Woke up it was a Chelsea morning...

That Joni Mitchell song really shows my age doesn't it? How naff can I get! Anyway, after watching all the Chelsea Flower Show things on telly this week I wondered if my garden was going to be 'trendy' this year. Have I got enough claret and dark purple I wonder? I loved the garden with the irises and grasses but as they flower at completely different times of the year I think it will not happen here. My grasses are just rousing themselves whilst other things are racing away.... but I have a few 'Chelsea' trends around (sort of...)

Moths in declining numbers

The weather here in West Wales finally turned as warm as everywhere else yesterday afternoon so we decided to have a moth trap last night. It turned cold about 10.00pm so that could account for lower numbers than we'd expect at this time of year. They are still not showing in the volumes that we'd hope to see. If you're interested in butterflies and moths it is a worrying trend. To date, aside from the ever successful Cabbage White, we have only seen four butterflies we need to keep track of - Orange Tip, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Speckled Wood. There should be more of them out there so we're hoping for a change in the weather (warmer please!) and a reversal of fortunes......

We had about 25 moths this morning to record and it was lovely to see a White Ermine (above) and an Angle Shades (below).

This little chap is a Spectacle Moth - so called because when you look at him head on........

........you can see he's gone to Specsavers!

Creative Kates

Looking out of my window today I realised I have just missed the fledging of our blue tit family but I have seen newly fledged magpies strutting their stuff - as well as two young jays soaking up the sun in the garden. The feathers on the tops of their heads have still not formed completely so they were a trifle bald! In contrast it made their eyes look enormous, but I can forgive anything when I catch a glimpse of that stunning azure blue and black colour to their wing feathers. It made me think of all things avian and it reminded me about the 'avian' work of two artists, both called Kate.

This sculpture is called 'Bird in the Hand' and it is a bit surreal for me, yet it strangely appeals. It is by an artist called Kate Street. Have a look at more work here.

Similarly, Kate McGwire is also working some of her pieces with an avian twist. These are pigeon feathers and I am in awe of the ingenuity and patience involved in creating these works. See more here.

Glen Skien

On my journey home to Wales I picked up an Australian crafts magazine the other day and found an article in there about a printmaker called Glen Skien. He produces etchings, assemblages, box works and artists books. These few pictures don't do justice to his work so go check it out here. I'm not a great fan of the figurative etchings but love the thought processes behind the box works and collages.

I was on the return journey from the South West Textile Group's exhibition 'Glove Affair', currently on at Radstock Museum until the end of the month. Could not take any photos or find many here but it is definitely worth a look.

Too long in the compost heap!

I posted a few weeks ago about the encaustic work of Lorraine Glessner and decided to wrap a few pieces of calico with waste material and throw them in my compost bins. After a fortnight I retrieved one piece which had some interesting marks on it but left the others alone for a further week.

Deciding that not much was happening I then transferred them a fortnight ago to my grass clippings heap, intending to leave them for a while. However, last night, the inclination seized me to check on their progress..... and am I glad I did, or else I would have had nothing to check on if I'd left it any longer! The fabric had just rotted away in the heat of the pile and all I could find from three large pieces of fabric were these fragments.

But.... look at some of these wonderful marks. They are just glorious but I cannot for the life of me remember which plant material made these wonderful range of colours.

If I can salvage enough of a piece without rips or tears I shall now cover a small canvas and paint the canvas with layers of wax to see what the effect is. As I've never done this before it will be yet another experiment. My only worry is that any slight pull on the fabric just rips it so I will have to be careful. Alternatively, what better reason to get out there and bury some more?

Busy, busy, busy....

I've tried to post a couple of times in recent weeks but out here, in the land where broadband is a myth, the connection has been a struggle. Coupled with this I have been busy in the workshop getting on with my projects.

My friends and I met last week and went through our samples we'd worked on. There were some amazing pieces. Now we're all going to produce a completed piece of work by mid July. I'm already thinking through some ideas based around either the culture of drinking tea or focussing on the trials of being left-handed.... watch this space.

In the meantime I've been progressing my papier mache dress form and I've done four layers, sanded and primed it, finishing with a final layer of collaged painted papers. The flesh areas are white on black and vice versa for the dress as you can see here.

After finishing the collaging the idea was to paint the flesh and dress using a glazing medium with acrylic paint but the medium did not work as I expected it to. So, I've used a transparent red oxide acrylic paint for the body and will now have to see how it dries as well as have a re-think on how to colour the rest of it. Alternatively, I might just paint it over and do something else entirely different. I can be that unpredictable, so who knows. I've also been making printing plates, going to the Textile Festival in Stroud (very good) and preparing for a machine embroidery workshop tomorrow. On Tuesday we're popping down to Radstock and Glastonbury to see a couple of textile exhibitions. I'll report back!

Just because it's a beautiful day...

Up early. Sun shining. The ground lush and green from all the dew. Swallows racing in and out of the pig cott doorway. Blue Tits have taken up residence in the nesting box by the side of this too. I think it's going to be a wonderful summer. Flowers and leaves just beg to be photographed, painted, printed.....