This week has been so cold and the frost so thick it's been a delight to feed the birds early and then sit and watch then ....trying to draw.....but much more practice needed. We love Slimbridge WWT this time of year too. Very lucky to see a water rail close up on the 21st. The Bewick swans are always a delight and easy to identify- mute swans orange beak, Bewick -yellow beaks.Christmas card envelopes turned inside out.

Drawing in

 A small experiment. Running stitch on the theme of waves or breath. Flat........

 Drawn up....... it creates pleats and folds..............

Painted .......... and the dye runs into the folds.

Finished sea box.

 The box is finished. It will contain the tiny concertina sketchbook. It has a gentle wave on the top, a sunny day, tide coming in on a sandy beach, kind of wave........

Last night and this morning was so windy. Time to think about storm waves. I got out the paints.

Box in progress

Work is never far from my mind but some weeks not much stitching is achieved. This is not a bad thing because the beauty of this craft is its slow contemplation. I am working on the box top for my tiny sea sketchbook. Leaves from the Arboretum in the background to remind me of the glorious sunshine and walk last Sunday. I meant to paint them straight away........but never mind they are beautiful as they are....... best to concentrate on one theme at a time..............

Strawberry Thief Finished.

                                                                        Finished today!

Frost and fog.

Our first hard frost on Monday, a second lighter one on Tuesday morning and then fog on Wednesday. Winter weather is inspiring but warns of worse to come. These globe thistles, Echinops, looked beautiful covered in frost.

A very successful workshop yesterday, as you can see. Everyone well on the way to completing a beautiful piece of work.

Arts & Crafts Workshop

All this week I have been preparing for the workshop in Cheltenham tomorrow. Today I am packing for it, typing notes and cutting fabric. This work has taken me out of my usual style of embroidery and has been very interesting, reminding me of those City and Guilds days of study when we had to design, trace and make repeat patterns. I had to sit a written exam where we had to answer questions and make designs off the top of our heads. A typical question might be - design a quilt for a teenager using the pages of designs you previously prepared and brought in with you. On my exam day it was so hot in the classroom my water soluble crayons melted! I think I did too with exam nerves. Well that memory makes me appreciate a nice,quiet day packing.

Strawberry Thief again

A little more stitching achieved...........

Drawing in the Museum

These are drawings from the Museum in Cheltenham, The Wilson, in preparation for my workshop inspired by their Arts and Crafts collection. I like drawing in museums it is very quiet and peaceful. Most of the work is done afterwards in the studio using back up photographs but initial sketches are made there with colour notes. I am making a concertina sketchbook to use on the workshop day and some samples. This is why teaching is so time consuming-all the preparation and thought processes involved. It is the last workshop I am giving for a while!

Slow progress

Progress is slow but I have painted the leaves in. I have been working on other things as well! I hope it is interesting to see the work in stages.

Work in progress: Strawberry Thief

I am working on inspiration from the Arts and Crafts Movement for a workshop I am giving in November for the Glos. Guild of Craftsmen. I have been sketching in The Wilson in Cheltenham in preparation. This is my version of the William Morris Strawberry Thief. They sell that card at the Museum!This summer it was the blackbirds that got to my strawberries first, but I decided to  make the thief colourful as Morris did. In this damp weather it's good to have a quiet bit of stitching to get on with.

Tiny Sea memories sketchbook

I am working on a little sea memories book from my weekend away in Dorset. It is a concertina book 6cm x 8cm when closed up - the beginning for my next series of work. Initial ideas and experiments.

A few days away for inspiration.

Wonderful weekend - on the Jurassic coastline for a few days- lots of inspiration everywhere in the strata of these cliffs for example.

Also walked in the Holloways, the amazing drovers paths that cross Dorset. I'm a big fan of Robert Macfarlane's  books- these paths are featured in The Wild Places and The Old Ways. We found them last year whilst the BBs were exhibiting at Bridport and it was so wet and the paths so caved in we turned back. made it further this time, it's like walking in a tunnel with the trees arched high above you. Lots of inspiration to meditate on.

Down to the seaside this weekend, hope this glorious weather continues!

The Seas breath- a meditation on water. Not a new piece, it was shown last year at Bridport but something I was reminded about today, using water sounds to quiet the mind.

More paper experiments- all have to be finished by the weekend! Nothing like a deadline to get you working.......

I am working on some pieces for the Guild at 51, for their paper exhibition. I am enjoying experimenting with paper, fabric and thread. They will be small portfolio pieces- the exhibition within the gallery starts on Sept 2nd.

Print workshop

I had a lovely day on Saturday at Cotswolds Embroiderers Guild in Cheltenham taking a print workshop. A very successful day and a chance to use my gelli plate I bought at the N.E.C. I need a lot more time playing with it! The gold textile paint worked very well too. I'm not doing any workshops next year and just the Glos Guild one in Nov now, which is fully booked but I have said I would do a taster workshop for Lizzi Walton at Select in Cheltenham late October. More details when I know more myself.

Yesterday I went to the N.E.C. with Linda Babb (also a Brunel Broderer) to the Festival of Quilts. You need a lot of energy to get around all the quilts and stalls.I bought a geli plate for the printing workshop I am giving tomorrow with the Cotswold Guild and I had a go on the Janome embellisher - see my sample above- which I am thinking of buying. So many quilts to see and beautiful things to buy. Naturally we came home penniless and footsore! 

The bees knees!

Well the exhibition is over! Two days to put it up and only two hours to take it down. So many lovely comments and a great weekend to finish on. It was really busy with people coming back for a final look. A memorable picnic on Sunday with friends in glorious weather. The Brunel Broderers are very taken with the House and grounds and are planning an exhibition there in 2016, so great to think I will be back. This is my interpretation of the bee teapot in the blue and white china cabinet, an unframed piece. This and some of the pictures and sketchbooks will now go over to The Guild at 51 in Cheltenham. So if you've missed it you can still see the work there. You can purchase directly from me. A few days now to tidy up and then onto some new work!

Last week of exhibition.

It's the last week of the Newark Park exhibition (National Trust house, Ozleworth. GL12 7PZ). It will be open 11-5 from Weds to Sunday- 23rd-27th July. Rosemary and I will be there on Sunday, the final day, to talk about the work and sales can be taken away that day. Come and look at Rosemarys jewellery, talk to her about how she makes it and look at her sketchbooks to show how she found the inspiration for the textures in the Park.
This is the largest exhibition of my work for a very long time. There are 16 pictures and 5 sketchbooks on display. About 18 months of work for me. Everyone always wants to know how long a piece takes and that's a hard one to answer as they are so different and I work on several at a time but my output is about one a month, with the research and drawing that goes with the work. This picture is called Buzzards over the Woods. It is hard to photograph because it is long and narrow. I saw the buzzards in a gap in the trees overhead as I walked down the carriage drive on one visit. The background is taken from a sampler in the swan bedroom.
On Monday we will dismantle the exhibition and then collapse in a heap to recover!

Lichen and lace- inspired by the lichen on the stone walls of Newark Park, Ozleworth. and the lace on a marble bust. The exhibition in on until the 27th July. See earlier posts for details.

drawing the beach finds.

In May we went to the Isles of Scilly for a weeks holiday. It was glorious. Now the intense work of getting an exhibition together is over I need a quiet, reflective period to take stock and recover!  I can start work on my holiday sketchbook at last and pore over my beach combing finds. I have bought a few Inktense pencils to play with (water soluble) bright colours that bleed into the paper. Visitors love the sketchbooks at the exhibition- they comment on those more than anything else- is it because they are so personal or do they provide the link between the stitched pieces and the objects found in the house and gardens?

These three pieces were inspired by the blue and white china collection in the cabinet on the top floor at Newark Park. On Sunday, July 6th, Rosemary and I will be at the exhibition and I will be giving some talks about the work.

These are pictures from my exhibition, Silver and Thread at the National Trust house, Newark Park, Ozleworth, Glos. GL12 7PZ The exhibition is on until July 27th and open 11-5 daily Weds- Sunday. It is at the top of the house in the exhibition room and the view is wonderful! My friend Rosemary Cochrane is showing her gorgeous silver jewellery and I have a years worth of embroidery and sketchbooks. All the work was inspired by the house and gardens. We have been visiting regularly to draw and photograph and generally take in the atmosphere. Meet the makers days are July 6th and 27th, but we are going over most weekends to see what is happening. Everything is for sale, you can take an order form and envelope and secure your sale with a red dot.  N.T. at Newark Park Tel. No. 01453 842644 for any more info.