its all been rather grey...

The world as I know it has been a little grey recently so here are some cheerful bits of magic that made my little face smiley...

 

Cups from anthropologie.

 

Textile Deigner Rhiannon Williams dog illustrations! how joyous- their faces make me smile.

x

Handmade Nation

Ive been dibbling in my sketchbook for a while now, and feeling like I'm standing still... need to get these ideas out of the book and onto some other surface?! oh me oh my...lions and tigers and bears! Well that's how Ive been feeling anyhow. Ive been fusing romanticised text with surfaces and images, both found and made. Also the arrival of some circle punches at work kind of took over my brain... God I love circles. Although a recent find (which I cant stop thinking about) Marcus Walters has got me excited about screen printing.

These are all the things I like, layering, colour and playfulness. They make me feel like I'm outside in spring. I'm going to put some acetates and stencils together over the next few weeks and play around with the idea of blockier shapes and colour. maybe this will get rid of my lions and tigers and bears.

 

I went to a talk this week 'in conversation with boys who sew' and it got me thinking about the use of narrative within my work, which is something always at the back of my mind. The use of embroidery as a vent to share information and bring peole together just feels so right in so many ways. It's quite a romantic notion, but has proved in many instances to bring communities together positively. Id like to do something with my students at work that shares in this process of community and making, but which is somthing different from the taught sessions.

The notion of craft and the ability to make things by hand to build confidence and develop a sense of inner self was a message that seemed to be voiced by many. Craft to therapise the soul. I read an article a long time ago that said the ability to sit down and make, even for five minute a day made this person feel whole and complete, and how true a statement that is. If you havent read it already, Handmade Nation is a great book that shares in some of these ideals.

Richter...How you stole my heart with colour.

This is a long over-due blog post about 'Panorama' The Gerhard Richter retrospective at the TATE- Anyhow, its been over a month since I visited the exhibition but the sense of colour and surfaces amongst many other things, has been a constantly on my mind. Undoubtedly one of the most important painters still alive and kicking, he stole my heart with colour. One painting in particular really pulled me in, In fact it made me feel so incredibly overwhelmed and emotional on more than one occasion- I did walk round 3 times to see it, possibly four... 

I had seen this painting in Paris, as a student, and it caught my eye then, It was always about the colour, and the soft diffusion and energy of the space- like a beautiful spring morning peering through the haze.  I wanted to share it. I also spent a long time looking at some smaller intimate graphite drawings. I loved them, there wasn't anything I disliked. I found I had to keep walking round and enquiring, so much so that I was almost late to meet friends for dinner...it was well worth staying and rushing off on the tube to meet them.

If you didn't get chance to see it, then you missed something special, if you did, wasn't it amazing- I'm just sorry I didn't get to go back again...

these are a few of my favorite things...

Handmade gifts are ultimately the best kind of gifts. I received some lovely things this year and wanted to share them with you:

 

...beautiful embroidery from my bestest (Kindness does definitely matter!) and a magic silver bird, which I think will see the addition of a pin so I can wear it, its too beautiful not to.

My husband surprised me with a beautiful silver ring from jewellery designer Ruth Tomlinson, which I have loved for a long time. She makes such beautiful jewellery that makes me feel all magical inside. I love her Encrustation  collection most of all.

P.S Happy New Year!