Illustration Friday ' Confined '

"Confined"
Indian ink and watercolour
approx 11 x 8 inches (A4)
For Sale £50.
As always, email me if you would like to purchase this, otherwise it will go on sale in my Etsy shop next week, at a slightly higher price to cover fees. Price includes UK shipping, but international shipping will be extra.

I had meant to say so much more this week, but life tripped me up good and proper at the beginning of the week, and so work has been the last thing on my mind. So I'm posting this, a very belated submission for the Illustration Friday theme 'Confined'. I sketched it out two weeks ago, but it wasn't till yesterday that I got a chance to finish it.

What I want to write about most is the overwhelming and heartwarming response to posting my textile piece 'Long Lugs' up here on the blog, but I have so much to say about that, and so many people I want to mention, that it must wait a day or so. So please, bear with me while I just get things straight at home.

Thankyou, all who came, and commented, and I'm sorry if I haven't yet had time to visit you back. I will do very soon!

Jack' o lanterns and crows by moonlight

"The Mouse Lantern"
ACEO 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.
For sale HERE

A couple of ACEO's to get me back into the swing of painting. I am just thrilled with the vibrancy of colour my new paints give.
I can't believe how this term has flown by, and I have struggled to get any of my own work in. That is the trouble with working from home - it is too easy to put work off till another day, especially at this time of year, when preparations for winter are so time consuming, both inside and out. Still, the rain has come now, the harvest is in, my hay is all packed in the barn, the horses rugs are sorted out and mended ready for use, the cupboard is packed with preserves, the wood pile is still very low, but my husband is on the case. I think I am nearly there!

"Pride"
ACEO 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
for sale HERE

Black Birds and Black Berries

'Gluttony'

ACEO ( 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches)
(that is smaller than shown in the picture here!)

I took time out of jam - making today to work on this little miniature painting (couldn't resist painting fruit though!). I LOVE my new paints, the colour is beautifully saturated, and flows perfectly. I got rather bogged down in the detail on this, but it was lovely to be working again!
I fancy working on a set depicting the seven deadly sins, and there is a matching cat picture at the sketch stage. This one has just been put on sale here.

Oh, and I keep 'losing' blogs that I follow. Is this happening to anyone else?

Illustration Friday "Idle"

The school holidays are well and truly here! My house seems to be bursting with children, my sofa's are in danger of collapsing from the amount of jumping on them that occurred while it pours with rain, and my studio has been commandeered by my middle daughter - I can barely get through the door because of her creative explosion. So I huddled myself on a stool in the kitchen, between the phone and the washing up, and got out my smallest set of paints. There wasn't space to work on anything but miniatures, so here are a pair of ACEO's. They are my submission for this week's illustration Friday topic : "Idle"
A rather loose association, I admit, but the wish to avoid being idle is what prompted it!

If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle.
Albrecht Durer

Illustration Friday " Intricate"

"Crow and Peas"
ink and watercolour
8 x 11 inches

I've been working on this illustration all week, and it fits perfectly with the theme for this week - Intricate. In fact it is so intricate that it made my eyes hurt working on the detailed border. Think I might need to go and get my sight tested!

And also, a quick apology to my readers for being very slack in blogging recently, or in replying to comments. There is a reason for this, although it's a rather lame one - my mouse is not working properly, it refuses to slide to the right ( yes, I have opened it up and cleaned it out). This means it takes me hours to navigate a page, and I end up giving up. I promise I'll get a new one next time I go in to town, and then will be back up to full speed!

A basketful of yarn!

Wow, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by the response to the last post! Thankyou so much everyone, especially for such kind comments! I promise I will try to visit everyone who has left a comment here, but it is going to take me a while - I'm only about a third of the way through so far.

I had a great find today! I was rummaging in the fabrics cabin at Proper Job, and found some beautiful wool. I came home with a basketful. The red is acrylic sadly, but I just couldn't resist that gorgeous colour. The smaller balls of turquoise are pure wool, and have a lovely soft yellowish fleck through them. I suspect they may be Rowan Yarn. Anyway, this whole basketful set me back £4, which I thought was a bargain!

I have finally knuckled down and begun work on a new series of paintings, trying to develop my illustrative style. I am trying to capture the feel of the old Japanese woodcuts, while playing with the effects of light through the trees. The starting point for this series was the fox and the crow, from Aesops Fables, but I can already feel it leaning towards themes of transformation.

And, this evening, I managed to bag TWO treasuries on Etsy. The first one was planned and ready, but then I clicked on the main treasury, and it just opened up in front of me. Well, I couldn't resist, knowing I could easily showcase a selection from my favourites and blogfriends!

Do check them out if you have the time!

Oh my, you wait all night

These Earthy Tones

At Last, some new paintings. ( albeit small!)

"The Turning Of The Year"

Well, I finally managed to paint a pair of ACEOs! I had forgotten how time consuming these miniatures are! They both measure 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, plus a small border to make framing easier. I have put them up on ebay for a 5 day auction.

"The Doorkeeper"

And, I think I have finally finished the Sky Pirates Illustration! I will take a fresh look at it tomorrow to make sure, and then post a picture.

Illustration Friday - Balloon

Eeek! It's Thursday evening, and I can see I've no chance of finishing this illustration in time! I knew it was a bit ambitious when I began - rain, mud, and the sudden advance of Christmas have just completely finished me this week. So I thought I had better post it as it is.

A christmas offering

The Longest Night

Managed to grab a couple of hours this evening to finish this little painting, which I have been working on for the last couple of days. It's really small, about 6 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches but I'm really pleased with it. I might use the image for my christmas cards. I've gone back in and brought out the colour a little with coloured pencils, and there are gold highlights. What I'd really like to do now is have a go at doing this as a linocut - something I haven't tried since I was at college, but I just love linocuts, and think a simplified version of this would work really well. Anyway, I might have to add that to my ever growing 'to do' list! In the meantime I have listed the painting on ebay, here.

My thanks to all who have purchased from me during my Etsy sale - I really appreciate it, and hope you love your prints when they arrive!

Illustration friday - Repair

"Painstakingly The Watchmender completed his Task"

I finally managed another submission for Illustration Friday, so I'm feeling pretty smug! This is pretty foolish of me actually, as the only reason I have it done is because I completely omitted to do the things I SHOULD have been doing. Such as ... making a start on two comissions with deadlines, altering a pair of curtains for a friend, which I promised to finish a week ago, taking the dog for a big walk ( she did get a little one, but it was hailing , and I just woosed out), planting winter salads in the green house, and a multitude of other houseworky sort of jobs. This original is for sale here, and I will list prints on Etsy.

I did at least manage to bring the remainder of my pumpkin harvest indoors, out of reach of the frost. This is a good harvest for us, and I'm going to show you a picture. ( All you pumpkin growers from the US, look away now, lest you laugh at the miserly size of my crop!)

They look pretty good in the kitchen alcove in front of the Tree of Life . The two pictures on the side are two of my favourite Arthur Rackham crow prints,and the central one above the alcove, the owlwoman, is a print by a friend , Virginia Lee.

Sewing Machine Days

"Queen of The Pumpkin Patch" - the only little ACEO I've had a chance to paint this week, mainly because I've been busy sewing for my sister. She has a fab kids clothes company, Blow-Pipe, which uses vintage and recycled fabrics to make great jackets and hats. I occasionally help out at times like this when she has more orders to complete than she can manage. I quite like it - it makes a nice change for me, and keeps my hand in cutting and piecing. We are both lucky that our mother was a textile artist and dressmaker, and we were taught to sew almost from the cradle, and were both making or adapting our clothes from our teens. It is one of the most useful and versatile skills I have, and I am extremely grateful for it. My sister went on to study and get a degree from the London College of Fashion, while I opted for ceramics, but that early grounding has left me confident cutting patterns and making clothes ( or curtains , or costumes, or anything else that might need creating!)

This weeks it has been hats - dozens of them in beautifully soft coloured fleece. The best part is going through the huge vintage fabric collection, and choosing linings for each individual hat. It's great - no two are the same, and I get to put together all sorts of beautiful combinations.

This is my all time favourite jacket - those vintage poppies are sumptuous. If there had been enough fabric for an adult jacket I would have been swiping it!

The finished collection! Most of these ones are intended for Wonderworks, a really exciting annual craft exhibition / sale in Chagford, on Saturday the 22nd and Sunday 23rd of November.

Who wants a print?

Ok - here goes with my first ever blog giveaway! This is a print of an original of mine titled "You are the Queen of Birds", and is from Aesop's Fables. It measures approx 11 x 7 1/2 inches ( A4 for fellow UK readers) and is printed on glorious Hahnemuhle fine art paper, which shows up every beautiful detail of watercolour.

Here is what you have to do! Check out my etsy shop, and tell me which piece is your favourite in the comments section. Title will do - don't feel you have to put something witty or clever unless you want to !( I speak from the heart here - I often don't comment on stuff for that very reason, the 'oh my God, I'm not nearly as amusing as everyone else" moment of self - doubt). It is open to everyone, friends, customers, complete strangers, in any part of the world, and at 9pm UK time on Friday the 17th October, I will pick a name at random from the 'hat', and send you the print!

Illustration Friday "Packed"

I didn't think I was going to have time to do some work for submission this week, but then all of a sudden last night I had to do the swimming run for the kids and their friends. An hour spent sitting on the poolside drinking coffee and talking about our kids achievements, or an hour sat in the car overlooking the valley with my sketchbook? No contest! So here it is, a pencil and watercolour sketch for this week, showing the rookery, a few small trees jam-packed with large birds!

Feeling Halloweeny

Quick post today to show you my latest ACEOs. I have listed them on ebay tonight. A return to my favourite characters, the crows!

Illustration Friday - Clique

" Five for Silver, Six for Gold"
Here is a quick painting for Illustration Friday, the theme of which is 'clique' this week.
This has scanned a bit darker than the original, and all my tweaking couldn't get it exactly right. I dream of having some decent software one day, but until then I'll have to carry on doing all my adjustments with my scanner program :(