I'm sitting in here looking out at so much damp, lush greenness that it must be affecting my eyes ( you know the way if you stare at a green thing for long enough when you look away everything looks red?). Because of the way this place stands, tucked into the hillside, surrounded by massive Sycamore trees... high windows on one side and a huge glass sliding door on the other- there is very little sky and today it feels very much like a being in a cave (or a treehouse if you stand on tiptoe and look out of the high windows). Either way it's cold today so I'm remembering the heat wave of last week when we swam in the river Duddon at Birk's Bridge and drank instant coffee with a couple of young lads from Barrow who befriended us and left a warm feeling of wellbeing. Here's a confession; when I first saw two lads on motorbikes near the spot we'd chosen to swim, my heart sank...when did I become so mistrustful of other people and such an awful snob!? They turned out to be amazingly polite, friendly and considerate... shattering stereotypes I didn't know I had, because in fact it was they who made the friendly gestures- starting a conversation, offering us coffee, helping me find my way over the rocks through the beery water and generally appearing blind to differences of age, class or situation in a way that I am obviously not now that I'm middle aged and more self conscious than a teenager. Anyway, It was a lovely experience made memorable by a chance encounter with strangers.
Life in Keswick continues to feel special, if a little unreal. At work I can see Robinson framed by watery glass or a circles of swifts and its hard to believe this is home now. There's just the thin line between solitude and loneliness and the moments when I wake from a nightmare in which I'm being chased around my old garden by the evil Kev Sayer as I frantically try to gather as many precious plants as I can carry! Its been almost 6 months.
Last week I finally plucked up the courage to take some of my new prints to work and so some magic tents and white cottages have snuck in amongst the oil paintings in the wonderful Northern Lights Gallery. They've just started doing Own Art too, so my framed pieces are just eligible ( work has to be original or limited edition and priced between £100 and £2500)
In between making pictures of various shelters. from tents to imaginary towers, I have been working on some needle felted alpacas for Alpacaly ever after. who have recently had their Kickstarter project funded and are pretty funny and amazing people. I helped out a bit on shearing day and came home with a bag of fleece to attempt felting experiments. Washed and set out to dry on the bench it looked like some disgusting old wigs but just over 4 hours of vicious stabbing later some alpacaish creatures started to emerge... here is number two with his friend the Earth Bear. Now... how to price something that takes nearly 5 hours to make? The Bear is currently for sale in my Etsy shop for an amount that wouldn't even pay me minimum wage.... grab him quick before I come to my senses!
And finally... what do you think of this new design? I'm planning to get some silk or thin cotton printed up to make scarves, this is one of the designs from an original cyanotype drawing that is now in the gallery. 
I know you won't believe me but I think about you all the time. Ever since I got back from my trip to London I've wanted to tell you all about it but like a lazy lover or a neglectful friend I have frittered away my time this week; walking about the fells talking to myself and enjoying the precious Northern British heatwave. Now there's too much to say and it won't all fit here.
Sara's work, as you know, is about plastic pollution in the Oceans and it was wonderful to see it in real life ... from detailed drawings with etched perspex overlays to the beautiful "Ghost Fish" cast in resin encasing plastic and nylon fishing gear found on beaches. So thoughtful and disturbing with a really important environmental message.
Well, it's been 7 years since I started this blog and since my own graduate shows; I know how much work goes in to producing a final collection so right now I'm just full of admiration and pride (and a little envy as I'd love to do it all again!). Now the real hard work begins... but hopefully the creativity will continue.Well, I like to be an owl and there's so much more to tell you... Alexander McQueen at the V&A, returning home to discover the Ruskin Museum, coming out in hives for no apparent reason.... but I'm at work tomorrow and my book is getting to an unputdownable bit so I must say goodbye for now.
That was my attempt at scientific, methodical printing and here is a print which is now for sale in the Northern Lights Gallery. The tent is leaking magic into the mountains ... or maybe its sleeping powder, night night x
Reading: "Any Human Heart" William Boyd Listening To: Seth LakemanGraduates Websites : http://www.imogenclifton.com http://www.millieduffey-illus.wix.com/millieduffey http://www.frejya-moon.co.uk http://www.auroreswithenbank.co.uk http://www.cargocollective.com/elliceweaver http://www.cargocollective.com/jackxander http://www.sara.tillyersmith.com
Another weekend is over and the house is silent apart from the sound of me munching my way through a second batch of homemade Jammie Dodgers (even though I tried to trap them in this dome). Worryingly this picture got more attention on my Instagram and Facebook pages than any artwork I've posted recently, maybe I should start drawing biscuits? Or just go and work in a bakery and knock all this art nonsense on the head! Anyway, I even switched the radio off today and just opened up the sliding doors to enjoy the birdsong... sunshine at last.
And so with the sunshine comes my annual attempt at consistent cyanotype print making. I'd already messed up on the one sunny day last week so I recoated the paper and tried to be more scientific ( setting my phone's stopwatch and then forgetting it was on silent). The results were fun; adding another layer to the pale. washed out print underneath. Then I coated some more paper and of course the sun went in; seems I will have to get a proper exposure unit set up if I want to keep doing this, it's just too hit and miss relying on Northern sunlight.
Still, in the moments when I'm not banging my head on the table in despair, I'm thinking about ideas for BCTF and wrestling with the sewing machine because I want to make silk things and the corners are impossible! This week I also discovered the Cumbrian Printmakers group who have a Kickstarter campaign to open a studio space not too far from here. They also do group exhibitions and events so I'm hoping they meet their target so maybe I can do some etching or screen printing in the future. At the moment they're looking for the person furthest away from Cumbria to back them ( just a pound ) ... could it be you?
The landscape is changing colour almost daily and the little black Herdwick lambs now have white spectacles as they start to get their grown up coats, they look so funny and a little bit naughty. This weekend was spent well away from water and canoes... we climbed Robinson again and picnicked on homemade cheese and rocket bread, hot spicy apple drinks and those addictive Jammie Dodgers. The previous evening we'd had a bit of a horrific sheep incident when Rupert and his friend discovered a big fat Swaledale hanging at an improbable angle from its spindly leg, which was trapped in a tree root on the bank side. He got the saw and managed to cut it free ( the root not the sheep's leg!) but it was clearly snapped like a twig; poor thing (although it hobbled off when I lifted it to it's feet). A neighbour called the farmer but he didn't come that night...or the next. Now in the old days, when I was naive and trusted people I would have called again ... but my experience with aggressive farmers in Snilesworth, who hate you just for being there, have scarred me for life and I'm just hoping they've taken it today.
In happier nature news Mrs Frazzle has two little chicks now ... one hatched so late that I almost threw the egg away thinking it was a dud but it turned out to be a really sweet black and white chick (and they both have smooth feathers thank goodness so fingers crossed they're not cockerels!)Other happy news is the fabulous graduation of my wonderfully amazing daughter who managed to get it all together for her final illustration project.It was nail biting at times as she perfected the techniques and ideas but I think the work is beautiful and thoughtful and the message behind it is really important. The exhibition is on at UWE, Bower Ashton, Bristol until June 11th and then at Free Range in London on the 25th. Well done Sara.