The Joy of Snail Mail

Saying 'Yes', and 'I'll fit it in', have been  my mantras. In the past few months though, I've slowly  begun to stop and pay attention to the moment.

The world is becoming faster paced, there's a constant stream of information to receive and process,  endless lists of 'stuff to do'; social media and the dreaded busywork fill any gaps! We strive to cram in more and more.

 'Wasn't it a beautiful day today?'  ' Uh, I dunno, I was too busy to notice...'

Digital media gives us speedy and efficient communication (and it's the most brilliant source of information for any multi pod and trivia addict.) I've always relied on it heavily. Lately though I've realised I need to take a side road on the journey to revive and refresh myself.

Luckily, the solution was staring me in the face!  Your Beautiful Letter  is the brainchild of writer and illustrator Naomi Bulger. I've been following Naomi's blog for some time. I love her approach, which is basically, helping busy people rediscover their creativity and forge more meaningful connections through the process of writing letters - by hand.

'What,' I hear you say,'Why? Everyone knows how to write a letter. Besides, who has time today, that's what e-mail, text and DM's are for!'

I agree, technology has its place, and it's incredibly useful, but, don't we all love getting a real, live, personal letter?

Haven't you felt that rush of excitement when you hear the 'click' of the letterbox and look down to experience the joy of seeing a handwritten envelope falling on the doormat?

You pick it up, excitedly. Without any further ado, the handwriting tells you this is something very personal.

First, you guess who it's from. Do you know the handwriting?  What's the postmark ? Have they put a return address on the back? Hmmm, maybe you still can't work it out.

The excitement mounts. You open the envelope and realise it's from...... ! There are two sheets of paper and maybe a little something enclosed. You can hardly wait to know what the pages contain, but, you know you have to read them. No skimming over printed text here. This is something beautiful and unique. It's  been thoughtfully created, and crafted by hand, just for you.  You need to ponder over the handwriting, consider the words, and digest the content.

Maybe you need to wait, anticipating until you can sit in comfort with a coffee, so you can read and savour the knowledge that someone, somewhere, has made you feel special, and cared for.

Naomi's class has made me look at things differently. I don't want to give too much away, but she talks about writing and stories; about living in the moment and connection, as well as offering lots of practical advice and some things which are just fun! It was a delight and  lifted me.

I can honestly say since I took this class I've written over 10 letters, sent snail mail all over the world, each with some mail art on the envelopes. I've focused on slowing down to think and write, and connect. It really didn't take me very long. Letters don't need to be 20 page novellas. A handwritten note or a postcard is a wonderful start.

It means something.

I heartily recommend visiting Naomi.  She's encouraged me to become a writer who writes again. Ooh look, a blog post!                             

Daisy Scrap Journal

Fabric books are much on my mind  as next Friday I'm off  to 'Late Summer at Hawkwood' with Frances Pickering.

So I thought I'd share the last sample I made for my December workshop, which is this Daisy Scrap Journal.

Daisies say 'neat and tidy' to me. To represent the feel of a smart, fresh little flower, I made the cover from bonded scraps of  a crisp striped  red cotton. The centre panel is painted abaca tissue, and hand dyed vintage lace. I wanted to keep a simple feel - the stitching is in hand dyed rayon threads and  vintage pearl cotton. The little daisy tag is cut from pelmet vilene - a great tip I  picked up from Frances.

 
 Inside the covers I went for a scrap book effect.

I used  brown paper for my pages, scrunched and re-ironed - which gives a nice textured effect to  make marks on. A simple daisy stamp was used to mark all the odd pages for a bit of interest..

The back  has a panel with a bit more detailed stitching. 
  
I enjoyed putting this piece together very much, and I think it's because it has lots of small parts. However hard I try I am always drawn back to the little details. Sometimes it is the obvious things about yourself that you don't see for ages!

Poppy Seedhead Writing folder

This is the second sample for my winter mixed media workshop, and it's very different from my usual approach. I had fun with this one!

 I wanted a particular effect,  which I could see in my head!  I drew a poppy head stamp and used Koh-I -Nor paints to stamp on the fabric. When dry I sponged and splattered the background so it would partly merge and cover the images. Then I took back some of the coloured areas with bleach. I free machined around the poppies and finished  the image using  a little hand embroidery. It was fused onto some hand dyed silk and a piece of vintage lace added for some texture/overlay.

Inside I used some of my naturally dyed cotton to line the case. An unbound strip of silk with more vintage lace holds the hand made notelets in place. They are made from recycling wallpaper lining paper, which has been painted and stamped with another poppy head image.

Finally there's a simple tie with painted wooden beads to finish it off!

31 Days Sketches is finished!

I did it! A sketch for every day in January - and some. I feel  proud of myself. I had fun,  pushed the boundaries and made some new friends on the way. What more can you ask? Thank you lovely peeps for your supportive comments  - which  help keep you going (especially when you  think you some sketches are not worth posting!).
 Here are the last few. 

 Flags or hangings: I had to draw the beautiful hanging made for my by my friend Starr White of Wonderland Woods. It hangs by my work table and gives me such pleasure and inspiration every day!

 Transport: This is 'The Matthew', a replica of the caravel sailed by John Cabot  from Bristol to North America in 1497. He was searching for Asia,  but discovered New-found-land! The ship was faithfully recreated and undertook the same voyage in 1997. She's now based in Bristol's Harbourside.

Something Ancient: The lovely old compass dial on top of Penpole Point, in Kings Weston,  where the encroaching scrub has recently been cleared by our brilliant conservation volunteers! The dial was already old in 1668, when it was repaired by the Merchant Venturers of  the Port of Bristol

Day 31 was Arches: This is the view looking outside from The Echo, the C18th summerhouse  at Kings Weston. The plinth  once held a beautiful statue which disappeared after WWII.

 And that's it!x

Third week of sketches - almost there!

Well,  I'm still managing to keep up my sketching challenge - and thank you  all for you lovely comments and support, which are very welcome and appreciated.  In the spirit of my journal  I kept it local and meaning full to me,  and it's another mixed bag again this week.

Day 18: Dusk/sunset. This is the lovely old Edwardian lighthouse just down the road! Watercolour

Day 19: A self portrait!  Okay this was scar , no, terrifying,. But I did it! Graphite and coloured pencil.

Day 20: Something made with chocolate. Slurp! Watercolour

 Day 21: Tools! Well, I had to choose these didn't I! Noodlers flex pen/Lexington Grey ink and watercolour.

Day 22: An historic building -  Kings Weston House of course! Noodlers flex pen/Lexington Grey ink, watercolour, and water soluble graphite.

Day 23: A machine - again, I had to try and draw my lovely old Singer! Noodlers flex pen/Lexington Grey ink and watercolour.

Day 24: A barn or shed. This is the lovely C13th century Tithe Barn at Frocester in Gloucestershire, just down the road from my old home. Watercolour.

 

Just one more week to go. I'm determined to keep  sketching daily after the challenge is complete!

And even more sketches....

I'm managing to keep up the challenges - just. Work keeps getting in the way though :)

Dragonfly for 'Bugs' Sketch a day Challenge

 
Crumpets and marmalade: Which I sneakily used for both challenges on different days.

 

The last gift  you received:  My beautiful owl pendant made by  my favourite jewelry maker Joanne May

 

A mythological creature -  I chose The Jackalope!

  

A Station; This was a really hard one for me . Luckily I have an elder brother who made me watch lots of Alistair Maclean films when I was a child!

Draw a recipe: I did - but too quickly, and left out the flour and butter! :) Oops. It is a great recipe though, really easy!

I lumped together Black and White/Found objects on a nature walk. We have high winds and torrential storms at the moments,  so this was a very quick scribble of one of our local badgers!

  

Some of these worked better than others, but I decided to post them whatever I feel about them. The important thing is to keep drawing and try new things. Before I started I would have kept to just doing things in the same way.  It really helps having interaction with others and I find this has kept me going.  Previously, any art work I did was a very isolated affair, because of my lack of confidence,  but I've come to realise over the last year or so the importance of sharing and communicating about the process. 

 Alongside the challenges I'm doing Liz Steel's on-line Sketching Now Foundations class. Liz is a highly respected and talented Urban Sketcher. I'm enjoying taking part very much, and finding the content and  teaching excellent. I'll  tell you  more about the class soon. Today though,  the sun is shining at last - and I want to get out and do my homework :)!

More sketches...

Thank you lovely peeps for all your supportive comments.I've had an up and down week with some horrible headaches,  but I have managed to keep sketching between times.  Quite a mixed bunch this week! I'm trying out different styles, media and new things - trying to find 'My'style.

Day 5: A bridge  This is the famous Clifton Suspension bridge.

 Day 6: Seeds or pods

Day 7: Your rendition of a C19th painting.

Day 8: A Fancy Teapot ( don't have one so made this up quickly).

Day 9:  Coins or banknotes. Could not get inspired by that, so here is Smaug's cousin with this golden hoard of coins!

 

Day 10: A medicinal plant

 

I am also doing a second  january challenge ( as often as I can!) hosted on Facebook by the very talented  Ruthie Redden ! Ruthie  also blogs at Five Precious Things  

Here are a couple of those posts:  I combined a teacup /mug and fruit!

 

And something beginning with J - one of our garden jackdaws!

 

 It's great practice and fun trying these different ways of working. x

January Sketches

Welcome to the New Year!

I am deliberately doing things differently with this new blog, and I'd like to kick off by telling you  about the 31 Sketches in January Challenge which I'm participating in,  set up by my friend - and very talented artist, Palma Rea. You can find out about it here at her blog 'A Creative Journey' - and do join us if you are a sketcher.

 Today's prompt is 'Draw something you can't bear to throw away, but should!' So I was out in the garden this morning - drawing this poor old wooden hand fork, which  gets left outside and is on its last legs, but is so handy!

I've been doing a bit of sketching over the break too, and also catching up with my homework for Liz Steel's Sketching Now Foundations  Class, which I treated myself to at the end of last year. It's excellent - lots of well thought out content,  tips and demonstrations. Liz is a very thorough and conscientious teacher and I'm really enjoying the challenge. My ambition is to loosen up and get quicker and more spontaneous - and it's really working. I'm finishing things in well under half the time I used to spend :)  It's also made me feel a lot more confident about sharing, so here are a couple of birds  I did to remind us Spring is just around the corner! x

Painted and Embroidered bookmarks

I've been playing around with more ways to link drawing/painting and embroidery, and I've made some bookmarks with the resulting samples. In my stash I found some old linens and silks - so I've been mixing it up with homespun calico - and it's been fun.

These are all made/backed with silk, and finished with vintage wooden beads for weight. I used Valdani variegated threads - because I find them beautiful to work with.

These are my favourites.  Painted on calico with inks and embellished with stitch.

This Harry Potter themed one was a special gift for my very dear friend, and great supporter, Wayne - who is a huge fan of HP! 

Remembering

   

The Hawthorn Tree

Not much to me is yonder lane
Where I go every day;
But when there’s been a shower of rain
And hedge-birds whistle gay,
I know my lad that’s out in France
With fearsome things to see
Would give his eyes for just one glance
At our white hawthorn tree.


Not much to me is yonder lane
Where he so longs to tread:
But when there’s been a shower of rain
I think I’ll never weep again
Until I’ve heard he’s dead.

Siegfried Sassoon

Fiona Peart Workshop: Review Of Derwent's new Graphik Line Painters and Line Maker Pens

My second workshop this month was a line and wash class  on behalf of  Derwent  with Fiona Peart,  who's very well known for her teaching and writing for the Leisure Painter magazine. 

My very dear friend  - and cousin by marriage, Glenys, had suggested we go together,  so off we went on Monday morning, through the gorgeous autumnal Cotswold countryside to  the Farncombe Estate near Broadway, Worcs.

 The picturesque village of Broadway.

 

 The Farncombe Estate - beautiful setting,  great food,  lovely staff - and the most dreadful,  dreadful signage ! It's a huge estate with loads of buildings, and so badly signposted we were late - and we're both good with maps! The very sweet receptionist apologised - apparently  lost visitors are an everyday occurrence! Get your signs sorted Farncombe;  the only blot on  a super day!

 Fiona is a top class teacher, and I learnt such a lot. She's very generous with her knowledge and advice,  as well as being a really lovely lady - and of course, a wonderful artist! Derwent were very fortunate, as they needed someone able to make the new products 'work' for what was, predominately, a more traditional audience.

The workshop was based around two new  products,  the Graphik Line Makers and Graphik Line Painters Pens.   A selection of these was included in the cost of the workshop,  plus the Inspire Me sketchbook,  a new  H20 waterbrush and a set of 12 Inktense blocks. Fiona had asked for the Inktense in addition to the Graphiks,  having quickly recognised the new products have limitations for line and wash.  I think we were all very grateful!

Let's talk about  the Line Makers first:  these are similar to a number of artist pens already available. Packaged in some funky new pouches,  they felt nice and light to handle  and I liked the range of nib widths ( 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8)  in black only.  You can see in the video that Sepia is more a mid brown tone,  but I did like the grey, Graphite, very much.  

The Line Makers are similar to a number of artist pens already on the market.  They come in sets of 3 or 6 (black only). Retailing around £4-6.00,  or around £12.00 for 6.

I did a wash test on all three colours this morning, using my original line test ( made 4 days ago, so plenty of time for the ink to dry). I found Black isn't water resistant, but there was good holding power from both Sepia and Graphite.
I'll be sticking to my Black Pitt pens when  I  don't want a blurred line! I'm assuming Derwent are primarily going for the Zentangle market with the Line Markers and Sketchbook. Having said that, they are both a useful addition to my supplies - although I probably wouldn't have just bought them if I hadn't done the workshop.

The Line Painters are basically acrylic ink in an applicator style format. The colour range is vibrant (if you  like a muted palette - be warned, the colours aren't subtle, and mixing is not easy!)  They all have  names like 'Tickled'  (pink) and 'Herring' (red) You get the idea......!
The pens have to  be primed before you can use them, and they work best on very smooth paper. The drying time is  very fast! The ink soaks in/dries immediately on any dry, absorbent surface. (I  actually find this useful as it's  an effective way to  get vibrant, controllable colour on fabric,  but  that's another story..... )

You can also dampen the paper surface first. You  do need to work quickly though. Fiona gave a demonstration using them to paint a landscape,  but they are really more suited as an addition to  mixed media work. You'd probably be better buying traditional acrylic inks if you want to use them more extensively. They come in a nicely designed pouch ( there are 4 pouch sets - 20 colours, 5 different pens in each),  but the colour choice is a bit odd.  Another important point (which is only mentioned on the underside of the pack label)  is that they must be stored flat. Not good for those of us who like our pens and pencils accessible in pots/containers.

If you have a vibrant, linear, style you will love these pens. They would be wonderful for mixed media work and lettering on smooth paper, and also work well on dark papers. Single pens are around £2.76 each and sets between £10-16.00.

I would probably buy a couple more,  as white would be very useful, and a green - however that's purely because they do what I want on fabric. I'm less likely to use them on paper.

It was fun using these new products, but the most useful parts of the day for me were done using good old Inktense, and getting Fiona's expert knowledge and advice.  Using a size 12 mop for the first time ever was liberating,  so I ordered some of her brushes, and her new book  straight away, (and I  never buy art books these days - so you know I've been impressed!)  A signed copy was waiting for me when I got home today,  together with her DS dot card,  and a handwritten thank you card - how lovely.  Do check out her website,  she has some great tutorials, like this one.

Can't wait to try the brushes! I'll let you know if they help me in my quest to  'free up'!