Where and Why?

It’s been a very long time since I last blogged.

Life kind of got in the way in April, May seemed ok, June quite escaped me and now it’s July.

Where? I’ve been hiding away trying to get enough enthusiasm and energy together to pick up my textile work. I’ve been knitting, largely purchased patterns, gardening as I can’t ignore weeds that are a few feet high or the lovely veggies we’re picking off the allotment and taking a few photos.

Why? I’ve been very tired and haven’t had the enthusiasm or energy for anything much more than work and family.

I’ve done the most extraordinary thing this evening… submitted a photo of my work to the One Show Exhibition, quite why I don’t know… but I can’t take it back now.

Designing Socks

I’ve designed my very first socks, using a formula in a book I recently purchased. My first attempt “Swooping Flight” was inspired by the “Green Woodpecker” colourway from the April Sock Club from The Knitting Goddess online shop. I’d also volunteered to knit samples for her use, so used this as the first singleton, with another singleton in another design planned. The first two pictures are my socks, the last in colourway “Pansy”

My work using the within the landscape theme took a sudden and very unexpected turn last week. My second singleton for the Knitting Goddess is inspired by a photo from one of my Cliveden visits. I spent all day Saturday battling with a very badly written published pattern that  fitted the inspiration really well.

My plan is to offer these socks on the knitting site Ravelry as free downloads, and maybe if there’s enough interest to design more to sell via that route.

How much art in three weeks?

Despite no posts, I’m still just about hanging in with the CED by knitting every day. I even knitted in hospital before going on to the ward ahead of surgery last week.  I’ve been signed off work for 3 weeks, what I can do is limited by how I feel. I can do browsing through my bookcases which is always a source of inspiration, usually at times when I don’t have the time to try out the ideas that fire my creativity. I made a few rather worrying discoveries whilst browsing in my studio yesterday:

• I have in excess of 18 sketchbooks in progress, a rather large reusable bag full of new ones and only 1 sketchbook that is complete.
• I have enough art/textile books to start a small lending library, and many of these are in almost pristine condition, what does that suggest?
• If  I look at the needs list against any project/ technique shown in my books, in most cases I have everything on it.

I’m thinking and writing a list of all the things I’d like to try out / play with over this time, maybe,  just maybe the count of completed sketchbooks will go up a bit???

Basket O Shame

I’m a member of Ravelry which is a great online community for knitters, unfortunately its a great place to find patterns and the necessary yarn for new projects! Like many social sites there are lots of opportunities to join in either with swaps   or knit-a-longs ) which is my preference. A knit along involves a group knitting something together, sharing the pain and  the finished objects. Somewhere along the way most knitters (and I’m no exception) started projects that are set aside in favour of more attractive/ interesting patterns/ yarns. I’ve got the attention span of a gnat, so there’s always something new/better on the horizon. To make sure I do knit and finish my projects I’ve decided that I must work on small beautiful things to make sure I do complete them, however I made that decision after starting a few things that have now been consigned to the “basket o shame”

To my shame I have the most gorgeous lace sweater languishing in a bag  hidden by my sofa, under my stash of sock yarn, I’ve posted a photo below to give the general idea. Thankfully I came across a new group on Ravelry where to be a member, you have to have these sorts of projects, you need to admit to them and most radical of all finish them, the group is called Basket O Shame and the detailed rules are shown on a linked blog. My basket o shame is by no means huge, if I don’t finish what’s in there there is every chance that these currently unloved items will stay there and to be fair, I must have loved each of the patterns and the yarn quite a bit to start the projects.

The target is to finish these by 31 December 2009, in my Basket O Shame:

Norah Gaughan – Lacy Waves Top, the back and front are down, I’m on the first sleeve, I hate knitting sleeves!

Cuckoo Beret – Natalie Larsson, I’m half way up the first pattern repeat and I needed my circular needle for another project.

Herringbone Rib Socks- Kristi Schuller, I’ve had two goes at starting this pattern and I’d almost finished knitting the first sock when I decided it was too long in the leg, so I ripped out most of what I’d knitted. I’m not keen on knitting with yarn that I’ve ripped out.

CED February 2009

Despite the absence of any posts here, I have been creative everyday on a very small range of creative activities.

I’ve been knitting hats and socks, and Rachel is not getting either of these!

I’m working on a felt purse which is now two weeks overdue, sorry Val! I will get it done.

I’ve been drawing which I’ve posted to within the landscape.

CED 5th to 31st January

I’ve been badly hit by the January blues, so my creative everyday activities haven’t been the exciting ones I planned at the start of the year. That doesn’t mean I’m unhappy with what I’ve done, it just wasn’t what I’d anticipated.

• I’ve been knitting, and I’ve completed a beret, which Rachel stole on Friday, so I’ve made good progress with a replacement, plus I’ve been working on a sweater and a pair of socks, and I got a second different beret on the sticks on Friday
• I’ve also been needlefelting as I received a piece of felt in a swap challenge which I have to return as a finished piece to it’s owner in two weeks time

CED 1 to 4 January 2009

My first CED post and I’m feeling very positive about what I’ve done since the challenge was launched:

• sorted and tidied my art space
• revised my artist’s statement
• created an A4 page of quick sketches of ammonites
• played about with a Quentin Blake “Learn to Draw” book
• set myself a theme for the year – “within the landscape”
• created 2 journal pages elaborating on “evolution”, the later one of the two is shown below

• played with Photoshop results are shown below, my aim is try and make a transfer using translucent liquid sculpey to take forward

Sorting and Clearing

I’ve been carrying out a mega clearing and sorting exercise to get all my art supplies, media, materials and books re-organised to enable me to change my focus.

Since Tuesday, I’ve emptied 6 large plastic tea chests and two archive boxes. thrown out 2 big black bags of rubbish, filled two large paper carriers with paper for recycling, I’ve found some language CDs I think I can pass on, a stack of paper for a friend’s grandchildren, some silk paints for a colleague who wants to have a bit of a play with colour and sorted out three shoe boxes of bits for my sister in law. I really need to finish where I started and look through all my boxes of art bits and pieces and see if I have anything else lurking that could do with being taken out of circulation.

I’ve given my book cases a bit of a makeover by removing some books where the emphasis was on projects and replacing these with technique books and a huge stack of lovely coffee table books filled with eye candy for inspiration.

Starting Points

I’ve spent quite a bit of the last few days decluttering and making space so I can begin work in earnest on my art plans for 2009.

I’m getting a huge amount of support and encouragement from 5 art buddies who like me have a real desire to spend 2009 creating art. One of the group suggested putting our work up where we could see it, now I’ve tidied and sorted I’ve put up 3 A1 drawings, I’ve opened several of my sketchbooks on my desk and hung up one large textile piece.  Fancy a look see?

 My desk with my sketchbooks ready for action and pin board chock full of inspiration:

 

A1 charcoal drawing from Feb 2008 of an ammonite

The above developed further in paint and tinted charcoal with masking tape as a resist

And finally a few quick sketches of a small ammonite done today to bring this post up to date:

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year to all the people who’ve shared their thoughts about my blogging, I don’t always have time to reply to all your comments, I do make time to ensure I read them. Your feedback is always welcome.

I’m starting the new year with a tidy and sort of my art materials, passing on things I don’t want any more, recycling some of the things I don’t feel I can pass on and changing my art making projects.

Out will be the project based swaps where other people chose themes and time is of the essence, in is development of my work and ideas. I’m looking forward to sharing with a group of like minded friends and to progressing my own work in mew ways.

My resolution revolution word is “evolution” and I love the definition I found of it yesterday- “a pattern formed by a series of movements or something similar”. So apt for the kind of development I have in mind for the themes I want to pursue.