Swansea Museum exhibition and new work..... at last!

Our evening class for C+G had it's first exhibiton of work outside of the college this week, and Marg who set it up, did the most fab job. Also the person at the museum did a great job of hanging it. Here is the poster, how lush is it!!!!This was one of my favourite pieces, it is by Sandra Stacey, and is felt and stitch. Don't you love the colouring of it.






This piece is also felt and is by Marg, now I am sure she won't ind me telling you she is a significant age, but she is the sharpest, most creative lady I know! Her piece is based on cave painting.

Here is a view of the main corridor.
and here is my monster of a piece. It is based on Water on the sand. I am so pleased with it - seeing it properly hung.


Here's a close up!

My little bracelets are in the big display case too.

This is also Sandra's and I had to show you the amazing detail that this piece includes,

It is a background of printed fabric, and then the letters are on organza, each letter is stitched out onto disolvable and then attatched to the organza, how fab! It is the lord's prayer in welsh and english.It is an amazing piece of work.

and finally I started to work in my new sketchbook. It is based on a battle axe, and is the start of my work on armour. I did the squares with molding paste and the curve is painted foil. Funny I didn't really realise I used brown until after, Arlee, I am getting the brown bug again!!!!

Healing love

I thought I would go close to home in this sul journal piece. I don't want to talk too much about who and why, but I will tell you about some of the elements. The shape for the border was from a tomato passata logo, I did have to trace it onto my cereal packet to make the stencil as I haven't used the passata yet! and if I cut it it would make a frightful mess!!!!!! We had to, Cut ou working from left top round:

1. Colour with a gel pen.

2. Make a dotted border.

3. Make 2 lines o crosses.

4. Colour with a variety of pens.

5. Paint in a diffeent shade ( I added gel pen too)

6. Draw a spiral.

7. Cut out random or meaningful words or numbers.

8. Scribble.

9. Draw and colour a heart.

10. Stamp the person's name.

11 - I added this as I felt it looked odd with 10, marker and gel pen spiral.

If you want to check out more about this, have a look at Kathryn Artyr's blog Collage diva.

Hope your al well!!!

More instant gratification

Kathryn's opener to our new soul journal was an instant gratification piece, no gesso, no priming just a magazine cut out heading, lines and words! I was bored last night after doing a ton of admin for the new job and so I remebered I had snagged a nice pic in school when my kids were doing a collage inspration/mood board thing. I thought the guy ooked so free, so away I went. The nice thing abut this is it's quick, no fuss, doodle away. I realy enjoyed it.
I wanted to point the non embroiderers that read this blog in the direction of Maggie Grey's blog. She is the lady who is causing the mystery of the soggy catalogue! I don't think this one is for the journallers amongst you, believe it or not I am an embroiderer first, but you would never know it as I haven't done any thing for a bit and am so enjoying journalling. For those who come here looking for stitch I am back to it soon, I promise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye for now!

Permission slip page added to....

I have added to my permission page, I couldn't read the words well enough so i have added a darker outline. I have also added my affirmations from my blog comments, thank you all for the lovely things you have said about my work. I have to believe them now!!!!!

I wanted to mention about the catalogue too, some of my blogging friends have thought I have lost my marbles! Maggie Grey is offering some free online casses if you buy her new book that is due out soon. One of the prep things is to let the elements errode an old catalogue, so I am not some bag lady with piles of rubbish in her garden, it is there for a purpose!!!!!
Now I ask myself, when am I going to get hold of some fabric again..... I am behind with trades, and have NO motivation to pick up any fabric..... whatam I going to do??? I think i will bite the bullet and do SOMETHING this weekend. But I must clean first! Craig is chewing my ear about my stash taking over the world again!!!!! Have a great weekend everybody!!!!

Permission to be free

I have really enjoyed playing with this. Kathryn's prompts have taken over the mantle of Sarah's Soul Journal really well.First we used the photocopier to "Press glass". I used paper clips and my ovely purple tape measure as I have said before. Then we did a permission slip. It is hidding in the envelope at the bottom of the page. I will show you the permission sip in a bit, It was funny doing it since I right them for a billion reasons in school, but tis was something I had to realy think over! The next part was to collect things from life, and just when I thought that I had nothing but my stash, I recieved my bookmark from Sarah, and she had stamped the envelope with really nice tickety stamps. I also found a ticket in my stash, and some diamonds that were embossed. I glued these on and softened with an ink pad and a make up sponge. We then had to draw dots and arrows ready to Journal. The next part involves the comments made to my blog and I want to say a BIG BIG thank you to all those who have given me such wonderful comments. I am so thankful, Iam very tired, the new job is hitting hard and starting C+G level 4 is scarry, so some positive affermations are just what the doctor ordered. Talking of C+G, my first project is a research project on a historical aspect and then a comptemporary use. I have chosen armour and I am now researching contemporary fashion based on armour so anyone with any good links I would love to be pointed in the right direction. Thanks in advance!!!
Here it is!

Here is my Permission statements. Lots of mine are about anxiety, I am a worrier and a panicker, and I seem to sometimes live my life in a knot deep in the it of my stomach.

Closing shot - here is my progres on my catalogues - the look a bit scuffed up and weather beaten. I did water it today however as we have had unseasonably good sunshine here in Wales today. Hope you are all getting that too!

Start of a new journal

Well I started my new journal, I debated and finally thought that continuing can only help me to develop so on I go! I worked a prompt from Art techniques yahoo group for "My Eyes", I started this while on holiday but now have added to it with gel pens, and i am very pleased with the result.
Next was Kathryn's Instant gratification prompt for the new Soul journal yahoo group. All you had to do was find a pic from a magazine that spoke to you, and then make a heading relating, draw contour lines and fill in with writting on the topic. This was really fun! The mask was a mega find!

I chose to write about how we all hide behind a mask, a facade.

Parting shot here is my catalogue in the garden. I chose 2 IKEA catalogues as they have such lovely colours and patterns! Can't wait to see what goes on with this next. See Maggie's blog for details.

Soul prompts

I have started working on my next soul journal using the prompts set by Kathryn. The first was an instant gratification, and we had to look through a magazine and find a pic that grabbed us. i chose this mask. I have much more to do on this page, but the glue was wet.
The next thing was to "Press glass" as kathryn puts it, to photocopy, in this instance office stuff. I chose my office paper clips and my ovely purple measuring tape.
Cool ha! I enlarged and played with scal. This is some of them torn and glued in my book.
They were then gesso'd and painted with pink and turquoise, a warm and a cool colour.
I have masses to catch up on, but I made a start!

Doors spread finished.

My door spread for my soul journal is finally (maybe) finished. I added to the page with a ball point biro.
I went for cirles on this door surround, I added hearts from my photocopies, and sewed buttons for handles.

I added to this door, made a surround to make the frame stand out. I also added the cross hatching in the corners and the hearts. I used a fork to make the marks in light green.

Love the way the words elegant and stylish ended up on these doors.

I decided for the inside of the other door I would do a similar thing to the other one I showed you the other day, and it is below, for you to see as I have added tape to the doors. The inside of the doors above have dried pressed flowers from my holiday in the pockets. They fell on our balcony, and I pressed them and then so far the bright pink colour has stayed, I hope it does, maybe as they dried so quick, it was 52 degrees out in Zante so maybe!

and here is the other door with added tape! I love how these turned out and so grateful to Sarah for what i have learned. I don't think I have copied Sarah'sstyle, which is the best bit, mine and her's don't look at all alike, and this really pleases me as i feel like finaly maybe I am finding something of my own style, I feel like I made this mine.