ORDER + BOOK 'under development'

Hi everyone
A bit of a dull day today - the weather improved lots over the day yesterday so Im hoping the same will happen today.Fingers crossed.

Well, Ive got going with the project of the moment : ORDER. I've organised my little recording method ie my little book.The book will record my experiences within the project and Im hoping to link aspects with web links - perhaps little videos or picture book or ? who knows, whatever creative elements I can think of.Here is the book so far.



I've added a little decoration to my photo (just because I cant resist decorating things and making them pretty) but the 'under development book' is simply 21 pages of ATC cards ready for recording my project experiences. The pages are varied white(ish) bits of scrap from my shelf. Some bits have a little texture and are different thicknesses. I can make more pages if I need more but I will leave the building of the book until Ive finished. Im hoping I will be inspired to make something brilliant post project. Along the way,I will record little snippets of the journey to bring order to my living/working space. I've come to realise that both living and working are at one in my world. The two are interdependent and I need an equilibrium to achieve my 'perfect place'. Sounds a good aspiration to me anyway !!!

'The order project' as Im calling it, starts practically with reducing clutter in the widest sense - mainly from my studio.It's not just material things but Im including systems and organising too. As I spend more time thinking about this one, Im already opening up my mind to possibilities ( which Ive dismissed in the past). These 'things' and ideas are how and why I do what I do, I have a tendency to keep stuff that one day will be great for ? - the day never comes, of course and the 'stuff' muddies the waters and stops creativity rather than helping it. I don't even know what Im storing and It's all muddled so I can't find anything. Mostly, I don't like going in there, it's got 'negative vibes' .... ugh !
My art and ME move on everyday and I need to let go of things that have simply been part of my development. Im mindful that getting rid of everything is not the absolute and simple answer, it's about selecting what's important and what's just a habit or a comfort zone for me. Tackling the ORDER has been brewing for a while and probably hasn't got going because I haven't spent the time on thinking and planning properly. Again, with this in mind I'm taking my time and raising the importance of this task. Its now the most important thing and will keep being the most important work project until its done. It's in the middle of the Butterfly Board (my work schedule/system/organiser) having the highest priority. I want to see this ORDER project being an ongoing aspect of my work. As such I think the process needs to be integrated into an annual review ? - it's an idea I will keep thinking about. Im pleased to say, Im actually quite excited about this and am committed to working through the process. On that note, I must get going.

Bye for today.

The ORDER Project

Hi everyone
The sky looks a bit 'heavy' today - it's not raining but it could - any time soon ! Quite bright all the same. Bit like my thoughts at the moment !
It's Monday already ! - can't believe where the weekend has gone. However, here we are and another week to look forward to. Today, my inspiration for the week is ORDER ( and all things which contribute to it.) This is a strange one but its quite an important subject for me? I've been struggling with trying to get order in my life for decades. Im not quite sure why this is so important but when everything looks chaotic or very untidy, Im paralysed - I literally wander around 'lost'. The chaos seems to turn into a kinesthetic thing and all of a sudden I feel very disturbed, translating into 'inactivity'.
On a practical level, most of my 'disorder' could be sorted by 'chucking' a load of unnecessary 'things' out. I think, my order issue is to do with my home/space being ordered - not 'superficial' but deep into the cupboards and storage. I recognise Im a bit of a control freak - but I like the idea of knowing where everything is and the contents of the house being 'good' to look at and use. 'Form' is key but 'function' needs to be there too. However, there lies the problem - not letting go of certain (unknown) 'things' and wanting to be sure I don't need them. Most of these 'things' Ive forgotten I have or ever had anyway !!! I probably need very few 'things' but certain things would make my existence more enjoyable than not (I think ?). I realise this sounds completely bonkers and some would say I have too much time on my hands !
Ive had several attempts at de-cluttering in the past but it's now got to crisis point and its time for action - hence, my inspiration for the week :ORDER. I've got a few plans about what to do next but am open to changes and new ideas. I know, Im not alone on this one, if I ever mention the 'order' issue to friends, almost without exception everyone has a view on it and most people launch into anecdotal tales on the subject. This makes me feel Im not having some kind of mental breakdown and its OK to be pre occupied with the order thing - to a point !!!
This 'order thing' came to a head over the weekend and it got me wondering about this idea of disorder and almost the 'need' for some people to have order in their lives. I do have friends who seem to cope with much more disorder than me and there must be people who don't care about such things - my kids when quite young were good examples of this. My teenager, although creates lots of mess and rarely tidies things, does prefer a tidy and ordered space (in his bedroom) my younger child of 10 - doesn't care too much and almost likes to be literally surrounded by his treasured things - scattered and in piles ! I hate this mess of course, so spend my much of my time trying to tidy and make order. Maybe, there is a developmental or maturity thing involved ? although my husband (could be described as mature), is very untidy and leaves stuff everywhere but he does like a tidy space too and craves the same order as me (in the bigger picture).
Thinking about all this order stuff also made me think about artistic responses to order and there must be lots of examples out there of great works which look at the order and disorder thing. I have tried to find some examples (didn't spend much time on this ) but could'nt find anything obvious. There are examples such as the Edvard Munch painting of The Scream Here
which is a sort of chaos theme and there must be many other paintings which could be interpreted as such. My own attempts at making art are quite structured activities where I am able to control what I do and undo things I don't like. Im sure lots of artists follow their own structured creative exercises even if the end result looks chaotic - maybe not ? I like the discipline of developing systems (creative or functional) and then adapting or dismissing certain elements of my system. There seems to be no obvious conclusion to my thoughts on the order thing in my world and maybe the order or disorder in artistic works is all to do with creating 'emotions' about the piece ?
This brings me back to my own ORDER issue and my current need to have a very functional response to it. I need to apply myself to sorting and chucking out stuff. I thought I would explore this experience this week with a little creative exercise that will eventually by Friday form a mini journal (and maybe have my artistic answer) which I can record the progress and include any emotional consequences along the way. While Im engaged in the practical sorting, I will have space to think and consider what and how my journal will/can 'be'.
This weeks exercise is so important as without my 'new order', I am not working as I want to. I'm hoping my 'space ordering/cleansing will help with a new creative ordering/cleansing for my work. Each day, I will aim to update on the 'experiment' with some photos and thoughts. Im not looking forward to this 'project' as I know even more chaos is needed before order is possible !
Bye for today.

Handbags and Shoes and Surface Pattern Designing

Hi everyone
What a lovely day - lots of bright sunshine and warm too ! Ive been out on a run this morning and it was just magical - it was VERY early but only a couple of other runners and the birds were around. Im not necessarily an early riser and can't speak until about 7.30am at the earliest but it is a different world out there before most people are up and about.

Here we are with another Die Cut Friday and today Im taking a different tack with die cutting. Im using very small die shapes to create a surface pattern design. I've done this before but have not really given very much thought to how the pattern will work on different surfaces. my experience has been to simply make a background for paper with die cuts. This time, I want to consider using the finished pattern on a few different surfaces. My primary working surface will be a painting on wood and I want to print the pattern onto either fine cotton or paper cloth and then stick to the wood - not sure which (depends on how well it turns out !). The painting is Bernadette and I've chosen to use small shoes and handbags in appropriate colours. I plan to do a few versions of the surface pattern to choose from, so am preparing lots of shapes to work with. These are the shapes Im using :



Here is another look at Bernadette for reference. I think the shapes will work well with Bernadette's 'look'.



I've narrowed down her body design to include a coat with trousers and some shoes similar to the die cuts. This painting will be quite big - the head is only just short of a real head size. I like to play with proportions, so maybe the body will not be in proportion - lets see how it goes. Im not rushing this job although I will keep momentum and hope to complete a single (tiny) element each day (yet another strategy to my 'working style' !!).

I want the pattern to be useful for fabric production too and will have it printed up by Spoonflower when Im happy with it. I love the idea of wearing my patterns or images. I have some Miss Mitchell fabric which is almost a skirt - I started it last summer and didn't finish it - may be soon !!

Back to the die cut job : the colour scheme is orange, white and navy and I will try and keep this throughout. I have some ideas of the painting background being the surface pattern design completely or perhaps filling in a shape or landscape with the pattern. All will be revealed in time. My next task is to cut out lots more shapes and develop some patterns. I will make a small square (size will depend on the design) and create a digital image followed by a bit of photoshop work. I will then produce an A4 size sheet(s) in various colours for use with the painting. Im hoping the development of Bernadette will influence the pattern and vice versa. Im also planning to make a few different versions of the two bag styles and will make a larger version for Bernadette - I quite like the large one myself - maybe ? I think this project will last a few weeks so will report my progress next Friday - I should have quite a bit of progress to share next Friday.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend. Back next week.

Bye for now.

Making Tyvek and Paper Beads

Hi everyone
Today it very dull (here) - there is much talk on the radio about fantastic sunshine and high temperatures ! Fingers crossed for later.
I've managed to make my work wish list for this week - better late than never ! I talked, yesterday, about this weeks inspiration ie Hilary Bravo,Artist and making some jewellery using 'new techniques' (new to me). 'The list' is up on the Butterfly Board - so it will happen !

I like to make all my BB notes 'pretty' but I didn't manage that yesterday - I will do more to make my note 'prettier' today. Somehow, my thinking is that if the notes look good, they become more important. It's a state of mind (mine) but it works for me. I think it's to do with spending time and thoughts on the note and 'giving' the note centre stage for a while.
Getting back to my point, I spent ages (last night)watching Hilary Bravos little YouTube videos on the techniques she uses (check out yesterday's blog for links). I thought, I had all the materials and bits to get going, however, I find I don't have any metal leaf - I have flakes of metal which could work but I want to try out the sheets, so have ordered some this morning. In the meantime, I will use the flakes - the whole thing is an experiment and this will add to the experience.
Im not sure why ? But Ive wanted to try out these Tyvek beads for months and Hilary manages to make several beads in the video's (all the videos are quite short) so Im not sure what the problem has been ! Anyway, having got over that one - today is the day. I will take some photos and see what happens.
I found another photos of some of these beads which Hilary has made from Tyvek. This photo gives an idea of the beads for reference.

I think I want to make more rounded versions and Im not sure about colours yet ? I have ideas of a range of blues or greens ?
I also want to get started with some 'toilet paper' beads - my ideas for these beads are to add layers of various materials - I will look at my range of stash and just add/embed into the surface. Perhaps, tiny beads or found objects may find their way onto the beads ? I like the idea of fibres of some sort. The metal leaf material is important to the finished beads and I want to keep them simple. The simple approach is always difficult to achieve well, I find, but it's my aim. There will be mistakes in the beginning but that's OK - Im hoping I can learn what works for me today.
In the unlikely event that I get both ideas underway, I may try some brooch ideas from milk cartons ! I know this sound the most whacky idea but I think I can try something which will work. Thanks Hilary for the inspiration.
Bye for now.

'a la Hilary'

Hi everyone
I'm eventually back (officially) from holiday. I've taken an extra couple of days, although I did almost get going yesterday.
The weather has been great over the last few days and on onto this week. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked up a virus and am feeling a bit weak, however, Im enjoying watching and/or listening to the Roland Garros tennis in Paris. I love the tennis season generally but Ive really enjoyed this weeks games.
Back to work and its Wednesday and it's usually my 'doll day', however, as Im just starting my working week, Im going to have a different sort of organisation for this week.My inspiration for the next few days is going to be the work of a lady called Hilary Bravo Check out her blog here. I may have mentioned her before, can't quite remember ? Hilary makes beads/jewellery in an amazingly simple but creative way. She likes using simple and accessible materials/techniques which is great for experimenting without having to do so much preparation and sourcing. Hilary also makes little videos showing techniques and progress of her projects on a regular basis and I am always looking for the next one to see where she is going next. I've been wanting to try out some of Hilary's techniques and thought this week would be a good opportunity to spend a few days creating my own versions. Im going to plan a little schedule of items that I want to produce this evening and think of ways of applying the techniques to my mixed media artwork. I like the idea of making beads and jewellery but ultimately my skills are aimed at producing my paintings. Im hoping some new ideas will come to me while experimenting 'a la Hilary'.
Here is a look at several of Hilary's pieces for illustrating where I will be going. She has an Etsy shop so most of her stuff is available for sale.





I have an idea to make some jewellery and develop some dolls or characters inspired by my creations. What I intend to create is a mystery (to me) at the moment ? but I know something will come out. The most inspiring technique from Hilary (for me) has been the use of metal leaf with her found objects and ways of mounting found objects onto rings - Im not sure what will turn out but it's constantly on my mind (somewhere - deep inside my brain) I NEED to have a go !!
A quick note about Last week and holidays - usually holidays allow time for drawing or painting but this time we spent lots of time out and about being 'active' and eating out. One of our visits included Keddelston Hall - an amazing Robert Adam 'country pile'. It turns out the film 'Duchess' was filmed in the Hall. Ive never seen the film but Im keen to watch it soon. I know it will inspire some work. We had a lovely long lunch in the Hall and spent a wonderful few hours looking and chatting to the staff about all the details of the Hall - a lovely memory from our holiday.
My only creative moment was to to produce a few basic sketches of a new piece based on a book cover (I talked about this book in my previous blogs). Im calling the first doll - Bernadette (at the moment ).

There isn't a name for the second sketch of a doll yet - perhaps someone will come up with a suitable name for me. If you have an idea - please add your idea as a comment.

On that note, that's about it for today.
Bye for now.