A new studio, a fresh start

Sometimes all we need is time to stand still and listen to our heart. I found myself doing this, at long last, while all the world has been upside down and back-to-front these past months and days.

You might remember way back in 2016 I took on a bigger studio space a few miles away in our local town. Well, for a good while it served me very well and helped me move forward as an artist. But gradually over time I began to feel something wasn't right, yet I couldn't put my finger on it. I was struggling to produce new art work, got lots of headaches, just felt very detached somehow and would arrive back home at the end of my day feeling exhausted.

Whilst we were all in Lock Down I couldn't get to the town studio so I spent more and more time in the little studio in the garden and it began to dawn on me what had been missing all the while. It was my connection to my inspiration, my need to be surrounded by nature, space, peace and quiet. So, I have returned to my roots as it were, given up the town studio and moved lock, stock and barrel into this tiny garden space.

It's had a bit of a re-vamp inside to fit everything in and now every corner is filled with arty things and crafty projects and all of my treasures. But I love it. Now I can pop in and out whenever the mood takes me, I can open the door to let the fresh air in, I can sit snug inside and listen to the rain drumming on the roof or feel the sun warm my toes as it creeps through the open door and I'm there to welcome all the wee visitors to the garden too!

I'm starting to feel the stirrings of inspiration again and there will soon be new art work on my table. The headaches ( a result of my being hyper sensitive to the strip fluorescent lights in the old studio) have completely vanished, and I feel my energies gradually returning.

At the end of the day, it feels like coming home to myself at last

Telling the Bees, a foggie toddler

I am loving spending time in our garden just now and try to find some time each day for pottering and planting and pruning, there is always so much to keep me busy.

After two years tending what began as a wild patch, the garden is  finally coming in to it's own and each nook and cranny holds delicious splashes of colour and tucked away gems. I find gardening such a peaceful and healing pastime, the growing of things, fingers buried in the soil, listening to the bird chirruping in the bushes. (This year our blackbird is feeding three babies!)

 We have so many more bees now too, humming among the blooms and I find myself talking to them as I work, calling them by the Scottish name - Foggie-toddle, a name used in Deeside - ‘Fog’ meaning moss or grass, and ‘toddling’ is meandering with a gentle sound. It suits them so well!

In Celtic folklore bees were thought to be the wisest of creatures, messengers between worlds. There is an old Scots saying 'Ask the wild bee for what the druid knew'. The old highlanders believed that the soul of a person left the body in the form of a bee once a person had died or whilst they were in a trance.

I had the perfect excuse to study my wee bees up close for a new commission that came my way earlier this year. A lovely customer of mine all the way from the USA asked for a painting for a dear friend, a glass artist who makes bee & honeycomb necklaces,  isn't this stunning!

The painting was to include bees, honeycomb and daisies, so I took lots of photos first to inspire me, then began sketching and very soon an idea bee-gan ( sorry couldn't resist) to form. 

I wanted to capture the bee close up and have a hint of the honeycomb behind filled with a delicate blend of honey colours and lots of splashes of gold ink to highlight.

I am rather pleased with the final result and love the way the gold catches the light. I'm also happy to report that my lovely customer liked it too when it arrived safe and sound over seas.

I have just added 'Foggie Toddler' to my Etsy store as a limited edition print.  Each print is hand finished in gold ink - you can follow the link here.

Well I'm off into the studio to carry on working on a new exciting project which I will share very soon.

Oops I nearly forgot to mention  - the winner of the Butterfly bunting giveaway was KJ Sutcliffe from the sweetest blog 'I live, I love, I craft, I am me', congratulations!

A garden of flowers, travels and midnight strolls

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I can hardly believe Summer is almost over and September just around the corner! I've been so busy with exhibitions and art trails it passed  in the blink of an eye, but I did find time to enjoy some of the beautiful weather pottering in the garden. It's coming along beautifully now, it was so sad and neglected when we moved in last Spring.

I have loved bringing the garden back to life and it is so rewarding to hear the buzzing of the bees now there are lots of flowers for them to visit. Did you know that in Deeside,  the old name for bees was 'Foggie-toddlers - 'fog' being old Scots for moss or grass and 'toddling' meaning meandering with a gentle sound. Lovely!

Flowers have filled my studio with their perfume this Summer too, some from my garden and some gifted by a fellow artist, the very same lady who provided me with so many delicious cutting of plants last year so that I could stock our new garden. How  rewarding now  to see them growing and filling the beds. The wee posies of flowers below were another gift, left on our doorstep by the sweetest faerie girls who lived next door. They have now spread their wings and flow off with their family for adventures far afield and I will miss seeing their cheeky faces appearing over the fence.

Thinking of wee smiles, I got lots of those  from my wee Granddaughter a few weeks ago when myself and my two lovely daughters spent a week under the stars down South. Very posh camping as you can see! We spent every waking hour in the fresh air and when we weren't cuddling dwarf goats, blowing bubbles or exploring we were sitting up late into the night snuggled in our woollies and under blankets, playing scrabble, and watching the stars. Precious times.

I got a second weeks holiday after that too, when Mr O took me off exploring in Yorkshire. We stayed in an old inn built in 1613 and slept in what must be the comfiest bed I ever knew! We spent our days exploring places that caught our eye, like Hardcastle Crags, Gibson mill, and the lovely town of Hebden Bridge, stopping for cake and tea and mooching through second hand shops!

On our last day we visited the lovely  old village of Heptonstall, once a centre for hand looming. It's cobbled streets were discovered in 1980 when the paving was lifted.  Of course I had to have a peep at the ruins of it's original church, founded in 1260 and once dedicated to Thomas a Becket. All together we had a lovely few days away.

Whilst away Mr O and I remembered how much we love walking. When did our days get too busy to go walking regularly! So we are trying to do a walk every day again and are already feeling the benefit, feeling fitter and healthier for being outside more.

 I haven't shared with you before my 'In the gloaming' painting have I, I finished it earlier in the year and the original has already sold. The word 'gloaming' comes from the old English word for twilight 'glom' meaning to glow, what a perfect description for that magical time of day when the setting sun leaves gives it's last whisper of light to the evening. The painting is available as  limited edition prints in my Etsy shop here

 So I shall leave you with a taste of 'the gloaming' and some images that I caught on my full moon walk down the lane last week,  I love walking in the evening it is a magical time! Such lovely silhouettes to inspire new paintings I hope!

Settling in and a sketching group

The sun is streaming through the window, and I can hear the birds singing in the garden as I sit looking out from my new wee studio.  I always feel that the setting down of new roots and making fresh memories, the things that make a new place feel like home, take a wee while to happen and need quiet times and pondering times and so I have allowed the moments to tick by here as I have allowed those things to happen.

We have been exploring, wandering through still woods as the sun begins to set and  glimmer through the trees. We have climbing sheep strewn hills to catch  glimpses of sparkling sea, and we are feeling very blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world here in Dumfries & Galloway.

The May blossom has been so late this year, it almost seemed as though it was waiting for us to settle and find time to appreciate it's tiny blooms. But at last the hedgerows are bursting into life all ready for the coming of July.

We can't wait to see what the coming month brings in the garden after all our digging and weeding and planting and a-building of walls. Next stop the vegetable patch!

June saw me run the last of my workshops for a while, so ending a wonderful first half of the year filled with meetings of  lovely folks all getting creative. It has been such a pleasure having the opportunity to share my creativity with so many and watching them spread their wings and start to discover the joys of creative play. Thank you each and everyone for coming along and helping make the workshops such special events. ( How beautiful is the bouquet of flowers I was given by the lovely ladies from Gretna!)

New workshops and happenings will be announced in September.

The 'sketch-a-day' facebook group I set up is going from strength to strength, and what began as a personal challenge to encourage me to stick to the task of sketching for the 365 days has now grown into a group with over 60 members from all around the world. It has proved so popular that numbers have had to be limited as we were overwhelmed with requests of people wanting to join and I really want it to stay small and friendly and manageable.

The group is now run by three sketchers, the lovely Valerie (who has a real eye for detail), one of my nephew's Stu (who always finds a fab and quirky way of representing a topic) and me!  Every day a new topic is posted to be interpreted freely by the groups members and then shared on the page. We have covered really varied topics and each one comes with it's own unique challenge, it makes you tackle subjects you might normally avoid! (sketch topics: Above~ hot air balloon, red and fox. Below: favourite film character, Japanese, self portrait))

I am a little astounded but very happy to announce so far we are up to sketch 173 already!   There is something very inspiring about doing this challenge with a group and there is much  encouragement and sharing of information that goes on too. I have learnt so much already and developed my style in leaps and bounds and look forward to the next 173 days!

My sketches will be on show at the 'Kirkcudbright Art & Craft Trail' from 31st July to 3rd August at my corner of the event at venue 16, the beautiful historic Broughton House.

If you feel up to the challenge of sketching daily topics such as a strawberry, a Hamsa or  some canal art and improving your sketching in the process do get in touch as we do have places to spare!

Glorious colour in nature and art . . . and a little Kaffe Fassett

As September turns and makes way for October, I am amazed at the glorious weather we are still having. It has been so mild, I can still sit out in the garden and marvel at the sparks of remaining Summer colour showing here and there! The richness of the colours combined with the hues of Autumn weave a rich tapestry indeed.

 All that colour reminded me of the exhibition I saw during our Summer break "Kaffe Fassett: 50 years in colour".  I have long loved Kaffe's work and was lucky enough to fit in a visit to Aberdeen on our way home to see this!

And, wow was it worth the effort.  I have to say the exhibition itself was one of the most inspiring I seen, it made me want to dash right home and experiment with lots of colour and pattern. Below is a video Kaffe made for the launch at the gallery.

Kaffe Fassett: 50 Years in Colour from Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums on Vimeo.

As soon as you entered the exhibition you were enveloped by the richness and pattern of Kaffe's work, sumptuous knitted garments for which he never follows a pattern but designs each as he knits, inspired in part by the colours he has chosen.

Fantastic mixtures of colour and shapes in his needlepoint. I very first came across his work when years ago my lovely Mom bought me one of his tapestry books and the materials to stitch one of the cushions.

It is one thing viewing these works in a book, but seeing them in "person",  all grouped together is inspiring indeed. His patchwork kept me mesmerised for ages, the mixing of patterns to create such intricate designs was wonderful.

I came away with a copy of his autobiography, "Dreaming in colour" and couldn't put it down. It is filled with beautiful images of his work and inspirations. I love the way he views the world and sees endless possibilities for his knitting, mosaics, patchwork, ceramics, etc.  You can read more about Kaffe here on his website. As you can see from the top left and middle image below, I love colour and have lots of pattern and colour splashed about our home. 

The crochet throw (shown top left) was made many moons ago by my Grandma. I was recently inspired by one of her patchwork creations to make a quilt for my Grandaughter. My daughter decided the colours: hot pink, turquoise, white and I have been collecting scraps of fabrics for ages (even some snippets of her baby clothes will be added). The trouble was I didn't quite know where to start, it is to be a throw for a single bed, quite a large piece for a first go at patchwork!  Seeing the patchwork at  the exhibition though was perfect timing, and now I am inspired at last and can't wait to see the end result, I'm hoping to have it made by Christmas!Talking of wee rascals, look who's staying with Grannie for a few days. The best kind of distraction! 

Not forgetting of course the winners of my "Blessing Tree" draw.  Thank you to all who took the time to enter, both here and through twitter and Facebook, I loved the replies I got so much I just had to choose two winners in the end: Susan King & Hazel Lightfoot. Congratulations ladies.

As the shadows lengthen and Autumn spreads her amber glow I shall leave you with one of my favourite quotes and some of the words shared by readers of their favourite reasons for loving Autumn ~ Enjoy!

Autumn

The colors, the cool crisp air, the smell of leaves and apples, and I get to bring out my favourite scarves and boots! I could happily in eternal autumn.

Autumn... colours, leaves, berries, low sunshine and stunning sunsets x

the changing colours, the cooling weather, warm cardigans, kicking through crunchy leaves, warm puddings and custard.

Foggy mornings, spider webs looking like necklaces, porridge for breakfast, leaves turning and that lovely 'smell' in the air.

I love the warmth of the Sun and the cool air; I love the colors of the deciduous trees; I love the lighting at this time - it's such a clear light; I love Hallowe'en; my birthday is at the very end of Autumn so you know I must love the season since I was born into it!

The light, the light, the glorious light....

I love all the seasons, but being a person who loves color, Autumn in New England is really beyond astonishing EVERY single year. 

Here in Southern Wisconsin the Autumn leaves and colors are just starting to show...my favorite time of the year.

Autumn; I was born on a Wednesday in October, like a seed cast willy-nilly under the opulent leaves. Potential in waiting. And my mother named me Hazel, as the asplendent Harvest sun lit all the shells of my fruits. Autumn reminds us to let go; a reminder to surrender. As a creative farer, an artist, we carry this emblem to continue yielding to the Divine, allowing its imagery to flow through us, as rain through Autumn moss.

* * * * *

I have recently updated my Etsy shop "Mythweaver" and now accept direct payments from visa, credit cards etc as well as the usual paypal. Do visit for a peep at my work. I am soon going to be uploading lots of new goodies very over the next couple of weeks!

A splash of yellow & inspiration . . .

 The newest touches of Spring are creeping into the air, popping with colour.

snowy drops & glowing gorse or whin bushes as they are called locally.

 

I recently realised my sketching skills are far too rusty, 

I haven't "just" doodled or sketched for the fun of it for ~ ever.

 An inspiring conversation with the lovely Margaret Milligan, 

about the 30 day painting challenge she set herself, set me a thinking.

(You can see here  the wonderful results of Margarets challenge.)

and so with all that in mind, 

I have set myself the task of doing a hal hour sketch a day for 30 days!

and by putting it out here, hopefully I am more prompted to keep to it!
I cant give up if its going badly, (something i am far to guilty of doing normally)
but have to stick at it for the half hour (i nearly gave up this morning to begin with!)
* * * 

So here is sketch number 1 a tiny splash of yellow sunshine on my windowsill.

Oh i did enjoy doing this, roll on day two!

Wintery squirrels & cosy ponies . . .

Such a lovely treat this week the snow bought into our garden

 two new wee visitors to our Narnian wonderland.

Such antics they get up to, & keep burying nuts on the snowy lawn

for the wily blackbirds to then go and pinch !

Also just had to share these cuties.

Two of Shetlands most famous things

Shetland ponies & Fair Isle knitwear.

This to promote the "Year of Natural Scotland"

Shetland pony image by Rob McDougall.

wildlife visitors to the garden . . .

I do so love my early morning walks with Poppy.

Up with the birds we are out climbing through the garden,

heading for the hills behind the cottage.

I set out with my trusty camera and my heart filled with excitement, 

for i never know what or even who we may come across!

Visitors this week

*

* Even before we set out, I saw Mr Hare from the studio window as he loped by, he's becoming a regular, maybe he's asking to be painted!

* I heard Mr woodpecker loudly knocking, and later came across him & his new lady doing a spectacular mating dance, calling & fluttering about up in the trees.

* Poppy followed mysterious hoof prints in the mud from the garden, across the bridge over the stream, and up the path into the woods and there, a tiny Roe deer snapping off grassy stems.

* and we were serenaded by this sweet little chaffinch who followed us a wee while. You can hear their call on this you-tube clip here .

These visitors to my garden remind me of how very lucky I am to live where I do surrounded by all this beauty. Do you see or hear visitors  near by?  Have a beautiful weekend all x

outside . . .

at last . . . . . we are moved . . . . . hurray

the last boxes are unpacked

homes have been found for every little thing

we are slowly but surely settling in

these deliciously sunshiny days have found us

in our new garden space, tucked into the hill

digging & clearing & pruning

much cutting of grass and pulling of weeds

we have uncovered quirky steps and hidden corners

forgotten plants & neglected flowers

fallen down walls & buried treasures

we are as busy as the bees, planning & planting

and filling our wee space with happiness

and . . . looking forward.

* * *

thank you for stopping by your words mean so much

have lifted my spirits so, when the going got tough

x x x

inspired by. . . nature

the pattern of a delicate fernthe form of a single featherthe colours on a weathered old gatethe symmetry of thistledown
the contrasts beetween manmade & natural

* * *

these things i am inspired by

as they catch my eye when i am awandering