Art Exhibition

This weekend there is an Art Exhibition in March Town Hall, Cambridgeshire. It is free to go and see it and well worth a visit.

I entered my Clematis and Mushrooms into it. I have put a rather high price on the Clematis because I don't really want to sell it. But, if somebody is willing to pay £1495 for it, I can always make another.

I have never put a picture of the finished mushrooms on here, so here they are. I went to the opening reception on Friday. There were lots of people there and lots of comments about my Clematis. But nobody bought it!

For me, however, the highlight of the evening was seeing all the childrens work on the boards. These are the ones from All Saints School.

On Friday morning there had been a workshop for some of the local schools. The chilren had re-created some of the artwork in the exhibition. I was delighted to see that so many of them had chosen my mushrooms to re-create! One child did a wonderful re-creation of my clematis and another did the mushrooms.

Apparently, there were lots more mushrooms but the children chose to take them home.

And these are the ones from Burrowmoor School. As you can see, lots of mushrooms!

And some of my favourites which were on display. Dancing by Margaret Williams.

Go Bananas by Heather Kinnear.

The name of the Apple by Jenny Furlong

Chatteris Craft & Lace Group Exhibition

As promised, pictures from the Exhibition. This is at Chatteris Library and is open during regular Library hours from October 4th to the 16th.

If you are able, you should really go and have a look. As you can see from the photos, there is a wide variation of crafts and lots of talent. You can also pick up a program for next year to see what we are up to. If not, I hope you enjoy the photos.

Better still, if you are able to go along between 10.00am and 1.00pm on either of the Friday mornings, there are demonstrations to enjoy.

Boo!

I worked hard yesterday! It was dry but dull, perfect for taking photos as you don't get shadows or areas of high contrast. I managed to take photos of all the individual letters I have made so far then sat watching recordings of Strictly (mmmm Matt Baker!) while I sewed them together into words.

I decorated the "Merry Christmas" with crocheted holly leaves and french knot berries, sewed a crocheted star and french knot baubles on the tree and am quite pleased with the whole effect. I have left the "Merry" and "Christmas" separate as I thought it would be easier to display.

I have also sewn "Peace" together and finished crocheting "Joy".

Of course, I now have to wait until it is dry again before I can take more pics but you can see my "Boo!"

I am going to put this on eBay at a starting price of 99p, so if you want it, go and see if you can get yourself a bargain. But be warned! This is the prototype, it isn't perfect and is made with different balls of bright orange which means that it is all different colours.But I don't suppose that will notice in the dark. Anyway, that is the reason I am selling it so cheap.

I have also had a couple of orders for names. Well, not exactly orders. I asked my neighbour if she would like some for the grandchildren.

I want some to display on the site and when I do the couple of craft fairs I have booked. Seems a waste just to make some names that are going to languish in the wardrobe forever after. By making them for her, at least they will get used.

Now I need to get showered and ready to go out. Our Craft and Lace groups two weeks exhibition at the Library starts today and I have offered to help put the display up. And I need to take my Clematis along.

I will take some photos for those who are not close enough to go and see it in person.

Chatteris Lights

If you are in Chatteris there is lots going on this weekend.

The lights are being turned on so I plan to get the "X" for my A-Z. Ofcourse, Chatteris lights are always a big event and all the usual stuff like the funfair, FenVAC Open Studios and the Gables Christmas Bazaar are also planned.

And if you are not in Chatteris this weekend........

Why not??????????

Full Frontals!

Sorry but after the last post it just seemed appropriate! LOL

However, I know these "full frontals" are ones you have been waiting for. Sorry, the pics are not the best but I did them quite quickly and, as the silks have been collected, I can't do them again. So, here are my latest silks in all their glory! I was rather pleased with this one. And I have some paper and ribbon with stars on so I needed something just like this to scrap!

This is a close up of one of the mini shooting stars. I bought the star beads for Christmas tree earrings!

And a close up of the other beads

And now the snowdrops. Unfortunately, I didn't take any close ups of this after it was mounted so you will just have to do with one from before.

I wasn't as happy with this one but there is only so much you can do with white flowers. However, the lady who ordered them was pleased with them and wants two more with Rainbows and Stars on. But she would prefer them different rather than all similar.

I was wondering about incorporating crocheted stars.........

And, while I am here, some more good news.

I entered some of my silks in and Art Exhibition for Chatteris Medieval Fair and sold the Dolphins!!!!

Still no news on the job front though.

I can do Joined Up Writing!!!!

I wasn't really happy with the chain for writing the words. And I wanted something different for this LO. So I decided to play!

It took a little bit of fiddling but I managed to do it. I haven't worked out how to do the rest of the letters, just the ones I need for this. However, I plan to do the whole alphabet like this and put it all in the pattern.

I was thinking that maybe it would be far too big for one pattern so I might put the letters in one and the numbers and puntuation in another, with a discount for buying both at the same time. Then I couldn't decide how to finish this off. Lesley suggested crocheted swirls, which ended up as crocheted doodling.

I was quite pleased with the result and they are so easy to make. I am going to add them to my msn group as a free pattern. I will let you know when it is up. So the finished LO looks like this! Not a particularly good picture but I took it at 7.am this morning in the bedroom and I haven't sorted out the RAW plug in yet for Elements.

Atlier East Presents.........

EJ Curtis – Fur & Feathers

An Exhibition at the Angles Theatre, Wisbech, Cambs.

Fur & Feathers is the title of the forthcoming exhibition by EJ Curtis at the Angles Theatre Wisbech. Curated by Fur & Feathers is a collection of stunning portraits, painted, printed and drawn, of domestic and farm animals with particular attention to rare breed poultry! As a self-taught artist living on a smallholding in Norfolk, EJ Curtis’s love of art has grown with her love of chickens and ducks. Inspired by her first six hens Emma now has many animals and not only does she use them as her inspiration, she also takes commissions from other animal lovers.

Emma has an incredible ability to really capture the beauty and personality of her subjects; this has to be because she really appreciates and enjoys working with animals. Anyone who loves animals is going to love this exhibition!’ says Karen Harvey of Atelier East.

Obviously a very talented and skilled artist, already achieving a very high standard of work that many other artists would envy, Emma still feels that she is learning and has more to learn. She is currently studying for a diploma in pet portraiture with London Art College. Fur & Feathers by EJ Curtis will be showing from 4 - 30 May at the Angles Theatre.

On Sunday 4 May from 6-8pm there will be a free opening reception and, as always, everyone is welcome to come along and meet the artist.

For more information on exhibitions at the Angles Theatre contact info@atelier-east.co.uk

And, just in case you haven't managed to go yet, mine is still on!

Do you Etsy?

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I joined Etsy.

And, because of the UKS rules, I can not link to my shop from here. However, there are no prizes for guessing my user name!

This afternoon I have finally got around to looking at it a bit more and making the banner for my shop.

So, do you Etsy? If so, I would love to hear fom you with some tips because I am very new to this.

After the hectic pace of the last few weeks, I have taken things a bit easier this week. I have been working on my Silk Album which I didn't get finished in time for the exhibition. Most of the important stuff was done but I wanted to add some more embellishments, particularly ones made from the beads used in the silks.

This is the front page.

I wanted the album to reflect the handmade aspect of the silks, so the album itself is handmade paper and throughout I have used mostly handmade papers and embellishments. I tore them rather than cut them for the "rustic" effect.

This is a digi collage of the embellishments.

Most of the crocheted embellishments used in the album are my own designs, apart from a few flowers on "Winter" which came from a crocheted flower exchange. The beaded embellishments are made from the beads which were used on the actual silks.

And, of course, I have been crocheting. I have been working on the pattern for the vest I wore in this post. I am making another one in black then I have to find some testers for the size above mine and the one below.

Also, I have been working on something inspired by Bee. You can see that very soon!

The Morning After.

It sort of went ok.

I managed to get tea sorted and the family sorted and get there on time. Although the Tesco van we got stuck behind on the way did have me worried for a bit.

However, hardly any people came. Only two I invited came. I must have invited about 50,000 people.

Yes, I know that most of them lived a bit far away. Although I didn't think it was that much hassle to hop on a plane and come over from the US for a couple of hours!!!!!

The good news is, I sold Winter!!!!!

There is also somebody interested in the full set. If they do want them, I will have to make another Winter. I didn't really want to but a sale is a sale.

Atelier East presents

This is my press release from Atlier East about my exhibiton. Only a few days left now. I am not including the pics, they are all on here already!

Helen Free – Silk

An Exhibition at the Angles Theatre, Wisbech, Cambs.

Bright, bold and colourful- the best words to describe the work of textile artist Helen Free who’s exhibition entitled Silk opens on April 6th at the Angles Theatre, Wisbech.

Silk is a collection of beautifully sumptuous floral motifs- all hand painted onto silk, lightly quilted and embellished with beadwork and stitching.

Helen was brought up to appreciate crafts; she loves working with textiles- sewing, quilting, silk painting, knitting, tatting, crocheting and much more. Helen was taught to crochet by her father when she was very young and now she is a successful crochet pattern designer and writer, selling her patterns worldwide through her website.

“This is the first time that we have shown textile work at the Angles Theatre and I am sure people will really like it. Helen’s work is really fresh and vibrant- perfect for cheering us up after the winter months!” said Karen Harvey who has curated the exhibition for Atelier East.

Silk by Helen Free will be showing from 6 April – 2 May at the Angles Theatre.

On Sunday 6 April from 6-8pm there will be a free opening reception and, as always, everyone is welcome to come along.

The theatre is also open Monday to Friday all day and Saturday mornings, plus it is open for shows. Best the check with the theatre if you are going out of normal hours.

For more information on exhibitions at the Angles Theatre contact info@atelier-east.co.uk

The current exhibition by Jennie Claire runs until Friday 4th April.

Happy Easter

Would you believe it? Snow for Easter Sunday!

I did go out to take some pics but am not entirely happy with them so will go back out later. However, I might just cheat and do one from the bedroom window.

I finally found some time yesterday morning to do a little blog hopping on the Blog-a-thon thread on UKS. There are some great blogs out there! I love the ideas and feel some scraplifts coming on - when I have time to scrap!!!!

I have also made a new page to advertise my up coming Exhibition. Its only 2 weeks away now and I am alternating between excitment and that "What on earth have I got myself into?" feeling. If you want to see it, click on the pink thing over there <<<<<.

I have quilted all four of the seasons. The idea is for the quilting to be the same and use the beads to convey the season - along with the backing fabric to convey the mood of the season. Of course, they are not exactly the same as "hand made" means "similar" and not "identical"! These are Autumn and Winter. I finished beading Spring last night but want to wait until it is mounted on the frame before I take a photo.

Now that I can post again.........

I have been working hard on my silk paintings. I actually have 5 wall hangings ready and waiting for the poles to be made. And I have 6 finished ready and waiting for the frames to be made.

Here are my Lilies. I actually have 3 different versions of this one. This is the wall hanging and there are two smaller ones which will be on frames. I was planning on different shades of orange beads on the petals to give the speckled, shaded effect of lilies. But I didn't have the right colours and it looked awful.

I ended up unpicking the the other colours and leaving it like this. Too many beads would hide the painting on the petals anyway.

These are the magnolia. I have no idea why I did them so pink!!!!

However, the pink goes well with the creams of the flowers. I used bronze, gold and amber beads to shade the petals with various green ones on the leaves and pink ones on the background. Again, I have three different versions of this one, a wall hanging and two smaller ones for frames.

The other thing I have done is to sew some rainbows in beads on the dolphins. Then I was told that I should put them on all of my painting as signature. Of course, this meant buying more beads.

I can't use the ones for the dolphins, they were plastic and bigger than the glass ones I have used for the others.

Although they suit the dolphins perfectly, they would look cheap on the others against the glass beads.

So I went shopping on eBay again. I found someone even cheaper than last time! Her postage is cheaper and her beads start off at 35p for 20g. The disadvantage is that you have to bid on them rather than buy-it-now but, at that price, its worth the wait. I put in a max bid on the ones I wanted for £1, the same price as the others, and waited. I ended up getting all four packs for £4.20 inc postage.

I am now waiting, very impatiently, for them to come!