A little bit of time

Well I have had a little time during the first week of the holidays to do this piece.
I am quite fond of bugs and so is she, they can be very pretty if you look up close. But don't look too close otherwise they will become a little bit nasty. She is not quite finished, there are a few more details I need to add.

These are the wings from the poor bug I mentioned in an earlier post...

I am not sure how many works I should have to start with on esty? people seem to have lots and lots... I have 5 so far. Maybe that is a good start and if none sell then I haven't wasted too much time.

This could be the reason why I am feeling quite restless at the moment, things aren't quite right and I haven't been sure why? Maybe it is the coming of autumn? I feel an urgency in the air around me, like I should be completing tasks, checking things off a list. (I don't have a list and I can't find a pen) and I should be far too busy to be thinking about the shape of my toenails.

last work before the holidays

So... in less than an hour our school holidays will start and this will probably be my last piece I'll be able to get done in the next two weeks till life goes back to normal.

I am not sure whether it is finished or not... sometimes it is hard to know when to stop adding bits.

She has a lot of things on her mind and doesn't realise she has sheep watching her... (I am not really fond of sheep)

It is a close up and not the whole piece, the rest just has more of the same at the top and bottom. I think I do like it just as it is.

New work

Well here is another piece of work just finished last night... the birds she's supposed to be minding for her Aunt have escaped. She is not really bothered about catching them, just another thing to fit into her busy day. Something she is bothered about though is her new frock, which reminds me of a poem I love by Dorothy Parker...

Travel, trouble, music, art,
A kiss, a frock, a rhyme-
I never said they feed my heart,
But still they pass my time.

my space

I have found it really interesting looking at other peoples studio spaces... So I thought I would show you mine. It is in a sunny spot at the end of the kitchen.

The wooden unit at the end has most of my supplies I use on a day to day basis, luckily my work is usually quite small as I don't have much room for drying and storing of half finished works. But it is funny when I clear off the table completely I still seem to work on only a small area. I have had a few pieces of work that our cat 'Holly' has put her mark on... if I leave them lying around she stands on them (for some reason she like to sit on paper)? when she feels the stickyness of the ink she shakes her foot then runs away leaving little cat prints all over the floor and fluff all over the work.

And in the pictures below is my store cupboard where I keep the supplies that I don't need so often, or where I shove things when we have people come round.

I love my little area where I can play and create, it is so very important for me to have this space. I am looking forward to getting into it tonight after work and the shopping and getting tea and tending to kids... to get in there and get my hands dirty.

Where to now?

I have finished all the works I have had on the go, filled all the galleries orders and now have time to concentrate on some new works... works I was so passionate about a few weeks ago. But now I don't know if what I am doing is the right thing, why am I thinking that putting works onto canvas is better? what is wrong with works on paper?

I guess it comes down to people wanting framed finished works... but it hasn't really been a problem in the past, people are more then happy to buy my work unframed. I like the look of them on the canvas frames, but I do worry that they are just pieces of paper stuck to a frame.

I am also thinking of selling on etsy at some stage and that worries me too.

All a bit of a worry today.

A horrid thing I have done

I have been collecting dead cicadas I have found over the past few years. I love the wings they are so pretty and delicate.

A while ago I found a beautiful specimen on the path in front of me... I bent down and reached my hand out, to my surprise it didn't fly away. I picked it up and took it into my office, I opened all the doors and windows and thought to myself if it purks itself up it can fly away and if not...

I went to the kitchen to get a coffee and came back and heard a horrid noise. I had stood on the cicadia, I felt sick and so very mean. It had flown from the table onto the floor and not out the window as we'd planned.

Months and months later I still think of that poor cicada.

(the above wings are not from the cicada mentioned).

I like it here can I stay?

I remember as a kid not wanting to have a bath, I liked the dirt it reminded me of the day, the smell of my grass stained knees and little bits of blood and scratches here and there.... BUT once I was in there I didn't want to get out (like all kids). I also remember sharing baths with other kids. When some of Mum and Dads friends would come over at the end of the day they would shove us all into the bath together before pj time.

a close up... I am not sure weather they have actually put any water in the bath or not?

Maybe they are having a "dry clean" as my Grandmother would call it.
She used to have one of those medic alert buttons around her neck that you press in case of an emergency. One day my mother got a call to say the alarm had been activated. When my Mum let herself into my grandmothers house she could hear giggles coming from the end of the house she found my grandmother sitting fully clothed in the bath, laughter tears streaming down her cheeks... she had hoped into the bath with her clothes on to make sure she could get out before she went in naked... well she couldn't get out. She said she was having a dry clean. I do miss her.

mouths

Not sure whether I prefer these new mouths on my girls or the old scratched ones below?

The full lips look more real, but the eyes are weird, might need some more practice on those. Gives them a different personality then the scratched ones. Not as friendly? could be the odd eye wear she chose to wear? My daughter said they don't look like my girls anymore.

I do like the old scratched mouths, and the eyes, maybe because they are familiar?

The mouths are scratched and stitched because I didn't want them to talk, but now maybe it is time for them to speak if they want to...?





I guess it is like my new black shoes I bought, I wasn't sure of them when I first got them but the more I wear them the more I love them... they are familiar now.

Half finished

My new, but not quite finished piece of work...

I am really liking the way I can get different effects for the backgrounds instead of the old silk tissue, so many more options now.

It is all very exciting really, I am hoping they will look alright on canvas and then be able to be scanned from that?