Hello...

I don't know where the time goes, it's an age since i last posted with all sorts of plans, which have been on my mind, but as usual life happened in between which couldn't be helped.

The workshops have finished here at Indigo Moon and we've been developing the Indigo Moon shop at full pelt, including extending some of the show room to the workshop area.  It's been a hard slog with huge amounts of work involved, but we're almost there now.

Gav has his workshop for restoration in the shop area and i have my own studio again, it allows us both to get on with what we enjoy.  It also means that Gav will be spending most of his time in the shop leaving me free to get on with the creative side of things.  More news on that soon.

I'm having a huge sale of 'older' work, unfortunately,  i haven't got around to putting it all in my Etsy shop as it was selling well here at Indigo Moon.  However there are still some pieces left which i'll photograph and create a separate page on here, if anyone's interested let me know and i'll check if it's still available.

In the meantime, in amongst all the chaos and mayhem i've managed to organise my studio and get on with some new paintings.

These are very small pieces and will be for sale unframed and unmounted.  I'd like to put together a series of small affordable art work.  It's been hugely cathartic getting back to painting, i've been experimenting with mixing acrylics, gouache and watercolour and playing about with collage.

I love working the backgrounds on these pieces, it's a technique well within my comfort zone...pushing the heavy rich paints around a substrate with anything other than a paintbrush, creating texture and a sense of space.  When i look at the background, i feel there is a vagueness, maybe silhouettes of people hovering nearby!

Some other new paintings i've been working on:

I wanted to experiment with bold lines and colours, i'm a great fan of brut/outsider art, and any sort of graffiti brings joy.  It's very hard to replicate, you have to have a command of 'unbridled' thinking (an oxymoron i know).  I just can't seem to let go enough, i get so far and then i have to 'tidy' things up, however it works in a 'sort of' way.  

I've also done huge amounts of work on my 'Boro' stitching and have now finished four scarves, "Part of your Story" 
but more on that soon.

XOXO

Table Art

I'm currently preparing work for a small exhibition here in Montgomery in the Summer around the theme "House / Home".  (more details soon). 

I've been immensely inspired by artist Cathy Cullis and her current ideas and art around still life. I thought i'd pay her tribute and do some small pieces of (what i call) table art.  These are small square works in water colours of  "table" content embellished with a touch of gold leaf in deep square frames, i really like the look.  (please excuse the photography as i took them in the frames under my twinkly lights which reflected in the glass - Having put them in the frames i didn't want to mess with them again in case they got damaged.

I love 'stuff' placed on tables, it varies from home to home and says something about the people living there.  My kitchen is the hub of our home as well as the office for our businesses and a temporary stock room for the shop.  It's where we live, eat, greet and entertain all who visit it's homely.  There is something different on our big farmhouse kitchen table everyday, but nearly always there will be a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit, cups and a tea/coffee pot.  Our friends are used to it being messy (in a good way) and it's not unusual for us all to sit drinking tea surrounded by boxes of shop stock, papers and various other things.  I find it all fascinating and have taken to looking carefully and analysing what other people store on their tables.

These will also make nice artist greeting cards that i can sell at both the exhibition and Indigo Moon.

Tomorrow i'll post photos of Indigo Moon, there have been a few changes as some of our bigger pieces have sold over the last few weeks, it's looking beautiful as usual and worth showing off.

XOXO

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