We're here now Xmas pop up shop

Today's the day! 

We're here now Xmas pop up shop (open till 8). 

Come and see us at Banbury and Bicester College, Broughton Road. 

Join us at 6 for my mince pies and mulled wine.

Either I will find a way, or I will make one.

I've been so busy lately, I thought I'd give myself a little break and write a new blog post!

With my head stuck in books and the internet, researching psychology, the unconscious and artists who make work based on it for my dissertation, I haven't felt like I've had any time to think. But of course, being my final year, I have another 6 projects on the go, and it's feeling like an avalanche right now. It's hard enough thinking about 1 project, never mind 7! I think I'm at that point now where I'm forgetting the basics of how to live like a normal human being!

But anyway, I thought I'd show you a couple of stitch pieces I did a little while ago for screen printing which is going towards 1 of my other projects.

I originally sewed the owl onto cotton, but scanned it in and edited the curves and levels in photoshop to make it thicker for putting on a screen (seeing as I'm being taught how to use adobe now, might as well use it to my advantage!).

I quite like that you can't really tell it's stitch, and it looks a bit jaunty - but as usual I just love that it's black and white!

And I'm getting so many compliments on my bee! Originally I made him for yet another project, but feeling under so much stress recently, I decided to drop it, but felt I couldn't just let him come to nothing, so decided to transfer him to my card project - which thankfully I can forget about in 3 weeks time!

Anyone else thinking Christmas is approaching waaaaaay too fast?

Our most beautiful and complex art work we can make are our identities - Grayson Perry

So if you haven't been watching Grayson Perry: Who Are You? on channel 4 on Wednesdays, I don't know where you've been! You've really missed out! But don't worry - that's what 4OD is for.

I've seen Perry's work before, seen interviews and exhibitions, and grew a fondness for him as an artist and a human being. I think it's the way he puts pieces together, and how much he looks into his subject, and the way he has of making his journey through the subject to what interests him about it that inspires me most, and I think this new series really shows that well.

I enjoy the fact that he's been given the honour of presenting his works in the National Portrait Gallery, and one of the first thing he mentions or notices is what it's lacking, and so effectively what he could change with his pieces.

I know Perry has a routed interest in personalities and identities, and now what with me going back to finish my BA degree and getting to get into the subject matter of my own choice for my FMP (and heading down a psychological route), I think Perry has an even bigger influence on me.

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

So I started this beautifully grotty half term by being asked to help run a free roller printing workshop in Castle Quay in Banbury with my old drawing, book binding and stamp making teacher Stephen Fowler.

Having not done nearly as much art since graduating as I would have liked, I jumped at the chance, and now knowing I've been accepted onto the top-up BA starting in September, I was desperate to get back into as much creative being as possible.

The day was a blast (and I didn't even mind getting up nice and early on my day off), so many people turned up and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

I'd not done roller printing before, but had done many fairly similar things to it in my time so I got into it really quickly. By using scaffolding padding, a craft knife (or stick on strip padding for the younger ones) and a painting roller, every age and ability managed to leave their mark all over the shop walls!

Although loving getting messy and having such a fun-filled, silly day, I have to admit my favourite part was seeing Dad's desperately trying to get their children to 'try somewhere different now' or asking 'why don't we leave that bit for someone else?' when of course they were having none of it, and had no plan to stop. As well as the wife and children going off to do what they'd come to town to do and leaving dad making rollers and drawing designs for people.

I just thought it was magical, having to glide across ice.

So I've been inspired lately by the Winter Olympics, which I have well and truly become adicted to. I don't know wether it's that the sports are more interesting to me, or the fact there's so much white (and I love simplicity). Anyway I've found so many inspirational lines - especially when it comes to figure skating - that I've just had to do something about it, have an outlet. So here is my outlet...they're only first trials, and of course I can find so many faults in them but I'm so inspired, I think I'll just keep going until I feel they're right.

Every artist was first an amateur.

 

So as I've been having plenty of spare time recently, I decided to try and teach myself something new.

I've always really wanted to be able to crochet as it looked fun (and more modern than knitting), and my mom had tried once to no avail, so I thought out of the hundreds of crochet videos on youtube, one of them had to work for me!

So after watching a few videos, and reading a couple of intro's to 'beginners crochet' books, I just couldn't tell if I was doing it right or not. I mean something was happening...I just didn't know if it was crochet!?

Then I found the one! It was an American guy (without the patronizing/overly excited voice that the others seemed to have) who seems to do videos for a couple of channels ('GoodKnitKisses' and 'The Crochet Crowd'), that were sooooooooooo simple to understand, I got hooked on just watching them all, and started to practice, and finally got it!

So I attempted to do the octagonal motif in one of the books, although it looked a tad different in the pictures in the book, so something wasn't quite right.

So I thought I'd try something a little more difficult, and I noticed it had a stitch in it that I hadn't learnt, so I tried to find the same guy on youtube doing it, but couldn't, so I went to the next best looking video (videojugartscrafts), who right at the beginning mentioned this was the UK stitch, and said what to look up if you wanted the US version.

So I ended up re-learning the names of each stitch (which wasn't so bad as I hardly knew to start), but thankfully all the stitches were the same, just called different things. So I crocheted this rose :)

FINALLY! I think I got it. Now, just got to practice till it's perfect.

It is said that All Hallows' Eve is one of the nights when the veilbetween the worlds is thin - and whether you believe in such things or not, those roaming spirits probably believe in you, or at leastacknowledge your existence, considering that it used to be their own.

Well it's that time of year again...HALLOWEEN! And boy is it my favourite!

There is absolutely nothing I love better than carving pumpkins, and this year I invested in Lino cutting tools to do it.

I decided quite early on (yes, I plan my pumpkin picture ahead of time because I get SO excited I just have to do something!) that I wanted to do a layer effect image, so had been searching for an idea I could adapt to fit layers.

 

Yes I know my pumpkins are green, they're home grown accidentally by my Dad, and weren't given enough time to orange up, but I like it! 

Seeing as it was my first attempt using Lino tools, I don't think it turned out too badly, although I was incredibly nervous about how deep to go and think I could have pushed it a little more. And it probably took me way longer than someone used to the tools, but I got the hang of it in the end and didn't want to stop (as usual).

Having spent hours on my first pumpkin, I only had a little while left until it got dark, so had a nice simple design in mind for this one. 

Like I said, it's simple - but I've had the picture in my head for a while and wanted to see it come to life. And while I can sit and point out everything that is wrong with it, I think the teeth do it proud, I think they look fairly snarly and it's what I'm most proud of currently haha.

I hope everyone had a great October <3

It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree itstrives ever upwards when it is most burdened.

'The Tree of Life'.

So we did this activity at my art therapy class and I just thought I had to share. It was so worthwhile to do, I'd love to start a permanent one at home, but maybe with leaves instead of hearts and doves.

You see, you make the tree, and decorate with hearts filled with positive things in your life/on your mind, and fill the doves with the negative (so they can fly away and take them with them).

It really separated you from your feelings, which was such a relief! You don't realise how much you let them overcome you, and be a part of who you are, no matter how small. It felt so good just to take a step back to see everything in hindsight.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to liveforever.

So seeing as I have now graduated with a foundation degree in art, and have a full year to wait for the top up, I decided to learn more about art therapy as a possible pathway for the future, so have taken on evening classes in it.

As you might guess the first night was full of bonding tasks and observation tasks which ended up in these two stunning newspaper, tape and staple outfits (including shoes, jewellery, handbag and hats), which was a good laugh and a lot of fun.

I can deffinately imagine some of the kids from summer school loving this!

Art in Action 2013

So on Thursday I took my first visit to Art in Action in Oxford.

I'd heard about it from a few of the makers I'd met at the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey, so decided to go along seeing as it was fairly close and the weather was going to be scorching!

Boy am I glad I went! Definitely one to write in the diary for next year. It was full to the brim of inspiration and such inspiring people, and the atmosphere was glorious.

 I absolutely fell in love with Simon Griffiths Sculptures - of owls especially - when I was there, and thought they were so beautiful and realistic! (www.simongriffithssculpture.co.uk)

In fact I seemed to be attracted to watching a fair few of the sculptures in action whilst I was there, I think a really magical thing to watch coming alive.

I don't know how I'd feel doing art live, maybe something to build up to!