wishing all a merry Christmas and a creative new year!

I'm taking a couple of weeks away from blog land, so I just wanted to take this opportunity of wishing all who should happen upon my blog a merry Christmas and a happy, creative and fulfilling new year!

... Season's Greetings from me & my needle felted friends ...

'Custard'

'B'Elli'

See you all in 2009!

An Evening with Ari Berk, Brian Froud and Alan Lee

Yesterday evening we went to a public lecture arranged by Plymouth University called: The Creative Influence of Dartmoor: An Evening with Ari Berk, Brian Froud and Alan Lee ...

Image courtesy of Plymouth University

Now anyone who knows me will know how much I admire Alan Lee and his illustration work. I have met him in the past, on 2 separate occasions, once when I visited him at his home on Dartmoor to do an interview and later at a book signing. I have several of Brian's books too and some signed copies, I admire his illustration work but have never met him. So as soon as I heard about this event I had to get my seat booked.

It was a lovely, relaxed and rather informal evening. Rather like a conversation between the 3 men, Ari Berk, Brian Froud and Alan Lee, who are friends and share a love of Dartmoor. It was interesting to see how the 3 men have been influenced by the magic of Dartmoor, all in different ways.

I found it a truly inspiring evening and hope to take that inspiration with me through my Christmas break and well into the New Year ...

Here are a few of my own photos of Dartmoor taken when we visited Wistman's Wood in 2006 ... I think we're due another visit soon ... ;-)

work in progress ...

This is one of my needle felted creatures in progress ... I tend to have several on the go at one time and switch between them.

More needle felted 'thingy' s to come soon ...

and now for something completely different ...

One of my recent creations ...

the post has arrived ...

And Long Tall Sally has a good look at herself and some old friends in print ;-)



Thankyou Gretel for a lovely calendar - read more about them on Gretel's blog.

If you want one of these calendars - they're available here ...

life beyond 40 ....

While we was away a week or so ago I 'celebrated' my 40th birthday, and with that there have been quite a few changes in my life ...

The biggest change is that I have been made redundant from my day job, so I am now totally and completely a freelancer - my own boss. Mixed feelings, but I know in the long run, no matter what happens I will come out the other end stronger and hopefully more creatively fulfilled.

Anyway - here is a collection of images from our break in Yorkshire.

On my birthday we went on the 'Eye on the Bay' - a big wheel on Bridlington's seafront - I am scared of heights so I found it a little (to put it mildly) scary ...


In the garden of the cottage we rent in Yorkshire we often see various wild animals - this time it was stoats - not a great pic - but you get the idea - they were running around like maniacs ...


Bempton cliffs seen from Speeton beach - one of the most beautiful views in the world (imho) ...


We had a trip on the North York Moors Railway as a pre birthday treat, we went from Pickering to Grosmont, where we stopped for a little picnic on the hill overlooking Grosmont, then we travelled back. It was a lovely day out ...


... a view near Grosmont ...


We also visited Sewerby Hall and Gardens, where there is a small zoo and other animals in large paddocks. I saw this sweet scene in one of the paddocks ...

and this little wallaby too ...

back from break ...

Just wanted to add a post to say we're back from our break, have been for a few days now, but I haven't got as far as downloading my photos or thinking of what to put into a full blog post. We had a lovely time which included my birthday on the 18th, so I came back a year older ;-)

Things are a bit muddeled at the moment, but hopefully they'll get straightened out soon, so hang in there I'll get a nice post with piccies sorted soon ...

getting away from it all ...

After all that's been happening here over the past few weeks (it's a long story) we've decided to take a break, so I will be away from my blog for a bit, but hopefully I'll return with lots of new things and positivity ...

introducing ...

I decided to make the most of the sunshine at lunchtime today to take some photos of some of my needle felted creations - to introduce them to the world ....









When I get things sorted out these creations will be for sale online. In the meantime ... if anyone is interested in adopting one of them before then, please just drop me an email. I will also take custom orders, so if there's anything you fancy please email me to discuss ...

one of my last bus journey's home from Kingsbridge ...

These photos were taken from the bus, so they aren't super quality, but they do give an impression ...


a view looking towards Dartmoor near Modbury


a colourful sunset over Plymouth

newly organised office

We spent a large proportion of the weekend doing a blitz in the house to create a work area for me. It looks lovely, but alas it sits there and I sit here in what's left of our old office in Kingsbridge. The working at home has been delayed ... hopefully only until tomorrow ;-)

a big change is on the horizon ...

There is a big change on the horizon in my life and I'm full of mixed feelings about it, some positive and some negative ...

From Monday I will be working from home (still employed, but home based - not office based). In most ways it's good - quite a change for me as in order to get to work at the moment I have to travel for 3 hours (yes some people in Devon do commute). Working at home will give me those 3 hours of my life back, and of course I'll save money - no bus fares and all those extras I end up spending when I'm away from home.

But then again I'm a bit concerned about being remote and isolated from the office team ... thank goodness for the Internet.

Watch this space and I'll let you all know how things go with this life change ... ;-)

Still here ...

Just wanted to post a quick update to let any one who pops by know that I am still around.

Things are fairly busy on the freelance design front, so that is keeping me very busy during most weekends and some evenings.

I've also started exploring needle felting in the little spare time that I have. Initially I thought I might be able to do some needle felting on my long daily commute (by bus), but after experiencing how sharp the needles are I've decided that's not a good idea.

Anyway - I'm still here and I'll be back soon with photos of my needle felted creations ... I will be offering them for sale on Etsy, so I guess I will have to unveil them soon ;)

hares galore

Don't ask why - because I don't think you'd get a sensible answer - but I have developed a sort of fascination with hares ...

When we were on holiday in Yorkshire in March we saw a few, but never close enough to photograph. I did take this one photograph, but the hare was so far away ...



Since then I've been sketching and doodeling hares ...

a walk on the beach

Yesterday we drove to Dawlish Warren, a lovely seaside village on the South Devon coast. The main reason for the trip was for me to judge pets at a hamster show put on by the Southern Hamster Club. In the end there were several judges for the pets so I only had to judge the rabbit class, it was a pretty quick job really as there were only 3 rabbits taking part. I had a good time, and it was a chance to catch up with some people who I don't see very often.

While we were there we went for a walk along one of the beaches to look for shells - here are some pictures from our walk ...

welcome Long Tall Sally

This week we had someone new come to stay with us - introducing Long Tall Sally ...





She was made by the very talented Gretel, visit her blog Middle of Nowhere or visit her etsy shop - Red Flannel Elephant Designs.

Gretel - Thank you so much for making Sally, she is much loved here with us and I promise she will be well looked after. Thanks too for the lovely cards you sent with Sally X

hibernating?

Well, I guess that's one way to look at the fact that I haven't posted anything for a while, but to tell the truth ... I've been really busy with my day job and the few bits of freelancing I've been doing and I haven't really had much chance to think beyond that.

I shan't make any promises about regular blogging as everyone can see from my archive of posts that I've made such promises before and not kept to them - but how about 'I'll have a go'? ;)

happy Monday

I usually find Mondays rather difficult - but today has been a rather good one - fingers crossed the rest of the week will follow in a simular vain ;)

there's a bit of spring in the air

I've just been for a quick walk up the hill to the post office, to pick up a parcel, and there was a real feeling of spring in the air.

I discovered some snowdrops in the garden and then some daffodils in bud alongside the path where I went for a walk. The birds were singing and although there's still a chill in the air there is also the feeling of things coming in to bud ... new beginnings ;)

thank goodness it's Friday

I'm so glad the working week is over - it's been a long and intense one - and I think next week will be the same. I hope to be able to post a link soon so all can see what's been using up all my time and energy in my 'day job'!

It's nice to have a weekend and 2 days with no real restrictions (other than housework that is ;) ) ... hopefully I'll get some time with my sketchbook ... and some images to share ...

doggy doodles

Here are some 'doodles' I've been doing recently. There's just something about the shape of a greyhound that appeals to me ...




Yes, those are coffee cup marks, I was using some paper that was on my desk that I had been using to stand my coffee mug on - it gave me an interesting background to start working on ;)

dead / sleeping blogs

It strikes me that a lot of people start up blogs with all the good intentions in the world, but then life takes over and the blog fizzles out ... mmmm ... sound familiar? Well that's what happened to my blog last year. It's difficult to find what to say in a blog and what direction to take it in. I have decided though that blogging can have some value for me, so I plan to give it another go ...

Good start so far, 2 post in 2 days!

Expression in Calligraphy

Yesterday I went along to the monthly Saturday meeting of Plymouth Calligraphers (a group of local calligraphers), the theme of the meeting was 'Expressive Calligraphy', it took the form of a discussion and a show of historical slides in preparation for a weekend workshop coming up later in the year, all presented by a very talented calligrapher - Celia Lister.

Calligraphy is seen by many as a craft with the strict rules of letterforms within a particular hand being the overall 'idea' behind it all. But when you have mastered the basic letterforms of the various hands (italic, uncial,round hand, foundational, ... etc.) and the rules that usually apply to them, you can take things further and add you own 'mark' and create your own calligraphic language - crossing the border between craft and art.

I think this is the same with many 'artistic' persuits, you need to learn the basic craft first (ie. how to draw, paint, sculpt ... etc.) before adding your own expression and personality ... taking things on to that other level.

Once I've attended the workshop later in the year I will post some images of my results and add a little more of my thoughts on the subject.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I'll start with an apology to all for such sporadic blogging in 2007 and then move on to the hope and plans for better and more regular blogging in 2008 (at least that's the plan!).

I'd like to wish anyone who should stumble across this blog a successful and creative 2008!