Paying it forward with a giveaway

 A few posts ago I wrote about the trials and tribulations of my offering for this year's Bookmarks Project organised by Sarah Bodman at the Centre for Fine Print Research. After trying out some cyanotypes and some embossed lettering ideas which I felt had not hit the mark I opted for a crop from a conte drawing of mine and printed my 100 bookmarks digitally.

Well this week I received my full edition of everyone's bookmarks in the project, including one of my own of course to make up the set. It was just like Christmas when I opened the package and I have spent ages looking through them and following up the artists who've signed with an e mail or website address. They are a rich set of original prints, drawings, re-purposed book pages and clever digital work. I am a lucky girl and hope I can join in again next year too.

 Of course, now I have the luxury of hindsight and seeing other people's take on the brief, I realise I was reading it too literally. I could have easily continued with the embossed bookmarks and offered them up so next time I shall yield to my instincts and go for it. No idea is wasted though is it? At the time of the bookmark printing I used the cardboard letters to emboss a few pages of Khadi paper and I subsequently used them as end pages and internal pages within a book I made as a sample for a workshop. I now come to the bit about paying it forward as it is time I did my giveaway for reaching 500 posts since 2009. Well, in truth, I'm a few over but let's not split hairs.......

The book is A6 in size and made up of handmade Khadi cotton rag paper. The surface is slightly rough and it will take water based media to use as a small sketchbook or notebook. It is sewn over tapes and is a bit floppy as so many people have handled it but it holds chunky in the hand and would look great filled to the brim with someone's creativity. The cover is a wallpaper sample of tiles from Deborah Bowness and if you'd like to have it just leave a comment below and say so. I will leave the post up for a week to 10 days and then ask my lovely assistant to pull a name out of the proverbial hat. Once done, I'll post the winner here and they can get in touch via e mail with an address. Hope that sounds a good idea and I hope someone puts their hand up for it!

In the pink

 I have mentioned that we might be moving before now.... but, after a foray into other parts of the country to  look at properties etc we realised what a special place we live in already. Interest in our house, and our garden in particular, served to remind me how much work has gone into it. I don't want to let others reap the reward of our hard work so we're staying put for a few years yet. Besides, there's more to be done here and we still have plans for change which include a wildlife pond or a bog garden.

As if to say thank you, the garden has gone into overdrive. It looks stunning at the moment, full of colour and texture. These opium poppies were sown over a year ago and I thought they had disappeared altogether but all of a sudden they are flourishing. The gorgeous blood red one above came from seeds sent to me by the lovely Jill of Third Age Musings. It is so rich but it has to compete with a mass of this Lauren's Grape poppy that are growing up and through the cotinus bush. It looks like shot silk. Just beautiful. I shall be collecting seed and suspect I'll have a ton of it so I'll be passing some on to friends. Some  might be combined with my 500th post giveaway. Somehow I seem to be on post number 502 so have overshot the target a bit but will be posting a give away next time!

Beach finds

 It was reported in the local papers a couple of weeks ago that large numbers of barrel jellyfish (also called dustbin lid jellyfish) were washing up all over the beaches of west Wales, with Tenby's South beach being inundated with them. I had forgotten that information until we went walking on that particular beach this afternoon.

I'd got it into my head that I wanted to search out some pebbles and shells in strong shades of black or white to draw and ultimately design a print from and my husband needs no second bidding for a walk along the shoreline. Of course he walks with his head held high taking in the view whilst I walk head down,camera in hand, scanning, scanning, scanning...... and we were really surprised to come across so many jellyfish on the strandline. Somehow we'd assume they would have floated back to sea by now  but so many seem to have been washed up so high that return to the water was not to be.

 They varied in size and colour, some being a clear viscous mass and others quite a dense aquarmarine. The smallest was about a foot across but I saw a whopper or two that must have been at least a metre in diameter. Checking up when I got home, I read that they can weigh up to 40 kilos and that, although they sting, it is not a sting that will harm humans. As with a lot of large marine creatures they feed on the smallest plankton and have appeared this year because of the mild winter. Ordinarily killed off by the cold, the milder weather meant they just went further down to the sea bed and overwintered. The warmer Spring water has subsequently brought them to the surface in their droves.

 I did get a few grumpy coughs in my direction as even my patient husband got fed up with me looking at their internal mechanics and oohing and aahing at the beautiful indigo pattern that trails around their outer edge.

 When I eventually gave up the forensic examination of the jellyfish he was happy to help me collect a few things......

I love these odd little pebbles, shell fragments and stones and shall now draw them I think. I also found a lump of something on the beach that crumbled like rust so I intend to grind it down and see if it work as a natural pigment to draw or paint with. It was a lovely afternoon and the return walk through the dunes to the car park was filled with both of trying to identify the many wild flowers there were. I saw masses of flag iris in the wet area on the edge of the walk and wild carrot, speedwell, sea kale and even a Large Heath butterfly, the first one that either of us has ever seen so it was an afternoon of abundance and whilst I was sorry to see so many dead jellyfish they were a fascinating sight. I know more about them tonight that I knew this morning and any day I learn something new has to be a good one.

Is it summer at last?

 With such odd weather for the past week - all that rain and those high winds - I was wondering if summer is really here yet. After an early morning walk on Freshwater West beach this morning with only a few other souls about I think it might be. Gorgeous light bounced off the waves, so sharp it almost hurt your eyes to look at it. The rock pools were clear, the geology was stunning and all the different colours and textures in the stones were beautiful to see. A beautiful start to the day... and when I got home I noticed that the baby swallows had fledged from their nest in our little outbuilding. Watching them try to fly to build the strength up in their wings was wonderful. They flew over the field next door hawking for insects and this afternoon the farmer cut it for silage.Now it's left to dry for a few days before baleing up.  Definitely all the signs of summer in one day. Bring it on.

All done

 Just a quick update on the 100 bookmarks I mentioned in a recent post.

As I suspected, the weather turned cold and dull and all thoughts of cyanotypes went out of the window.  No sun meant no bookmarks and the plate I made for my other idea of the embossed bookmark  kept sticking to the damp paper and tearing it so everything that could go wrong did go wrong!
Having just bought a portable UV lightbox I could have done the cyanotypes on this but that would have taken a lifetime so I needed another idea quick or I'd have to face the embarrassment of failing to make the deadline and producing the goods. Not an outcome I wanted to consider. I never start anything I don't intend to finish.

With time running out I needed a solution. During a group session last week I made a sample drawing in ink and conte which everyone loved. I may well get it framed later but it has come to my rescue this weekend as I scanned it, heightened the colour in Photoshop and then printed it with five to a sheet on heavyweight inkjet paper. After lots of cutting and numbering etc I sent my 100 bookmarks off today and now I will wait to receive my set at a later date of everyone else's work.

I've no doubt there will be plenty for me to envy when they arrive but I am pleased with what I ultimately settled on. In truth, it is very 'me'. It is typical of my mark making. It is graphic and monochromatic and I am delighted to have produced a 100 of anything before the deadline in June.

Of course, I now have loads of sample cyanotype and embossed bookmarks that I started to make and there's a limit to how many books I have on the go at any one time..... so if anyone out there is desperate for a bookmark please let me know!

If only....

If ever there was a time I wished I could get on a train to London, it is now. Starting this Thursday is an exhibition at the Michael Hoppen Gallery of the photographs taken in 2004 of the clothes and belongings of Frida Kahlo.
After her death in 1954, her husband, Diego Rivera, locked all of her things away, stating that the room was not to be opened until 15 years after his death. When it was, all of these iconic belongings like her painted corsets, nail varnish bottles, sunglasses, shoes and even her prosthetic leg were photographed by Ishiuchi Miyako. Follow the link for an overview of some wonderful things.

Book up now.....

 I've mentioned many times that 2015 is the year I'm devoting to improving my drawing, but what I have not mentioned to date is the fact that I joined an art group at artist Bobby Britnell's Moor Hall Shropshire studio in January which meets monthly. Under Bobby's tutoring I have got back into the drawing groove and have enjoyed both the work and the ongoing evaluation from the others in the group. It's not always what you want to hear but it's good stuff and it has been invaluable for my confidence.

I know about Bobby's classes because I took a workshop there with Shelley Rhodes a couple of years ago and next week I am joining another, led by Matthew Harris. She attracts some wonderful artists to Moor Hall and seems to fit more into each 24 hour day than most of us! Alongside delivering her own classes here and abroad, writing books and making her own work, Bobby and her husband Martin have also devoted lots of time and resource to a charity they have set up called Hands Up For Uganda. Their passion and commitment to it  engenders lots of support from people and I thought there must be something practical I can do to help raise vital funds and support their endeavours.

So, on July 3rd I am delivering a book making workshop at Moor Hall from 10 - 4. Most materials are going to be provided and included in the cost because I'm intending that we'll make two book structures on the day and by providing pre-cut papers we will cut out a lot of time and be able to get on with things. We'll be making a hard cover and soft cover version of an A6 notebook using the french link twist binding, a good basic stitch that also forms the basis of other book formats.  People will be able to personalise their books with their own cover, tape and thread choices so, whilst we'll start out with the same basic white pages, the end results will still be very personal and unique.

I am happy to offer my time for free and I hope the event raises some serious funds for the charity. Money is needed to make and buy bricks for a school as well as many other things. If anyone reading this is in the area or not too far from those beautiful Welsh Marches, I'd love to think you might want to join us for the day. We advertised it at the start of last week and there are 7 people coming already. I don't know what the maximum might be but I'm happy to demonstrate from the car park if it means every seat is taken for such a good cause. Take a look at the links and check out Bobby's website for other courses. Mine might not float your boat but I bet there will be others that do. If you are interested in future things sign up for the newsletter, either about the workshops at Moor Hall or for Hands up for Uganda, and if you can make it on July 3rd get in touch with Bobby via e mail or phone and I look forward to seeing you there!