Freeform Crochet Bag and a visit to a Kaffe Fassett Seminar.

I am getting very excited about going to see Kaffe Fassett at Toft Alpaca in Dunchurch, Rugby tommorow. Its nearly a 3hr drive for me to get there so I will be leaving pretty early in the morning.

I have a new bag to wear to show my love of colour, its one I have been working on in between other jobs for the last 2 months.

I have mixed together knitting, scumbled crochet and weaving. There are little scraps of vintage fabrics woven into gaps, unusual yarns crocheted onto the surface and some ceramic buttons by Tony’s mum along with a mixture of others.

I have admired Kaffe Fassetts work since the 80’s when I used to do a lot of intarsia knitting.

I love love love all the colours he uses and the way he paints with fabric,yarn and texture.

I’m also looking forward to meeting lots of other colour loving people. Its going to be a fun day…and I have heard even the alpacas are sporting a bit of colour 😉

Colourday Owls Owls and more Owls.

I am seeing so many Owls around and about I thought I would share some.

Apparently ancient cultures believed the owl offered protection against evil spirits and ill health.

Here’s a few colourful happy owls. If you click on the photographs it will take you to the source of each one. There are some very talented artists and makers out there!!

I love these boots!!

Owl dress by Orla keily for people tree.

 

 

Retro folk art owls.

colourful crochet owls.

Owl by Ashley Percival

There are soooo many more around all cute and colourful.

 

Have a great weekend T . x

Painting One View. Greenhouse.

I spent a lovely day out in the sun painting with friends.

I am suffering for it tonight though..I’ve gone a bit red.

It was so nice to be out in the sunshine we didn’t want to stop.

After about 4 weeks I feel like I am starting to get back to my old style and am really enjoying it.

I think this one is actually finished though I may be tempted to tweak it slightly after looking at it over the next week.

Finished still life paintings.

I invited Nicky back today to finish her painting , and left the still life set up over night so she could carry on. I’m so pleased I did as I think her painting is fantastic for someone who has never painted before. It would have been such a shame not to have finished it. I did a bit more to mine, but am not that pleased with it (I don’t think we ever are with our own) I di love the colours in both pictures though and think they would look perfect in my kitchen 😉

Painting club progress.

On Wednesdays I am running a little painting club.

Today I had set up a couple of still lifes, not sure who was turning up (its early days) as I had not managed to see my friends all week.

I picked some flowers from the garden and put a few colours together. 

Then Nicki arrived with lunch that she had made and a bunch of gorgeous flowers, which went really well with some of the other china, in a colourful sort of way.

The other ladies were delayed so me and Nicki started on our own, first doing a couple of sketches with charcoal.

Then painting on board. I was talking about how to mix colours and muttering out loud about what I was putting on the board. Nicki has not painted before so it was all about experimenting with the colours.

I love the results 🙂 R arrived with cakes, but that didn’t stop Nicki she carried on painting while nibbling cake. R sat in my favorite seat and carried on with her landscape painting from last week..then we ran out of time and it was all jump in cars for the school run!

My painting is not quite finished and Nicki is coming back in the morning to finish hers as its easy enough for me to leave it set up.

It was a lovely day, and I did start off a bit exhausted and grumpy from not sleeping well ( a regular thing these days). It was so relaxing spending the morning painting and I can’t wait to do some more.

Colourday: A visit to Butterfly Bright full of my favorite colours!

Today I went to Butterfly Bright in Sherborne for a Yarn Bee (knit and natter), a morning of crochet chatting and eating cake in a very colourful shop owned by Ali Nurts (@AliNurts on twitter)

I met some lovely ladies who were being taught to crochet by Caroline Bradshaw (@carolinemakesit).

Now to the colour! Beautiful buttons.

Yummy fabrics (these are 30% off at the moment)

Gorgeous bundles of felt.

Colourful displays.

Cute little containers by Rice which I could not resist..

because they are all my favorite colours 🙂 They will soon be full of beads and buttons, great to take with me when I’m running workshops.

Ali also now stocks my cards,brooches and jewellery. 

What a fab day.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend T x

Colourday: Crazy Colourful Circles.

I love circles especially in lots of different colours. 

Painted.

Crochet .

Decals.

On tree stumps.

A scarf made of circles.

Circles in design.

Circle shades.

 

Happy Colourday 🙂

T x

 

If you click on the pictures it will take you to the source 🙂

An evening walk in search of a flock of starlings at Shapwick Heath.

I was lucky enough to go to Ham Wall NNR with my eldest son for an evening walk on the Somerset Levels. I had discovered this beautiful place with my partner and youngest son on Sunday and forgot my battery for my camera doh! We had noticed in one of the hides that a massive flock of starlings had been seen around the lake. So I thought I would go back with George who is into photography.

We got to Shapwick Heath about 6.15 and started to walk around to the hide over the lake.

It is such a different view of Glastonbury Tor. You’d never believe that this peaceful place is just 4 km from Glastonbury. 

I love the inky blue colour of the water.

The reflections.

We saw Swans and ducks, and heard a Bitterne. There are also otters that live in these reed beds.

We got to the hide over the lake and  sat enjoyed the view and the sound of birds, and waited to see if the starlings would appear. 

At 7.30 we saw the starlings fly past… lots of them all heading to a massive gathering way into the distance, just visible as a black swirl above the trees on the left of the Tor.

We were on the wrong side of the lake. Whoops.

We walked back as the sun went down.

The colour of the sky changing slowly to night.

It was a fantastic evening and so nice to be able to natter to George as an adult. 

We drove around to the other side which is Ashcot, now we know where to go we will be back.  I can’t believe this place is so close to us and we never knew it existed. One of the most gorgeous places I have been to, so unspoilt and we didn’t see anyone else all evening.

x

Colourday: Some eggcellent Easter colours.

These pictures have made me want to paint and dye some eggs, I don’t think they’l come out like the ones above but it will be a fun project with Arthur.

The handpainted eggs are believed to ward off evil spirits and protect the household.  If you click on the last picture it will take you to some more amazing photographs of the eggs being painted in East Germany.

None of the pictures belong to me and each one is linked to the original source.

Have a great Good Friday 🙂 x

A good day spent painting.

Its been a very long time since I got my paints out. I have been sketching a lot and using oil pastels which I really don’t get on with.

It was such a relief to find I have not completely lost the knack of painting.

A quick sketch to start with.

Then laying down the foundation colours. I am doing the Somerset Arts Week in September as part of a group exhibiting at The Little House Of Art Bed and Breakfast in Glastonbury.

So for my theme I have chosen ‘A view from Glastonbury Tor’, I love the amazing view from up on the hill which changes so much with the light and the seasons. I think rather than painting the Tor I will be looking outwards. I will also make some jewellery and accessories for the exhibition reflecting the colours and textures I capture along the way.

My first painting is starting to come together, there a still a few layers to go and quite a bit of tweeking. It will be interesting to see how it develops. While it dries between each layer I will start another one.SAW