JensFootsteps

A wet summer

2008-01-27T18:19:00.001+10:00

It is a long time since I have posted on this blog. It was an exceptionally busy year last year and so much so that I have not seen or heard from my art muse in at least 6 months. As this is supposed to be an art blog that is the primary reason that I have not blogged.

This summer it has been very wet and I have posted a short video of the flooded Maranoa River at Mitchell here in Queensland. It is such a joy to see water around and the land is so green with grasses growing 4" tall . The Long Paddock is looking great but there are still cattle being driven along the stock route and recently I saw some very poor cattle which have obviously come from an area that has not been fortunate enough to receive the rain. I've been doing quite a lot of travelling due to work and the road to Mungindi, a border town on the NSW border there are wonderful wetlands on low lying land with significant numbers of bird life enjoying the water.

An Important self reflective exercise...

2007-04-25T10:47:00.001+10:00

It's been a long time since I have posted to my blog. The year has flown by. In this post I outlined a few goals that I wanted to work on this year and have listed them again below:

Complete two bags that I began earlier in the year. Machine embroidered, hand beaded.
Complete a pastel drawing of a scene from my time in Norway.
Carve and make lino cuts of the bottle tree design I created a while back.
Work this design into a major piece of textile art.
Begin work on a long planned wearable art outfit.

I am happy to say that although I have not posted to the blog I have been busy working on some of these goals. The list below will tell you where I have arrived:

Two bags completed and sent to their new owners
drawing still sitting on the easel :((
Lino cut carved and printed
Bottle tree textile art still in the think tank (my brain)
Wearable art - almost complete!

I cannot show photos of the wearable art as I have plans to exhibit it and once that has happened I will post photos. Making this piece has been a valuable learning experience.

What have I learned?

That I can do it. I can design a major piece of art work, experiment until I find a way to produce it, document the process, make samples and (almost) complete it.
I have learnt that an enormous amount of time is taken to undertake a project of this type. I thought I had allowed enough time to make it over my university holidays from December to the end of February. I didn't. Well, may be I did but I tended to procrastinate at vital times and this held things up.
On reflection... why did I procrastinate? What held things up? What can I learn that will prevent this from happening again? I can answer the first question in one word - FEAR! Further reflection makes me discover what it was that I was fearing. It is both failure and success. I feared that I would fail by not completing the project and having it always sitting there and taunting me. I feared that I would complete it and think that it was good work and then later feeling that it wasn't. I feared that I would exhibit it and then be embarrassed about it - feeling that it wasn't good enough which has the spiralling effect of thinking that I wasn't good enough! I held things up by just not going into the studio or for only tiny amounts of time although I did try. I found that I was frozen by that fear and not able to sit at the machine. How to over come it? I hope that now that I have done it once I will be able to do it again. I have streamlined my planning and have made very careful notes on how long it took to make individual parts of the project and will keep those as a record for future pieces.
I learnt that making art can be the most exhilirating and debilitating process that you can undertake!!!
I rediscovered that I love to sew and love to sew clothing and to design outfits. There is now even a 'tickling' feeling inside me that tells me that maybe one day soon I would like to sew for myself again.
I have found that I can make art and successfully continue my university study by careful use of my time and being focussed.
Most importantly, I found out just how happy it makes me feel to create, design, make art and that I cannot be me without doing that.

I will continue to work on this project and will complete it very soon. Then - I can begin work on a new idea!

Fabric

2007-01-21T17:31:00.000+10:00

Last night I tried drawing some fabric that I have hanging on my design wall. This is part of the wearable art I have begun working on and I would like to draw some 'good' pictures of my design for the documentation that is to accompany the project. Some parts of this drawing are fine but overall I don't think I have captured the fluidity or sheen of the silk so I am looking for some techniques on how I can improve this drawing. I look forward to your comments and advice.

2007-01-07T19:04:00.000+10:00

Further progress on my goals for the year. I have finished this second bag.

This has been a joy to make right from making my own fabric firstly and then stitching it heavily with free motion machine embroidery and finally today completing the beading.

Here is a detail shot.

Now I can continue on with my other goals. Today I painted more fabric for the wearable art and I feel like I am making progress with it.

This fabric will be torn up and used as a base to make new fabric for the design.

Artwork and a tiny Bluey

2007-01-07T11:17:00.000+10:00

In order to meet my goals as set in the list here, I have been working on the wearable art piece that I have been planning for at least 6 months. I've been experimenting with colours to see if the idea will work and here are two photos. I like the colours and they seem to work well together. I've also stitched 30 metres of cord on the machine which I thought would be a significant amount. Having completed this much and seeing it all together I now realise that I will need at least 100m so I have a long way to go.

I am not going to reveal too much of my idea at this stage. I will post small sections as it progresses. I have also set a goal that it is to be finished by 28 February so that it will not put me under too much pressure once university starts again as I plan to make uni a high priority once again this year. It is part of my long term goals and to meet those I will have to perform very well at uni.

And, finally today, we had a little visitor the other afternoon. Louis was going crazy about something. He has recognisable barks for people, cats, other dogs, kids, calling for attention, asking for food etc. This bark was different - it was his territorial bark which meant that something was invading and he couldn't get to it. My husband went to investigate and found that the invader was this little fellow. A baby blue tongue lizard. Had Louis been able to reach him he would have killed him easily - the bluey was only about 5 inches long so it was quite a young baby. We removed him and I took the opportunity to photograph him before we moved him into the neighbour's garden where Louis could not get to him. Even at this young age, you can see that he is quite aggressive.

I love it when I feel like stitching...

2006-12-31T17:53:00.000+10:00

And today I did. This has been sitting on the workroom table for about a year now and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Today I just sat down and stitched what seemed to come naturally.

Here is the front of the book cover.

And below is the back.

The machine embroidery is basic but effective. I really love the Aussie motifs and plan to use them again in further designs and in different ways than the few that are shown here. More fun coming soon.

Printing the bottle tree design

2006-12-30T14:09:00.000+10:00

Shirley asked how I printed the block on to the fabric so here is a tutorial. It is a very simple and straightforward process.

Step 1

Here is the carved lino block. I drew the design on to the block with a biro and then carved it with lino carving tools.

Step 2

I use a small paint tray and a sponge roller to apply the paint to the block. For this print I have used Cadmium Red acrylic paint straight from the tube.

Step 3

The paint from the tube has a nice sticky consistency and that helps it to adhere to the lino block. I did find that the Cadmium Red didn't print as readily as the Australian Red Gold I used last time. This could be because of the consistency of the different colours of paint or it could be because it was cooler last time than it is today and the paint may just have dried too rapidly today. I will have to experiment further to determine the reason.

Step 4

Place the lino block face down on the fabric (or paper) and press firmly with your hands.

And here is the printed fabric all done! It really is that simple!

A lot of catching up to do...

2006-12-28T12:10:00.000+10:00

I've been struggling for the past month. The university year was over and I was so looking forward to doing lots of art and being in a relaxed and carefree mood. And... nothing happened.

I planned to list some goals here on this blog but, I just couldn't find any enthusiasm for art of any sort and the frustration grew. Finally I got my results from uni, having been very concerned about them, and found that I got much better results than I expected. A great relief and it seemed to open the flood gates. It is strange how something can affect me so much that I was frozen completely where art was concerned.

Since then I have been enjoying the 'holidays' and have had some fun experimenting with some artwork. There are several goals I would like to achieve and they are:

Complete two bags that I began earlier in the year. Machine embroidered, hand beaded.
Complete a pastel drawing of a scene from my time in Norway.
Carve and make lino cuts of the bottle tree design I created a while back.
Work this design into a major piece of textile art.
Begin work on a long planned wearable art outfit.

A while back I posted some drawings of a bottle tree that I abstracted. Yesterday I carved a lino mat ready to print and this morning I tried it out. Here is the paper test I made first of all:

I printed this in my journal to see how it would go and it turned out quite well. I love the texture that lino prints create.

Next, I tried it on fabric. The fabric is some hand dyed cotton I have had in the cupboard.
I first printed one copy and then wondered what would happen if a series were printed together and here is the result. There are some interesting patterns in the centre between each design. I will now work on it with stitch, but possibly not today as I stitched yesterday and it caused me a lot of shoulder pain so I need to take a break today.

And here is the other item I finished yesterday. I began making this bag almost a year ago and just didn't manage to complete it until now.
And here is a detailed shot. It doesn't photograph well, or should I say the photographer doesn't photograph well!

Back to my regularly scheduled programme...

2006-11-25T14:42:00.000+10:00

The university year is now over, with the completion of my last exam on Wednesday. This means that I now have approximately 3 months to practise my art and enjoy other good things of life. Not that study isn't good - it is, and I love it but I need a break now.

I have set several goals for the time I am 'holidaying' and one of them is to practise my drawing skills even more. I need to work on drawing noses and today I took the opportunity to do just that.

I have had a bit of trouble with my scanner and we are not friends at the moment. I will need to work out what is going wrong before I scan anything else.

In the next day or so I will be working on my goal list for the holidays. Stay tuned for my plans.

At The Heide

2006-10-23T17:45:00.000+10:00

While in Melbourne in July, my friend and I went to Heidelberg which was once home to Australia's most famous art school. The countryside was so beautiful and we wandered around the grounds for some time.

Even though Australia is a relatively young county, we do have our own artistic history. Significant Australian artists including Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin were members. You can read more about Australian Art History by going to this site, or on this page of The Age newspaper.

I took some beautiful photos while I was there and here is one that I have drawn on Canson pastel paper in coloured pencil.

A weekend of drawing Louis

2006-10-22T20:19:00.000+10:00

Those of you who visit here regularly may be aware of my little dog Louis, who is my dear, loyal little friend. For those who are not, here is a photo of him.

I have made a number of attempts over the past couple of years to capture Louis in drawing, watercolour pencil etc. It has always been my aim to capture the essence of him, his spirit, personality and mischievousness. This has never happened.

Here is a pen drawing from August this year. You can tell it is him, but it doesn't really capture him. 0.3 unipin fine line pen on moleskine.

And here is another of him from a few weeks earlier. Better but I wasn't brave enough to try his face. Watercolour pencil on moleskine.

As I live in a small country town considered reasonably isolated, especially from tutors of the art world, we are fortunate enough to receive funding via the RADF (Regional Arts Development Fund) and this provides the money to pay for tutors through the Flying Arts Programme. We are lucky enough to have a Flying Arts tutor visit Roma twice a year and this weekend was Flying Arts weekend. We were able to enjoy a weekend class "Drawing from Nature" with tutor Sharon Muir.

Yesterday we worked on various methods and techniques of using charcoal mainly on cartridge paper. Here is the result of my work yesterday. It is Louis again and finally, I have captured him. Here he is in all his arrogance and love.

This is charcoal on cartridge paper and I am quite happy with the outcome.

Abstraction studies

2006-10-14T21:06:00.000+10:00

Tonight I have had some fun abstracting the bottle tree I drew the other day - see my previous post. They are such an interestingly shaped tree, especially their trunks and hold lots of possibilities. For a long time I have considered their potential for a piece of textile work so started playing with some abstract shapes with that in mind.

I think that there are some possibilities in these ideas and I will look to developing the idea a little more when I have finished my university year. Only 5½ weeks of the semester to go and then 3 whole months to focus on artwork. You can see why I am looking forward to it.

Bottle trees

2006-10-11T20:47:00.000+10:00

These trees are synonymous with the area of south west Queensland where I live. Bottle trees are native to this area. They are not Boab trees (which are found in Western Australia) which are entirely different and not related to the bottle trees at all. I do not know the Botanical name for these trees and there are many different varieties. This particular one is a deciduous variety and it has almost lost all its leaves - yes some trees in Australia do lose their leaves in spring unlike those native to the northern hemisphere which are currently losing their leaves in the northern autumn.

There are many better specimens of these trees that I could have drawn but his one is available to me in the grounds at work so is relatively easy to access in the limited time I have available at the moment. It is an unfinished drawing and will likely remain so but it will give you an idea of the very interesting shape of our native trees.

These trees are also culturally important in our town. Following World War 1 a tree was planted for each of the 100 soldiers of the surrounding area who did not return from the war and this is know as Heroes' Avenue. Each Anzac Day returned soldiers and other groups march along the avenue to the town's memorial where the Anzac Day services are held. As the parade passes each tree a wreath is laid in memory of the soldier the tree honours.

A few years ago some of the trees began to die and tree surgeons were called in to give them some special care. Some trees survived and others were replaced and we still have a tree representing each of the soldiers.

Walking on the Stock Route

2006-10-07T08:23:00.000+10:00

A recent discussion on the Everyday Matters group has been around sketching our place, meaning the area around where we live. I live in a small country town in south west Queensland in Australia. My home is on the outskirts of town so I can walk out along a country, gravel road and be in the endless plains in a matter of five minutes.

The road is part of the stock route. Australia is a very dry continent and at the moment we are in desperate need of substantial rains. Coming out of winter the grasses are grey and yellow and there is little sign of green anywhere. I walked along the stock route this morning and the grass, such as it was, crunched underfoot, was dusty and by the time I got home I was sneezing as if I had hayfever.

I will explain the stock route. Because the country goes through such frequent dry spells there is an area of government owned land along roads and between private land that is reserved for stock. In very dry times it is normal practice to come across stock being driven along the stock routes and feeding from the grass there. Cattle graziers whose paddocks are eaten out will pack up, sometimes their whole families, and drive their cattle where they can find feed. The well prepared might have a caravan but others will camp in a swag under the stars, protecting their cattle. Temporary fencing is erected to keep the cattle close by. It is not unusual to drive along the roads in dry times and have to contend with herds of cattle on the roads.

Back to my sketch /walk this morning. There is a new estate being developed just outside of town where Louis and I walked this morning. Louis is my fox terrier and was most upset with me when I stopped and started sketching this scene.

Pipes have been laid awaiting burial for the new estate. It will be interesting to watch the work as it progresses. Three of the blocks, approximately 3 - 4 acres in size have been sold and no doubt the owners are anxious to begin building as soon as they can.

Poppies and a Grand Final Win!!!!

2006-10-01T21:32:00.000+10:00

Today's watercolour painting of flowers is poppies. I continue on my journey to become a watercolourist. I have a long way to go but I am enjoying it very much and facing the challenges that come with it.

And tonight a great win by the Brisbane Broncos in the 2006 Rugby League Grand Final!!

That's My Team!!!

Roses

2006-09-27T21:48:00.000+10:00

This little painting of roses has taken me several days to do. It was an interesting exercise and learning curve. Roses are quite difficult to do and I feel such an amateur with water colour.

In the end I finally ran out patience with it which explaines the shortage of leaves and the background.

I will try again and soldier on.

3 Drawings

2006-09-26T20:01:00.000+10:00

Another day, another painting/drawing. This is the first tiny artwork I made with my new travel water colour palette. It is a garden in front of an office block in Mary Street in Brisbane. It is painted on my moleskine sketchbook. It didn't take me long to go and buy a little watercolour sketchbook. Moleskines are great for pen and ink drawings but are not suited to watercolour.

One night I went to The Pancake Manor for dinner. It is situated in a lovely old building that was originally built as a church. I loved the ceiling and the heavy timber lights.

And finally ... every day when I have lunch at work I sit on the verandah of a three story building, looking out at the flat countryside that surrounds Roma. Usually I sit on one of these cane chairs and today was no different but I did draw another one of them.

Tulip

2006-09-25T18:56:00.000+10:00

Thank you to everyone who has made such positive comments on my watercolour exercises. I really appreciate it.

Today I have painted a small tulip and here it is .

For someone who has been terrified of watercolours for the past six years since I began making art, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying doing these little paintings. This tulip is on cold press water colour paper using my Windsor Newton travel set.

Someone asked me about the piece I posted yesterday called Nostalgia. It is 3D mounted on canvas. It is made from acrylic painted canvas and fabric, silk paper, machine made cording and beads.

Watercolour exercises

2006-09-24T20:41:00.000+10:00

I went to Brisbane for work last week and enjoyed it very much. While there I bought a water colour travel set. It is a Windsor Newton set with little squares of colour that can be replaced when they are all used.

I had nothing to lose so I set about trying them out. Here is a Jet Star plane that I painted while waiting at the airport.

I went to the airport early so I would have plenty of time for fun activities like this.

Here is a view of one of the wings of the terminal that was opposite the plane. I sat drinking my bottle of water (it was early in the day) and painted the reflections in the windows.

They looked a lot better in reality than they do here in my painting!

Good practise.

By the time I got home I was pretty taken with this little palette of watercolours and I decided to pull out my old water colours that I have had for years but have rarely used. I just didn't have the skills to paint in water colour and all my attempts previously were disasters. After using this little travel palette I was reasonably happy with my attempts and decided to keep on working in this medium for a while.

As it is the time of the year for the Rugby League football finals I sat down to watch the Brisbane Broncos defeat the Bulldogs and painted these roses as an exercise. I think they wouled have been okay if I hadn't added those dark colours around them.

I had aimed for pretty delicate roses and need a lot of practice to attain the skills to paint them but at least they are recognisable.

And finally, I have been a great admirer of Karen's blog The Creative Journey for a long time now and harbour a secret desire to be able to paint beautiful gardens as well as Karen does. Her water colour gardens are so clean and fresh and bright. At the risk of self destruction I attempted one today - not quite up to Karen's standard but okay for a beginner.

I still harbour some hopes and will not give up. My attempts so far have given me hope and encourage me to continue practising.

Is it the process?

2006-09-23T17:08:00.000+10:00

I've been a bad blogger. Life has been busy and I have continued to make art although I haven't posted any lately. To remedy this, here is some of the art I have made lately.

This is a painting, Storm Swirl, that took me a long time to complete. It is mixed media acrylic and I had a great time doing it but it was hard work. The colours were challenging for me to work in and in the course of painting it I learnt a lot of new ways to work.

It was fun and I do like the colours.

Once Storm Swirl was completed I wanted to do something completely different so I decided to pull out some fabrics and play. I painted this fabric with acrylic paint. I really loved the colour.

I find that sometimes when I am not sure what I want to do if I play for a while the actual process brings out some ideas for a piece. This is what happened with this piece.

After painting this fabric I knew that I wanted to combine it with some hand stitching on canvas.

And here it is. I have been working a lot with these two colours lately and am really enjoying them. This is a preliminary study for a major piece of work that I have in mind. It will be a long time coming but I have started by doing a series of smaller trial pieces.

Once again, acrylic and mixed media. It is called Nostalgia.

Doing this work has raised again the question of process and inspiration in my mind. Often they come hand in hand but when stuck for an idea I find that playing with a process will set me off and make the work happen every time.

Would love to hear your ideas on this.

EDM Challenge - ear

2006-08-13T14:24:00.000+10:00

I've actually managed to do one of the challenges. This is my husband's ear drawn in pencil.

A variety of drawings...

2006-08-13T14:05:00.000+10:00

Today I am posting a range of drawings that I have done recently.

While in Melbourne I found Moleskine notebooks for sale and bought one to take home and try. While at the Picasso exhibition I found that I was wanting to take notes so I went to the NGV shop to see if I could buy a journal to make some notes as I looked at the exhibition and found that they sold Moleskine notebooks there too. So I bought one and took some notes and voila!

I have found that I really like the notebook. It is a great size for carrying in my bag and I really like the elastic band that keeps it closed. I have used watercolour pencils in it regularly and find that it takes the water okay as long as I am sparing with the amount of water I use.

Here is a pen drawing of a seat on the plane home from Melbourne.

When I arrive home Louis is delighted to see me and has a great need to be with me every second. Here is a drawing of him sleeping near me on the lounge chair. I used watercolour pencils and found that his hair wasn't nearly as difficult to do as I had previously found it.

He is a dear little thing when he is asleep but can be quite mischievous when he is awake.

Below is another drawing of Louis, this time in pen and from the opposite chair.

A painting

2006-08-11T16:13:00.000+10:00

I've been working on a new painting. As you will see, it is quite abstract and uses a number of techniques and different media.

The first photos show some washes painted in so I could cover over the white canvas.

Here is the next one with some darker areas being blocked in to create a little depth.

More areas have been painted in as well as papers laid and stencils and stamping.

And here is the latest version. I don't know yet if it is finished or if it needs more but I do like it and it has met many of my goals for this painting. Those were to paint an abstract painting and to use a variety of media and collage techniques. And the biggest goal of all - to do something!!

I would welcome your comments - is it finished? Is it missing anything? Does it work?

Melbourne

2006-07-24T20:24:00.000+10:00

We spent some time in Melbourne and it featured some rainy and cold weather. It didn't worry us much as we planned to focus on art for the entire week.

By art I mean, both the practise of art and the study of art.

We spent 5 hours at the Picasso Exhibition - 1935 - 1945, The Dora Maar years and came away with a whole new view on Picasso and in complete awe of him as an artist.

We then switched focus to Australian art and visited Heidelberg where the famous Australian school spent so much time practising their own art. To support this visit we also went to the Ian Potter Centre and visited the Australian art and enjoyed seeing the work of preeminent Australian artists such as Frederick McCubbin and Fred Williams.

We rode on the trams constantly - what a brilliant form of public transport they are! This allowed us to sketch and draw many people in public.

We also enjoyed the superb cuisine offered by the many restaurants in the city. This included this delectible delight...

And this one...

And when I came home, we relaxed here and enjoyed talking.

When I had recovered, I finally finished this. Now I can move on to new things... when I have the energy and time now that I am back at work and university study once again.

An unintended holiday from blogging...

2006-07-23T10:30:00.000+10:00

But - now I am back. I've really missed blogging but have kept up reading many of my favourite blogs. Life has been a little crazy since I last updated this blog and still hasn't settled down but I hope that it will soon. I am feeling just marginally more in control than I have previously but still not as though my life is my own. That will come soon.

While away I have been busy with my second son's football -he has had a lot of representative duties that has almost taken over our life, I have completed two units at university, been to Melbourne for an art holiday (expect to hear and see a lot more about this) and have also tried to keep up with work, family and life in general.

I have still been drawing and while in Melbourne, joined that club that I resisted for so long. Yes, I am now a moleskine convert - aren't they fabulous. For so long I resisted but my sketchbook fits so well in my handbag and now I also take a tiny bottle of water and a brush as well as some selected watercolour pencils. It is filling rather quickly. I have even begun walking to work, taking my lunch and finding somewhere to draw while on my breaks! I have finally found a way to draw daily and not lose time for other things.

Anyway, here is a quick sketch that I did on the weekend, in my new moleskine sketchbook, with watercolour pencils. It is the wonderful old Roman bridge in Maastricht and I have journalled about it as well.

My Weekly Post...

2006-05-21T20:33:00.000+10:00

It seems that way lately. I am so tied down with university assignments and study at the moment with the last week bogged down with assignments that I have little interest in, I was able to pick up a pencil last night and sketch these pictures. I am doing some research for a new piece, well not new at all but an ongoing work that has been in my mind for quite some time. It involves a logged forest and here are some sketches that may or may not be incorporated into the new piece of work.

Drawn with 6B pencil - I really needed to draw!

Today I went to a workshop with our local art group. These workshops are held approximately monthly and we have tutors from all over the state and occasionally interstate as well.

Today we looked at composition and design and perspective. We worked on a small piece taken from one of our own photos that we could manipulate for composition.

Here is my thumbnail sketch (unfinished) for my picture. The scene is taken from a photo I took at the Sandringham Woodlands Walk in Norfolk England. The thumbnail is drawn in 8B pencil and I didn't alter the composition because I liked it as it is here.

And here is the almost finished pastel drawing. I still want to tidy up a few loose ends on this but it is coming along nicely. It is drawn with pastels and it is a long time since I have used pastels so I was very tentative at the beginning but gradually gained a little more confidence as I worked on with the drawing.

I need to do more with this medium. Oh for more time to pursue my art!!

A busy weekend...

2006-05-07T19:22:00.000+10:00

drawing! Today a friend and I took the step of drawing in public. We went to Big Rig Park in Roma - it is probably the prettiest place in Roma and the only place with moving water and nice grass so we enjoyed it. There were lots of people coming and going to feed the ducks and geese but we both found it very difficult to draw quickly enough to capture either the people or the ducks and geese.

So, I took the opportunity to draw some grasses growing beside the duck pond...

I then focussed on this interesting table. It is a reasonably flat piece of rock placed on top of several vertical concrete uprights that form the table legs. Of course, the interest is in the rock surface and it's beautiful lines and colours. At a later date I plan to do a pen and wash to show the colours but for today, here is my pencil drawing.

Later I came home and started to work on my next essay for uni, but managed to get myself a little distracted and ended up continuing to relive my trip through Europe once more.

Today we are in Cornwall at St Michaels Mount near Marazion. This is one of the little cottages on the island. It is a bit rickety according to my rendition but I intend to claim that it gives it more character! I am really enjoying reliving this holiday.

Another experiment

2006-05-05T21:31:00.000+10:00

Continuing my attempts to use more colour in my visual diary practice work I took a risk tonight and drew some ducks in watercolour pencil. It is a medium that I am not familiar with at all, having used it only a few times over a number of years and, in my opinion, never successfully. But...the 'new me' knows that I will never learn if I don't try so here is my attempt at a watercolour pencil sketch.

This is before I attempted to wet the pencil. I really do not know what I am doing but I have had a go.

This picture is after I wet the brush and tried to see what would happen with wet pencil drawing.

These ducks were drawn from two photos that I took while on the beautiful island of Marken in The Netherlands. It is an extraordinarily beautiful community and I visited with a dear friend who lives in The Hague. Drawing these pictures of my European trip is bringing back the most wonderful memories. I can step right back there and even experience the conversations we had on the day!

The darker colour at the top is a very lame attempt at water and didn't work at all. I would love some suggestions as I don't have any idea about where to head with trying water with watercolour pencils again and would welcome any suggestions.

Having tried this and ended up with colours and not mud (well, not completely) I am prepared to have another try, so stay tuned!

Drawing practice

2006-05-02T17:57:00.000+10:00

I've been going through my photo albums and finding things that inspire me to draw and practise, practise, practise. I am finding it interesting that as I draw more I am finding that there are interesting 'side effects'. One - I am not so scared to try different things. What I mean by this is that now I look at my photos and there are SO many things to draw. A year ago I would have been brave enough to try only the occasional thing. Maybe I am growing in confidence?

I've been so encouraged by the other members of the Everyday Matters group that I have even tried the impossible - drawing people as in this drawing of a street scene in Edinburgh. I have a lot to learn and have set myself some goals and I am going to watch myself improve.

Here is another sketch from my European photo album. This is the cottage from the Summer pastures high in the mountains in Norway. I love the buildings in Norway - their styles are so significant and it is possible to identify unique parts of the country by the way they have built their houses. Coming from a country where the major part of the year is spent in terrible heat I found it interesting to spend some time in a country that has so much cold weather.

Back to the drawing - there are some perspective issues here but I kind of like the roughness and the texture of the timber and the windows. The Edinburgh drawing was made with 2, 4,6 & 8B pencils and the Cottage with 0.3 unipin pen.

Southbank in Brisbane

2006-04-30T16:46:00.000+10:00

Last year I spent some time in Southbank parklands in Brisbane and took a collection of photos for future reference. This is one of the many fountains in the parklands.

I have always loved this photo so I decided to be very brave and try to draw it. Here is the result:

I am not sure that it is finished. I find that taking a photo with the digital camera and looking at it that way helps me decide if the drawing is finished. Having done that I can spot one part that I will change.

I have used pastel pencils on blue Canson Mi-Tientes paper.

I would welcome any comments please.

EDM Challenge 44

2006-04-16T10:46:00.001+10:00

Happy Easter everyone!

It is nice to have a little time on my hands and to be able to draw. Last night I drew a kookaburra that I was lucky enough to photograph in Noosa Woods several years ago. I couldn't believe that he would stay still for me to take the camera out and then click. I love the blue in their feathers but am not certain that I captured that in this drawing. It is drawn with pastel pencils.

I guess that this satisfies this week's challenge as well since I tried to use the coloured pencils and generally I stay within my comfort zone and use pencil to draw.

Stave Church, Norway

2006-04-15T09:19:00.000+10:00

I've made another attempt at drawing, having recovered from meeting my last deadline. Got out some photos of when I visited my friends in Norway in 2003. Here is my interpretation of a lovely Stave Church in West Norway. These Churches are so beautiful with exceptional craftmanship in their building and a sense of mystery about them. The outside in interesting and the interior is fascinating.
This drawing has been done in 4B and 6B pencil.

Swamplands Dreaming

2006-04-10T19:51:00.000+10:00

I've been very quiet lately but this is because I have been very busy working and now my latest piece is finished. Of all the art works I have ever made this has been the most valuable - measured in what I have learnt. I have taken risks, experimented with different mediums, tried different techniques and really pushed limits and consequently I have reached a place I have never been before.

I have a new appreciation of brushwork, glazes, the difference between opaque, semi-transparent and transparent colours. There is so much now that I am no longer afraid of!

Attitude is everything. I have treated this piece as an experimental piece. Therefore, I could try anything and I had nothing to lose. When I wasn't happy with parts of it, I painted over them and started again. The result is that I have created better work than I have ever created before. Nothing happened that I could not fix, change, improve or alter.

But... it is exhausting. I am so tired and it has taken so much out of me. And it feels just great!

Below is the finished painting.

And here are some close up views:

2006-03-28T19:00:00.000+10:00

I'm feeling a little frustrated with the lack of art in my life at the moment. I've had two sick children - one quite ill and I have been very worried about him. Here are the only bits of art I've had in my life in the past couple of weeks and it is not my work - this is my youngest one's 'done at the very last minute' production for his Maths assignment! The only part I played in it was finding the eyes for the little dude - cute isn't he?

I've been busy writing two assignments for uni. One is an Art history paper on Cezanne so that does count for a little art, I suppose. Still writing leaves little time for doing.

I have also been attaching this piece, which you might remember from a while back to a canvas backing. I plan to show it at the Easter Art Show here in Roma. Photos will come along later.

Cinderella is off to the Ball

2006-03-18T14:22:00.000+10:00

This is my friend Susan who is going to the Picnic Races Ball tonight. We have been working on this lovely dress for her to wear. Doesn't she look lovely?

We recycled the dress. Originally it had shoestring straps and we decided to make the shoulders the feature of the outfit. Susan found a lovely jacket in organza in a grape colour that worked beautifully when we cut it up and made it into organza rose buds. We added some of the extra chiffon to the shoulder straps and stitched the roses in between. Here is a detailed shot. A few beads and voila!

Match it all with a beautiful machine embroidered bag, elegant shoes and jewellery and she is ready for a wonderfully glamourous evening out.

An Evening Bag

2006-03-16T22:56:00.000+10:00

I have taken a break from the Swamp piece to make an evening bag for a friend. Tomorrow night is the Picnic Races Ball here in Roma. The Picnic Races are huge here - it is not unusual to have a crowd of 3000 - 5000 for the weekend. This is the best opportunity for all the glamour and glitz beginning with the Ball on Friday night and then followed by the race meeting on Saturday. Each year there is a Fashions of the Field competition - for both ladies and men - and in my previous life as a dressmaker, one of my clientele actually won the competition one year. Choosing an outfit was a big event and I would start receiving bookings from January onwards, hoping they could find just the right piece of fabric for their outfits. I enjoyed making these wonderful creations, but not the stress of the deadlines.

Here is the first take - throwing down some fabrics for the beginning of the base fabric. I did not have much time so couldn't really go to town.

Since I didn't have a lot of time I did some very simple, but I think effective, machine embroidery over the base fabrics.

And here is the finished item:

And a closer view...

I added some beads just to finish it off. If I had more time I would make it much more elaborate with more beading and a lot more stitching, but that cannot be tonight. I need to sleep!

Swamp piece - progress

2006-03-11T18:54:00.000+10:00

Today I have finally been able to work some more on my art. I spent some time early this morning doing some thumbnails for composition of this swamp piece. I decided to use the design pictured here on the top left.

I used water colour pencils in my visual diary but did not wet them - just used them as coloured pencils which was adequate for this exercise.

This is just a rough sketch to check that it would possibly work in this format.

Next step was to paint the background canvas. I have worked through this idea in my mind for many weeks now but it is still a terrifying thing to actually begin working on it. I am an extremely inexperienced painter, inexprienced in working with acrylic and also with brushes and canvas. And now I am attempting to mix all these different media together!

After painting the sky and horizon, I took the printed fabrics that I had transferred from the original photographs and lay them over the canvas. Then added the prepainted trees on the horizon. There are more layers to be added over the trees in the background. This is just the beginning, but maybe there is something there.

Here you can just see the sketch of the fallen log in the foreground of the swamp. I haven't begun to paint it at all yet but it will eventually be making an appearance. You can see a preview sketch in pencil of this log here.

This has been a very exciting challenge today and I am looking forward to working on it a bit more tomorrow.

Please feel free to leave any comments you want to make.

EDM Self Portrait Challenge

2006-03-04T13:41:00.000+10:00

Most of the time I am very selective about what I post on this blog. I choose to post the drawings that meet, or partly meet, my expectations and those I am prepared for others to view.

This week on Everyday Matters Group we were challenged to try a self portrait. About three weeks ago my eldest son too this photo of me so I thought it would be a good one to use, or try and use, as a guide for my self portrait.

And so... here it is. I nearly didn't post it, but everyone else in the group has been prepared to share their drawings. It is okay down the the mouth, but that mouth is seriously BAD! Not mine, that's for sure. It is too far to the left and I wish I was as clever as Lisa Jo when it comes to double chins!!

This my second self portrait. The first one I did when I first started drawing 5 years ago. I was working through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and tried my first self portrait. Once I got to the chapter where you try Blind Contour drawing, I gave up. I still take out the book and glance through it, and sometimes even tell myself that I should continue the exercises but never have. That Blind Contour drawing has never been done - too scary.

Anyway, back to the self portrait - I did go looking for the original one this morning but cannot find it at the moment. I may well have thrown it out in one of my ruthless clean ups. Let me know what you think about this.

On becoming an artist...

2006-03-03T18:18:00.000+10:00

Today I decided not to go home for lunch but to stay at work and enjoy the view from the verandah. It was a delightful day - overcast and with the slight promise of a shower of rain later in the afternoon. As I sat eating my lunch I decided to take a few minutes and have a go at drawing the tree in my line of vision. I have never been successful at drawing gum trees and have been constantly frustrated with the Australian landscape. Here is the result:

But... this time I think I might have 'got it'. At least it looks like a tree and even like a gum tree. I am excited.

It brings me to think over once again a comment that someone made at Summer School about how no-one thinks that people just pick up a musical instrument and just play it because they are talented or have a gift. Admittedly on rare occasions there are people who are able to do that but they are indeed rare geniuses. So, if that is the case, why then do people assume that either you can draw or you can't? It takes thousands of hours to become proficient at playing a musical instrument, and that usually means just focussing on one instrument and practising over and over again. Yet as artists we try to master many media and still expect that it can be done on talent alone.

I grew up thinking that I could not draw and always feeling frustrated that I couldn't because I had a very strong NEED to make things. When I was 12 I spent a lot of weeks in hospital and one of the nurses brought me some charcoal and paper and I began to copy pictures. I learnt that there was a whole new world out there, but once home and learning to live again I didn't have the opportunity to pursue art. There was no art at my school after Year 7 which now seems to me to be astounding! I went off into other directions and it wasn't until I was 37 that I began to explore the possibility of being an artist again.

To come back to today - I think I am beginning to see real progress with my drawing. I have practised and practised (and still need to more) and it seems to be working. And... I am happy!!!

Another swamp drawing

2006-02-27T17:19:00.000+10:00

Another drawing of this beautiful fallen tree. I am really enjoying this and quite happy with this particular drawing. It is quite amazing, isn't it, to see what happens when you continue to practise! Again, this one is drawn with pencil - just an 8B this time.

An experimental collage

2006-02-26T19:33:00.000+10:00

Today I have been working on some parts of what I hope will be a new piece of work for me. This involves acrylic on canvas, collaged with printed photos and collaged fabrics embroidered for lines. There is more to come on this piece but it has been an interesting journey thus far.

This tiny canvas is 6" x 6" which is a fraction of the size of the prospective piece. I'll be interested to hear any comments.

Experimentation and Preliminary Sketch

2006-02-25T20:46:00.000+10:00

Swamp sketch

I haven't been in a very creative mood for the past week or so. I've had a lot to think about and work over in my mind but I have not been able to do anything with the thoughts. Today I have managed to begin a sketch that will lead to my next piece. This will be the third major piece on the go at the moment - I am switching between them as the mood and inspiration takes me. I'm not entirely happy with this sketch but it is a good beginning. I rarely attempt landscapes because I find them quite difficult and see many other drawings and paintings that are SO good. I drew this with 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B pencils and for the first time ever I used a blender. What a tool that is. Will definitely try it again. I love the effect.

Earlier today I experimented with some blues to use on the above piece. I tried mixing colours, changing tones and using different brush strokes, and as many options as I could think of. And, I am pleased to have found that I have the right colours to use.

I will continue on this journey tomorrow.

From this...

2006-02-11T16:25:00.000+10:00

Here is the base layer for a new textile piece. I love the bright brilliant colours - so bold. This is a combination of painting, layering, collage, printing and I forget what else is in there. Anyway eventually it turns into this...
Base layer

... to this

2006-02-11T16:21:00.000+10:00

Top layer

Top it off with some interesting machine embroidery, complete with two colours of thread and playing with the tensions. I like it.

EDM Challenge Draw a mug or cup

2006-02-11T16:20:00.000+10:00

A mug

Here is my favourite mug. This was a really challenging drawing and one that I will try again another time. I am really enjoying these challenges but fear that I will not be able to keep up the pace. I found that my study packages were posted yesterday and they will arrive early next week. I've already begun my uni year using the online resources but the study pack will contain a lot more extra readings so my time will once more be at a premium. If I didn't love what I am studying...

Draw a mouth

2006-02-10T18:41:00.000+10:00

Draw a mouth

Some more drawings and only one that I feel is acceptable. Of course, it is not the one I learnt the most from. I guess this exercise taught me quite a lot!

A piece of furniture

2006-02-10T18:40:00.000+10:00

Draw a piece of furniture

A quick sketch of our chiffonier, well the corner of it.

Another sample from Summer school

2006-02-10T18:37:00.000+10:00

Rusted fabrics and beads

Here is a piece of rusted fabric and some hand made beads. Lots of fun and so easy to do.

Tiny piece made at McGregor

2006-02-08T18:15:00.000+10:00

Tiny installation

This is a tiny piece that I put together to display some of my samples at Summer school. I love the colours in these tiny squares. I collected sticks to set up a tiny display.

New growth

2006-02-08T18:14:00.000+10:00

New growth

I love new growth on a shrub - it is pink and gradually changes with age.

Cool and damp morning

2006-02-08T18:12:00.000+10:00

Beautiful misty morning

I took this photo one morning while walking in Toowoomba. It was cool and damp and very beautiful.

Japanese Garden

2006-02-08T18:11:00.000+10:00

A leading path

This path leads into the Japanese Garden at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. I always walk down this path with great anticipation at the beauty just around the corner.

Perfection

2006-02-08T18:10:00.000+10:00

Beautiful grevilleas

This grevillea was flowering as I walked past every morning. The flowers were absolutely perfect - click on the photo to see a bigger version.

Life Drawing Day 4

2006-01-26T11:38:00.000+10:00

Drawing 1

Some quick 2 minute sketches to loosen up.

My first attempt at colour

2006-01-26T11:37:00.000+10:00

Drawing 2

Until now I have drawn using either charcoal pencil or pastel pencil. This time I decided to push myself a little more and to try and add colour. Since it was something new I spent the first few minutes of this 10 minute sketch trying to convince myself to actually try it!

I was almost paralysed but eventually started using the pastel pencil alone, then selected a dark, a medium and a light. I began to add some dark areas, blocked in some medium areas and then the light areas and finally started to blend on the left forearm.

It didn't hurt, I didn't stop breathing or hyperventilate!!! It was okay. I could do it. Isn't it dreadful what the emotion of fear can do to us? I am so glad that I pushed through this barrier and see below for what I can do now!

Another 10 minute sketch

2006-01-26T11:35:00.000+10:00

Drawing 3

No, I didn't regress completely - my pencils needed sharpening! So rather than miss this pose completely I decided to use the one sharp one I had because I knew we were having a break after this pose. I used the break to prepare for the final two drawings.

10 Minutes Colour

2006-01-26T11:33:00.000+10:00

Drawing 4

I did it again - I would have like just a minute more to add more of the background colour and the draped fabric around her. As you can see I didn't choose the ideal place to begin adding background colour (at the base of her leg) and this has been misinterpreted. I could add it now but I want to keep it as it is since it is a 10 minute drawing and any changes would alter that originality. By now I was very excited about what I could do and my growing ability. What a bonus these classes have been.

Final drawing for the evening.

2006-01-26T11:31:00.000+10:00

Drawing 5

This drawing is slightly different in colour - picked up a different pencil. This evening was so enjoyable and I am so happy with the results. I've even been brave enough to try the hand and foot and I'm relatively happy with them.

Life Drawing and Japanese Garden

2006-01-24T20:34:00.000+10:00

Life Drawing

There were not enough people signed up for the models to sit so we decided to sit for each other. Here are the results. We weren't as diligent at timing as usual so this sketch was 6 minutes.

A relaxed pose

2006-01-24T20:23:00.001+10:00

Relaxed pose

The evening was fun for everyone. We all sat for a while and all got to draw as well so it was a benefit to everyone. Then someone came in to see how we were going and they sat for us as well.

Legs

2006-01-24T20:23:00.000+10:00

A pair of legs

The photo is blurry and I am sorry for that but this will give you an idea. I had decided to focus on one part of the body rather than trying to rush everything. That way I could devote more time to these parts of the drawing.

Final drawing for the evening

2006-01-24T20:21:00.000+10:00

A patient sitter

This one took 8 minutes and I really enjoyed doing this drawing. And that brought our evening to an end.

The beautiful, restful Japanese Garden

2006-01-24T20:19:00.000+10:00

Japanese Garden photo

This photo was taken around 8.00 am after I had spent 1½ hours sketching early one morning. The garden is so very restful and contemplative but also is beautiful to walk in as well. There are new vistas around every corner and enough to keep me drawing for a whole year! Below is my drawing of the same scene as in the photograph.

Sketch

2006-01-24T20:18:00.000+10:00

Japanese Garden sketch

Life Drawing Day 3

2006-01-23T19:09:00.000+10:00

Drawing 1

Here are the two minute sketches - I decided to save paper and put 4 on the same page.

10 minute sketch

2006-01-23T19:08:00.000+10:00

Drawing 2

This time we were able to do several 10 minute sketches. It gave me a good chance to build up the dark areas a little more.

Another 10 minutes

2006-01-23T19:07:00.000+10:00

Drawing 3

This is another 10 minute sketch and this time I was braver and tried out a foot and her hair as well.

Final 10 minute sketch

2006-01-23T19:06:00.000+10:00

Drawing 4
I really enjoyed these 10 minute sketches since they gave me time to attempt more than I had previously tried in a five minute sketch.

20 minutes to draw

2006-01-23T19:05:00.000+10:00

Drawing 5
This drawing isn't quite right. I think I have made her torso too long but it was a good exercise to work on the forshortened leg. Drawing draped fabrics is still a problem for me.

Final drawing for the evening

2006-01-23T19:04:00.000+10:00

Drawing 6
I really enjoyed doing this drawing. Twenty minutes is great for adding in many bits that I couldn't otherwise manage. I feel that this drawing is showing the progress I had made in the previous couple of days.

As I rarely have an opportunity like this I decided to take some risks and try to do things a little differently than I usually do - trying more shading, working the negative spaces etc and by this night I found that as I drew I was actually talking to myself differently than I had previously. Interesting?

Life Drawing Day 2

2006-01-22T19:14:00.000+10:00

Drawing 1

This is the first of this series of life drawings. It is a two minute warm up sketch. I find these 2 minute sketches difficult but appreciate that they need to be done in order to warm up to the longer ones later on.

2nd Two minute sketch

2006-01-22T19:13:00.000+10:00

Drawing 2

Another quick sketch. I'm still very tentative here.

No 3

2006-01-22T19:12:00.000+10:00

Drawing 3

This one is a bit better. I am beginning to be a little braver - even attempting her hand this time and the face as well as more shading rather than lines.

Drawing 4

2006-01-22T19:11:00.000+10:00

Drawing 4

This one was quite difficult - only 5 minutes.

20 minute drawing

2006-01-22T19:10:00.000+10:00

20 minute sketch

As we had more time with this drawing I was able to attempt her face and also put in more dark areas. I was quite surprised at the result of this attempt. Usually I avoid working on faces, hands and feet but this time I decided that I had to take risks since the chance for me to do life drawings is so rare. Although far from good, I can see that it was worth trying and that I am making progress.

Life Drawings

2006-01-21T10:31:00.000+10:00

Drawing 1

I have loaded 7 pictures of my Day 1 of Life Drawing, beginning with the 2 minute sketches and moving to 5 minutes and then 15 minutes. I apologise for the shadowing from page to page, but I did not have any fixative with me and it just happened. Also, I cannot seem to get them to load in the right order so if anyone is able to give me some tips I would be grateful. The pictures are all numbered except for number 7 so you will be able to make out the order that they were drawn.

2006-01-21T10:30:00.000+10:00

Drawing 2

2006-01-21T10:29:00.000+10:00

Drawing 3

2006-01-21T10:28:00.000+10:00

Drawing 4

2006-01-21T10:27:00.000+10:00

Drawing 5

2006-01-21T10:26:00.000+10:00

Drawing 6

2006-01-21T10:25:00.000+10:00

Drawing

Draw a bag

2006-01-21T10:23:00.000+10:00

Bag

Well, here it is. I've never been brave enough to try and draw cane or anything woven and now that I have struggled through it I cannot say that I have enjoyed the experience. Still, it does mean that I have been drawing. It is pencil and I know it is too light in some places but I could not see me successfully fixing it without making a major mess so I have elected to leave it for now.

2006-01-20T20:25:00.000+10:00

Detail

McGregor School work sample

2006-01-20T20:21:00.000+10:00

Work in progress

Here are a couple of photos of one of the samples that we made in class at Summer School. This was all made on the machine with free motion embroidery. I have collaged pieces of fabric, heavily fill stitched, stuffed something - cannot remember what - under organza, created holes and stitched sequins. It is very far from being finished but it was great fun to do so far. Once it is removed from the hoop, it will take on a whole new life as it will scrunch up to a much smaller size. It is interesting and has great texture.

I'm home again...

2006-01-19T17:26:00.000+10:00

Still Life drawing

... after 2 fantastic weeks at the McGregor Summer School in Toowoomba. I have managed to unpack all my gear - more than I took with me since I went on a couple of small shopping ventures while I was away. This afternoon I sat down and set up a still life and sketched this jug, bananas and a bell in charcoal. I need to improve at drawing draped fabric a lot if this picture is any indication!

Over the next week or two I will post various pictures and information about the Summer School. The class I took was called 'Paint, Create and Stitch - Machine Embroidery' with tutor Carol Wilkes (see her work here) and was a very technical class. We didn't actually create any works but came home with a lot of samples which I have now put into a book for future reference.

Each night there was the opportunity to go to a life drawing class and I took that opportunity. In just 5 nights I am quite amazed at the improvement in my drawings. I'll post some of them as well, a little later on. And finally I loved the Japanese Garden near the Uni (of Southern Queensland, where the Summer School is held) and I will post photos and a drawing of the Garden as well.

It is good to be home again, and thank you to everyone who has left comments on my blog. It is very encouraging.

New major work

2006-01-02T17:51:00.001+10:00

Sneak preview of new work

And finally here is a sneak preview of my next major work. I painted it a couple of days ago and then got myself waylaid with the book covers. I will not be able to do any more of this piece for a couple of weeks now but I am anxious to begin the quilting and it is now ready for that.

Tomorrow my eldest son Michael and I are off to Toowoomba for the McGregor Summer School. Michael is doing an acting class and I am doing Paint, Create and Stitch - machine embroidery which I am really looking forward to. I am amazed at how much gear we have managed to fit in the car. There is quite an extensive requirements list. Fortunately, Michael doesn't have any requirements for his class. There is a life drawing class some nights at Summer School so I will take the opportunity to go along to those and hopefully will build my drawing skills a little more. On other nights there are concerts and there is an artist in residence as well as all the classes.

My husband and other son are off to the farm and are planning all sorts of things to keep them occupied. And then some of us are going to the cricket in the middle of January. So, lots of exciting things to look forward to in the next few weeks. See you when I come home again.

Striking in red

2006-01-02T17:51:00.000+10:00

Book cover 4
This one has a red background with silk paper, thread and the tulle layer. Not a good photo but it is quite striking.

Another one

2006-01-02T17:49:00.001+10:00

Book cover 3

Second book cover

2006-01-02T17:49:00.000+10:00

Book cover 2

This one isn't stitched quite so heavily. I have used my favourite stitch for freemotion - blind hem stitch. It gives a great texture.

Detail of Book cover 1

2006-01-02T17:47:00.000+10:00

Detail Book cover 1

Here is a small part of the detail - click on the photo to see a better view.

Last post for a couple of weeks...

2006-01-02T17:46:00.001+10:00

Book cover 1

...so I thought I'd better make it a good one. I've been busy making book covers covered with machine embroidery and collaged. The technique I have used is to lay out some fabric, cover it with scraps of fabric and threads. Lay a piece of net or tulle over the top and stitch it all over. Once the stitching is completed burn back to tulle with a heat gun and you have the most exciting shapes and colours showing through from the lower layers. Great fun and a brilliant way to practice your machine embroidery.

Sketch of a Tiny ship

2005-12-31T15:36:00.000+10:00

Yesterday's sketch

I have decided that I really need to draw more than I have been in recent times. It will be interesting to see if I can notice any improvement in a month, three, or twelve. No colour today, just pencils and I need a lot more practice.

Today I've been painting again for my new textile piece. I know that I had decided not to do another major piece until after the McGregor Summer School which starts next Wednesday, but I didn't have any control over this. The design came and I just couldn't stop myself from doing it. I've made some good progress and hope to have some photos up in a day or two. Stay tuned.

And so we come to the end of another year and the beginning of a new one tomorrow. I would like to thank everyone who has read my blog and posted comments. Those comments mean so much - thank you. I'm looking forward to a wonderful new year with lots of great things ahead. Best wishes to everyone.

Louis - today's subject for a sketch

2005-12-29T17:19:00.000+10:00

Louis

Louis has been very cuddly today - he has wanted to be cuddled, and especially sit on my lap, at every opportunity. Most of the day has been spent sitting as close to me as possible, preferably touching. Just like a baby! He has spent a lot of time just lying down, not necessarily sleeping.

I use my visual diary a lot. Last year I bought a beautiful bound diary - no spiral but a proper bound book and it is beautiful. It is not a showcase journal, but a working, messy diary with quotes, dreadful drawings, okay drawings and sketches and a place to put together ideas and explore issues that are bothering me so much that I have to remove them from my mind and place them on paper. This gives me the opportunity to really judge the ideas for their value and potential usefulness.

One thing that I have failed to do ever since I began using a visual diary is to use colour. Most of my diary pages are in plain black 0.4 Artline pen which can be a bit boring (even though I love the patterns of the past few weeks). So, one of my concerted goals for the next twelve months is to use more colour in my diary.

This brings me to today's sketch of the little dog - I used watercolour pencils, not without a considerable degree of terror. Why do I find colour more difficult to work with than a black pen? Is it because I am used to the pen and afraid of the colours? Time to get over this nonsense and just do it.

Oh and PS - I know it isn't the world's greatest doggie sketch, but Louis really does have big ears. We always hoped he would grow into them, but he hasn't.

Another drawing

2005-12-24T13:44:00.002+10:00

Pattern drawing 2

Here is another of the drawings. I start with one shape in mind and just sit with the pen and let it do its work. They could go on forever, but I have to do other infinitely more boring things like going to work and cooking etc, etc...

Today is Christmas Eve and a very quiet and relaxed day for us here. I've been catching up on some letters and office work here so my long suffering friends may soon receive some mail. Tomorrow is Christmas and I would like to wish you all a wonderful day tomorrow. I hope your day is filled with love, peace, joy and happiness.

A Fascination

2005-12-24T13:44:00.001+10:00

Pattern drawing

Lately I have developed a fascination for patterns and positive and negative spaces. I've been finding great relaxation from sitting and drawing designs in my visual diary. I have been influenced by a year long informal study of Indonesian design elements - see this site - and these drawings are the result of this fascination and study. Not sure where it will all end, but I just love doing them. It is the one time I am enjoying facing a new blank page in the diary.

Open

2005-12-24T13:44:00.000+10:00

Treasure box 2

Again, not the greatest photo but you can see some of the stitching if you click on the photo for a closer and more detailed shot.

Treasure Box

2005-12-24T13:43:00.000+10:00

Treasure box

I had to try these delightful little boxes. Forgive the dreadful photo but it was late at night and I needed to get some sleep. These are just brilliant for anyone wanting to try their hand at machine embroidery and a quick gift to make.

A Five Minute Sketch

2005-12-18T17:25:00.002+10:00

Pastel sketch

And last of all we did a five minute sketch using pastels. It is tiny - about 6 x 4" but was fun to do and easy as...

Ready to cut

2005-12-18T17:25:00.001+10:00

Detail

Here is a small part of the design that we used for the sample print. I will make a whole print at a later time when I have had time to cut it all. I've never attempted a screen print of such a detailed picture so it was good to do a challenging one (especially in my comfort zone with Simone here with me).