Storybook Holiday!

Well hello at last dear friends!

You must all have thought I had left for another planet not just another country!

Well here in sensational Britain Mum and I are having what can only be descibed as a story book holiday! Everything is dovetailing beautifully and we have been so touched by all the kindness from everybody.

Upon arriving we picked up our hire car and immediately drove down to Winchester. Sensational! As I am doing the driving I have been getting lost on quite a regular basis ( daily!) and I am not backward in asking for help - from the man walking his dog in the street to the lady in the carpark not to mention the man at the garage and I can't forget the vicar at the tea rooms!

Now that Mum has taken charge of the navigator we are doing beautifully. Our orienteering skills have soared sky high! Also we have named her Tilly!

The photos here are some from inside and around Winchester Cathedral - truly an amazing place to gaze at for many hours - we were lucky to catch some choir rehersals and the acoustics are awe inspiring!

The wooden carvings were a joy to hunt down and I simpy couldn't stop photographing them - than 40 carvings of the Green Man alone, although I didn't have enough time to find them all.

As you can imagine I am taking at least a hundred photos a day. Not just willy nilly - I love taking close ups of subjects that may later be intrerpreted for a piece of work - wood, flowers, stone, brickwork, gardens,streets and I just love taking photos of doors!

Weird I know!

As a result I am to be found crawling on the ground, waiting for people to pass by or changing the setting on the camera - whilst Mum is striding on with her head swivelling and occasionally chatting to me - or at least she thinks so!

At any rate all is well - we are having a blast and I will post again soon!

Oh forgot to mention, any cake we have never seen we feel compelled to try - so when next we meet don't be surprised if I am shaped like Humpty Dumpty!

Lots of Love

Elizabeth

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Some groovy news!

Dear Friends,
Some exciting news! I am travelling to the UK on the 21st April and will be there until early June, tootling around with my Mum who really does need a holiday! After that we go to Paris for a few days and then onto Rome via Florence. Needless to say I am so excited. I am going to try and blog whilst I am away and will be travelling with a little notebook computer I am yet to buy!


I would love to meet up with blog friends if possible - providing the itinerary works! Drop me a line if you would like to hook up.




In the meantime here are some teeny weeny strawberries about the size of your thumbnail. We have to grab them quickly otherwise our feathered friends enjoy them instead of us!

Aren't they just so inspiring for a piece of artwork. Embroidered, painted, felted, beaded............... whatever!

Looking at the little things gives pockets of joy to every day - if we take the time. Don't you think? Sometimes one day seems very like the day before, but tiny things do change and hunting for them can be a challenge.

Hoping to hear from some UK friends in BLOGLAND,

Every best wish

Love

Elizabeth

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One dozen Puppets!

Dear friends,
Over the last couple of weeks I have been back at a school from last year (remember the underwater wallhanging?) same children!

Such fun we have had creating some really beautiful felt. They have been pieced together by myself and the art teacher. The design ideas were instigated by the students with drawings on what they felt a puppet should look like.

A couple of the ladies have their faces stitched and naturally the others will follow in the next couple of weeks.

This is my favourite lady

and this is my favourite gentleman!

Don't you just love them? I am so proud of what we have achieved and now I want a dozen to hang up at home.

Oh yes, the upward turned hands will have yarn attached to indicate (without a doubt) that they are indeed puppets.

In a few weeks they will all be framed - possibly four sets of 3 so that they can be hung in school as a collective or be seperated and placed in different venues.

Which is your fave? Don't tell me you aren't already deciding!

I'd be thrilled to hear what is your selection,

Until next time

Happy creating!

Love

Elizabeth

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Canvas, paint and a little felt too!

Hi dear friends,

Well busy busy busy at this end. Teaching a great deal and finding just a little time to sneak in some canvas painting with a little felt too!

Over the last few months I have been teaching several evening classes which have been great fun! Somehow students seem more relaxed - perhaps because it is the end of the day and there are no commitments, pressures and deadlines to meet.

I know my self I work very well late into the night rather than very early in the morning.

This got me wondering how many of us work at night to achieve our artistic dreams. Perhaps you are such a one or maybe you are busy beating the early bird and the worm!

Here are a few pics of some of the canvas figures that I have had fun with recently and the faces are in felt with some buttons as well.

I could make dozens of them, they are such fun!

Hoping everyone is getting a lot done - be it late into the night or early in the morn!

Love

Elizabeth

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A repeat from the past!

Hello creative friends!

Lots happening in the last few weeks. I have been teaching several evening classes and it has been a really lovely way to end the day.
I generally teach in the daytime but over the last month the twilight time of the day has been popular.

One of these classes has been Face Painting - which used to be my most popular class. Once again it is having a resurgence - isn't it interesting how life does these big wheels and brings you back to where you were.

On the strength of that ,I have reprinted my face painting manual "Fuss Free Faces".

Available at my etsy store now.

On another note I am busy preparing for a school project again which promises to be challenging indeed - 12 framed puppets ( all in the one frame) which the students will design make and then embroider. Although I don't want to wish time away I can hardly wait to see them done!

Hoping everyone is well and that the coming weekend holds something wonderful to do.

Love Elizabeth

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An interview..................

Hi fellow artists,

Hope everyone's week has started with something wonderful! I just wanted to share an interview that a lovely Canadian lady, Delores, did for me last year. It is now online and if you are interested here is the link "Running With Scissors"

Please note that the photo in the interview of me is about 3 - 4 years old and although I have reached the grand age of 43 this one manages to make me look less than half my years. Perhaps felting agrees with me!

I am off to take down more Christmas decorations - we went a bit silly this Christmas and I keep finding swags of twinkly things everywhere.

Chat soon

Love

Elizabeth

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Such a fab day!

Dear friends
Well the year has got off to a bang with a class last week and this class here of some wonderful
students yesterday. It is always such fun when friends come together to learn something new. I am certain it adds to the cohesion of friends, enabling them to become even more steadfast.
From left new felters, Joanne, Teresa and Greta.

You are absolutely right - they made some stunning felt!

I am sometimes quite envious of a complete felting novice.

Yes I am content and proud of the knowledge I have gained over many years of felting, still when I think about all that lies ahead for them and the sense of thrill and wonderment which felting does bring, I am just a little envious. They have so many exciting avenues to explore.

This got me thinking about the way we approach our work. All of us - painters, stampers, sculptors, illustrators, quilters, knitters ....................................obviously get into a groove of approaching our projects in a particular way. Should we pause now and then and see what changes we could ignite in our work if approached from a different angle?

This is quite a challenge if you have found a working method that is productive and enjoyable.

And yet, fresh eyes with no preconceived ideas as to the end result, could produce some really remarkable work.

So this is my task this week: to find (albeit small) a different way of looking at the familiar tried and true approach. It may be that I re arrange the studio, work in a new colourway, make something I never have before or tackle a new subject to express.

I will let you know how I go!

Wishing everyone a fun adventure this week as we steer ourselves into the New Year!

Love

Elizabeth

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