Happy Family

I always liked this photograph of my nan Evelyn, my Aunty Jean and her second husband, Arthur. Evelyn and Arthur had fallen in love when they were young but hadn't married as arthur was already engaged. Evelyn married another man but it was not a happy marriage. They were both widdowed in their forties and married. They were happily married for many years until sadly Arthur died. In this photograph all three of them look so happy.

Donkey Rides

My cousin Rowena and I always used to Blackpool for our holidays and we would always go for a ride on the donkeys on the beach. I managed to find some 'old money' which I added to the collaged background which is a racing list from Chester races.

My Fifth Birthday Party

This altered photograph is based on a photograph taken at my fifth birthday party. I have used icing letters for the text.

Baking Day

This Altered Photograph is actually a birthday card from the 1960's which my mum bought from a charity shop. I cut and pasted my head and my friends head onto the birthday card and collaged it onto a background of fairycake paper. After I had transferred it on to fabric I stitched the words 'first the oven, then the tin, wash your hands and then begin' which is what our teacher used to tell us when we had baking lessons

Finally Finished Foundation

I have finally finished doing my FMP and the exhibition is now up. Not got my marks yet. I based my fmp on my childhood memories and have used loads of old photos in my work.

The work definately has an altered art feel about it but I have translated it into textiles.

Marrakesh

Since I last got round to updating my blog I have been on my travels. First I went to Marrakesh with DH. This was wonderful as I have always been inspired by Morocco. We stayed in a Riad in the medina which was an experience in itself. Apart from taking hundreds of photographs it has provided me with loads of inspiration for my current project which is' view from a window'. I have been experimenting with working in a variety of media and on different surfaces.

A room with a view

I am also doing printing and we had to make a screenprint which linked in with what we were doing in fine art. I tried to design something based on the flowers I had been painting but since the screenprint had to have strong black and white images it didn't really work. Fortunately I went away to Stratford for the weekend and the room we were staying in had a wonderful view of a topiary garden. The light was really strong when I woke up so I dashed out and took a series of high contrast images which I then converted to black and white.
My rationale for this is that rather than concentrating on the flowers in the Winifred Nicholson picture I should explore the concept of views from rooms- so goodbye flowers for the time being.

More tulips

I am still on the theme of tulips and have been experimenting painting on textured surfaces. Although I have been enjoying painting these I feel I need to move on and do something more arty,

Rosie

Although this isn't art related I thought it was about time I posted a picture of my dog Rosie as she's really cute.

The humans in the picture are my daughter Mel and her boyfriend Chris.

Manchester Art Gallery

Last week we visited Manchester Art Gallery to take part in the adult learners art competition. The idea is we pick an art work that inspires us and use that as inspiration to create a piece of artwork of of own.

I was inspired by a piece by Winifred Nicholson called Primulas which shows a pot of primulas on a window sill with a seascape through the window. The light is coming through the window creating strong shadows. I do not normally draw flowers but I have been expreimenting with drawing a vase of tulips we have at home and have taken photographs of the flowers on window sill at my house.

Drawing to music

We have been experimenting with different types of drawing and this session was devoted to drawing to music. Here is my effortsbased on some Miles Davis music . I was thinking about my holidays in Spain whilst I did this.

Messing about with photoshop

Since the weather is so bad and I cant get to my sewing machine I thought I'd catch up with some homework for college and create a photocollage.

I scanned some fabric and an old black and white photo of mum and dad. I made them into one image with the fabric on the bottom layer and then used the eraser tool to rub out the original photo leaving my mum wearing a bright yellow dress and my dad a matching yellow tie,