Moving up 3

Well, good news and better but scary news.

The good news being my paintings are coming along and I'm starting to develop a style that I like, and is fairly interesting. I was never that bothered about photo realism, and I really like the colour palette I am using at them moment.

The better news is that the guy who runs the studios where I have mine is opening a gallery space and I have been offered space in the first exhibition. Scary bit is its the first week in August. Argh! I've got to select and prepare a whole load of work to go on a limited space in a new gallery.

OK deep breaths, calm down, relax. OK. Okay!

But then I've also got to select and prepare 3 works for the Annual Open at the Clocktower Gallery.

And get my studio ready for my open studio event at the end of August!

OK calming down now.

Loads of work to do and not a great deal of time to do it in. But its what I wanted to be doing, what I need to do to retain my health and my sense of me. Without this I think I would be unable to face the world. I am sounding a little dramatic here, but since starting on this journey into art I have felt more and more compelled to work at it, to create, to challenge myself in many different ways, ideas come thick and fast and I feel lost if I can't get to my studio to get some more work done. I do really feel unwell if I can't be making, doing, creating, drawing, painting, sewing, thinking, researching, fiddling and trying to do. Driven I am, driven to distraction, action and occasional tears.

But I also feel empowered, strong, talented, able and fantastic when I am working.

I just need to work out how to make a living at it!

Oh and the cakes are from a stall at pride and were incredibly yummy!

Moving up 2

As you all know I have had a difficult couple of months, but I think I'm now coming out of the other side, still struggling with depression and a horrendously bad back at the mo. Anyway less of the complaining and on to the celebration.

This last weekend was pride weekend in Sheffield and I had the best time, took my trusty camera with me and found lots of photos worth taking. Here's a few for you to enjoy.




















On top of that I've just had the most fantastic day in my studio today. I've been trying something new, after a bit of procrastination, and have had some success. The new thing for the next couple of weeks will be painting lots of small approximately A5 sized paintings, using oils and keeping to a strict palette of yellow ochre, sepia, burnt sienna and white. These are the first three of them. There will be many more.

Painting for my life

The paintings are coming along, slowly, but I'm not sure I should be putting so much into one of them, it's not really shaping into anything but the ideas I have are fairly good and could become something interesting.

This project was about exploring the human form but is mutating into an exploration of ideas around the human form.

These are how the paintings are going right about now.

Comments, please?

Moving up

It's been a while since I wrote a proper post.

I'm now in and working well in my studio. Things are happening, not quite going how I want them, painting is very hard and I'm really battling with it at the moment, but I'll keep at it, being the stubborn woman I am.

Here's how things are going.

This one is pretty much finished, although I may fiddle with it a bit more as I go along to correct my many mistakes.








This is a textile piece based on a life drawing using disperse dyes and layers of fabrics over stitching. It is doing exactly what I want it to do and is working beautifully. Why can't paint behave the same way?





This one is very much a work in progress, and hopefully will become the vision that is in my head eventually. If course, the way I have been going worth paint it'll never quite be finished and I'll just continually fiddle and revise until I ruin it or someone takes it away from me!

There are some others that I'm working on and a new one just begun, but not worth posting pictures yet.



As I go along I promise I'll get regular updates going.

Not well.

I've been feeling unwell in a kind of flu-y way for 2 days. I've not got worse, or better. I want to get on with stuff, but I can't concentrate. I'm a little frustrated by this vague unwell feeling. Help!

Moving in.....

Finally the studio is sorted into more than a semblance of order and for the past 2 days I have worked like a trooper on something that has nothing to do with college or other pressing projects, but loads to do with the pure pleasure of creation.

Here are some of the results. I created a lino cut from a sketch I did of my friend's English Bull Terrier, Willie, and then printed it lots of times using lots of different colour ways, with over printing, on and off register and later I moved on to fabric prints, which will be stitched later. I'll post these when they are done.
And here is one of the really good views of my studio, showing the large light bright windows, letting in fantastic light. I love my studio.

Moving on......2

I have actually used my studio for producing some work!

That is all, more details and pics to follow.

Promise.

Post stress stressing

I feel a bit stuck. The studio has space to work and the house is needing tidying. I have time. I have stuff to do. I have zero inclination. All I want to do is spend time in my room reading and being in a different world from this one. Perhaps I need the rest.