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.