I’m back from my little African adventure.
Energised.
Refreshed.
Inspired.
I went alone but travelled in good company
with people I found along the way.
I visited a prison,
played with a lion,
hung out with new friends and old.
And I soaked up the energy of the world’s football fans
dancing on African soil.
New places, new faces.
New perspectives.
New memories.
Nothing like a little travel to shake it all up.
What little adventures have you lived recently?
Imagine the scene. Ten people sketching furiously to a strict time limit of ten seconds, one life model pose after another, papers flying everywhere, tossed to the floor on each ring of the bell for a new pose, new piece of paper, new sketch. A veritable storm of drawing paper and charcoal dust…
10 second sketch (10 seconds is seriously quick! I’m not sure I even looked at the paper in that time!)
I spent most of Saturday at the Northern Film School taking a fascinating workshop on Drawing Figures for Animation. Five solid hours of live drawing, with the longest sitting at 20 minutes – exhausting but exhilarating. And seriously good practice. We did a mixture of contour drawings, gesture drawings and charicatures with charcoal, pencil and marker pens. I came away with about eighty sketches, and a whole lot more confidence in figure drawing.
30 second sketch
Sometimes it is worth putting a time limit on your work to focus your attention and really make you look. Then it’s up to you whether you stick to the rules, break the rules or abandon the rules altogether!
2-minute sketch
When was the last time you played around in your sketchbook?
Doing nothing does not come easily to me, but island hopping in Greece was the perfect opportunity to take a step back, get some much needed rest, soak up the sun and have no schedule for over two weeks (except ‘swim time’, ‘ice cream time’, ‘dinner time’ etc – you get the picture). It has been time for:
… ice cold watermelon
… cool swims in sparkling seas
… dancing in the sand
… long chats over dinner as the sun set
… and a time to wander and explore tradition and modernity
It has also been a time for clearing out my head, which arrived in the baking heat of Athens jumbled and full, noisy and impatient.
The gentle breeze, clear skies and luxurious sun have calmed it, and made space for new ideas, plans and adventures. I have made real progress on two exciting projects I am working on (more on this soon) – baby steps towards a big dream.
I feel healthier, energised and ready to play.
It’s funny how quite a few of us have been talking about rest recently, as Louise pointed out.
It’s half way through a big year, spring is turning into summer, and we all need to take time to replenish our energy reserves every now and then.
Are you taking care of yourself?
You guys rock!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Seriously, I cannot believe how generously you shared your advice to help me get over my first-machine-use-phobia. And I think you cured me!! I started off with baby steps as advised by the lovely Anne at Craft Gossip Sewing, and then I realised how much fun it was, and just started whizzing along!
Look what I made, thanks to you (and I surprised myself that I actually don’t care they are all wonky)…
Stitched postcards…
A four-weeks-at-a-glance wall planner with interchangeable pockets (red thread inspired by Rebecca Sower – thanks for the intro Stella)…
A journal (thanks Lorrie – remember the little heart?)…
And some other bits and pieces too. I am now officially in love with my sewing machine.
And I love all the blog and website links you shared. So inspiring and lots still to check out.
Did I say thank you SO much!
Capturing a fleeting moment in a way which one day will take you right back to that place, the smells, the sounds, the feeling. There is magic in photography. I love taking photos and I think something in me helps me take some sweet shots with the occasional flukey great one, but I don’t really know why I like the ones I like, and I know there is so much more to learn. So I have just taken a class with photographer extraordinaire Susannah Conway, learning more about composition, light, and all sorts of other things I never really think much about.
I photographed my cup of tea, and then played around with some editing tools. Which one do you like best? And which one do you like least? I’d love to know which and why.
Original photo:
I quite like the original photo, but think altered version number 12 is my favourite. I love the difference in texture either side of the diagonal line, and the pattern in the bottom right corner would make fantastic wrapping paper!
Photography actually runs through my family (right back four generations) so maybe this is just awakening something that has always been there… more on that another day.
A volcano erupted in Iceland sending a cloud of volcanic ash across Europe yesterday. You may have heard about it, seen the pictures, thought it bizarre.
Rangarvallasysla, Iceland Credit: Neil MacWilliams
As the cloud has filled the airspace, the airports have shut down one after the other and it has left an estimated 600,000 people stranded – including me! I was in Geneva, supposedly for a day. But my flight back was cancelled and the earliest I can get home to England is Monday evening on the Eurostar train. So what is a girl to do but head to Paris for an impromptu weekend of cafes, galleries, wandering and dreaming?? Oh life is hard.
It’s quite odd actually as I had been dreaming about going to Paris in the spring. Unusually for me I had no plans this weekend, and I accidentally bought an ‘anytime’ instead of fixed time return train ticket back from London so even that is still valid when I get back. I only had my handbag with me, so no laptop = no work, and no clothes = excuse to buy new ones. Funnily enough what I did have in my handbag were every girl’s true travelling essentials: credit card, camera, chocolate, sketchbook and mascara. What more do I need? And an old friend from the US just happens to have also got stranded and is heading here right now. What a wonderful piece of bad luck. Even ash clouds have a silver lining…
If you also happen to be in Paris or have any tips on must-visit ateliers, flea markets, cafes or stationery shops please do share!
A bientôt.
More Paris posts here:
Paris je t’adore
Shopping in Paris
Travelling Light
Random acts of generosity
…trying to emerge from a long dark winter, seedlings wiggling up through the ground, trees preparing their new wardrobe, daffodils blooming courageously.
Snowdrops and Daffodils. Image credit: Dominic Alves
Is it just me, or do they look like they are whispering secrets?
“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
This feels like a good time to reflect, breathe in and look forward. A time for something new…
Yesterday I added my two stitches to the world’s biggest knitted textile! Force of nature Ingrid Wagner had brought her 4-metre long(!) needles to the Twisted Thread Stitch and Craft Show at Olympia, showcasing her particular style of ‘big knitting’ and raising money for Breast Cancer Care.
Ingrid holds the Guinness World Record for knitting with the biggest needles, which were over twice as long as she is tall! She said that it made her feel like she was a character in The Borrowers – either that or she was knitting a scarf for a Big Friendly Giant…
Ingrid also makes divine wall hangings and rugs out of this ‘big knit yarn’ which is about 4cm wide.
Watch out for the giant needles coming to a town near you, and knit a stitch or two for Breast Cancer Care. There’s nothing like women supporting women.
Introducing… Grandma Spoon (with her hair curlers still in), Lady Spoon, Wizard Spoon and a Spoon Alien (with a feather boa?!)
Apologies if you are a fan of quilting, but for years I just didn’t get it as ‘art’. I had it in my head that quilts were ‘granny blankets’ from a pre-duvet era, favoured by ladies in rocking chairs who passed their days patiently stitching hexagons together into symmetrical pastel patchworks, which usually ended up in the spare room to keep visitors warm as they slept. An important homemaker’s skill and well-loved craft, for sure, but art?
Boy was I wrong.
When in California recently, I wandered into the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, lured by a pretty scarf in the shop window. The main exhibition on at the time was called ‘Poetic License: The Art of Joan Schulze’, displaying 40-years of ‘art quilts’. As usual, my curiosity got the better of me, and I had to have a look.
And am I glad I did.
Inside I discovered a retrospective of Joan Schulze’s prolific career as a fiber artist, a stunning collection so far from my naïve image of ‘quilting’ that I was genuinely shocked. Moody digital photographic images on silk, fused with painted textures and markmaking, stitch and funky storybook collage in a palette of breathtaking colours. It was nothing short of exquisite, and has changed the way I look at quilts forever. And I think that is much of the point of art – to make us question our own views and preconceptions. I might even buy myself a sewing machine.
The exhibition is on until May 9th. Do go and see it if you can. Peer at the work from up close, squint and stare, stand back and breathe it in. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
ART: Layered, Tattered & Stitched by Ruth Rae – inspired by my new-found interest in all things stitched(!) I bought this great book, which is full of gorgeous fabric art project ideas
ADVENTURE: The Wild Places – written by an old friend of mine, Robert Macfarlane, this book is breathtaking in places. As urban society encroaches ever further into the countryside, this dreamy book explores the few wild places left in Britain
STORY: The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister – I read this in one sitting on the plane back from the US. A delicious novel for foodies.