New Mills Festival

I am excited to announce that I will be taking part in the New Mills Festival this year!  I will be one of the 49 artists from around the country displaying my art work in the windows of local businesses in and around New Mills town.  The New Mills Arts Trail has grown in size since the start of the festival and I am really happy to be a part of it this year.  A full list of artists and venues and all the other events taking place this September are on the New Mills Festival website:  www.newmillsfestival.com

A little stitchy update..

I've not posted for a while, I've been super busy with my part-time job and it hasn't left me much time to do anything else really!  But Derbyshire Open Arts Festival is creeping ever closer and I am a long way off from finishing this particular stitched piece.  I hope to get this done and another by June, fingers crossed!  So, here is a sneaky picture for you.  Hopefully I will update again soon when I've made a bit more progress!

I made it!

Into the Fred Aldous newsletter!!  So chuffed :) I've already got a few new blog followers from it, Hello!, and a few more Facebook fans too!  Really excited to be in a wonderful artist showcase put together from one of my all time favourite shops, Fred Aldous in Manchester.  Have a look at the newsletter here

New Stitched Scene

I have started a new Embroidery; it will be called 'Cat sat on Rocks' which kind of gives it away a little bit.  But here is the work in progress.  Whenever I get a chance I sew a bit more, with the hope that it will be finished by the end of February! 

Seagull

Here he is!  A little sneak peek for you all, as he is waiting to be exhibited in the Derbyshire Open Arts event in June this year.  I am taking part this time as an individual artist in a brand new arts venue in New Mills.  Keep the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend free for an arts trail around Derbyshire!  Enjoy!

'Autumn Leaves'

... has sold!  Very chuffed indeed!  I don't think I've ever posted about my more recent embroidered pieces so here is a sneak peek of what is up at New Mills Original gallery.
 

Cherry Blossom

I have finally finished a new larger stitched piece of a cherry blossom tree, developed from this watercolour.

It's in the process of being proffessionally photographed and then will be framed, hopefully in time for the next rehang at New Mills Original at the end of October.  I decided to make a new piece in response to the popularity of the first blossom tree I made, which sold at the start of the month (yay!).  Fingers crossed my new piece, Cherry Blossom, will be just as popular!

A Little Update...

... on my goings on.

I am pleased to say my embroidered chickens that were on sale at New Mills Original flew away in July!  I am still pleased as punch that someone has purchased one of my embroidered pieces, hopefully this is the start of a trend!

A friend of mine got married recently and kindly asked me to make her thank you cards.  I am super excited about this opportunity, it will be a great experience and hopefully if everything goes well I'll be able to offer personalised wedding thank you cards in my Etsy shop.  Updates on this once the client and recipients have sent and seen them!

Neglected Blog...

I thought I'd post another animal artwork up as I've not been paying attention to my blog for a while. Instead I've been on a little trip to London's West End to see The Lion King and Billy Elliot. They were absolutely fantastic and I feel so priviliged to have got the chance to see them both!

So, my work has taken a dip this last week which leads me to this watercolour. I did it a while ago, before I got my lovely new paints but for a quick sketch it's still got movement and feeling in it and animlas always cheer me up on a dreary old Tuesday.

'Antelope'
scan of original watercolour
2011

Bird Brain

A running theme it seems in my drawings! Very simple small scale painting.

'Gull'
scan of original watercolour

More drawings

Another quick sketch to try and get back into the swing of things. My favourite chickens I see on my run route, they're very friendly and love to chat!

'Two Chickens'
scan of original watercolour

I've been...

... drawing again. And I've actually been enjoying it! I got some new fancy watercolours, proper colours to paint with and I think it's made a difference. Next on the materials list is a proper watercolour sketchbook. I'll post a selection of the scanned images over the next few days.



'Cat and Lampost'

scan of original watercolour

Artist cards

I sell my artist cards at New Mills Original so I thought I'd share with those who aren't local to the gallery what my hand embellished art cards look like.




It is a print of my hand stitched 'Spring Tree' which I then hand stitch tiny beads onto to accentuate the colours and add dimension. I then attach them with foam pads which creates a 'floating' effect.

Watercolours

I am taking part in the Derbyshire Open Arts Festival at the end of May bank holiday weekend, so I have been busy creating new sketches and paintings to show. I'll give you a sneak peek at one of my most recent drawings.



There is still lots for me to do in preparation for the event however, I may have to get my skates on!

'A Sense of Place'

My work was chosen to be exhibited in the exhibition 'A Sense of Place' at The Art Lounge, the Beehive Inn in New Mills. These three drawings I submitted were picked, very exciting! the preview evening last night was very successful, lots of people were there to have a peek. There are some lovely and some very contemporary pieces in the exhibition, and I am pleased to be part of it.

Finished Canvas

I am really pleased with the finished piece and fortunately so are my clients. I used grey thread to imitate the strings of the guitar, keeping my embroidery background present in my other works. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed painting and I plan to make more ready-to-buy canvases soon.

Finished Works

My eight finished pieces on display at my 2010 BA(Hons) Embroidery Degree Show.

Goosey Goosey Gander

This piece is directly respondent from the original drawing, creating a painterly texture with individual stitched marks. Varying tone creates depth in the piece and the Geese are subtle in form and colour. This piece will make an appearance in my final degree show.

Fly Away Petal

Using french knots to resemble blossom petals which turn into individual chain stitch as they fly away on the spring breeze. Where they go is anybody's guess...

Recycling bank and shopping trolley

The sense of communication between the two objects brings a different element to this piece. The varying textures and line qualities add eye-catching patches of interest.