STOP MOANING!

Usually aimed at myself, the phrase, stop moaning does appear quite often in my inner monologue (often along with, 'I can't do this' and 'my lungs are going to explode and I'm going to die') and I get quite sick of myself. 

So I decided to challenge myself to the positive thinking mindset of not complaining, moaning or whinging for 24 hours and invited others to join in. 

I think I did ok today, nearly slipped into a quick moan at work, but stopped myself, just in time. 

It's harder than it sounds, because the real challenge is to stop the inner moaning. The stuff that isn't verbalised that is a diatribe of negativity is the real battle. 

It's that negative nag, the monkey mind, that keeps us in a destructive dialogue with ourselves. 

My challenge for the rest of the week? To stop taking notice of the inner whiner.  

Micro mosaic pendants

I've recently been exploring micro mosaicing to make pendants. 

I've used millifiore glass, ceramics and recycled pieces of jewellery.

I've really enjoyed making these, they are a pleasurable item to make that feel lovely to hold. 

There's still a few available although they have been selling really quickly. In looking forward to how visitors to the upcoming craft fairs will react to them. 

Too busy to blog!

I never know whether it's a good or bad sign that I'm too busy to blog... 

I need to write the words that get stuck on my head for a bit of clarity and stop a big tangled web of letters bumping into each other... But then I get so busy that I don't have time to stop and reflect, which I also love, the adrenaline of being busy organising events, taking part in art fairs, planning meetings, funding meetings... and making sure I exercise for my own sanity to keep those feel good endorphins flowing. 

I think that balance has been missing, the time alone to reflect and think, to read and drink tea. To walk my dog through woods. This weekend has been one of those welcome respites to the hectic run up to Xmas, with the opportunity to climb up the steep hill near my studio and crunch some autumn leaves, to laugh at my dog trying to squeeze her middle age spread through a stile (climb over!) and to take some photos of trees. 

A brief interlude before the mad rush of domestication. 

Inspiration.

A short while ago I was chatting with a friend about the quality of our materials and how our own pride and integrity won't let us use inferior quality art materials. 

This differs from the ethos of recycling and I think a good attitude for an artist, for whom the aesthetic is all important. For me it means a certain level of pride in my work is present. An attitude of 'I deserve better quality of canvas to work on because my work is worth it'.

However, I still have a few cheap canvas's leftover. What do I do with them? I no longer want to paint on them but I can't throw them away as that would be wasteful. So they have become the base for some new experiments, I have been working on and have been completely transformed by layers of paper, paint and wax. I hope you like the result. 

I love how I found myself challenged and inspired to thing laterally about using a base material. I'm really pleased with the outcome. 

September means new planning.

September and October are my favourite months. I love this time of year when the sun is still shining but there is a crispness in the year, while the colours become vibrant and delicious, I get a new burst of energy as new plans start to take form. 

I've also collected a plethora of inspirational material over the summer, taken visits to the seaside, enjoyed camping trips, late nights and bonfires.  

I've got a lot of source material sat waiting for the kids to embark on their usual routines and an order of new canvas's has just been delivered to explore some Wabi Sabi inspired paintings. 

Finding Stuff.

It has taken a while to settle into this new space, but I think I'm getting there. It's starting to feel like my space to work and explore ideas, it's especially lovely at the weekends, when I have the whole building to myself! No creaking from upstairs or worrying that my music has snuck up to loud and disturbing next door....

The other bonus is that I'm slowly having a good sort and organise of my stuff. I have a LOT of stuff. The textiles have been sorted, mosaic tiles sorted and colour coordinated, canvas's leant up. 

I also found a small stack of Handmade journals which I used to love making. These are made from scratch, I've made the silk paper for the cover, glued and pressed pages, Japanese stitch and bound them together, many hours of lovingly crafting these small tomes. 

So having revisited this making last month at the request of my daughter for a leather bound journal, I've discovered my supply of raw silk to make paper with and started exploring handmade journals again. I also found the notes I'd made at University when I attended the lectures and workshops on bookbinding. I'm not sure how I'd forgotten about attending these workshops! 

Rejuvenating old work

One of the advantages of moving studio space is that I have found lots of old pieces of artwork. Little cards I'd made, small textile experiments and old sketchbooks full of ideas never realised. 

So when a new book arrived on my doorstep, 'Wabi Sabi' by Serena Barton, I embraced my revitalised creativity (thanks to a trip to see Chagall at Tate Liverpool) and used some of Bartons suggestions for experimenting. It's an American based book, so a lot of the products she suggests aren't available here and I'm quite tight so don't want to pay postage from the US! 

So I've embraced the Wabi Sabi philosophy, simple asymmetry using textures to celebrate the small and sublime, adapted my materials and started to rejuvenate & recycle some old pieces of artwork. 

I've come up with three abstract pieces using such a wide range of materials from kitchen towels to latex to acrylic and I'm quite pleased with the results. 

There is a lot more philosophy behind the concept of Wabi Sabi, a Japanese term to describe the aesthetic that is imperfect and impermanent that is subtle. I'm still learning about this term of philosophy but  it may just have become my latest obsession that I need to absorb and read more about.