AND?

I have been getting back in touch with my love of graffiti and text and making use of Mr Dotty's prolific photography.

I printed images of torn posters and graffiti onto cotton fabric.

The colourful image is from the Lennon Wall in Prague. I love the ephemeral nature of graffiti and the feeling that the messages have been captured in a photograph before someone else comes along and paints over them.

 I love that if you look closely you can see a snapshot of a thought that was important enough to someone for them to put it on a wall, a stranger that I will never meet. This piece even includes a proposal of marriage- how romantic! I wonder if Jane said "Yes".

I have listed this item in my new Folksy Shop
Have a great week.xx

Dotty About Docs!

 Remember these?

I loved them when I saw them, but I couldn't really justify buying them. Well, I'm quite pleased that I waited because today Mr Dotty "persuaded" me to buy.....THESE.....

Do they remind anyone else of Minnie Mouse?

Daydreaming on Friday

I've been sitting here dreaming of my holiday, so here are a few more of my memories.

Plockton

My favourite dog!

A tasty "snack" he found on the beach!

Beachcombing

A neighbour.

Wishing you a very happy weekend.xx

Skye in my Heart (and pocket)

If you have followed my blog for a while you will be aware that I have a deep love for the Isle of Skye. I have written about it before and some of my art is inspired by the cottages and open spaces.

We spent the first week of the Easter holidays there in a lovely cottage at Kyle Akin. Nearby Castle Moil provided lots of photo opportunities!

We visited favourite places

                                       Faerie Glen

and a few new ones.

                                       Old Man of Storr

It was lovely to spend some slow, uncluttered time as a family.

There is something about Skye that stays with me long after we leave. It is like a safe haven in a busy life and when things get tough my thoughts often slip back there.

 Shortly after we get there I can feel my soul quieten and settle....I feel that I can breathe again.

                                                 Ord

                                                   

 I know that holiday destinations often bring more peace and relaxation than everyday life, but we have visited beautiful places that I have admired, explored, really enjoyed spending time in and left without regret. 

Whenever I leave Skye a little piece of my heart stays behind in the lochs, the mountains, the trees, the wildness and the stillness.

On Tuesday life returns to normal- work, school and the build up towards exam time. I will slip back into my role supporting, shopping, cleaning, but I may just pop a Skye pebble (or beach-combed pottery)into my pocket to remind me to take each moment as it comes and daydream of big skies and driving back across that bridge!

Have a good week.x

Easter Craft Fair

I am very pleased to be taking part in this....

I have very busy hands at the moment- I can promise you there will be lots of colour!!

Welly Hats

As you probably know, wellies feature quite significantly in my daily attire. I bought my current pair several years ago. They were a bargain, though still quite a lot more expensive than a bog-standard pair as I wanted support and comfort for walking longer distances with the dog. These are the sort of wellies worn by country folk when out hunting (though they don't go by that particular brand name!)

Coming in from muddy walks leaves me with a dilemma- I don't want dirty wellies in my hall dropping clumps of mud, but keeping them dry in the porch has been challenging this winter. I was really delighted to find these...

                                       WELLY HATS

We spoke to a lovely lady who was selling these at Castlefield Market in Manchester one Sunday. She got the idea from a shower cap. These are brilliant. They have a stiff band that fits into the top of the welly to give it rigidity. They keep out rain, spiders and slugs. And they are cute.

Just the job! Now all I have to worry about is my wellies blowing away in strong winds....

Grandma's Garden

Remember this? My Nan's letter has inspired me in many ways and has crept into my recent work.

I had a thermofax screen made from a page of it in two different sizes and used it to print onto some fabric, which I have been using to make hexagons.

It's very difficult to see in the photograph, but the thermofax process uses a photocopy of an image to burn away the screen material wherever there is a dark area and can be used to make screens to print very fine marks.

I showed you some of my hexies a little while back, so here is what I did with them:

 Work in progress. You can just make out my Nan's writing  printed on the lower shapes. The hexagons are about an inch across- more and more I am needing to use my glasses to sew. Anyone else find that?

                                     The finished wallhanging.

I enlarged a photo of a section of the letter so I could stitch Nan's handwriting onto the quilt.

If you want a close look the quilt is on display at Altrincham Forward as part of the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition until 29th April.