Going Dotty

At the risk of repeating myself - yet another month has gone by, and finishing June's pages means that we are halfway through 2011. June has been very busy as any of my regulars will know, preparing and manning the Open Studio event and at home getting ready for Mr T's garden party on Saturday,  Thank goodness that the forecast is for fine weather, if not sunshine.  Mr T has been working very hard and the preparations are all in hand.  As you may guess from the fuss, this is not something we do very often.  I think the last 'do' we had was for our 25th, but that was a much smaller affair, and - oh my goodness - it was SEVEN years ago! I hope I shall have a few photos to share with you later. Next week I am aiming to visit my Dad and sister on the Isle of Wight for a  couple of days, leaving Mr T and Marvin to look after each other, so I don't suppose I shall have time to squeeze in a post.  I have my next postcard for Postman's Knock more or less ready to post when I get back from the IOW.  The postcards and my calendar have been the mainstay of my creativity this month I am looking forward to getting down to some serious stitching very soon. Meanwhile I will share my pages with you.

Some of my June entries I have filled-in in blocks, sometimes I find it difficult to remember what I did at the beginning of the week! I can look back and find out it was only last week I had my hair cut - seems like ages ago!

For July I have gone a bit dotty - I used one of the paper napkins I have bought for the party as a background. I haven't had much time for embellishments so I can add them later if I am in the mood.

I have been trying to keep up with everyone's posts but I haven't always had time to leave a comment. I'm feeling like a little nap now.  Mr T is watching some cricket, that is ideal to shut your eyes to for five or ten minutes.Goodness knows how I would have coped if I had had to teach until I was 66 or even 68!

Have a good weekend,

Jill

Sunday catch up

Why does it have to be all or nothing with our weather?  The heat doesn't suit me so I have been hanging around inside today close to open doors and windows.  I wanted to relax in the garden, but even the shade is rather too warm and Mr T who doesn't seem to be effected by the heat has been pottering in his vegetables, so I have been trying to find homes for the things I have brought back from the Open Studios. Sally and I have declared the event a success and we both made enough sales to make it worthwhile.  We both want to say 'thank you' to all our visitors and to those who made purchases.  I met some very interesting people, many of them Sally's friends as she is well established in the local arts community, but also some unexpected treats, like the elderly neighbour of hers who brought us some examples of her work in 'Design' magazine from the 1950s and a sample of her wallpaper design of that period. What a treat that was. I also want to say thank you for your 'bloggy' encouragement and to Chrissie for making a visit. 

I still have a couple of busy weeks ahead, but after that I am looking forward to some more intense creativity. I have been fired up and feeling a bit creatively frustrated.  Thank goodness for Postman's Knock which has meant I have had to produce a bit of art.

Gina's theme of Concealment and Revelation had me stumped for quite a while.  I was thumbing through my postcards bought from galleries and exhibitions when I came across Michaelangelo's David which I had bought in Florence (The postcards not him!) See this piece of work was one of those moments you never forget - along with every other bit of art we could cram into the visit, and I thought it would be good to be able to recreate that feeling. However my naughty side took over, especially when I realised I could not recreate my idea of a series of doors leading to the image on a post card sized piece of work in a week!

I had to make do with one door, but added the tab to build up the anticipation for the reveal.

I did hesitate a bit with the leaf and the joke, but I reckoned I had the measure of everyone's sense of humour....  Luckily Gina says this her favourite piece of art - I don't know if she has seen him - I hope she has, but I am very pleased my precious postcard has gone to a good home.  (I do have four others taken at different angles.) The door is one of my photographs resized to fit.
My postcard(s) from Lesley were a treat. She had said that she thought her original idea was too close to some others, but how different can a window be? I loved the window cleaner polishing up that beautiful view.  I could do with sitting by a lake today.

 Of course Lesley had found the perfect card to go with the pictures showing a window with a model fishing boat evoking fishermen's huts and fresh fish for tea.  But her second post card is a gem.  A couple of doggies in a window, which of course all us ladies of a certain vintage will remember from Uncle Mac's Children's Favourites, a Saturday morning radio programme, along with my other favourites 'Tubby the Tuba' and 'Sparky and his Magic Piano' and ... I could go on, but I won't...
What great fun the project is turning out to be.

Have a good week everyone.

Jill

Our best side

What a week! Not only am I occupied with Open Studio, but Mr T has organised a garden party to link up with old school and college friends he has recently connected up with.  It is a lovely idea, but I could have done with a bit of a break between the two events - well I have got a week after the OS finishes.  We are hoping the weather changes for the better! Lots of preparations have been needed after having some work done round the house and generally reorganising EVERYTHING.  This is us sitting on our new bench which Mr T started 5 years ago at occupational therapy before it was cut for stroke victims. It has been living in pieces behind the sofa, would you believe, but now with much thanks to some friends and a proper electic screw driver it is finished.

"Men at work"

It got its final coat of stain yesterday.

Only two more opportunities to visit our studio Wednesday and Saturday  Details are here on Sally's Blog.
Did I mention Chrissie from Niminyfingers came last Wednesday. How lovely was that?
It would be lovely to see you too, if you're near by... but wherever you are have a great week.

Open Studio

Here is a glimpse of Sally's studio where we are showing our work over June.

This is my corner of the studio.

We had a stream of visitors on Saturday and we both made some sales.

I am sure some of you will recognize some of my work, most of which has appeared on this blog or is in my Etsy shop.

My photographs.

It was beautifully sunny most of the day, even if a fresh breeze blew through, so we were very lucky as today it hasn't stopped raining.

Here are some of Sally's photograms and below some of her monoprints.

We are open again on Wednesday.  I am also spending a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday manning the exhibition at a local gallery showing a selection of work from artists across the county.

I know I am going to have a busy and interesting week - I hope you have a good one too.

More 'stuff'

I am dashing off a quick post as I have got a lot to do today.  Open Studio is looming and I want to finish labels and print a few more cards.  I have finished off next Friday's postcard as I don't think I will have time in the week, and planning the next one. I won't have time to report on Postman's Knock  next Saturday morning but at least my postcard will be in the post.  Mean while here is another of my collections.  This one all mine.  I started it to claim a space on the dresser before Mr T's tins and packets took over. My china collection really started with jugs (another time) but then I moved onto fruit and veg themed pottery. I started with a little Carlton "Australin Design" redcurrant dish about 25 years ago, and eventually collected a shelf full.  The large one came in its original box, which I stupidly threw away!! 

 I then started collecting this strawberry basket Shorter ware. My sister bought me several bits as birthday presents.  

 The tea pot has to be one of my favourites, and I love the strawberry cruet set.

I have also got a miscellaneous collection of bits, these are the best of them.

I stopped collecting when things started to get too expensive and I had filled up the dresser - it is only small.  I probably collected most of these in the mid 80's, early 90's. However now e-bay is awash with Carlton and Shorter ware, and very cheap it is too.  However I am fond of my little collection, but have no desire to add to it.

Now I really must get on....

hope you have a good week

Jill



June, she comes too soon

Filling in my calendar is never a chore, even though sometimes I fill in three or four days at a time.  However the idea of preparing a new page sometimes does feel a bit of a drag.  This week I really enjoyed looking at some paintings by the Fauves after being inspired by the envelope and label Gina used for my Postman's Knock postcard.  I would never normally  make a painting like this as I would think about it too much, but as I knew it would be mostly covered with the squares I let rip with the acrylics - great fun.

It is hard to believe that it is June already,.

 I omitted to say in my last couple of posts thank you to all of you who sent me positive messages when I was feeling a bit glum. Gave myself a bit of a talking to.  I spent a great day with some lovely friends as Nutty Knitters today, there is nothing like a good heart to heart, especially when accompanied with a good cup of tea and a slice of Maxine's home-made strawberry cheesecake. Shame I can't share that with you over the ether!

Hope you have a great June,

Jill