Yesterday I attended the opening night of the Aber Valley Arts Festival. I had entered three pieces of work into the competition, including ‘Moments after the big bang’. I won first prize in the textile section of the competition!
Textile art
Moments after the big bang…
Prehistoric fertility 2 finished and renamed!
I really need to learn how to take photographs! This is a dreadful picture of this textile work.
It’s framed and renamed to be entered into a local art competition – Aber Valley Arts – along with two other pieces of my artwork, but I don’t know which two yet. I have to choose then write some gumpf to go with them. I’ll be asking my pal, the head of art at work, to help me choose the others.
So, it’s been a busy morning here measuring and cutting daler-board to mount the various art works (seven in total, phew!) and calculating any aperatures that need to be cut.
Time for a ginormous mug of tea!
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Almost the end of the Summer break…
Prehistoric Fertility 2 – A work in progress
Dimensions – 23x30cm, approx. Silk fibre needle felt on a black felt background. Embellishement with beads, metallic and Japan threads, and custom-made sequins.
Photographs never seem to do my work justice, simply because I’m not a photographer. There is no idea of the shimmery nature of the work, the way that the gold Japan threads used to outline various parts of the needle felt define the shapes and provide a channel along which the colours seem to flow like oil on water. There is no sense of the texture and heights/depths that the needle felt has brought to the work, nor to the patterns and textures the beads give. The colours still look garish in the photograph, yet in the actual piece they are more subtle and muted.
I have spent many hours on this so far – around 30 I would guess. Every moment has been a pleasure, and I’ve even caught myself looking at it and smiling at how well it is working out – unusual for me as I’m my own worst critic, and it’s a step forward that I can appreciate the beauty in my creative work.
Last day of the holidays
It’s finally arrived. Today marks the end of my freedom to a degree. Tomorrow I return to work, to a structured day and all the ups and downs that go with the job that teaching is. My time for art and other pursuits will become very limited.
I had a list of things to do over the Summer, and I’ve achieved few of them, however I have achieved other things, and that is good. What is better is I’m not beating myself up about the tasks undone. There’ll be time to do them…
I will miss the slow starts to the day, the spontaneity of trips and visits and time with friends. Friday afternoon I spent with a friend in a local cafe-bar, drinking, talking about art and other things, working on art, having nice food and laughing before going to take the weekly meditation class I lead. I will miss the opportunity to do those kinds of things.
On the positive side, it won’t be long until the next school break, and there are the weekends too…
There’s definitely a coolness in the air in the mornings and evenings. It’s a feeling I associate with the coming of autumn, the return to school, the start of the new academic year and a sense of hope of better things to come, a hope that was usually misplaced, and still is. However, I still hope that a new school year and a new term will bring new attitudes, opportunities and good achievements.
This year, the new attitudes must be towards myself and my expectations of me and how I react to the poor attitude/behaviour of others. The Summer break has allowed me to relax, to become who I am meant to be. I like this person, I like the contentment within me, I like the confidence that comes with it. What I don’t want is to lose this with the stresses and strains of teaching. There’s a challenge!
One of the tasks left mostly undone over the Summer was too look for an alternative career/job, one that will allow me to use all my personal skills/talents/gifts in a positive manner. I’ve been stumped as to what to do, and looking around at available jobs there is nothing that seems to fit me, well not yet.
So that’s another task for the coming weeks – to keep looking at available jobs, to seek advice, suggestions, to continue the audit of my personal skills to help me focus on what I could do.
I have been thinking about training as a hypnotherapist. The biggest stumbling block for me is finding the money to pay the fees. I’m making enquiries about that…so finger’s crossed!
The incipient return to work has been causing some anxiety and worry with me. My meditation this morning was filled with thoughts of things that need to be done, ideas as to what to do, worries about things that cause me emotional pain …
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More needle felting …
Just finished applying the needle felting to the black felt ground. I have to admit the colours are a bit garish, even for my likes! It is all a learning process, however, and as this is something new to me, I’m exploring how it works, or doesn’t, for me, including the use of colours and so on. The ‘space dyed’ felting fibres (silk in this case) really don’t lend themselves to this kind of work…
The piece is approx 23cm x 30cm, so it’s a biggie for me! Now the fun begins, with the stitching, beads, sequins and wires that will be added for more embellishment, and perhaps these garish colours will fade into the background …
Patterns inspired by prehistoric rock art once again…
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Prehistoric Fertility 1
15×23 cm, around 12 to 15 hours of work/pleasure.
Needle felting in silk fibres, embellishments done with various metallic fibres, beads and custom made sequins.
Patterns inspired by British Prehistoric rock art and Neolithic/Bronze Age pottery.
I had my doubts part-way through whether this was going to work out, but I’m really now quite pleased with it. When friends saw it, they thought it was like cells expanding and reproducing – hence the ‘Fertility’ part of it’s title!
When I mount it for display, I’d like to put it onto a piece of slate, an old slate tile maybe; however, I have my doubts about the sensibility of that with the damage dust and fingers could do to it … I’ll work on the idea!
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Needle Felting Experiments
This week I’ve been experimenting with Needle Felting, and this is one of the works in progress. It’s approx. A5 in size, and the pattern is inspired by prehistoric rock art, something that is beautiful in it’s honesty and amazing that it has survived so many thousands of years!
Needle felting is simple enough to do – strands of un-felted fibres are laid out in the required pattern/shape and a special ‘needle’ is used to push them through the background fabric, in this case I’ve used my favourite black felt, though many different kinds of materials can be used to do this.
I thought it would be interesting to try, a change from the use of wires to lay out an abstract pattern – there is a limit to the thickness of wire I can use because I’d be unable to bend or cut it, and the weight would no doubt cause problems with the fabric ‘ground’. The relatively matt effect of the needle felted parts is a contrast to the shiny beads, sequins and threads that I love to attach to embellish the basic desigh; perhaps by using a more matt ‘outliner’ I’ll use more in the way of matt embroidery threads and other items.
I’m also conscious that the outlines I’ve created are quite ‘thin’, I need to experiment more with making much more gutsy and raised designs, so that beads and so on nestle in the valleys created by the needle felting. I also need to experiment with various fibres, such as Angelina, to add shimmer and sparkle to the needle felting. Having said that, on one of my experiments, I’ve stitched over the needle felted lines with gold thread, which creates an interesting texture.
Here’s the other two experimental pieces :
Each of these is approx. A6 in size.
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Textile work greetings cards
A friend of mine asked me late yesterday evening if I’d create a couple of cards for special birthdays, one of which is today! No chance of it getting in the post for today, but that’s fine as apparently it will work really well as a post special birthday surprise. Fortunately, I had some little textile pieces on one side that I’d wanted to frame, so instead, they’ve been trimmed and mounted on card blanks that are slightly iridescent/metallic in sheen.
They work well don’t they?
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Swirls and sparkles …
I’ve just finished this piece of art created using wires and beads and threads and custom made ‘sequins’ using black felt for the ground. It measures approx. 20cm x 15cm and has taken some 25 hours or so to make.
The inspiration for the swirls and loops comes from La Tene or early Celtic art and ammonites and shells. The sparkly-ness is all my own – my inner magpie will not be denied!
I find working with this is a lot like drawing for me, but using the wires, threads, beads and ‘sequins’ as the mark-making tools. There’s something calming about doing the work, and something magical about turning the black of the felt into something much brighter and lighter.
The choice of colours – coppers, golds, blues, greens, with the odd dark metallic purple and brown – was specifically for the friend who asked me to create a textile artwork for them. They love all shades of blue, but especially turquoise, and copper and the gold and greens and other colours just seemed to go with these.
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Lazy days…
So tired
This has been another weekend of sheer laziness. All I’ve done, mostly, is sleep or read or just potter and potch around the place. All I can say is I must need this quiet time for whatever reason. I’m most probably emotionally exhausted after a long term and a long year at school, as well as from such a busy fortnight with things happening in the evening. No, not partying, but various classes and workshops and talks. It all tires one out. Perhaps this quiet time will mean that I recover sooner in the summer hols so that I can enjoy more of them.
Part of me is being hard on me for not using the time more productively, for not being busy, busy, busy. Part of me is patting myself on the back for listening to myself and taking time out. I wouldn’t sleep if I wasn’t tired or didn’t need it. I’d have the inspiration to create if I was fully charged. And if I catch up somewhat with myself I’ll have time in the summer hols to find the inspiration and lose myself in things that bring me pleasure.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
I went to see this on Friday afternoon. It was good, but somehow anticlimactic. I can’t put my finger on it, perhaps it’s simply because the book had so much more in it, or my imagination is so much more vivid. Or maybe it’s because it’s come to an end, for now. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more of the wizarding world in the future; I don’t think J K Rowling can keep away from it for much longer!
I’ve been reading these books by Lauren Kate. It took a while to get into Fallen, but since I have done so I’ve been engrossed by them (hence the weekend of reading!). I read Fallen in three or four days, Torment took just two days, and I’m stuck into Passion now. All I can say is I’d never thought I’d be reading and enjoying books that had angels in them! Wizards, witches, sorcerors, orcs, elves, fairies, nac-mac-feegles, and others yes, but angels? I’d recommend the books as a lovely escape with exciting and heart-wrenching moments, as well as moments of that perfect, romantic, sensual love that can only exist in dreams (I think – though if anyone can offer me hard proof that such a love exists, then please tell me; I’ve never experienced it!).
Arty stuff.
My artistic endeavours this week have centred around my latest sketchbook which has pages being filled with work inspired by a photograph of a leaf skeleton. I’m working with different media, developing shapes and patterns and colours and so on with the aim of producing some textile work. All I know is that I’m enjoying the time I get to spend on it, which isn’t enough really. It’s not long, though, until the long holidays…not long to go. I just need to remember to borrow back my books of inspiration, particularly “Drawn to Stitch” by Gwen Hedley.
I’ve been asked to create a piece of textile art similar to this one for someone at school. That’s a summer holiday project I’m sure! Other projects will come from my sketchbook work, I think. I’d also like to spend time trying to work out how to do landscapes…my way.
Weight loss…
I’m considering joining Slimming World to kickstart myself into eating healthily, taking care of my body via the food I eat, and losing weight. Over the past couple of years my weight has steadily increased and I’m now where I was the summer after I finished with the long ago ex, which was some 13 years ago now. I’ll have to be incredibly brave and firm with myself to actually go to a meeting, and then incredibly strong and firm with myself afterwards … and forgiving should I lapse momentarily too. Believing I deserve to look after myself, treat myself well, be kind to myself is still a huge stumbling block for me.
I’m hoping that the work that has been done with me over the past three years or so will have done the equivalent of ctrl-alt-del and restarted the programs that are ‘me’ as they should run, well most of them; kind of like having the viruses removed, or at least the ones that have been identified.
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Golden Fields
Golden Fields – Abstract Textile Work
I finished this little textile piece yesterday evening. It’s approx. 9cm x 10cm and made from cream hessian painted with acrylic inks and then embellished with matt and metallic embroidery threads, beads and panels made from gold and copper leaf. The inspiration came from a piece of abstract art I did a little while ago Golden Gloucestershire Hills of Corn.
It’s taken me a week to do, half and hour here and another one there, as school does interfere with my creativity. I’m quite pleased with it, but prefer to work on felt as the contrast between the beads, threads, fibres and custom made panels/sequins is so much more apparent. I do need to get some cream felt and see if the inks will work on that just as well …
Mind you, I have loads of these little bits of textile art to mount and frame now … that will really finish them off nicely I think! As well as make them ready for sale …
School…
Yes, it was the return to school on Monday… huge sigh here. The week started off with an hour and a half meeting about what to do about the behaviour/attitude in school, with some refusing to acknowledge there is a problem. Every time the teaching staff, or care staff, or non-teaching staff mention that things are getting worse we get the comments of the last inspection report thrown at us as evidence that it is not bad. Errm, the inpsection was five years or so ago now, things HAVE changed in that time.
Five years ago relationships between staff and pupils were good, they still are now, in well defined pockets, but there are an increasing number of disruptive pupils in every single class… We have one of the highest exclusion rates for schools in our county, yet we don’t have a problem. That’s a contradiction if I ever heard one!
At the end of the meeting there was no change. Any ideas the teaching staff came up with were dismissed as either un-staffable, unaffordable or needing the consensus of parents to put into place (which begs the question – who is in charge of the school?).
Has anything changed since? No. I still get verbally abused, aggressively spoken to, shouted at, defied and questioned ‘why’ when I ask, quite firmly but politely, for a pupil to stop talking, to get on with their work, to stop disturbing others, to take their coat off … I did comment about the defiance as not being the same as The Defiant, a tough little ship featuring in Star Trek Deep Space 9, though it could be useful to have around as a defence. Mind you a pair of Klingons or Jem’Hadar would work wonders in the class; you’d have no messing with them around. A couple of Jedi with light sabers may work just as well …
Thank goodness I was told about a light at the end of the tunnel to aim for, maybe, but more of that when it all comes to pass …
Stress and marble-work
Another good point about the week is that I’m finally learning that this attitude is nothing to do with me, particularly, other than I’m a teacher. Although it seems personal, it’s not really. My stress levels do go up, I do my best not to lose my temper (though it can be incredibly hard at times) and do my best to calm down asap afterwards, so these are all very much positive steps forwards.
I do seem to be coping better in school, though maybe not as well as I would like. This gives time in the weekly marble sorting out sessions (also known as counselling) to work on the knotty issues of self-love, self-esteem, self-image and so on…and hopefully unlearning the messages from the past about myself, what other people wanted me to believe about myself … it’s not easy, but it is possible!
Art is the Adventure 