a day with friends

along with the rest of the country

St. Ives has been enjoying a week of glorious sunshine
the most wonderful blue skies and very warm spring breezes

Sunday sunshine

this was the view as I walked down to St. Ives
to meet Andrea, a blog friend from Switzerland
and my friend Lesley from Art Space

Andrea last came to St. Ives five years ago
but always had a yearning to return as soon as possible
and so she planned her trip to coincide with my exhibition
and the opportunity to meet up with Lesley and myself

we had lunch at Ocean Grill overlooking the harbour
some yummy butternut squash and coconut soup … slurp ;o)

Lesley gave me this beautiful oil painting of a beach scene
in our fave St. Ives blues and wintry greys
I am delighted with it as I love St. Ives all year round
and sometimes in winter I love it the most

"wintry sea and break in the clouds"

it was a very low tide so after lunch we did
some beachcombing ... you know ... any chance I get ;o)

Andrea and Lesley

while the girls were going the long way around the beach streams
I just waded right in and up close to the pier

I'm really drawn to this pier at the moment
(the lifeboat launch pier)

with it's gently worn steps
full of character

the pier walls are covered in mussel shells
some of which were dark red and brown

alive alive o



and there were some pretty interesting barnacles too



we explored rock pools

and admired the diversity of natural colour
to be found in the little pools of sea water

I found a pink shell for Andrea

and some very interesting bits and bobs
but my most interesting find was this ...


can

you

guess

what

it

is

yet?

yes ... it's a roll of brown parcel tape
sea washed ... in and out with the tide
with wonderful peely bits

that I most probably will use to add texture in paintings
... the rest of my finds I will save for another day

later we watched these cute little sea birds
scampering about on the rocks
a nice end to a lovely day with friends

either side of my "day off" I worked on new art cards
which I took down to the exhibition on Tuesday
(and which ends on Saturday morning - 31 March)

and I made some new textile art hearts

this heart is a harp back to my global warming work
and represents melting polar ice and rising sea levels
which is a theme that still interests me enormously

melted textured chiffons (shimmering water)
were layered over white fur (melting ice)

an attempt to stitch the polar ice caps back together again

although a delicate subject matter
I've prettied it up with soft aqua and turquoise watery tones

decorated with free motion machine stitching

and a little hand stitching
it's scattered with seed beads and finished with
a beaded dangly with silver coloured fish charm

shimmering

my online etsy shop
will open again on Sunday 1st April

and this shimmering heart will be available
along with four other new heart designs
lots of new beads, art cards, prints and
my newest collaged and stitched pictures
(original artwork)

thank you for visiting
may I wish you a wonderful weekend coming up
enjoy the continued sunshine
Carolyn x


*****

hello to Francesca and Mum who came all the way from Bude to see our work. I'll talk about the new project we discussed in a separate post quite soon and will probably start showing that work from 1st May as have other things to share first. That will give you time to get your books together and think of themes

*****

hello and big thanks to Lesley's mum for the lovely bits and bobs

*****

hello to Gilli and thanks for showing so much interest in my Brooklyn Sketchbook Projects
- will be showing my book for 2012 quite soon

*****

and huge thanks for all the lovely comments here
on my blog and emails - thank you x

work from our exhibition "inspired to stitch"

what would we do for conversation ...

if it wasn't for the weather!

after such a lovely day on Saturday
the last few days have been thick with fog and Cornish mizzle

from one pier to the other you can hardly see the lighthouse

on Monday I was at the exhibition with Jo and
during the afternoon I took a little break and went for a walk

it was really quite chilly as I watched a couple of doggies
playing in a shallow pool of water at the bottom of the pier
and admired the markings on the pier wall

a heavy mist hangs over the cottage rooftops

taken through the library window

so perhaps a bit of colour will brighten things up!

on request ... here are "a few" photos of my work
currently on display in St. Ives Library
until 31st March

firstly my St. Ives seaside quilt
which most of you will have seen before (yawn ... sorry!)
but has never been on display in St. Ives until now

"St. Ives seaside art quilt"

it measures one metre square and is made from hand dyed silk (back and front) with applique cottages, reverse applique cobbles, machine stitching, hand stitching, shells and beads as well as melted sheer fabrics and plastic which generally appear in my work. The seaweed was made from melted chiffon, plastic and also folded/scrunched silk but there is also some real dried seaweed sewn on there

"the blue sky was merry"
a framed stitched collage
a scene I created inspired by the harbour at high tide
textures were created by machine stitching into layers of fabrics, wool tops, scrim and melted sheer fabrics. On top I like to add french knots, beads and little shells to encourage you to look into the scene

happily ... "the blue sky was merry"

I've created lots of new postcards to add to my collection
featuring combinations of Cornish seaside scenes
mixed with different aspects of textiles that I enjoy

this one features lovely tones of blue/mauve found on mussell shells
a still life I made with mussel shells and seaweed
St. Ives harbour, a stormy beach scene at Godrevy
and natural dyeing with red cabbage dye ... yum!

"mussel blue" - postcard

"storm over Porthminster beach, St. Ives bay"
a framed art print

"forget me not"
a framed mixed media collage

mixed media collage - calico, waxed paper, waxed fabrics
real pressed flowers, silk, lace, some stitches and a button

inspired by the colours in my art print
and because I love wild flowers and
the randomness of an unorganised garden

just as well as I have no time for gardening
this is my garden

"forget me not"

this new postcard represents my love of beachcombing
and the inspiration I find from just being on the beach
it features a monoprint, the harbour, some beach finds
beach streams (painted bondaweb) and some
lovely colourful houses I photographed at Dartmouth

"beachcombing" - postcard

"St. Ives cottages, cobbles and lichen"
a framed art print

"lichen"
a framed stitched piece

hand dyed cotton, silk and chiffon
textures created by folding and melting
with free motion stitch, french knots and a few beads

"the sea and the wind"
a framed stitched collage

a nestle of quirky cottages on a windswept beach
the sea is rough sending up spray and surf

mixed media - cotton, folded fabrics, hand stitching , scrim
shimmery melted sheers, shells, beads and text

"the sea and the wind are roaring now"

"pebbles"
a framed art print

"the sky was cloudless and bright"
mixed media stitched collage in a box frame

mixed media
my own photograph of St. Ives harbour stitched to calico
with linen, cotton, vintage knitted piece, limpet shells
lace, rafia, cloves, hand stitching
and some machine stitching

inspired by the brightness of a winter day in St. Ives

a new postcard inspired by snow and snowflakes
little cottages by the sea in winter
and a mini tag book I made for Tag Tuesday

"St. Ives snowy cottages" - postcard

a new postcard inspired by Cornish mizzle
and the beauty of St. Ives in winter
even on a grey day

"a misty day in St. Ives" - postcard

"moonlit waters"
framed mixed media stitched collage
mixed media
melted chiffon, silk, mulberry bark, scrim
free motion machine embroidery
hand stitching, pearl seed beads

water effects created with melted acetate
over pre-printed fabric with moon shapes

I used my most valuable piece of vintage lace on this one
so will not be sad if it does not sell ;o)

"pebble textures"
a framed art print

"the shoreline"
framed mixed media collage - stitch and wax

I think this is my most favourite one

mixed media
melted acetate, silver paper, waxed paper, torn chiffon
a fabric pre-printed with a pebble design, scrim
and melted plastic on a lace background

it features the little Alfred Wallis style cottages that I love
a piece of flat slate pebble with text and beads

"the shoreline"

"thrupenny purple"

a framed mixed media stitched collage

fabric, paper, lace, silk, stitch, melted sheer fabrics
beads, sequins and a and a vintage purple stamp
featuring our beautiful Diamond Queen

"recycle bird"
mixed media collage in a box frame
"hear a bird sing"
mixed media collage - paper and stitch
with pressed berries
"autumn landscape"

you may have seen this one in progress
on Love Stitching Red and on flickr

a hand stitched piece
on cotton background fabric dyed by my friend Chris Gray

there is a little hilltop cottage
beyond an embroidered woodland
of machine embroidred trees
and lazy daisy stitched autumn leaves

the landscape layers are hand stitched hand dyed silk
with fly stitch umbel shaped seed heads

"indigo light of the storm"

just a small piece I added to the bottom of our exhibition poster
melted chiffons on hand dyed silk and scrim

I dyed the silk and scrim with blackberries
and decorated with beads and
bits from my sewing box such as hooks and eyes

"seaweed"
framed mixed media waxed paper collage

I enjoyed creating this piece
especially layering the mix of papers

I used a mix of waxed mulberry paper, hand painted papers
waxed tissue paper and shiny silver papers
with sheer fabrics and plastic which I love to melt
free motion machine stitching
and a real piece of seaweed


a new postcard
it features one of my stitched hearts
some rust and peeling paint (recurring theme)
a photo I took of cottages at Dartmouth with rust texture added
rusty ropes and fishing nets, tie dye and rust patterns

"inspiring rust" - postcard

the last of my new postcards inspired by sunny days
my paint palette, Mousehole, details from my stitched hearts
and one of my watercolour paintings

"turquoise waters" - postcardif you are interested in any of these pieces
they will be available for sale in my shop after 1st April 2012


INSPIRED TO STITCH
1 - 31 March 2012
St. Ives Library, Gabriel Street, St. Ives, Cornwall

Jo and I each have a wall in the exhibition
you can just make out my other art quilt hanging there
the white, silver and red "St. Ives Seaside Cottages"

my work is on the long wall opposite the windows
so it was hard to photograph the work
without getting lots of reflections in the glass

some people like to be able to touch textile work
others like work to be protected and dust free

I chose to frame most of my pieces under glass
because it can always be removed later ... according to taste

obviously the art quilts are not under glass

"meet the artists"

during the month Jo and I have spent some time
at the exhibition and it's been lovely to meet lots of new people

It's an opportunity to talk textiles and about the inspiration behind our work, share techniques and offer a selection of other textile goodies that we cannot otherwise leave unattended at the exhibition ... art cards and prints, textile art hearts, beaded mermaid scarves, pin cushions, beads and textile inspiration packs

I also brought along my stuffies that appeared
in the magazine "Cloth Paper Scissors"

and at my next "meet" I will have my sketchbooks
from The Sketchbook Project 2011 and 2012

Jo will next be in the Library (upstairs)
Tuesday 20th March 2012
from 12 - 5 pm

this is some of Jo's beautiful work

and I will next be in the Library (upstairs)
Tuesday 27th March 2012
from 2 - 5 pm

hope to see you ♥