Skip to main content

Autumnal Glow & Hues (Not Blues)

Evie, final week of Helfa Gelf
 Ooh, there's a lot going on at the moment and maybe the blog is feeling a bit neglected, so it's time to lavish a little attention on it and do a round up of a few things.
Firstly, a brief consideration of two things coming to an end. September's Helfa Gelf art trail was a brilliant experience for me as I got a lot more exposure (the good, socially acceptable kind) than I could have achieved on my own, I met a lot of lovely people and got to see their reactions to my work. Predominantly this was amusement (Evie, mounted heads, squirrel in milk jug etc), delight (crochet cakes & rack of toast) or being slightly disturbed (also Evie/ woolidermy heads). I've written before about how much I enjoyed being with the other artists in our temporary studios (see recent previous posts) so I will not retread this happy ground but it was very entertaining and enjoyable and I would definitely recommend the experience to other artists thinking of participating next year. Here's a final pic of Evie in her Week Three finery.

The Willow Gallery (Oswestry), 'Natural Selection' exhibition
 Also nearing its end is the 'Natural Selection' exhibition at the delightful Willow Gallery in Oswestry which includes my Needle Felt Bee Swarm (but still time to visit, it's on until 19th October!). I went for a potter round the exhibition a couple of weeks ago and was most impressed. There's a lovely mix of pieces in a variety of media and I was pleased to find my bee swarm keeping excellent company with two particularly wonderful artworks. Tereska Shepherd's huge oil paintings of bees and fruits have the precise detail of scientific illustrations, you can just see a peak of 'Endangered' depicting different types of bees.

'Looking Through a Window Made of Time'-Charlotte Winter
 Even more adored was Charlotte Winter's  'Looking Through a Window Made of Time' which seemingly suspends a taxidermied owl flying through a gilded frame. It's a clever, stunning piece of work and hung for maximum effect. There's also another piece by Charlotte Winter of hummingbirds in/as an hourglass, it's delicately beautiful and felt like a memento mori, a reminder of death & the constant running of time.

 In terms of the new, Autumn (my favourite season) brings new opportunities, rich glowing colours and new alliances. I've just joined Creu, a collective of artists based at the Creu unit at Parc Glynllifon encompassing jewellery, textiles, felting, cards, floral displays, homewares and gifts. I'm excited about this as I really enjoyed the interaction with other artists during Helfa Gelf (and through my Jeweller's Apprentice position) and it will save potential strain on my marriage that both of us working from home soon may generate! I love my husband and quite want to keep him even if he doesn't appreciate my singing to myself, constant interuptions and noisey crashing about while working (so I'm told). Having some studio space to go off to (as well as a pretty display/sales area) will prove a definite asset I imagine in both my professional and home life! (Creu artists-be assured I will not be this annoying!).
Acorn & Oak Leaf Necklace by Maureen Cameron

Evie is keen to flaunt herself once again for the North Wales public so she'll be on display in her new Creu home in her Autumnal finery from Saturday onwards (19th). My splendid Mum has indulged me once again by enthusiastically throwing herself into the role as Evie's Mistress of the Wardrobe/Dresser. At the glorious Borders Scrap Store (Musselburgh) we found gorgeous material for a Autumn outfit and Mum gamely made a suitably themed necklace (see pic showing both). Evie should look fantastic I just need to do my bit by making some things to sell and a few Woolidermy heads to watch down on visitors from above the fireplace. More on this at the weekend.

Also very excitingly, I'll have festive work in the MOSTYN gallery shop from the end of the month. Crocheted reindeer, bunny & squirrel heads, mince pies & clementines will be available. I'm really looking forwards to this and to seeing their Christmas window display which I know has a lot of thought and time behind it. More on this soon too.

Next time: My first magazine feature! & Evie does Autumn...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joyfully Geeky Crochet- Creating a TARDIS

Creating a TARDIS (correctly using capitals now after previous admonishments by my pedantic husband) has, I can confidently declare, been my second favourite present make ever (only bested by a crocheted honeycomb frame made for my bee-keeping mother). It may indeed have a wibbly-wobbly roof (angle of the above picture is flattering!), cheerfully wandering letters on the 'police box' signs and a tendency towards a leaning base, but I am sadly very proud of my little blue box. Part of the pleasure definitely comes from anticipating the look on my brilliant Dr Who-loving friend's face as he opens the box it's travelled north in. Concerned about any misunderstanding, I've taped an 'it's not shoes!' note to the top so as to avoid even momentarily confusion when presented with a peppermint green Clarkes box. Once he fights his way through the swathes of bubble wrap (it was a big box), he'll be the wondrous owner of this mini delight. I'm thrille...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tension at Christmas (of a different kind)

Hello, hope you have all had a splendid Christmas! Mine was very lovely indeed as I've been enjoying a week in my home town of Edinburgh with the delights of spending time with family & friends, delicious home cooked food, planning crafty & arty makes for 2013, dangerous trips to Hobbycraft (find it hard to retain spending control) and seeking inspiration in my new book of Grimm Tales (by Philip Pullman) . While there's been a remarkable absence of tension  in our household this festive season, there has been tension of other kind (please be generous & excuse the pun). I've been told that my crocheting is very neat which sounds like an unequivocally good thing but others have warned that my tension is too tight. While I've not been at all concerned about this, I do realise that attempts to crochet something larger than my small creatures/ foods and which require to be a more specific size, ie a piece of clothing, are likely to come out far smaller than in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Craft Fair Reviews: Part 1- Artisans in the Palm House (Liverpool)

Lost In The Wood, Palm House Over the last month, I've discovered two splendid craft fairs in the North West, Artisans in the Palm House (Liverpool) & Vintage in the Vale (Flintshire). It was both my first time attending and participating in these events. So, here's a brief, potted & very subjective guide to each. Artisans in the Palm House is set in the stunning venue of the delightful Palm House, Sefton Park, Liverpool. Despite almost being conscripted into a marathon on the way there by a smug sports official in high-vis tabard, it turned out to be a fabulous, extremely well- organised day spent with lovely makers & an enthusiastic public in this beautiful Victorian glass house. At this point I'm going to tentatively confess that I, until fairly recently, had a mild but longstanding prejudice against Liverpool/ Merseyside which was possibly based only on the accents, the overblown Beatles legacy and the fact it wasn't Manchester (my old studenty...
Post a Comment
Read more