Trying to get organised

The posts on this blog have been very infrequent and haphazard.  This is mostly due to the pressure of working a painting a day plus the Jane Davies workshop that produced around 150 pieces of work over the six weeks it ran.  I wish there was something similar for textiles as she is such a positive influence.  If you would like to see some of that work, visit my other blog, lynneporterartmatters.blogspot.co.uk

I have booked a further two workshops with her this year, and I also have several art and textile workshops coming up this year, in the real world rather than online.

I need to blog here at least once a week, and Saturday seems as good a day as any, so hopefully this will be a regular slot.  In order to have something to blog about, I am also marking Friday down as a textile day.  I will also do some mid-week, perhaps Wednesday afternoon.  I have also decided to concentrate on 'Coast', and look at landscape next year.

I have been fitting in tiny slots here and there, and managed to do some work on the embellisher machine last week, and am in the process of forming the pieces into vessels.  The pictures below are of the first bowl, made a couple of weeks ago.  The bowls have a lovely translucency which I couldn't capture in the photographs. I have three more bowls to finish, hopefully by next week.

Felt bowl

felt bowl side view

I have also been experimenting with book forms, and the photograph below shows a small sample.  The binding method is over cords, and it was then dipped into Quink ink and then watercolour.

Book Form 1

More experimenting with book forms.  I made the strip about a month ago, and have now started to add photographs of the beach near my home, which I have altered in Photoshop, printed then stitched and finally dipped into wax.

I have yet to decide how to display this book form.  I like the scroll format, and may make a rod on which it can be wound.

Book Form 2

Hopefully I will have more work to show next Saturday.

Slow progress

It's over three weeks since I last posted here, mainly because I have been doing a very intense online art course, as well as keeping up with a painting a day!  You can see some of the results over on my other blog

lynneporterartmatters.blogspot.co.uk

I have been doing some work on my textile project, but sadly I have decided to put the 'Landscape' theme to one side for a while and concentrate on 'Coast'.  At first it was easy to run them in tandem, but I have so little time these days that they were both suffering inactivity.

On a more positive note, I am feeling more and more excited with the 'Coast' project.  I am finally coming round to have some belief in myself and my ideas and abilities, which in turn has made me more relaxed and free with my work.

I am working in several different sketchbooks.  The Coast workbook is the main book.  I write notes, ideas, poetry, and anything else relevant in it, and also paste photographs of any work I may have done.  I have an extreme format sketchbook,  12 inch x 5 inch, which I work open so as to give a 24 x 5 inch spread.  These are loose, mark making exercises, trying to capture the SENSE of the coast.  I also have a small sketchbook 'Coast, Fractured' in which I tear photographs of the coast I have taken, then work into them.

I also occasional work in an A5 landscape format sketchbook, titled I'm Searching, which is mark making with no particular theme.  And I have been reworking into two older sketchbooks, 'The Sea' and 'Coast' both of which are 8 x 8.  These are again very loose, some drawing, mostly mark making.

I have also done some 'painting' on large sheets of paper, with long sticks, brushes and squeeze bottles containing paint.  I love doing these, the action is so free but positive, almost like the sea itself.

As a consequence of all the above work, I am gradually finding my way.  Words and phrases such as TIMELINE,  SENSE OF PLACE, and SENSES, re-occur, together with CONTAINED, COLLECTION, LAYERS,  and HELD.  I don't want to write more at this time, but I feel I am beginning to find my way.

I am also feeling content with the way things are going, an unusual state for me.