last months art trail

That was a long time ago!!

Our local art trail has faded into a distant memory, but it was a lovely sunny weekend and so many friends and neighbours and people I'd never met before came and visited my little stall and chatted and nattered and told me what they thought of my work (with their body language if not their words!).

I loved it and spent a very happy two days sampling cakes and trying not to buy art (that 'trying not' failed, as I did buy art, but hey, it was an arts trail...)

Here's a photo of part of my display, and it's not a black and white photo, it really was very monochrome with a lovely shade of greeny-grey on the wall behind me setting everything off so well.

Arts Trail weekend

This weekend is our local Arts Trail - sorry for going on about it as you probably live miles and miles away, but I'm really excited!  If you are local, I'm going to be at the Southville Centre this year and would love to see you.

I've been getting lots of new things ready for it, framing up pictures, packing up tea towels and making pocket mirrors too and I'm looking forward to finding out what people think of the prints I've made in the last couple of months - there's nothing like watching the looks on peoples faces as they look at your work to tell you if you've got it right!!

new prints and old prints...

Spotters Guide

I had donned my summer plumage and decided to spend the next three months playing outside on my allotment, but I've changed my mind now.  I think I'll stay indoors with the stove burning and draw pictures of animals instead.

I've made lots of new prints in the last few weeks, and they are all off to my real life galleries this time - not website ones - although I might keep a few here for our local Arts Trail in South Bristol, which happens this weekend.

I'm also thinking about using images from old print editions and having some cards printed from them - partly because I just can't say goodbye to them.  How do painters who only have one image part with them??  I think printmaking feeds my hoarding instincts...

mousetrap

blue sky

I've been printing a lot recently - ready for our local Art Trail in a couple of weeks and also for a couple of new little projects I've been working on - but now that it is blue sky time of year I've thrown it all to one side and starting pottering about outdoors instead...and it feels so good!

I'll show you what I've been printing soon, but I can't stay talking to the computer any longer...

dancing monsters

I've had a frustrating printing week this week - wrong ink, wrong paper, gloomy skies, hurumph.

As there was no point in ploughing on until I sort out the ink and paper situation I have consoled myself with finally getting round to printing my two current favourite monsters...Bicorne and Chichevashe, medieval monsters and the eaters of patient wives and husbands (do you know that story already?)

They have appeared in my sketch books several times over the years so I thought they deserved to be printed at last and if they are lucky they may well find themselves in a frame for the upcoming Southbank Arts Trail here in Bristol.

art trail fun & pink drinks...

I  had such a lovely time Art Trailing, catching up with people, seeing friends new work and visiting some fantastic venues with my children (although by the end of my third visit to the 'Wonky House' I felt I had 'done' it...)

Photos will have to wait for another day though because most excitingly of all, my elder flower cordial IS pink...

...what could be more pleasing??  I can't think of much...

Another favourite of ours is to freeze Borage flowers inside ice cubes, the sweetest ice cube you can imagine, and when these are in season this year they will be the perfect addition to the pink Elder flower cordial to create the girliest summer drink possible - contented sigh -

the Art Trail is coming

I'm really excited - the Southbank Art Trail is coming up at the weekend and I love it!  Some years I have opened our house (what a lot of tidying that makes me do...) and some years I've had a stall at the Southville Centre where they have music and a cafe all weekend...

This year I'm going to have my work at The Bed Workshop on Braunton Road with some other printmakers.

It is a really fantastic gallery space in an old brick pickle factory, which is now full of beautiful beds and French furniture - what more could I want?  Pictures will be here by the end of the week as I don't really expect you all to pop over.

Needless to say, the production line is in full swing and the packaging department had better get ready for a busy week.