Creative Threads

I had every intention of blogging more this week but every time I tried to upload photo's the children beat me to it for various reasons, mainly home work but also UTube and Facebook!

At this time of year it's difficult to be motivated when it's cold and dark, which is why I could quite happily hibernate.

Alternatively I just want to curl up with a good book or watch a feel good film.

Then I start feeling restless like I should be doing something like...cleaning, except I decide to go through my sketch books trying to find inspiration for a new project.

I had some sketches of a statue I did back in the summer and this became my starting point for my thread mask.

A face sculptured in thread, following the contours of the features like a map, the face becomes just a different type of landscape.

I also found time to do some work in my sketch book, just scribbling lots of small pictures, playing with different patterns and colours with oil pastels.

I'm hoping these will keep me busy with my threads well into the New Year!

P.S I have spent most of the afternoon watching feel good films and yes the house is a mess.

Embroidery And Threads

Oh dear!

The thread pile has grown again.

I have been very absorbed in my large textile and my thread pile has sort of spread into my stitching!

I have been adding more textural stitching to the foreground by hand.

I still have a lot more stitching to add, as I need to make the texture blend more into the background.

I have placed one of my brooches against the piece for you to see this is so much larger than my normal work.

I hope the scale of stitching is working in this piece, I'm constantly changing threads!

I needed to get back to some smaller stitched brooches and I have made this lace tree.

I thrive on the satisfaction of completing an art work and this is why I usually stitch on a smaller scale.

It's quite exhausting working on this larger landscape, but at the same time I feel I'm really pushing myself.

One of the positive aspects of blogging is, I have even more of an incentive to complete it!

Silver Tree & More Threads

I must be slightly mad, I spend entire days just threading up sewing machines and then I come home and do the same!

As the art & design technician I spend a lot of time helping students, by showing them how to set up the machines and how best they can use them.

So I'm surrounded by threads at work and at home, obsessed I am!

These are a few of the smaller stitched pieces I have been working on, including a commission of a silver tree for Carolyn over at http://love-stitching-red.blogspot.com/.

Luckily she likes it!

I must say thank you to Linda who cheered me up, she sent me some fun handmade book marks from her give away.She makes very pretty jewellery too, you can find out more from her blog

http://aefondkis.blogspot.com/

Recently I found out that a friend of mine has a relative who stitches and she has a blog too, a small world!

You can see Ruth's embroidery work on her blog here http://rutholearytextileart.blogspot.com/

Ruth uses some very beautiful traditional embroidery techniques including goldwork and applique.

Thanks again for your lovely comments and now it's time for me to sort out school lunch boxes!

Threads & Sketches

Well it's taken me quite a while to get on the computer as we have been so busy since we got back from our holidays.

Look at my messy desk again!

The vintage embroidery I found in a small shop in Bude.

I could not resist it, it's so beautifully stitched, I had to give it a home amongst my threads.

As promised a couple of quick sketches I made on holiday which I may paint and then progress to thread and fiber.

So lots to keep me busy again and I still have new items to add to etsy!

Hope you have a good week.x

Threads & Trees

You may have seen these pictures on flickr but I thought they should be part of my blog.

It has rained here on and off all day and I have been sorting out all my wool and threads.

I always need some time between projects to think and draw and today has been a good time to do that.

I popped over to the Art Gallery in the Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa yesterday and they now have my brooches on display.

It is a lovely gallery, opposite a beautiful park, so if you ever come to visit Leamington do take a look.

If you click here you will find a lot of information about the town and pictures.

I will post more art exhibition pictures in the week.

Bye for now.x

Inspired By Threads

Hi,

This week I am off work for half term week, although I was at school yesterday helping students with their GCSE exam projects.

I found this bag of threads I had forgotten about which I just love, even in this tangled mess!

The purple tree above will become a tree brooch and work is progressing on this art piece of an orange tree from an idea in my sketch book.

I yearn for blue skies and warm sunshine and it seems to be influencing my choice of colours.

Hope your having a good week.

Tree Badges

Hi,

My Mum found these beautiful vintage silk threads and she knew how excited I would be to use them.

They are so fine and the mix of colours and lustre are beautiful.

So the best therapy for me is to keep busy and last night I started these tree badges.

Intense colours shining against the wool.

I also want to try out pattern ideas from this painting in my sketch book.

Shopping list Saturday will be on my usual Sunday.

We are off to take the dog for a nice long walk, the sun is out!

Threads

I have been sorting out my work table today.

Since I had my embellisher machine, which was a surprise Christmas present last year from my husband, I can never seem to throw out any scraps of thread or fabric away.

I think I may have some kind of obsessed thread fetish!

I'm sure I may have said that before...sorry.

Even when I'm at school I check the bins after the textile classes to save thread.

You can imagine what the children quite happily chuck in the bin and I'm the one who is fishing it all out again!

I keep a lot of old trimmings and threads in my Marshall & Snelgrove vintage box.I believe this was an old department store in London's Oxford Street which closed in the 1960's.

Threads are exciting because they can become anything I want them to be, is that my fascination?

Even the smallest amount can transform from a twisted scrap to an image from my dreams .Here are some more threads that have become trees.

More Creative Mess

Tree Brooche sold

I think I may need to sort this out today!

When I am in my creative world I cause havoc around me!

If you love threads as much as I do you will love this picture or you may despair at my unorganized mess.

I am sure if I kept going you would find me buried under the pile of silk tops, wool, threads and more threads, not to mention paints, pastels and books!

The trouble is do I have time to tidy when I am in full flow ? ... no, yet now I must pause so I don't waste time finding that exact colour of thread I need, although I quite enjoy that.

I am in such disarray that I still need to do my Shopping List Saturday , I hope to bring you that later but I really must sort myself out.