade, conjured up memories of the millenium new year, struggling to get to the embankment to watch the fireworks with a two champagne bottle backpack and a few friends. I had just moved into my new apartment after its year long refurb and felt so full of joy and optimism . It was a great evening.
This year I feel equally full of optimism for the coming year, saying goodbye to 2010, fully embracing 2011 is very exciting. So many things to do, to experience, to see to enjoy. I have written a list and it gets longer everyday. This time I am going to print it out and put a line through each item as they are achieved…………….. I am also leaving a huge space for new thing to arise, unexpected things, new challenges, new opportunities, this is the part that for me makes my life so rewarding.
I have been spending time these last few days purchasing new paints, ordering canvases, sketching, list making and creating new images of my existing artwork and photography.
Maison Objet in colour
September 13, 2010
Maison Objet, Paris trade Fair and a must for all “designers” . Its just amazing, everything is done with great style…………
Took away various “threads” with me, one very colourful from one of my favourite suppliers, black and white and turquiose, old gold and matt black highlighted with a dusky pink purple. Quite magical.
The following is a taste of the colourful.
Perfectionism
August 22, 2010
Have spent some of the weekend writing up guided meditations, visualisations and all manner of stuff for a forthcoming workshop in Malta I run with a couple of friends. In doing so I was inspired to create this image. I call it THE MASK ………….. of perfectionism.
I have worked with many people who are crippled by this, unable to sometimes even make any steps forward because of the immense anxiety. Often this control comes of out of a real sense of sadness within, it cannot be revealed at any cost so the person controls their external environment to such a degree that absolutely everything around them has to be perfect. I too have this incidious trait, it can be so cruel, I have battled with this a long time, its a lot easier now I have learnt to let go a little and life has become somewhat less anxious but the creative process can sometimes be a nightmare. Dr Estes wrote a letter on facebook about perfectionsism, she explains it so well, I have posted it on my other blog, click here
The image is done in oil paint, oil pastels, scanned into my laptop and layered digitally……………
Friday flowers
August 20, 2010
Another week has passed with no posts, busy at work, busy with my monthly newsletter, It’s all good and everything as it should be.
Today I gave myself a beautiful little treat, passing by a little country cottage on my way out for a nice walk with a friend of mine, I came across these beautiful bunches of flowers, sweet peas, dahlias and asters, so perfectly bright, cheery and smelled so sweet, just perfect as you can see. I adore sweet peas, when I had an allotment a few years back now, I always had sweet peas growing so I could have a jug full of the bright coloured stems next to my bed. Just looking at them brings a big smile to my face and lots of happy memories of sowing and planting out, weeding and harvesting, always ending a stint on the allotment with a flask of tea sitting outside my shed with Brian, my allotment neighbour and sharing his years of experience growing veg, we would chatter away and laugh, drink the last drops from the flask, then I would gather a bunch of the heady perfumed sweet peas and drive of home. Happy memories.
Ended up walking along Ditchling Beacon, a little ways only as it was quite chilly and very blustery, but enough to blow the cobwebs away and put my life back in to perspective. The Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex and one can see for miles around. I had hoped to have a nice drive in my new car with the top down, but it was too chilly. Did for awhile though, with the heated seats on full blast !!
Lunched in THE WHITE HORSE at Ditching village, a nice simple pub, with nice simple food, totally unpretentious, warm and welcoming…………. http://www.whitehorseditchling.com/index.html
All I want to do now is sleep…………………..
Suzani and friends
August 3, 2010
today I received my parcel today from Tashkent, Uzbekistan !! How exciting, ripping open the brown paper and wrapped inside in a plastic carrier bag, was my precious suzani, a hand emmroidered cloth I bought on ebay.
I have another one coming that is similar colours but a slightly different pattern, the two together plus some plain fabric i am going to create wonderfully coloured wing chairs that will sit at my new desk. Actually its a long trestle table, in aged silver oak, over 3m in length at which I can sit and create, write letters and eat breakfast as it looks out across to the common.
A suzani for those who may not know is a hand embroidered cloth, usually sewn in panels and joined sewn together to make a large piece. From Central Asia, these pieces would from part of a brides dowry, shows her skills at embroidery. Often used as wall hangings and bedcovers. Each region can be identified by its designs, but need to research this a bit more.
Such wonderful colours, and each embroidered shape is so neatly sewn, the back is almost as neat as the front, such tiny, tiny stitches.
above are my little friends, the large boy you will recognise from my before images, (if you click the image above you will see) he is painted black at the moment, thinking of either a bright pink shade, or repainting him white with a white with a white sculptural shade and putting in my bedroom……. decisions, decisions. The other little friends are my all time faves my japanese collector doll uamou , buuts buuts uamou and boo. Unfortunately buuts got a rubbing over by my cleaning lady and lost part of her head piece which was very annoying………. we have a bit of a love hate relationship, but all in all we get through, the flat gets cleaned. I cant do everything sadly, my interior design work takes a huge chunk of my time and the last thing I want to do in my spare time is clean……… You can can see the whole range of collectable uamous here http://www.uamou.com/shop/index.html
its all in the detail
July 30, 2010
Exquisite beadwork by Lisa Kerr
The Guest House
July 11, 2010
The following poem just says it all for me. It took a long time find the place of acceptance of “what is” in life. Once tasted I realised the answer to living with that elusive ” inner peace” was trying to achieve acceptance in all areas of my life and day to day life’s challenges.
Whatever life brings up for us, know that its arisen because we have something to learn from it, learn to see the gifts in all and every situation.
The poem is by RUMI, the famous Sufi poet who died in 1273; he states very clearly just what I am trying to say, he says it far more eloquently than I ever could,
THE GUEST HOUSE
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
