Very Vintage

Lovely day at the York Does Vintage fair at the Merchant Adventurers Hall, beautiful building and plenty of finds. My favourite The Big Book of Needlecraft.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Lovely to spend a week off finally having a catch up with ...everything. Visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park have never been so cold. But it was lovely to see the work of Donna Wilson, work I have followed for a while Endangered Species is currently on show go take a peek...

Charity Shop Find

I found these whilst rummaging in the British Heart Foundation charity shop, just liked the old text feel and colour of the record sleeves but what to do with them?

Vintage Tea

Cake



Pretty China



Its all about the Vintage Tea, the china, the music, the atmosphere and the craft. How these elements can combine to bring people together and stimulate a stronger sense of community and interaction something valuable.

Lovely book filled with inspiration.



Exploring this concept further and integrating it with a passion for crafting :)

Owl

Lovely Owls crafted using fabrics found by rummaging through my collection. Craft provides the feeling of satisfaction in using thought to put together something from pieces to product... in this case lovely fabric and buttons to owl.

"It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more."
Edouard Manet

New Year Crafting - time for change...

"Skills you learn whilst knitting can also be highly effective in education and industry. Forward thinking teachers are using knitting in classrooms and finding it facilitates learning, controls disruptive behaviour and is ideal for kinaesthetic learners. It also teaches patience and perseverance which is important in this world of instant gratification. "

A little bit of a New Years Day project crafting my gloves, finally finished them and very happy with the results. The new year presents an opportunity for change to try new things, push ideas and evaluate although daunting exciting times ahead. Along with a resolution to try and blog more, see more and be inspired more lets hope this happens.

Journey

Completing my teacher training involved creating a visual diary, I chose to represent this through the journey on a historic map of Leeds. Beginning at one side and ending at the Leeds College of Art. I like the concept of using maps and the representation. Now at the start of a new journey.........where will it take me?

Postcard Picture Detail

The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

I recently blogged about the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap, and received to my suprise through the post a card from Greece. Lovely interpretation of the theme 'Bloom'.



My postcard followed the theme using a limited colour choice, focusing on the idea of gardening in bloom.



The tag is laser engraved leather and reads:

"gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,
and the soil and sky as canvas."
Elisabeth Murray

Lovely quotation linking together the theme of gardening and art.

Wise Words

"Some were budding designers, some had degrees in product design and some had studied textiles. It's sad how much creative talent is hidden away behind till points, locked away in stockrooms and banished to the graduates' graveyard of British retail!."
Gok Wan

Working for Habitat similar to Gok Wan I have made great friends, and met some incredibly talented creative individuals. As the legacy of Habitat across the UK rapidly draws (sadly) to a close it is a new chapter guys lets put our creative brains to valuable use.

Postcard Fun

Love this idea. Interaction, communication and postcards tremendous.

Register now :http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/swap/

Pop Up Primary Postcards

These are some examples of the students work,

Pop Up Primary

Yesterday was Pop Up Art School in a Primary School. Something completely different to anything I have done before but suprisingly enjoyed. Worked with the groups producing recycled postcards, decorated with recycled materials.





The work produced was lovely really nice idea and something which could be developed.

Leeds College of Art End of Year Show

It is end of year show season, last week and this visiting the Leeds College of Art end of year show. Friday was the the Private View and an an opportunity to see the work from students I worked with on the National Diploma, brilliant work! Then a visit to the degree shows to see the Printed Textiles work, inspired to get creative now.

Pop Up Art School

PGCE ART AND DESIGN CLASS OF 2011


The Pop Up Art School has featured as an activity within the PGCE course setting up art destinations for one day then being gone the next. I like the concept of a pop up, either a shop or art school. I would like to explore this within community work and drawing.

Freedom and Stationary

I have made it to the end of my journey through teacher training. Really pleased I stuck at it and have learnt so much not only about teaching but about myself. Excited to have some free time, and to fill the many sketchbooks (I seem to have collected that are gathering dust) with something new and creative. I love stationary, something nice about paper and print I could collect plenty.

"Sketchbooks in general... seem to contain mainly studies for paintings... For me, the sketchbooks are more like a secret and wholly spontaneous jeu d'esprit and some of them I like as much as anything I have ever done. They are invariably without premeditation. I mean not only that I have no plan when I make them, I also have no plan to make them. Robert Motherwell"

I like the idea of a sketchbook being personal and 'secret'. The concept of individuality and making something your own. I intend to make sketchbooks eventually but for the minute I will settle being happy to draw in the ones I am lucky to already have.

Tate Liverpool

Having time to visit Tate Liverpool was a valuable experience highlighting the variety and inspiration to be found in the gallery. The exhibition on Sculpture demonstrated how both 2D and 3D Art can blur boundaries within the discipline. I liked how the walls were not white and the curation of this in this way gave a different atmosphere to looking at Art. The Wayne Hemingway Silent Disco was brilliant. Providing music and a dance floor within a gallery though I can see how this could be seen as negative, made the experience less pretentious and in a way more free. The dance floor itself gave opportunity to interact with the exhibition a brilliant idea. I need to go back and explore more.






Little Dance Aged Fourteen, Edgar Degas

Degas work is something I have always admired and being able to see this sculpture and many more by such established artists was inspiring.

Cultural Capital

Still exploring creativity with limited time and revisiting a fantastic resource ... books. Beautiful inspiring and something to revisit time and time again. Always room on the bookshelf for more. Just waiting for the lovely new books to arrive but have revisited some that I haven't looked at for a while little gems.



The above book is something spotted at Salts Mill, a lovely place to visit and a beautiful collection of books that will make you want to buy loads. Very excited for the post.

In regard to cultural capital, this is something I am aiming to explore for my Specialist Paper, how exposure to culture in different forms can expand creativity and increase social mobility through this exposure. More reading! Although having taken time to nurture my own creativity I feel I can understand the impact this experience has in opening your eyes to something different and seeing from a different viewpoint. Inspired to start that sketchbook now, about time.

Inspiration

Following the Leeds Artist Bookfair I was interested in some of the more complex origami folded and unusual books. The personality of the user of the book can be represented in its making and this can be translated into sketchbook use. Slightly along these lines is this collage by Peter Clark. The delicacy of folded paper replicates the folds of the dress, beautiful.

Nurture

Taking some time to nurture my creativity has encouraged me to take some time to think about direction. Time is the theme of the final major project for my students and as a concept is definately playing on my mind. Inspiration from exploring the potential of local culture in the form of Leeds Artist Bookfair emphasised to me the magic and diversity of my specialism, endless avenues for me to explore. With that in mind is an image of my knitting a skill I definately need to nurture.