I have almost finished a piece about a girl and her chickens, it has a lovely lavender filled border and a summer blue sky, I want tomorrow, to start a piece about the snow and little hungry birds being fed by a lady on her way home from the shops, weighed down by her shopping. I am having more space around my figures and trying very hard not to be tempted to squash as much in as I can, I keep listening to Janet Bolton's voice in my head "Less is more, less is more" like a mantra.

I listened to Cath Kidson http://www.cathkidson.co.uk/ today on Woman's Hour BBC radio 4 being interviewed by Jane Garvey and it made me nosey to go into one of her shops in Winchester's high Street. The shop has been opened for quite a few weeks and until today I had not ventured in. I have seen her fabrics so many times in magazines and catalogues that now it leaves me quite overwhelmed and numb, however what I did enjoy looking at very much was the real vintage pieces of fabrics, ironically I thought, put into frames and dotted around the walls of the shop. I also enjoyed looking at her crazy patchwork which was hung in the stairwell and crazy patchwork upholstered chair on display in the window.
I think she has done a great deal of good for textiles in general, this warm comforting feeling that is portrayed by 'homemade is cool' and 'have a go yourself'. I like to think that this confidence boosting marketing will not only encourage all women under the age of 30 to pick up a needle and thread or a pair of knitting needles but will make the youngsters have a go at sewing to, I am all for that, I can not think that there is anything more satisfying than the pleasure of making something yourself, either to eat, wear, use or to look at. I would be truly lost if I stopped making.
The Colouricious television programme that I was filmed for is very much about the pleasure of sewing, it is all scheduled to be shown later in the autumn http://www.colouricious.com/ it is going to be shown on Sky TV on www.countrychanneltv I wonder how it will be received? I hope it inspires the love of textiles.

Cornwall beaches and thirteen Sock Monkeys

I have just returned from Cornwall. I tried very hard to look at the light and remember the colours around me. Cornwall has a clear true light especially in St Ives. I was staying just outside st Austell and near to The lost Gardens of Helligan. http://www.helligan.com/ the nearest beach being Caerhays Beach http://www.caerhays.co.uk/
I had a wonderful time. My favourite time being sitting on the beach in the sunshine, watching the people around me and watching the sea. I miss the sea so much, I think it was growing up by it, it has never left me and think about it everyday. That's why, I am pretty sure that I make so many pieces about it, there is something so mesmerizing about the sea.
I met up with my friend Rebecca www.curiousthings and we had a wonderful walk along a coastal path and watched very noisy stone chats perched on the tops of bushes as we walked and chatted along the path whilst every so long glanced at the spectacular view and of course the sea.

The day after I returned from Cornwall, Jill www.blobglass.co.uk my studio space share and I held a Sock Monkey workshop for thirteen young people at the Colour Factory Studios www.colourfactory.co.uk The Summer Workshops are all over now until the next holidays, all went away very happy with their Monkeys, and Jill and I relaxed briefly with a cup of tea before the task of tidying everything away!

The piece I started before I went away is now finished along with a couple more pieces and ideas for a collection of "sister pieces" all about the weather- smallish pieces, people and animals all travelling through various weather torn countryside scenes. Of course at present I am making a piece about the sea! Oooh lovely!

Finished commissions and the sound of the sea, 50 times over.

The two commission pieces are finished. All wrapped up and waiting to be collected, all very exciting. It is always a joy and relief when a piece is finished, a joy that the piece is good and one is pleased with it, knowing in ones heart that you have done your jolly best and been honest with yourself, and a relief that it came out well, without the embroidery being damaged whilst sewing it. (sometimes they split with the heavy intense stitching, there is nothing you can do to save the piece, all that hard work ruined-heartbreaking).

I have a couple more commission pieces to do drawings for first, for the clients to see, before I begin to make the embroidery pieces, but I need to make some pieces for myself first. I am so longing to finish the piece I started before I went away on holiday, I feel so out of touch with it, its so empty with only the black stitch upon the fabric, this week I know I will get it finished and finally be able to work out the story in the piece, of course I'm not going to tell anyone whats it all about, I shall leave that to the viewer to decide.



Today I have been at Southampton University part of "The Big Outdoors" with my colleague Alex Hoare http://www.alexhoare.co.uk/ part of a music and arts workshop day, we were making rain makers, although a lot of the time Alex and I said it was in fact the sound of the sea! which the children enjoyed making very much, lots of tissue paper and glue-heaven! we reckon we worked with about 50 children throughout the day, so not bad. I must admit I was thankful for a cup of tea when I got in and a sit down. Then the real rain started outside again, had we encouraged it with our 50 rain makers?