Art is not always what it seems

Art is not always what it seems

arty stuff

Hello. What would you think if you entered an art gallery and saw a pile of rubble in the main entrance hall? When I saw it yesterday at the Ferens Gallery, I thought, oh, nice, looks a bit arty, anyone who lived near a beach could do that. I then had a wander round and browsed at the other exhibitions, and on my way out I stopped to have a chat about what I had seen, with one of the volunteers working there. 

Dave then asked me what I thought about this. I quickly discovered that the pile of beach rubble was not all it seemed, so I took a closer look. My eyes did indeed deceive me the first time'

Of course, you are not meant to rush around an art gallery at breakneck speed, but sadly, if something does not grab my attention quite quickly I tend not to give it a second glance. And so of course I can miss out on  hidden meanings and messages.

So, what do you think? A pile of rubble or what? Scroll through the pictures and all will be revealed.   

That taught me, didn't it? Do not take anything at face value. I don't normally, but without any obvious clues in the artwork itself, I almost missed the point. Dang! Must take care to look deeper, and not dismiss something as being of no value.

I usually decide on which pieces of art I like best by what I see in front of me, but now I know the story behind it I find myself being drawn to the pile. There is beauty in it. My eyes want to search through it and discover the smaller hidden gems among the mighty boulders. I want to go beach combing. It will take me a long time to learn all these arty ways, but I'll get there eventually.

Thanks for popping in. Are you ready for Easter? I don't go anywhere on bank holidays, like the quietness of my own home. Another arty conundrum tomorrow.
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Poppies in Hull

Poppies in Hull

arty stuff holidays/days out

Hello. I've had a busy day today, and taken 87 photographs, there are lots to sort out. I'll have to put them into several posts, so come back over the next few days to get the full story. 

This morning I went to a Hedgehog Hospital with Helen, she is writing an article for her village newsletter. I went along to take some photos, and will write about that later. 

After lunch I caught the bus to Hull, there are some new art installations I want to see as part of the City of Culture 2017. The Maritime Museum is the site of the Poppies:Weeping Window installation. There are several thousand hand made ceramic poppies cascading down from an upper window. These poppies were originally seen at the Tower of London.

Looks pretty stunning don't you agree. The blue sky is a bonus. 

A little bit more information about it on this poster.

This is a good web site to check it out. There are some smashing photo's, click on Gallery and it will take you through them. If you hesitate for a couple of seconds as you click, it will enlarge each one to full screen.

I had a look round the Museum and spotted this nice view from an upstairs window. The flowers at Queens Gardens are always immaculate, the gardeners make a wonderful display.

I'll be back tomorrow with more photo's of my afternoon in Hull. Thanks for popping in, see you soon.
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One tree and some flowers picture

One tree and some flowers picture

arty stuff crafty stuff sewing

Hello. I think I have done enough on this now. I don't think more stitching will make it any better. It was supposed to be a woodland but I stopped at one tree. I wasn't going to put glass in it because the texture shows up more without it. I took the photo's without, then put the glass in, and decided it looked better so left it in. It's 15.5 inches square including the frame. 

I think the gold frame suits it fine, there are small roses around the inside edge.

Time to move on to something else.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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A new picture using recycled materials

A new picture using recycled materials

arty stuff recycle

Hello and Good Morning. Another of my art projects finished. The picture is 11.5 inches by 9 inches. The colours in this first picture are close to the real colours. I took the photo before I put the glass in, to cut out any reflections. I have some old frames which I rescued from being dumped in a skip. A lick of paint works wonders to spruce them up. 

In the closeups the background is not as yellow as it should be.

And this is how it started. A piece of fabric with a simple design. I started by covering the whole thing with a yellow wash, which allowed the outline to show through. Then it was just a matter of carefully filling in the colours with a fine brush. The little pots of emulsion tester paints are great for painting pictures. I'm very pleased at how it's turned out. 

What's the plans for today? More crafting, sewing, crochet. Wash hair. Walk three miles. Get things ready for a talk I am doing tonight. Good plan eh!

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon
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Going to meet Jordon

Going to meet Jordon

arty stuff money saving

Hello. It's been a glorious day here, I've been working in the studio, aka my award winning summer house/beach hut/posh shed. I fancied doing some painting, this is the start of another picture. Another cheat picture, take a piece of fabric and paint over it. It wouldn't be that difficult to draw a design like this, but I'm lazy. 

The leg is on the mend, feels a lot better today. Going to have a couple more days of rest, then I'll be ready to start walking again. I am well ahead with the miles anyway so I'm not too worried about getting behind.

Has anyone heard about the Coupon Kid? Jordan Cox was in the press a while back for getting a load of shopping dead cheap by using lots of coupons. He also found some great deals on travel. He tweeted the other day that he is booked to do a talk at a WI meeting near Lincoln on the 20th of  April, and it's not too far away for me to travel, so I will be going along.

Here is Jordan's Facebook page. Have a look at some of his videos, he has a great speaking voice and is very confident for a 20 year old. This lad will go far, he is ideally suited for TV and radio work.

Is anyone else within travelling distance of Reepham near Lincoln? Come along if you can.

It's the weekend. I hope you have a good one. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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Start with an idea.......

Start with an idea.......

arty stuff crafty stuff imagination sewing

Hello. I've copied and pasted a comment from the previous post, thank you for your questions. 

Wow! I love your woodland pictures. I used to do old style embroidery years ago, tablecloths, tray cloth etc, but there's no need for those today. Would love to know how you're creating the woodland scenes. Are they for framed pics or being used for something else. How did you learn this? Would love to have a go and would appreciate your help. Thank you. Love your blog.

The woodland picture is a little bit different to what I normally make. I decided to use up some scraps, and chose fabric which had a browny-green colour. It is one picture, not several. I first chose the frame, and I'm making the picture to fit it. Thicker fabric works best for this, it doesn't matter that it frays, it will add to the texture. 

I am using an old cushion cover for the backing, it's a loose weave hessian type fabric. I cut the pieces into oblongs and squares, and assembled them on the fabric like a jigsaw, mixing them up. I did try using iron on webbing to stick them down but it didn't work very well, so I loosely stitched them into place. 

I decided on a tree and cut long pieces of dark brown fabric which looks like bark, and arranged them into a trunk and branches, using the machine to sew them on. Next cut some fluff from a piece of green fur fabric, and stitched this over the branches with a running stitch. 

Now I am adding lots of stitching to build up layers, to cover the joins, and to add texture and mix up the colours. 

The stitches are mainly simple running stitches, added randomly all over it. Most of it is single strand embroidery thread, with some wool, and thicker thread. I am trying to picture in my mind what the floor of a wood might look like. 

When starting to put together a design you could look for a picture in a magazine, and make a simple outline drawing on a piece of A4 paper, then find the fabric which might suit the picture you have in mind. If the picture is structured, cut templates for the pieces first, from paper, and use these to cut out the fabric. 

I have always known how to do a few basic embroidery stitches learnt at school, after that it was a case of reading books and practicing. You can go back to your old style stitches and apply them to any piece of work you like. Nobody taught me how to do textile art, I get an idea and experiment with materials. 

Here is a video on basic stitches to get you started. 

Ideas for patchwork stitching.

There are lots of tutorials on yooootooob for every kind of textile art. I would advise anyone who is wanting to have a go to watch as much as you can. I can't tell you here what to do, I can only encourage you to do some research, have a go, use your imagination, and practice practice, practice. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.

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All stitched up

All stitched up

arty stuff crafty stuff sewing

Hello. It's been a bit colder today. After the morning Bailey dog walk I decided to stay indoors and get on with some more stitching. Here are some closeups of the Woodland picture so far. Adding a few french knot flowers, still more to do.  It's been a lovely relaxing afternoon.  

While I've been doing this I've been watching/listening to yoootooob videos, mainly Cream, documentaries about the band members as well as the music. I'm reading Eric Clapton's autobiography at the moment and it's given me an appetite to find out more about his work. 

Haven't been shopping this week, can't be bothered, don't need anything. My dinner tonight was this packet of pasta, about 43p I think, from Aldi. I added some frozen peas and a chunk of frozen spinach. It was really nice. I don't normally buy packet pasta like this, but I thought it would save time if the sauce was already in it. Easy to make in one pan. I think it's supposed to be two portions if you serve it with something else, but I scoffed the lot. 

It's the weekend. I have got nothing special planned, depends on the weather. More sewing if it's cold and windy. I want to get the picture finished.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Just noticed. This post is number 3000