Yarnbombing

I was reading a discussion earlier about yarnbombing.

I walk past this every single day. Suddenly - flowers! Whence?

I imagine you all know what yarnbombing is but in case you don't (because not everyone who reads my blog is a fibre person. Dan reads it, for example, also occasionally Aunty Kath has a crack at it) I shall explain. Yarnbombers are the anarchists, the Banksies, the Emma Goldmans of wool. They strike in the night. One day you have a perfectly sensible avenue of lamp posts where I lurk trying not to look as if I am photographing the men coming out of the public toilets, the next day the lamp posts are adorned with wool in various permutations of double crochet and/ or garter stitch. It is like yarny graffiti. Sometimes it is an official art installation, sometimes it is just a wild outpouring of yarn and colour love, sometimes it is a random act of kindness (when the yarnbombing is something that people can take away). It is for fun. It is Art.

See, I think that looks cheerful

We have a Yarnbomber in Cambridge (it isn't me because I'm not quick enough, also I would never have got up that post). I like a bit of random yarn, but then, I like graffiti, and yes, I would be perfectly happy if someone came and yarnbombed my house (and if they could trim the rosebush back a bit while they were at it that would be brilliant). I was a bit surprised at the negative reactions in the discussion, many of which one might summarise thus: 'what a waste of yarn! It could have been used to knit hats for the homeless!'

I won't go into the whole I've Worked For Charities For Ten Years, Woman And Girl (although, I have: and let me assure you that I have sat in many, many, many management meetings and in not a single one has anybody said, oh my goodness the Government has disastrously changed policy/ the Council has cut our grant, we are facing disastrous lack of funding and consequent failure of delivery, ruin, and the inability to help our clients: for God's sake! Can no-one find us a job lot of hats handknitted in chunky pink acrylic because then we will be saved! - but, surely creations in yarn can be Art just like anything else.

I mean, you might think they shouldn't be draped anarchically over public items (I don't think that - like I say, I like graffiti, and yarn takes quite a bit less scrubbing off) - but, why is any form of expression a waste of time and yarn? I think it's Art, even if it's not always my taste, and I think Art is Important. It makes me want to go and knit a big woolly cosy for Reality Checkpoint or something but in reality that would take me until about 2016 so I shall go and eat something until the feeling passes.

The things you have to do. I think I must be developing superpowers

And quickly to say, thank you to Lucy who suggested I deal with my problem of static in our office by carrying about a big metal paperclip and using it to earth myself with. I have sourced a paperclip, which I clutch in my hot hand at all times and tap on the radiator before I need to touch something potentially problematic, like the biscuit tin

Look at that nylon carpet. Charging me up

And I am wearing my pole dancing shoes as my colleague googled and said she strongly suspected the rubber soles on my Ugg boots

I want you to know that for at least 5 minutes when I was 29 I regularly wore shoes a/ with heels b/ without a warm fleecy lining AND WITH TIGHTS!

And things are much better. I mean, everybody laughs at me, but, let them laugh, I can get in the biscuit tin again and last week someone had bought a job lot of custard creams. Custard creams! I mean can you imagine if I hadn't been able to get at the custard creams! So thank you Lucy as otherwise things could have been disastrous.

Am I being naïve about yarn bombing? I hate to be naïve...

Nice Stuff on Monday

It's a bit of a difficult day, Monday, isn't it? Let me tell you how difficult my day was. At work I have this problem which everybody finds hilarious: for some reason, I alone in the office am hugely charged with static electricity, and randomly get shocks from things and jump back yelping. Well, it was ok when it was only that I couldn't change the toner on the printer, but today I realised I was starting to get shocks from the biscuit tin. That's as bad as it gets, isn't it? So to cheer myself up I thought I would start doing Nice Stuff on Monday posts and show you a few things I've discovered or found inspiring in the week.

So for my first Nice Stuff on Monday, I wanted to show you a really lovely etsy shop I've found - Vladimir Stankovic Illustration.

The Pawns of the Woods - original artwork

I don't think etsy is perfect by any means, so I think it's nice to remind myself sometimes that there is still loads of fabulous handmade, cool, high-quality stuff on it which it's difficult to get anywhere else. I don't know how I found Vladimir's shop, but I'm glad I did - I love his work. It's got a fabulously dreamlike, fairytale kind of quality.

But with a dark side.

I want a flawless heart too - A4 giclee print

Vladimir is living in Finland at the moment: my default position generally is to think everything from Finland is cool and marvellous. I would say, it seems like a magical place to me where it's always winter and trolls wander about the rugged landscape, but that would be patronising and also it actually sounds more like Cambridge. Anyway, lovely art, and a mixture of prints and originals in his shop - go have a look (shop on etsy/ website).

Little orphaned rat adopted by Mother Cat - giclee print

Off now to find shoes without a rubber sole. Honestly, a line has to be drawn somewhere and I'm drawing it at lack of access to a biscuit tin. Let's hope tomorrow's better!

I can't decide

This is a bonus High Art picture for you from a shop my mother and I stumbled upon in Soho before Christmas.

Please don't buy this skull and put it on your mantelpiece if I am likely to be coming to visit

It was an Art Gallery and it was quite odd. It is interesting to have your limits tested and do you know, there was not one single piece of art in that shop that I could have lived with in my house. I mean, it was all interesting and thought provoking, but, nononocat. (I have just googled Art Soho Skulls and this is what it was - it was very interesting. From a distance). On the other hand, Dan (brother) and I went to a Light exhibition at the Hayward last Monday and I did briefly consider just taking everything out of our living room in order to get someone to install a twinkly light thing. It was amazing! I am sure this is because I am Shallow and like Sparkly Things, and have not Come To Terms With Death.

OK, look. It was carpet or computer. Do you know how much these things cost? I'm considering buying a pole as well. NO-ONE TELL PARTNER HE WILL NOT APPROVE AS WE HAVE NO ROOM

These are my ugly granny squares. I am reaching a slight point of desperation as I am Never Finishing Anything so rather than having a bag full of acrylic granny squares of which there were not enough for a throw sitting around, I decided to crochet them into a scarf. Well, now the scarf is halfway done and it is hideous in a way that may actually cause people to stop and stare at me, with a scornful sneer playing around their cruel lips, in the street and I am thinking, what I could actually do, is, border all the granny squares with white, crochet them together, and then do a thick teal border with a lime green (or something) edging, and that would look cool (yes it would, doubters), and would also be big enough. But I can't quite make the move yet to do it (or, you know, to add it to the pile of unfinished things). And then I thought, as I like the idea of a granny square scarf but just found it a teensy bit bright in execution in flourescent Special DK, what I could also do is dig out all the woolly 4-ply odds and ends that are lurking about and crochet a scarf with them. I think I've talked myself into a decision, there, haven't I? Never mind, that's all I need, another unfinished project. I shall get working on my current blanket and then perhaps I will be able to cross that off my list. {Leaves muttering about not enough hours in the day}.

I knit a bit as well

You drop the stitches. It will look very cool. I have spoken. It is biased because of the terrible Sekku which I must repeat, you must never buy, leave it for fools like me

Echo beach (or a bit of). Yes. I am the fool who bought Noro Sekku twice, in fact I am probably the only person in the world who has been suckered in more than once. After this I am going to go and slam my hand in a door and write letters to the Daily Mail as both these things would be more productive and less masochistic.

Not even just a pansy but a pale pansy as well! Next time I would like a tulip. Thank you very much

Pansies. Kudos to Tom Art Teacher for finding the one flower in the world I have absolutely no interest in painting, but it is good to challenge yourself, says she through gritted teeth. I like a proper big bold flower, I do. Pansies, meh. I produced something a bit pretty, it threw me.

Yay charcoal! Charcoal is the best and it costs like NO MONEY! I only copied this from a photograph, but I am now on the look out for someone with lots of wrinkles who might wish to pose for me

Very quick charcoal sketch. We now have charcoal all over the kitchen table, all up my arms and on the end of my nose, it is actually worse than procion dyes. It says in my art book charcoal was very popular in the sixties which is good enough for me, I imagine they put down their patchouli, detached themselves from the orgy and trotted off to produce a few bold sketches. I copied this from a photograph but I am venturing into life drawing next week, in fact I am going to email a contact now. I may not be good at drawing but I am astonishingly quick, I am like Rolf Harris. This is because I am so used to knitting and quilting where things take months and there is no use messing about, you have to get on with things. I am expecting therefore at the life drawing class to have finished in five minutes, and then to spend the rest of the time feeding the model biscuits and perhaps doing a bit of light hoovering or dusting of easels.

Right. Cup of tea, stuff to do. For those of us who may be reading from Chesterfield, I have googled and there is an art supply shop on Cavendish street, I put this out there merely for information...

Delurking briefly

From my current self-imposed internet exile to update you with the following.

1/ I have moved into my abstract period although I expect to be going back to representational work soon,

Acrylic on canvas. I did indeed have a specially big tube of magenta. I am going to hang this in the kitchen

Partner in the 'misery and drink in Prague' period, in his kaftan. The champagne bottle looked more phallic whatever I did so I gave up. When I write my own self-help book it will heavily feature why you should never get involved with anyone who has ever owned a kaftan. That will probably be the first chapter

2/ I have encountered a terrible new hazard on my morning cycle commutes which is more than a match for me, it is all very difficult,

Hello nervous cyclist. Our eye is upon you. We especially enjoyed you cycling through that fresh cow pat

3/ Please google and watch 'Henri the existential cat' who is on Youtube if you have not already done so as he is very funny,

4/ I want to recommend a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron because it is brilliant. It is about getting over barriers to expressing yourself creatively and I think Partner and I are both hoping my ultimate creative expression is not going to express itself through enormous sculptures rather than, say, small pictures of daisies, but obviously we will have to see where we end up as I must be Untrammelled. I have got two caveats for you which might or might not be deal breakers: first, it is a self-help book, and I know self-help books are a bit naff. It is not as naff as it could be, but there is still a bit of bugger-I-am-reading-a-self-help-book cognitive dissonance you will have to get through. Where's the shame in that, though? If you're already so perfect that no improvement is possible then don't sit next to me, as Mae West didn't say. And secondly it talks about God, not in a way that it wants to convert you to Christianity, but, there is a lot of talk of a universal life-force, so, if that kind of thing irritates you (look, I'm a Pagan, I read books where you have to go dripping honey about as offerings for the Fae, I can cope with a bit of universal life-force) I am putting you on warning that you will find it annoying.

If you can get over the self-help God thing though I really think this book is good. I am forcing my brother Dan to buy it (have you ordered it yet Dan? Don't think I'm not going to check because I'm ringing you later), and what will Dan's ultimate creative expression be? I do hope it is not modern interpretative dance but then I am just being negative and Dan will be told how to deal with naysayers like me in Chapter 2.

5/ Have a lovely week, everyone. I am quiet but thinking of you all (and boring myself to death cutting out patchwork squares for a skirt). Enjoy the nice weather x

I made stuff

A few years ago, I was in a job which was not a good situation. When I say it was not a good situation, I mean it was not a good situation in the same way that Hitler had a few unfortunate personality traits. Only, I am understating it considerably. Considerably. Anyway, one day I remembered that I had used to quite like knitting, and I thought I would have a go at making something, which might distract me, rather than my other plan, which was, banging my head repeatedly against a wall (although, that would have been better for me and would have achieved more, objectively, than my going in to work). I sourced yarn on ebay, I laboured mightily, I focused my last waning powers of creativity and concentration and I produced this.

Stress did not affect my love of tasteful subtle colours

And very useful it has been. We use it as a trivet. We used it this week to go under the macaroni cheese dish. I remembered how much effort it had cost me. I remembered the huge cognitive shift I had had to make before I had remembered that I was a person who could make things. I remembered the cotton yarn feeling stiff and unfamiliar in my fingers. I remember I made more dishcloths after this one, and I put them in a bag, thoughtfully.

It is a bit smaller than a kingsize bed. Can you see the skulls? And I had to grapple with double yarnovers. Double!

This too took a bit of concentration but, I have to say, it was less of an effort overall than the trivet/ dishcloth and that just tells me I’m in a different place now. So I thought I would show you as I now have a graphic representation of my states of mind, four years apart, and if that concept isn’t art, then I don’t know what is. (Remember, though, that knitting shouldn't be mentioned in polite company and in the proximity of proper art materials.)

I knitted the centre in the break room at work on double pointed needles, but they don't think I'm too odd to talk to (or, they pretend they don't)

I'm going to wear it, too

This was a joy to knit (I know it’s irritating when people say ‘quick easy pattern!!!’ when clearly it isn’t, but, if you like lace and you’re looking for a first circle shawl project, as I was, this is an excellent one to start with). I didn’t do a single stitch wrong until the cast off, when I discovered that the normal cast off is WAY TOO TIGHT for a circle shawl and I would have ended up with a bowl with skulls on, so I did something with a crochet hook instead, which worked great. But while I was undoing the original cast off, I am afraid to say we had a bit of swearing and muttering, and, Partner lost his nerve. No, honestly. He panicked. Oh no! He said. What if you can’t undo it! This is terrible! Now it is done he has looked at it carefully and pronounced it ‘very intricate work’. Who knew Partner was emotionally invested in knitting? This is a worrying development.

I shall say to Partner next time, look, not only could you not paint a candlestick, you could not have googled cleverly and found art classes in a random church hall to start with

And just showing you quickly my latest painting. This is a study in reflections. Partner said, sympathetically, that it was quite hard to draw things straight, and readers once again he has damned me with faint praise. The very nice art teacher asked me three times if I was quite sure I wanted a yellow background, eventually I had to look at him very seriously and say, yes. Because that is my vision, and that worked. Anyway I am doing more lace now, as I am taking part in Chrissy from Stitched Together’s KAL for her lovely lace shawl, and I have become horribly corrupted as I am doing it in silk. Yes. Silk. Gold silk. Like something from a fairy tale. A certain very bad person who I shall not name has suggested that gold is very close to beige and, frankly, that I am deluding myself, but me, I know that I am channeling Seventies Halston with my metallic neutrals and that I do not have to start buying Marks and Spencer Classic Collection yet. That’s right. I’m still young and cool (although, let’s not talk about that subscription to Gardener’s World. Let's not talk about it ever).

In which I discover I am Not Quite The Thing

So, had to share this one with you, especially after my previous post. As you know, I’m experimenting with different crafts/ arts and seeing where it takes me, and I was at my art class earlier (next week we’re doing reflections and I’ve got to take a reflective object. If anyone can think of anything interesting that I can get in my bag and which will save me taking in a spoon, I’m all ears).

(Middle one mine) - this is an appropriate pursuit for the middle classes (although I suspect mine was a bit bright)

I was chatting to a couple of other women in the class at break time. Now. Cambridge, as a place, is in many many ways very lovely: I meet lots of really nice, interesting people, there’s always lots to do, and it’s somehow a place that’s very open to new experiences and new ideas. And then, very occasionally, I meet people who are snobs *cough* Partner's ex-girlfriend *cough*. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen sometimes that it is made very clear to me that I am Not Quite The Thing. Since I am by now fairly sure that whatever The Thing is I am probably having more fun not being it, it just makes me laugh a bit but yes, had one this morning, whoosh.

Knitting this would not be an appropriate pursuit for the middle classes. I might just as well start watching The Only Way Is Essex, wait, oops

So, we were chatting about how long we had been painting, and I said, cheerfully, that I had only just started, but that I did some other creative stuff and it was quite a different experience; to which they said, what, and I started off on my litany of all the mad things I do. ‘I knit…’ And readers, I got no further. One of the women said ‘Knit?’ in a tone just like Lady Bracknell and the handbag (really, she did), and looked at me just as if I had marched in and announced a liking for polyamory and then mooned at her. ‘That’s right’ I said, cheerfully, because I am quite hard, also if anyone ever tries to outsnob me I have the killer blow: because, I can always say ‘and my partner is a medieval latinist of international repute’ and that is the kind of thing that works in Cambridge. ‘I knit’.

The woman visibly quailed, because clearly this is not something you should mention in the hallowed presence of Oils. I warmed to my subject, because, I do not take offence at people unless they actually insult me deliberately, as sometimes people are just a bit gauche. I didn’t have long to wait, though. ‘Yes’ I said, with a smile. ‘I knit very intricate lace designs [look. People. Allow me some poetic license, also, never put yourself down in front of people who are waiting to do it for you] and fairisle. It’s very interesting and creative’. ‘Well’ the woman said with a small horrified laugh. ‘Knitting is not something I would ever do’. ‘Really?’ I said, politely. ‘Normally people tell me about the lovely things their grandmothers used to knit’ (they do normally tell me that). ‘Well’ she said, as if I'd actually dissed her family. ‘Knitting isn’t something I or anyone I know would ever do’. ‘What a shame’ I said, politely. ‘Because knitting is so incredibly fashionable these days’ at which another woman backed me up that actually everyone these days was knitting. ‘Well’ the first woman said. ‘I don’t know about that. I wouldn’t care about… [tinkling laugh] fashion. I shall go and continue with my painting’.

O the silkiness of Natural Dye Studio Precious! But, this would be anathema to the Serious Artist. Having this yarn is worse than watching TOWIE. It is actually as bad as getting Vajazzled. It is directly morally equivalent

Readers, I am polluting that class with my shallow knowledge of craft (and fashion), and all I can say is, it is a good job I did not announce my intention of tie-dyeing a quilt panel this Friday, because, it may well have knocked that woman out, and who wants the moral dilemma of whether or not to have a go at CPR in a draughty church hall? I’m afraid I am going to continue with my class, though, because it’s a lovely atmosphere (no, it is), and the teacher’s great.

But, next week, I may be wearing my Jaali.

An Interview with Jo, Arts Therapist

So, readers. I have been thinking recently about art, craft, differences or not differences, and what the function is of both (because, I am a diehard utilitarian. I am essentially the Mr Gradgrind of the craft world), and, when Jo Ash, who is an arts therapist in Cambridge (you can get in touch with Jo through her webpage here), kindly agreed to do an interview for me, I thought I would explore some of the thoughts I had been having. So I hit Jo with all my questions in a beady-eyed fashion and she was a very interesting, thoughtful interviewee. Thanks for doing this interview for me Jo!

Jo, still looking cheerful even though I'd made her do my questions

1/ What art forms do you encourage people to use in your sessions, and what are the most popular?

We use a variety of art forms – painting and drawing, clay, musical instruments. On my placement in Fulbourn I see clients in an amazing room with a piano and drums, but normally we don’t have access to instruments quite like that! – Puppets are very popular, also I use a sand tray (placing things in it), and postcard images. I also sometimes use drama techniques, and movement and body work. Clients can bring in stuff that they think would be helpful – for example, clients often bring in music.

Choosing postcard images is very popular – clients often have some shame issues around creating art. They’re told at school that they’re bad at art and that stays with them. So clients choose images that represent a part of them, and then we talk that through.

[I asked Jo if anyone had ever wanted to express themselves through fibre crafts, and, interestingly: no-one ever had. I’m wondering if it’s because knitting (for example) isn’t a very immediate medium: not only does it take you forever to, say, express your irritation at someone by knitting a giant circular shawl with skulls on, on the final chart now, but, you have to learn how to do it first. But, I don’t know, and I imagine this varies for people].

2/ Do you find people have an initial resistence to expressing themselves through art?

People definitely do – particularly the clients I’ve worked with. Everyone’s a little bit apprehensive to start with. Often it’s because of their background – they’ve grown up thinking they’re not a very creative person. People might also have difficulty around being spontaneous and playful. Therapy is often about facilitating play. The power of using arts is that it has the potential to get straight to the unconscious, and that’s very exposing. There can be lots of transference from the client to the therapist. [We discussed here as well a bit about the fear of facing the blank canvas, or blank whatever: how perhaps the ultimate fear is that as soon as you make a mark you reveal your unconscious, and it’s not good enough. I realised that this is actually a difference between craft and art for me: with craft, I don’t have the facing-the-void problem. I just don’t have it. I don’t know if that’s an issue of media, what I’m expressing, or my own preconceptions, though].

3/ What types of issues do you find respond best to art therapy?

It tends to work well with exploring different aspects of the self, therefore, it’s useful for people with a fragmented sense of self. It’s good for people who are perhaps feeling flat and stuck, and want to live to their potential. I’ve also used it on people who are psychotic, although not all therapies are effective in that case: for example, where normally I might get someone to create an image and then journey into it, I would only do that if someone had a secure footing in reality. Music tends to be useful for psychotic patients: it gives structure.

4/ Do you think some people are intrinisically more creative?

I like to think that everybody is creative, although it might be more in some people’s temperaments – but there is also creativity in other things. There is creativity in living a good life, for example, not getting stuck in old patterns, and having the capacity to be in the moment. Art can be used as a kind of rehearsal for life, and if people have taken risks in the art relationship, they can then transfer that over to life.

5/ Do you think there is a difference between craft and art?

I started off as a textile artist, and I like the idea of fusing craft and art. It’s all about the aesthetic for me: if craftwork moves me then it’s the same to me as painting. I think the intention in creating the work is important.

6/ Do you think art and a well-balanced mental state necessarily go together? [I’m going to analyse myself now. I think this question is expressive of an anxiety that you lose some part of yourself through therapy and/ or becoming functional. Not to worry though, I think I’ve some way to go yet].

I think there’s a lot of romanticism about creativity and genius, and how they can come together, but I think in actual fact sometimes the more in touch someone becomes the more that layer of doubt and neurosis is taken away. [Jo explained she had undergone lots of therapy herself, as this is mandatory for anyone acting as a therapist to clients, and I shall now spare you my rant about how This Should Be The Case In All Voluntary Sector Professions Involving A Client-Professional Dynamic, although, I did not spare poor Jo: anyway, this had helped her a lot in confronting feelings of ambivalence towards her own art, e.g. the idea that she had to do art obsessively for it to count. I do think there’s a very strong cultural idea about the Mad Driven Artist which is actually worth unpicking if you think about it because also it’s generally post-1820 or whenever].

7/ What was your experience of working with Kids Company?

I worked in a couple of primary schools for Kids Company – it was inner-city London, and could be quite challenging. There were some difficult psycho-social issues, and people were quite resistent to therapy – it wasn’t in their culture. There was a lot of shame about admitting you might be struggling. It was very enriching though – clients enrich your practice – you learn a lot from them. Often people have very traumatic early beginnings, and it’s quite inspiring to see how they work their way through them.

8/ Tell me about the art you do!

I paint in oils – I do abstracts with a figurative dimension. I’ve exhibited with Changing Spaces – I used to have a studio when I lived in Leeds, but I don’t have one in Cambridge. I need to get back to it!

Thank you Jo! You were a lovely interviewee, and you gave me lots to think about. I am off to ponder what I am expressing and how, and I am also going to think about unhelpful Artist Stereotypes I might be holding on to. I am actually sitting here wondering what art forms I gravitate to naturally if I am actually trying to work through something emotional, and, I gravitate to writing and music (not saying I do either well, but, those are the ones I go for, and I shall be telling you about my adventures in guitar playing in a future post). And, interestingly, it is writing and music that have been difficult for me over these last couple of years. You see: lots to think about. Thank you again Jo and all the best with your practice and your painting!

Learning to paint with oils

OK, quick blog post (I say this then I end up rattling on forever). I did my art class.

I'm pretty sure this makes me an Artist

And do you know what? It was so much fun. I had a great time. We were doing landscapes in the style of David Hockney (the cynic in me says that is because beginners would have a better chance at doing a David Hockney landscape than, say, hyperrealism, but then again, what’s wrong with being realistic and practical about things? Excellent choice of subject, Tom the oil class teacher) and because I am always late, underprepared, slipping on ice and generally crap, I had not bought a picture of a landscape to work from. But I dug out my camera which is always on hand in case a big hairy cat walks past and vogues, and I used this one:

It is a bit dark, yes. I like a challenge

First I did a couple of sketches with oil pastels. I will say to you honestly that when an oil pastel was put into my hand and an A4 sheet of paper was placed in front of me, I felt inadequacy and fear. I think my fear is of producing something that is recognisably a drawing, but is crap, and then not knowing why it is crap so not being able to improve: just being overwhelmed by crapness and despair. I swear bad art actually hurts me physically, I am too delicate for this world. (I have identified Partner’s biggest fear, too. I have shown him these photographs I am going to show you and he said immediately: ‘promise me we will never have to do Cambridge Open Studios. People will all come and look at me.’ I don’t know if Partner has dreams where he is resitting his A-levels naked*, but obviously he fears exposure which you would not think since he is never wearing any clothes.)

And now we will draw a veil over this whole misbegotten episode

So this was my first sketch and it was indeed crap and I did not know why, and I felt sad and inadequate, especially as the woman sitting near me appeared to be producing a Constable. But I looked at it again and I thought: too much going on, composition doesn’t flow, I shall try again. So I did a simple line sketch and I felt a bit happier.

This was the Purple Ronnie of oil pastels. Oils pastels are not my metier

Then I started with my oils and a canvas and that felt much better. For those of you who may wish to have a crack, this is what I have learned so far: you only need to buy (no, I know, thrifty oil painting, I am so predictable), titanium white and some primary colours (blue, red, green, yellow) as you can mix colours from that (I used for my painting blue, white, purple, yellow, green and brown and various mixes thereof). You can apparently get cheap canvases from The Works although also check your local friendly art store (I don’t just say this because I work in one) as they will have a range (and will cater to students so they won’t all be expensive. The words to use are ‘student quality oils’). Oil paints are not cheap, though, so, I don’t know, start off by painting a ladybird? Or a zebra? Anyway, this is where I ended up at the end of today (this is just the background and some tree trunks, I will put the detail in next lesson).

No cross-eyed labradors. I'm going to put branches on the trees and everything

I wouldn’t say it was good, exactly, but I don’t think it is unspeakable and I am not ashamed. Also I can face finishing it. For the next lesson I am going to get some of my own paints, and I may also get a small canvas and have a bit of a go on my own beforehand, I shall see how I go. Could this be a new way to disguise the woodchip? We will see.

* Partner has just walked past and told me that he has got A-levels in Latin, Greek, Ancient History, and Latin Verse Composition. You see at my school they encouraged you to be well-rounded, but at Partner’s clearly they didn’t.

Feeling inspired

It's snowed here in Cambridge, so I slip along nervously with my big boots on, while cats watch me contemptuously from the tops of dustbins (look, big grey hairy cat! You have four feet! I have but two! I shall not be intimidated!).

A new dawn of inspiration. I have to get up early now, you know. And I'm not a lark. I'm an owl

While it's all cold and frozen outside, though, inside (thematic link! link coming!) I feel more fired up than I have in a while, and I've got a few new projects on the go (pics will have to wait till I am near them in daytime). I've been drafting a skirt pattern to make from recycled tshirts, and today I went charity shopping and actually got some tshirts that will work for it, and, thrillingly, a 100% lambswool jumper.

I'm collecting wool jumpers to make one of these coats (buy the pattern - it's a good pattern), and she suggests that you do your first coat with woollen jumpers that you've washed on a hot wash and felted a bit. Well. I don't know where your local charity shops stock the 100% wool jumpers, but in mine they're normally on the rail next to the hens' teeth. Yes. You will recognise me in the charity shops of Cambridge because I'm the one rifling through the endless sea of George at Asda acrylic, muttering, bloody bloody hell. But no matter. It is a long term project and now I have three jumpers to use (one from today and two of mine that have seen better days. No they don't match. It will be fine).

This skirt is actually rather cool in real life. Reconstructed black jersey, wrap, contrast stitching. However every photograph I have taken of it is JUST HORRENDOUS. It is like those postcards of motorway bridges. Why can't I have an aspirational house that does not have a green carpet or piles of Partner's boxes? Why can't I live with a man who doesn't have boxes? Are there such men? Why have they passed me by?

And I'm going to an art class tomorrow. We are going to be doing an oil painting in the style of David Hockney, this has nearly finished Partner off as it is possibly the most amusing thing he has ever heard in his life. If you remember, I was going to go to a life drawing class but then I thought further about things, and I thought: what am I most inspired by? Nakedness or Colour? (I know what that says about me. Self knowledge is a terrible thing). So, David Hockney oils it is initially, and then I may do life drawing later, as I am exploring Different Expressive Media. My mother has put her order in for a drawing if I do ('can I have something to put above the fire, Susie, although, if it's a naked man could you do his back rather than full frontal as I don't want to be having to explain when Beryl and Roger come round'). I've been thinking a lot about art, craft, the difference (if there is one), and about experimenting with different art forms to Express Myself. Partner is hoping any new modes of self expression will not take up a lot of room or cause him ever to have to leave the house or talk to people, however, I am afraid we are just going to have to see where the Muse takes me. I have to say, it is not likely to take me to a Royal Academy exhibition, but I am also trying to deconstruct the idea that you have to be good at things to try them. I shall be bad at things, and I shall be liberated.

(So when I show you oil paintings of wonky houses or slightly cross-eyed labradors, you may want to work up to being kind about them while I work up to being bad and liberated. We'll get there. It will be fun).

Crocheted glass (and you thought Wollmeise was hardcore).

OK. First wanted to say, thank you to Craft Corners for featuring me in their best of the web – go and have a look and admire how I am not very good at writing a blurb about my blog ;-), also the other blogs featured do look rather nice (one of them makes lingerie! I have on occasion made my own knickers but I have to say to you that mine are functional rather than attractive like that).

Second, I wanted to share with you an artist I discovered while I was in Derbyshire at New Year. I was sitting in the B&B one night, feebly eating a ginger biscuit and flicking through a little book on local artists and I thought, wait, can that really be… crochet rendered cunningly in glass? So I wrote the website address carefully down in my diary and checked when I got home and yes. This is Catherine Carr glass, and she makes the most beautiful things.

They are made from a recycled glass product and she actually crochets the glass. Her granny taught her to crochet (and these are her patterns!) and it’s a way of honouring her grandmother and keeping alive craft traditions, and also celebrating the history and skills of women workers in northern textile mills (Derbyshire is a big area for textile mills and if my dad had a blog he would tell you all about it). They’re based on pineapple crochet patterns, which I really like, and the skill involved in crocheting them out of glass must be amazing (my crocheting doesn’t look even like this when I’ve done it in wool and blocked it, thinks she looking ruefully at the cushion cover she has just finished).

I think these bowls are really wonderful, and I have added them to my mental list of things I will buy next time I have spare money, although that will probably also have to be, spare money and a table/ sideboard to display them on. Therefore, spare money, a table/ sideboard, and a house big enough that all flat surfaces are not immediately colonised by Partner ambling along with a pile of papers. But if the stars ever align and circumstances come together I would just love one of these bowls.

Thank you very much, Cathy, for letting me show your beautiful work. Next time I am in Derbyshire I will see if you are in any exhibitions near me and come and look (don’t be scared). Do have a look on Cathy’s website as it is all very impressive and there are many more pictures - for some reason I'm having trouble uploading today.

OK. Back to spring cleaning (I know it’s only January. I’ve been clearing out the cupboard under the stairs. Do you know how many empty jam jars we had got? I could have opened a shop. A very boring shop. This is what happens when you aren’t organised, you acquire duplicates, then 3 years down the line you end up on Hoarders in a room full of unopened boxes from QVC. Lucky I’ve nipped it in the bud, isn’t it?)

A post containing every single thing currently on my mind

Quick break from doing my filing (advice: do your filing more than once a year!) to do a quick roundup and Upcoming Stuff post. First here is a photograph of me that my mother has unearthed and emailed to me.

This is a hotel and not my house (I am not capable of putting up wallpaper)

I like to post a photograph occasionally just in case any of you are worrying that I don’t really exist or am actually a middle-aged man called Barry sitting tapping away in his Y-fronts, because if anyone was going to use a fake photograph they probably wouldn’t use one of someone wearing a top like that. Is that the most unflattering top you’ve ever seen? In my defence it was in Edinburgh after a whole-day car journey during which my mother had fed me my own weight in boiled sweets, anyway I thought the expression of rather stern amusement would go well for a roundup post so sit tight ladies and pay attention.

Firstly I would like to thank Kim and Julia for giving me blog awards, thank you both, ladies, I get too anxious about who to nominate to be good at passing on blog awards but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful, I am very appreciative and should work on my anxiety issues.

Second, I seem to have acquired some new subscribers and followers recently, so, {waves} to all new people, thank you old people for sticking with me, and I would like to say that if you stick round for long enough I will say something sensible but I am not sure that is true.

Printing with bubble wrap! I will have to get over myself and actually read this magazine

Third, after my moaning about magazines the other day I am now going to reveal with breathtaking hypocrisy that I am in Sew Eco, available in all good newsagents now. I will promise you, however, that nowhere in Sew Eco does it suggest you eat an underripe banana in order to keep your ribs visible and stop your man going off with someone younger. Its views on labiaplasty are not clear but I suspect the general Sew Eco party line is anti.

With an integral pocket to put your remote in! Or your underripe banana in case your blood sugar dips below a certain level

This is my shirt/ tie cushion tutorial. Dad said he opened it in WH Smith and realised where his old shirt had gone. I have a couple of tutorials in it including a scarf dress and a tie-dye tshirt, I daren’t read them in case I missed out some vital instruction so if you try to tie-dye according to my instructions and it goes wrong and turns all your washing pink, I want to assure you that I am a nice person and did not do it on purpose for Lulz.

On the subject of magazines, I have been buying up zines on etsy and folksy with a view to doing a zine roundup and review in a couple of weeks (you know, rather than just slagging things off!), so if anyone has or knows of a self-published mag or zine they would like me to review (a cheap one. I hate to be mercenary but I have to buy them myself), just leave me a comment and I will have a look,

And on the subject of independent publications, I have got a giveaway coming up soon for a pdf book from Diana at Magickal Realism so stay tuned!

Right that’s enough about me. Stuff I read that other people had done: first, a couple of people have bravely taken up my New Thing Challenge, for which I am very grateful and interested, and I will post my own experiences and link to everyone else’s next Monday so if you would still like to take part you have lots of time,

Heloise with self portrait

And I noticed this: Heloise Toop, who I interviewed last year who is a local artist and is really, really good, was in the Guardian the other day because she is in a new London exhibition. If anyone is in the area I really encourage you to go and see Heloise’s paintings because they are fantastic, they are huge and stunning and I am a fan and wish I could afford one. I mean, they are pretty much bigger than all the walls in our house, but even so. I might see if I can trot down this weekend,

And I wanted to point you to Stitched Together’s blog post about the benefit changes in the UK, if you hadn’t already seen it. I’ve been trying to think of something intelligent to add to this but ST has pretty much said all I’d say, I’ll just add that while all the rhetoric at the moment is about benefit cheats etc I used to work as a benefits adviser (especially Disability Living Allowance) and the number of people I saw who claimed benefit to which they weren’t entitled was, well, I didn’t see any. Not one. The number of people, however, who were going through real hardship because they weren’t getting money they were entitled to was huge. That’s just my experience, but the whole undermining of disability benefits makes me hugely sad because a country which doesn’t recognise, support and fund (at a decent standard) people who aren’t able to work isn’t really a country I’m very happy with, and it’s certainly not what I voted for (although I didn’t actually vote for any part of the government so I suppose nothing is what I voted for, but you know what I mean). Anyway, ST says it more succinctly than me so go and look at her post.

Et in Arcadia Ego: the bad fish-eating leg-weaving cat, camouflaged and lying in wait. Is this the Worst Cat In Cambridge? The hunt continues

Right, that’s me done. I shall continue with my filing (it’s an exciting life) and go and rescue mitten-in-progress from the garden because if Satan The White Pussycat comes and does anything to it I might have to make him into a mitten himself. You think that’s an idle threat? It isn’t. (It is).

Pictures of words

Living wall in Anthropologie on Regent St. It was 3 floors high and very impressive, no wonder they have to charge a lot for their clothes. If they'd painted it magnolia like in Primark I might be able to afford them

Shop sign just off Carnaby Street. Where I come from we say, red hat no knickers, so I was disappointed when I discovered the Red Hat Society was not quite as racy as it sounds

The quote board in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, put together by someone who seems never to have met the people I used to work with

Magnetic words, also in Neal's Yard. I love magnetic words and keep meaning to buy some for our fridge, but in the meantime I just keep on writing this blog

In the alleyway behind Foyles bookshop, Charing Cross Road. I cannot tell if this is ironic or meta, but if it really is suggesting that we are all squares who disapprove of graffiti, well, you cannot move in London without tripping over people taking photos of anything from an aerosol, hoping it is a Banksy so they can flog the print down Camden Lock

The Friday Interview: Heloise Toop

And it’s the Friday interview! (I love doing these). Today’s is with Heloise Toop.

Heloise in front of a self-portrait

Heloise is an artist based in Cambridge who I came across when we went round Open Studios this summer (for those of you who haven’t been following my blog since day one and taking careful note of everything I say, Open Studios is a series of weekends in July when artists open up their houses and you can go and look at their work, stroke their cats and generally bother them. It’s a great idea and you get to see loads of really varied work). Well, by the time we got to Heloise, it was the late afternoon, and we were very tired. We had stroked cats all across Cambridge (and some of them had been quite challenging), we had tried to find thoughtful things to say about a variety of media, and we were arted-out. We were Hardened Art Consumers. Ha! It was going to take something fairly special to impress us! Then we saw Heloise’s paintings and to say we were impressed is an understatement – we were blown away. They were fantastic. I kind of love portraits anyway, and I love colourful, bold paintings, so I was predisposed to like them, but even so I did find them unusually haunting. I think what got me was that they have a kind of hyper-realist quality, but there is something calm, rather than cruel, about the way they expose their subjects. Anyway, I will stop babbling, and we will get on with the interview.

Envy

1/ How would you describe what you do?
I paint portraits in Acrylic or Oil aiming for a sense of realism, but also attempting to make them exciting with colour and composition.

I love faces, and I try to create pieces that make the viewer stop and take notice. I sometimes do this by cropping the face, so it is large on the canvas, and the facial features are prominent and engaging, or I work on large scales with lots of colour so they're hard to miss!

2/ Which of the things you’re working on at the moment are you most excited about?
I am in the process of painting a wonderfully gifted actor, Jan Uddin, who has an amazing face and incredible engaging eyes. I have painted his portrait before, but this time I am painting him full length, on a very large scale. It's very different to anything I've ever done. You'll have to wait and see!

I also have a commission to paint Brian Belo, winner of Big Brother 2007 who has an instantly recognisable face and a heart of gold. I will have to try to convey this in the painting. Apart from that I am about to undertake a commission of three beautiful children which I'm very excited about, as it's always nice to paint those big eyes and innocent faces.

Portrait of Jan Uddin

3/ You have a distinctive, and clearly well-developed, style. Do you feel having developed something so effective and coherent relatively early on in your career restricts you or liberates you?
I am very flattered that you think my style is well-developed. I have never thought it was!

I struggle through a lot of paintings trying to find my way as I go, and to me, I'm still attempting and discovering new things all the time.

I am pleased that my paintings could be seen as having a distinctive style. I have never noticed a particular style, but it's incredibly hard to look at your own work objectively. So, in answer to the question, I don't feel restricted, just happy that I know what kind of thing I'm drawn to, and that I'm passionate about it. I'm sure my style will evolve over the years. Experimenting is half the fun.

4/ Is it any more difficult finding inspiration in commissioned pieces than subjects you’ve chosen yourself?
It can be difficult when people have a very rigid idea of what they want, and I'm not allowed any input at all. It's only happened on a couple of occasions but the paintings don't come out looking like mine. Unless a person commissioning an artist wants a piece of the artist in the work, then there is no point in commissioning them.

If I'm allowed a fairly free hand to choose what I think would work best for the commission regarding pose, background etc, it is easy to find inspiration, because it's my vision.

I love painting lots of different people, and there are exciting ways to paint everybody. It just works better if people trust me to make the right decision.

Wonderland

5/ What quality are you drawn to in the subjects of your pictures? What do you see in their faces that makes you want to paint them?
I haven't ever really thought about it, but I suppose I'm drawn to people with strong facial features. Big noses and distinctive eyes. Out of choice I seem to go for people with a slightly ethereal look about them. For my non commissioned work, I often paint my sister, partly because she's free to model, and partly because I love her quirky style and huge blue eyes. She is also willing to put up with me sticking butterflies in her hair and dressing her up as the Mad Hatter. I can't thank her enough.

6/ Do you have other creative interests, or is painting your focus?
I have been playing the flute for fourteen years and I've dabbled in crafty things like sewing and customising clothes and other objects, but my heart truly lies in painting.

7/ Are there any other artists you particularly admire, or are inspired by?
It was the Pre Raphaelites who got me interested in portraiture while I was doing my A Levels, just because their paintings are so beautiful and magical. I love Millais especially, and 'Ophelia' is one of my favourite paintings. I also like Andy Warhol because of the large scale and acidic colours of his work. I always go to see the BP Portrait Award at The National Portrait Gallery, and I think a lot of the artists who are exhibited there are fantastic.

In The Shadows (which features gold leaf. I'm a sucker for gold leaf).

8/ Where do you see yourself and your paintings in ten years’ time?
Haha, where I see myself and what I wish for myself are very different things!

I would love to be in a house with a big studio, painting with the sun streaming through the windows without a care in the world, looking at all my art awards shimmering in the light and a waiting list ten feet long to be cracking on with.

However! What I'll actually aim for over the next few years, is to be exhibited in London, either in the Mall Galleries again, or ideally, in the BP Portrait Award. I would love to be able to make my living purely from my paintings, but that's probably a bit much to hope for.

I hope that in ten years I will still have the support and interest from the people that I am lucky enough to have now, and that others still enjoy my work. Fingers crossed!

____________________________

Fingers crossed indeed. Thank you, Heloise, you were a lovely interviewee, and I wish you every success with your painting (and so do my mum and dad, who did Open Studios with me, and are big fans). To find out more about Heloise, or to commission a painting, you can look at her website. I’ll also update about future exhibitions (and if I ever sort out the how-to-earn-money issue and we can go a few months without the bathroom exploding or the ceiling falling in, I may start saving for a picture myself. In the meantime, Heloise, if you ever want a free no-strings model, just give me a shout. I'm not sure my face is very interesting, but I have got quite a big nose ;-) ).

Have a lovely weekend everyone!