Another good day......

.........at Open Studios.  Thank you to all our visitors!

A fabulous day.....

....at Hebden Bridge Open Studios today....and tomorrow it all starts again at 11 am.  If you can make it pay us a visit at Northlight Open Studios Art Cafe...........original art, home cooked food, christmas lights.....what more could you ask for?

Up and running.......

.....though still very much a working project...is the website for the mixed media/textile artist group I belong to called Reveal.   Check it out here.  We have just finished our second exhibition at Farfield Mill in Sedbergh and have been delighted to receive invitations to exhibit next year at Knit and Stitch and in 2013 at Fashion Embroidery and Stitch.  Needless to say we are more than a little chuffed.

this is an image from the Farfield Mill exhibition

Open Studio Event....

....at Northlight Studios in Hebden Bridge on the weekend of 3rd/4th December.  Lots and lots of art and home made nosh, soup, bread and cakes - what more can you ask for?  I hope to be there both days either in the studio space I share with fellow textile artist Stephanie Baldero or helping out with refreshments.....come and say hi!

Only a few days left........

 ....to see the work of the Hallam Group of the Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Beetroot Tree Gallery in Draycott.  You will need to get your skates on as the exhibition finishes at the weekend.  Hope you can make it over...........

Another interesting development......

.....from today for one year I and four other artists have been given the opportunity to be artists in residence at the fabulous Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.  Fellow resident artists are:
Anna Connor - illustrator
Barbara Hellowell - artist
Beverley Addy - digital artist
Yvonne Roberts - multi media artist


Theatres are fascinating spaces but it is the people, the players and the audience I am most interested in.  I am really looking forward to an interesting working partnership.

Another sneaky peek.....

of the Reveal Group exhibition at Farfield Mill Sedbergh.  You can just see a small section of some of my new work on the far right.....hope you're tempted to pop along and see more.  

Our exhibition opened today........

.......and we got a lot of very lovely comments.    Thank you so much to everyone who visited!  It's on till November 2011..............

A taster.....

....to whet your apetite.  These are images of work of fellow Revealers, Fiona Rainford and Jennie Strawford.   Come and see more at our exhibition....Unfolding Stories .....at Farfield Mill opening 24th September 2011 and running through to November.   See the post below for more details.   Hope you can make it.

Less than 3 weeks to go.........

...........till the Reveal exhibition opens at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh.  Lots of sewing still to do and all very exciting.  We are having a meet the artist day on the afternoon of 24th September 2011 at the Mill.  Really hope you can come.......

I can promise you a real treat ......a feast for the eyes!

A wonderful weekend.........

......was had by all at the Sheffield Art in the Gardens.  I thoroughly enjoyed exhibiting work with the Hallam Group of the SDC.   So nice to be part of such a wonderful group!  Thank you to everyone within it and those that came to visit and saw our work.

A little up date.......

..............seem to have completely lost my blogging mojo recently.  Apologies to all regular followers.   Something to do with too much to do and too little time to do it all in plus distractions like a jolly jaunt inter-railing around Europe with number one daughter and number one son getting his A level results and all the excitement of him getting into university with a start date less than 4 weeks away.......Still down to business......

I have a few events coming up very shortly the details of which are on my website but for visitors here my work will be on exhibition at the following events in Sept/Oct/Nov.......

First on weekend of 3rd-4th September 2011........ 

 Art in the Gardens.  I am exhibiting a small number of works in a group exhibition as a member of the Hallam Group of the Society of Designer Craftsmen in the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield.  There will be much more wonderful art and craft work on display from the members of our group and other visitors (Dionne Swift and Fiona Wilson to name but two).  We took part in this wonderful event last year which was very successful and an absolutely wonderful experience.  The gardens themselves are a real treat to be in with the added bonus of some superb fine art and craft.  How can you resist!  Bring on the good weather!
Hope to see you there.

Then starting 3rd September 2011 and running till 1st October 2011.......

Some of my work will be on display in a group exhibition at the Harding House Gallery, Steep Hill, Lincoln.  I am very much looking forward to taking part in this exhibition.  I have not seen the work of the other artists but the flyer looks intriguing and Lincoln is the city I grew up in (or at least nearby to) so it will be a real treat to visit and explore it again.  The details of opening times are set out below........

Finally (at least for the moment!)  Some new work .......another reason for my lack of recent blogging..........will be exhibited at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh from Saturday 24th September 2011 until Sunday 13th November 2011. I am one of 6 members of The Reveal Group of mixed media textile artists.  We have all been working hard over the last year towards this exhibition which is our second major group exhibition.  All of us have produced new work specifically for the exhibition and in response to the title "Unfolding Stories"  We very much hope you will be tempted to visit and view.  We are holding a meet the artists event on the afternoon of the opening day and will be happy to chat to anyone and everyone who comes along........hope to see you there too.

At long last.......

.......found time to work in the studio BUT then FORGOT(!!) to take the materials I needed to do what I originally meant to .......SO used the time instead to play around making textiles out of my illustrations.  It's been a long time since I just played with new ideas.  It was fun............

I used some of my illustrations from "my other blog" as inspiration and stitched.....

sometimes the back looked better than the front.....

sometimes it was hard to tell..........................

It was good to find happy accidents.........

and all in all a good days experimentation...........

Next time though I must get down to the serious stuff.........after all I do have an exhibition coming up in September!

Hebden Bridge ..........

...........Open Sutdios this weekend.  Friday Ist July to Sunday 3rd July.  Come and see my new studio space at Northlight Studios.  I'll be there Sunday!

And I'm in!

.........to my new Studio that is.  Or at least nearly.......still one or two more items to move in.  Some more shelving would be very useful and a table to sew at......but I am getting there.

It's a new start just waiting for it all to happen....... 

Must .......

......pay more attention to this blog!  Exciting things have been happening and I haven't mentioned a peep!

The wonderful Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield very kindly contacted me about my portrait work and it has now been on exhibition in their foyer for the last month.  It was fantastic to see it in such a large open space........a real treat!

We have had a number of meetings of the Reveal Group and everyone's work is really coming together for the Farfield Mill, Sedbergh exhibition in September this year.  The last meeting we had was particularly inspiring.  I am hoping to get a dedicated website up and running over the summer for the group......so watch this space!

The SDC Hallam Group have agreed to exhibit again this year at the Sheffield Art in the Gardens and we have been meeting to plan that in amongst everything else.  We did this event last year and it was an absolutely wonderful experience.  The gardens are beautiful, the art fabulous and we got to know some very kind and generous people.......can't wait for it all to happen again!

AND .....the icing on the cake, and very, very exciting ......I have just agreed to rent a shared studio space in the Northlight Art Studios in Hebden Bridge.   It is an artist co-operative with a myriad of artist working in all sorts of media.  I am sharing a lovely white, bright space with another textile artist who also works with machine embroidery.  We are hoping to have the space up and running in time for the Open Studios event in July.   So if you are in the area at the time do pop by and say hello.

A very interesting time.......

 .......at Creative Stitches in Glasgow.   It was a long journey up but a beautiful one along the A1 next to the Coast.  So wonderful to see the sea.  Where I live you can't get much further from it if you tried!  The show was great and I met some wonderful people.  Thanks to Rachel Powell and her mum for taking pity on me and taking me out to dinner one evening.  Hope to meet up with you again sometime soon.  I was demonstrating whilst on my stand and found it very difficult to draw and stitch whilst being watched - but I did get a lot of very nice comments about my work which was lovely. 
Unfortunately I missed out on the opportunity to see the City of Glasgow itself.  Next time, if I get invited again, I intend to make that a priority. 

Off to Glasgow.........

.....to exhibit and demonstrate at the Creative Stitch event at the SECC Exhibition Centre on the banks of the river Clyde.  It's an ICHFevent and the link for further information is here. 
It's all a little bit dauntng as I shall be on my own this time (hubby staying at home to mind the kids!) and so it will be all down to me - driving there (aargh! hate driving to or in places I don't know), setting up the stand and manning it for four days in a row.  Not quite worked out yet how I am going to manage for loo stops - maybe there will be a quiet moment or two along the way.

If you follow this blog and make it to the show stop by and say hello - there's a free postcard in it for you! 

Hope to see you there.

Preview night........

......tonight at the Clocktower Gallery at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.

The exhibition is on till 29th March 2011 so if you can't make it tonight do pop by before then ......we are all members of the Society of Designer Craftsman and have formed a Hallam Group.   

Shame on me....

....half way through February already and I haven't posted once yet in 2011.  The days seem to just run away with me right now.  Sorry to anyone who is still hanging on in there following this blog.  Life just seems to get busier and busier......and I have been busy.
I finished the commission I was working on.
I have been meeting with the Reveal group members and doing some sketch book work around my ideas in readiness for our joint exhibition at Farfield Mill in September.   It is a joy to be part of such an enthusiastic and dedicated group.  We decided on an exhibition title of "Unfolding Stories" and it is interesting to see how we have all differently interpreted that theme.  The ideas and work are all coming together and we are all looking forward to it.  We hope to have our own dedicated website up and running in time for the exhibition.
I am also a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen (Hallam Group) and am exhibiting with them at the Clocktower Gallery at the Sheffield Northern General Hospital next week.  The Preview evening is on 24th February from 6pm to 8 pm.  Come and join us if you live over that way. 
Just yesterday I was at the Embroiderers' Guild Lincoln Group who had been kind enough to invite me to talk to them and give a mini workshop in the afternoon.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and met some wonderful people.  It is great that there are so many textile enthusiasts out there.
On top of all that, I am trying to get everything ready to go to the Creative Stitch Show in Glasgow from 3rd - 6th February where I have been invited to exhibit and demonstrate my work.  Not been to Glasgow before other than to pass through so should be interesting to spend a little time there.
So you see it has been a little busy so far this year with preparations and organising and general business all round.  I shall though try and be a little more diligent at keeping this blog up to date in future.......

  Happy Valentines Day!