Grow Your Own Art

I've a whole new program of workshops planned for 2015, the first of which is on Saturday 27th June  and is called 'Grow Your Own Art'. It is the first of a year of workshops connected to the seasons. My work is inspired by the seasons and I feel a strong connection to the seasons. Last year I became disconnected. I suffered a period of creative block. As I gained success with selling my work I had less time for the areas of life that connect me to my soul, for gardening, for walking in nature. There was a lot of doing and not a lot of being. The journey back to myself has seen me falling in love with all those activities that I had forgotten about, or prevented myself from pursuing in the busyness of life. So I have fallen in love again with yoga, with pursuing my spirituality. I have taken the time to reconnect with nature, to embrace it, seek out the abundance of life. And oh, that nourishment has been good for me! As I have filled up on inspiration there has been a gentle sing song from within as new ideas sing forth. I'm currently translating that creative song into new work to show later in the year.

I have discovered that creativity cannot be lived in a 9-5 format. It can't be a 'job' with a clock in and out time. It is a calling from the soul. And answering your soul when you are juggling life can be hard.  In my new workshops I want to share my process for connecting to yourself and your creativity. I want to share my techniques and help you nurture your own visual language and confidence on your creative journey.

The first of these workshops will be inspired by growth. 'Grow Your Own Art' is about growing your creative confidence and expressing that in a collage that is an affirmation of life. You'll create a collaged artwork inspired by summer and the fervent energy of nature.

This workshop is held in Long Eaton, just off junction 25 of the M1. Easily accessible by train or bus. More information on my workshop programme for 2015 is here.

Creative nourishment - May

I treated myself to two days in London so I could find nourishment for the ideas in my head. As spring has advanced, the murmurings of my winter mind are starting to find a voice. At the forefront of these ideas are a wish to embrace colour. With that is a return to a love of folk art and a symbolic expression of the soul. My soul.

I have found my way back in to nature, planting my garden and meandering in the woods. My work has often included trees and it is to trees I am returning for inspiration. At the weekend I was fortunate to visit the Weleda gardens. It was a beautiful fresh spring day and I could feel the sap rising in the trees there, and in myself. It is that connection between us and the trees, the 'tree of life' that is a symbol of many cultures, that I am exploring in my new work.

So, with those ideas in my mind I headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum to explore their collection. I've been visiting the museum since childhood and there is magic in those rooms of beautifully crafted artefacts.

I spent hours drawing from the collections, recording decorative details and symbols of trees and growth and shared a connection with those makers who had drawn from our shared symbolic language. 

Whilst there I had the opportunity to attend the Alexander McQueen retrospective. Not usually drawn to fashion couture, this exhibition blew me away. The creation of the exquisite and the totality of McQueens creative vision was hugely inspiring. It was beautifully curated, sensory exhibition. What I take from the exhibition is to honour the urge to create and to nurture my creativity and creative voice.

So back in the studio this week, I'm working on vision boards and bringing together the threads of ideas so I can start some new work.

If you would like to share a day with me creating with symbols to represent the universal themes of growth and life, I'm running a 'Grow your own art' workshop on Saturday 27th June in Long Eaton near Nottingham. It will be about finding ways to move forward on your creative journey and you will create your own work of art that symbolises growth. I'm taking bookings now. 

Back in Stock

I've been restocking my Folksy shop, and it seemed apt to share this image of my print 'Autumn Day'. It was a day just like today, sunny one moment, raining the next and in those blustery moments of glorious late Autumn sunshine, everything seemed to be blown around in gusts of intense colour.

Autumn Days

I love this time of year and this year, Autumn is excelling herself. The colours are rich and the days have been warm and enticing. Each day I have collected a leaf and worshipped their variety and sugar infused hues.  I am savouring each day, knowing that soon the rich colours will be gone.

Bonfire Night!

Happy Bonfire Night. Here at the Hallows house, we're enjoying the rituals of Autumn; Halloween and Bonfire Night. We are off this evening to go 'ooh' and 'aahhh' at the local display. I'm quite pleased it has gone chilly and I can don my new beret and layer up on the knitwear. The season suits me!

To celebrate all that is good about the nights drawing in I've had my print 'Night' on offer in my Etsy shop. Because I haven't yet blogged about it, I'm extending the offer until midnight tomorrow night (the 6th November). You can buy the print for £50 instead of the usual price of £65. Looking at the quilted landscape will keep you warm and those huge stars will remind you to look up and wonder at the miracle of life itself and that we are all made from stardust.

Here at home, we've been making toffee apples this afternoon with windfalls from the allotment and more sugar than I care to think about!!  Who knew they are so easy to make!?

Enjoy the fireworks!

A thing for sheds

It probably comes as no surprise that I have a thing for sheds! My studio is a glorified shed, our allotment has two sheds and it seems that every home I've lived in has come with a shed, full of interesting oddities and vintage ephemera; old tins, plant labels, jars, rusty tools.  A happy weekend is one that takes me to a garden and a peelly painted shed to ogle at. After the summer holidays I had a file on my computer called 'Produce' that documented some of my peelly paint shed loving experiences around the UK! So it seemed fitting to take inspiration from garden sheds and the patina of, and objects there in, for a photo shoot for my range of vases. It has given me great pleasure to find a purpose for the old tins, postcards, boxes, and bits and bobs that fill up drawers and sit on shelves, and to create some product shots for my shop. There are nine vases in total. They sit together well in groups, along themes of Autumn or Spring....or those with birds....or those with cottages. I hope they make charming gifts...for yourself or loved ones.

A new collaboration

I'm very excited about a new collaboration with The Art Group who publish wall art and distribute internationally. I've just completed my first collection for them....not sure yet where they will end up but I'll let you know! Here's a sneak preview!

Glorious colour

I got a bit overwhelmed earlier in the year by the amount of work I had taken on which led to me cancelling a number of workshops. One that remained on the calendar was at Sock Gallery in Loughborough and last Sunday I worked with seven ladies, showing them how I create my own papers, mark making techniques and lead those into a mixed media collage. I really enjoyed the day, and hope they did too. There were some fabulous outcomes.

I'm hoping to run some more workshops in the new year. If you'd like to be added to my mailing list, please get in touch via my website.

Releasing with Autumn

I was so pleased to find these pictures on my camera of the Yoga & Creativity day I ran with Lindsey at Chandrayoga in Loughborough last weekend. Since then I have enjoyed the last of the late Summer's sun and today the rain has come. I'll be using these pictures to remind me of Autumn's glory. If you'd like to celebrate the Winter Solstice with us, we are running a "Stillness of Winter" retreat day on Saturday December 20th. To book, go to www.chandrayoga.co.uk

Through the Lens

I don't like to work from photos when creating my landscapes. They stunt the experience I had in the landscape and can never fully record the moment and the sensory experience I had. I prefer to capture the moment in my hearts eye and work from that, aided by colour notes and a sketch maybe. When using photos to work from its easy to get caught up in the details of the photo, and not the excitement of what drew you to stop and want to paint the scene. Photos capture too much, and not enough!

I do love photography though and so I've learnt to use photography as a record of things that appeal to me. Colour, shape, seasons and mood all get recorded and these become palettes and themes for my studio paintings. To draw all this visual information together, I am starting to develop mood boards that inspire my collaged paintings.

So here is the first that I've shared, and the piece that developed from it. Its been a dry summer, and I've noticed the bleached out, muted colours of the landscape that were the inspiration for this piece, Faded Summer. Its available as a print in my Etsy shop.

Photocraft Loves.....Me!

When you work for yourself it's very hard to keep the boss happy! Long hours and tough appraisals. So it's lovely when someone comes along to pat you on the back and say "Well done there!". The lovely folk at Photocraft have recognised that I've put their great advice and training into practice when I gave my website a revamp and made my Etsy shop look beautiful. So I am very satisfied to have received a 'Photocraft Loves' award!