Having fun

I've got some exhibitions coming up, first in Sarah Wiseman gallery at the end of March and then in May a rather large two man show in Baxters, Dartmouth. More on that soon.

So I'm really enjoying doing some still life work. I am painting things I love, fairy cakes, my vases, bowls, seasides and spots!

It feels very me!

Ok, I'm off to a wonderful treasure trove of a shop looking for a nice little cabinet to display some jewellery I am getting in the gallery. Bye for now....x

I am very excited that these little fellas will be joining me in my gallery around Easter time. From the wonderful Abbot and Ellwood based in my beloved St Ives. I love love love their Sculptures. Take a look here I have loved their work for a very long time when I first saw their work at Chelsea craft fair many years ago which is now Origin. I'm going to have a special little shelf made, so I'll show you when they are in situ.

Its half term this week so there are lots of nice people and children to talk to every day, fun but exhausting!

colour

I am enjoying playing with colour. I have a lot of deadlines at the moment but I wanted and needed to step back for a week to experiment a little. I am liking the direction. I went to the Spring fair trade show in Birmingham on Wednesday. There was lots to seduce you, it was hard but I had to remain focused and I only want to sell what I love and would buy myself. It would be easy to stock things you know would sell but without my heart being in it I had to say no. I found Nicky Thompson knitwear that I will definitely stock next Winter, so it was a success.

We had a blue sky last week, its a quiet week this week......

The photo below from yesterday was taken standing at the end of the pier in this painting I did recently. An inspiring view in every direction.
I just rediscovered the work of Virginia Graham, it makes me smile! i particularly enjoyed looking at her drawings.

midday sky

This view never ceases to amaze me.

I might attempt to paint it this week.

A wintry train journey

Some white links for the end of Winter white week,

Wendy Jung ceramics

and some flickr faves here, this and this

Hope you all have a good weekend, I will be painting all weekend, I have to finish my Liverpool paintings x

p.s Thank you for the camera advice, I'll have a play around.

I'm loving all the White around for Shari's Winter white week.
I like the work of Helen Musselwhite a lot. She also has an etsy shop.
I like to decorate with White, then add colour.
On my wish list is a new camera. Or maybe I should read the instructions of the one I've got to find out why every photo I take is blurry. Any ideas or recommendations? x

January by the sea

Joining in on Shari's Winter White week, some beautiful images over there.

Go see!

virtual shopping

I love how in a couple of hours the web takes you from one place to another, here was last nights journey.
I started somehow on Flickr and found an image of a shop in Paris called Puree Jambon, there I found the dolls of Heather Louise, here is her fabulous website. She had a show last year at Puree Jambon in Paris, I particularly love her Marie Antoinette dolls

Heather Louise also has a blog here.
You can buy her work from this great shop in Amsterdam called Eggmercantile.
And they have a blog.

They also sell these postcards by Camilla, and the trays of Ibride, which I have loved since the days I worked in Habitat and we stocked them.

You have to go and look at the Ibride site, its beautiful.
Eggmercantile also stock lots of other great stuff from LZC and cute ceramics from Helbak.
And finally I found someones work I had never seen before, the talented Sam Buxton,

how have I ever missed that?

So a couple of hours soon disappeared and I didn't spend any money! x

Things that warm my heart today on dark and wet Sunday.

Rob Ryans new Valentine piece, the words make me feel all fuzzy.

Sitting playing Monopoly for 5 hours with great friends, lots of laughs and lots of tea and Nigellas flourless chocolate brownies from Nigella express.

.......and not feeling guilty about any of it!

Falmouth, Cornwall

One project.......a range of cards.

Kathleen Hills

I will continue with book week when I have more time. Juggling lots and lots of different projects at the moment.....AND LOVING IT!

So a quick lovely link to the wonderful work of Kathleen Hills.

Green and blue

Notable books on these shelves

Lullaby Supermarket Yoshitomo Nara

Craft Galleries guide

The Winter book Tove Jansson

Jimmy Corrigan the smartest kid on earth

Beetle boy Laurence David and Delphine Durand (she is my favourite illustrator of Chiildrens books) The house that Jill built and The Snoops are just wonderful

Bob and co Delphine Durand

A day in St Ives Sue Lewington (more on her another day, amazing amazing sketchbooks!!!!)

White

Each day this week I will show you a shelf of my books and link to the ones i think you might be interested in. I have linked them either to Magma or Amazon.


A childrens garden of verses, illustrated by Brian Wildsmith
Gallery Catalogue of Rachael Howard
Flea market style Emily Calmers
Speed to the West (I love this book of vintage travel posters)
Gate of Eden Ethan Coen
Under Milk Wood (Classic Dylan Thomas and one of the only things I remember from English/drama class)
Slash with a knife Yoshitomo Nara
This is for you Rob Ryan(everyone should own this beautiful book) I just found this interview with him on the Magma site.
The Principles of Uncertainty Maria Kalman
Sometimes I think, sometimes I am Sara Fanelli (her latest book)
This is London M Sasek (I would love them all in this series)
Pictures and Words Roanne Bell and Mark Sinclair, (diverse collection of illustrators)


Tomorrow Green x

Capital of Culture 2008

On friday I took a trip to Liverpool, the capital of culture.

I have to do some paintings, drawings of Liverpool for a new gallery opening there. So come along for a day out with me won't you?

I arrived at lunchtime so I headed straight to the cafe in The Tate at the Albert Dock for a bite to eat.

A German installation artist Tobias Rehberger was commissioned to turn the cafe into a multicoloured three dimensional piece of art. I was impressed, The photo above made me laugh!

Whilst at the Tate I managed to catch the last few days of The Turner prize. The place was packed out with an amazing cross section of people. I don't go and see this kind of art often enough. I like that it challenges me to think beyond the everyday art I see in commercial galleries. I found it hard that I was on my own with noone to discuss what i was seeing with. I decided to this year try to keep more up to date with what is going on in this other Art World. I really enjoyed the film Waiting by Zharina Bhimji.

'Waiting, made in a factory used to process Sisal, has an abstraction that hovers somewhere between film and painting. The washed-out colour of the hair-like material, the light, and the interior of the factory create a saturated monochrome that, combined with the film’s soundtrack, becomes immersive. Recorded on a 35mm film and then transferred to high-definition video ,every nuance of the building is captured.'

Here is more about the shortlisted artists.

So I walked around the docks, took lots of photos, did some sketching. the Albert Docks is where the new gallery is going to be so this was a good starting point.

Next I walked towards the city to take in some of the biildings there.

I was astounded by the amount of building work going on. Everywhere you looed there were cranes, diggers and huge new buildings being built and old ones being bulldozed. It is going to be very difficult to paint this skyline when it will probably look very different some time soon.

So I headed towards the The Bluecoat. It is one of the best outlets in the country for contemporary craft. Here are some of the artists they have on permanent display there!!!! I got a little bit excited.

Anna Howarth

Donna Wilson

Jennifer Collier

Rebecca Wilson

Penny Fowler

Susan Kerr

Karin Eriksson

I'll save some more for another day as I think this is turning into a marathon post. By the time I came out of there, the sun was setting, I had a little Donna Wilson softie in my bag and I was very happy.

The photos below are my favourites of the day, the sky was stunning.

See you all next week for Book shelf week x

Shopfront

I think this is one of the best Shopfronts I have ever seen. The new Urban outfitters in Stockholm is in a converted cinema! I like the fact they haven't tried to change it.

I was given and I have bought a lot of very inspiring books recently so I have decided to have a book week next week, starting Monday. i think you can tell a lot from someones bookshelf so here is a sneak peek of part of mine.

It's that time of year again

Ahhhh, lovely thoughts of a holiday that seems so long ago amidst the mountain of paperwork I put off throughout December and the dreaded...................Tax return!!!!

I found Bengt&Lotta in Stockholm

To all the self employed people out there, I am feeling the pain too. I am halfway there and my tips to you are light some candles, spread out on a large table and put some nice music on, then pour yourself a very large glass of wine, then another until you can't focus and have to start again tomorrow ;)

My very nice music today comes courtesy of Camera Obscura, I just rediscovered their 2006 album 'Lets get out of this country'.

It makes me very happy indeed!

Back tomorrow x

Home!! (Sigh)

We are back from our trip to Scandinavia. I prayed for snow and boy did we get it. I fell in love with Stockholm but I do not think I have ever been as cold in my life. Thermals were bought and extra socks worn. We ventured out just one evening after we got back to our hotel because of the cold. We walked for hours during the day and it took so long to thaw out so we played cards and yahtzee on the bed instead. I liked playing with the lights as you can see.

I have never been anywhere more friendly as Sweden....or expensive.

More photos tomorrow as I sort them out.

Happy New year to you all, I feel this is going to be an exciting one.

Things I am excited about today:
3191 evenings.....and THE BOOK later on the year, whoopee!
Camilla is guest blogger over at Design sponge (my two favourite blogs in one).
Karin updating her etsy shop with her pebbles and more.

Finally finding the music of Simone White after seeing the Audi adverts.

It looks like Tim Burton has done it again with Sweeney Todd.
My Christmas present from hubby coming back from the framers!!!!

I have been doing some drawing and collage recently. I really feel I need to do something for me in these cold dark evenings. I love painting each day but I don't seem to have time to experiment as much as I would like to, so this Winter I will be opening my own etsy shop for tiny originals and prints....coming soon.

Up, up and away

Blimey, has it really been that long, I have all good intentions you know but time is just disappearing in front of my very eyes! The month has flown by, it has been a very successful month, the gallery has been very well received and I couldn't be happier!

But my days are very long, long gone are the days when I paint uninterrupted for hours, I now have lovely customers to distract me, which I love but I now paint long after the gallery has closed at 5. I have had just 2 proper days off this last month and the so I am sooooooooo looking forward to this Christmas break which starts tomorrow at 2.30 until January 6th. woohoo!!

We are heading off to Denmark this Christmas to spend time and to celebrate my Mothers 60th birthday and then me and hubby are going to Stockholm for 3 nights. THIS I cannot wait for, some time alone to enjoy, strolling hand in hand through a new city, talking, making plans for the coming year and generally spending some quality time together which has definitely been lacking here of late. I am also hoping to go and visit Karin in her studio and so many little shops I always read about on her blog.

I have not had my usual time Christmas shopping trips out this year so I have bought many gifts from Blogger friends and Etsy. I will be doing this every year now and supporting handmade. I can honestly say that the work of Kajsa of Syko fame never fails to brings a smile to my face. I am the proud owner of quite a few bits and pieces of hers and honestly the quality and finishing is excellent and the small details really delighful. There are a few lucky girls in my family this year. She is also a kind and wonderful person too which makes it all the better buying from her.

Before I go, I have to share with you the work of John Button who I have fairly recently discovered. I purchased a piece of his which I am yet to frame but will share with you once it is. I have much admiration for his work and I simply could quite easily live with one of his paintings on every wall. He is an English artist living in Stockholm, and he is clearly inspired by that special Scandinavian light. Go and see his work at his website. What makes it all the better is he is a very nice man too. Here is my favourite piece of his.

So I am now going to spend the next few hours reading blogs, something I have not done for such a long time and catch up on all your goings on. Thank you to all who have read my blog this year and been so patient with my erratic posting, I miss this space but something has had to give these past few months. To the readers who have emailed encouraging some words for you my new years resolution is to do at least one post every week....so there...its in print now.

Thank you for staying with me and being so patient, I will be back in the New Year...I promise.

Merry Christmas everybody and a very Happy New Year xxx