feeling creative...

back home after holidays and all seems golden for the first few days...then all those things you have to do take over again...but this time I am determined to try and retain the feeling of tranquility and peace I enjoyed on Mull. Perhaps by doing less...after all when you're away from home you manage to fill your time quite easily and pleasurably without any stress!

everything seems so strangely unfamiliar when you've been away, home has existed in a parallel universe...or has it?  

back to abundance in the veggie patch...how many courgettes are now marrows?? don't you love the ruby chard against the greens?

a trip to the north east and I spot these beauties, the last of summer...

and then back into my studio...where reality really does await me...whereas the house is now primped and cleaned after months of neglect...the studio is more or less untouched after the busyness of earlier in the summer...and C-art is now only a couple of weeks away...

but somehow I get sidetracked by the lovely things I bought or collected on holiday, and a creative playing session takes over any desire to tidy or sort...but this in itself is valuable, as I haven't made since Artfest... and this will now get my creativity restarted...who knows where it will take me?

I love my 'new' camera soo much...playing with the focus so you get subtle changes...can you feel the hints of autumn? I'm loving textures and colours, sea-blue mug and rough greys and browns...fingers itching so I think it's an afternoon of sorting then some fabric and stitching time...

hope you too have a happy weekend! Emmaxx

postcard from Mull...

dear all

here we are on the Isle of Mull, having travelled up through Scotland to Oban and across the seas to this beautiful island...to a tranquil remote cottage, relaxing by the sea, washing in rainwater, walking in the green lushness, a wee bicycle ride now and then, lots of birdwatching (mmm Golden AND Sea Eagle) and the magic of seeing a small otter swim across and inlet and clamber about on the rocks...another short ferry ride to the stunning island of Iona and fish and chips on the front at Tobermory (aka Ballamory)...happy holidays!

wish you were here Emmaxx

Friday night and I'm loving...

life being back to 'normal'...

that tidying the house is strangely a long-awaited treat...

the glorious colours and kindness of a bunch of flowers from a friend's garden...

 

that we're harvesting in the veggie patch...beetroots galore thanks to our new raised bed sytem which husband of patience has mulched with cardboard, grass clippings and donkey muck, producing crumbly rich soil instead of just having clay!

daughter mine setting to and producing delicious beetroot chutney...because there's nothing like homemade
 

the stunning wild flowers that  mingle in the garden with those we've chosen to plant

the sights and tastes of the veggie patch...who can resist picking and eating peas al fresco...very few get cooked!

and there, out there, are the wild hills and rolling countryside

the seasons moving on...and simple pleasures of the start of a new wood stack...

ah life is good and we are rich indeed...

hope you're loving your garden and the outdoors and the joys of summer living...Emmaxx

a week ago...

we were esconced in a hot and sticky (we love summer!) Town Hall in Kendal ...surrounded by all manner of wonderful artwork, and some of our own...do you like my seedhead and brooches? I have really enjoyed creating my new work...and a big thanks to husband of patience for endlessly printing and cutting out my new labels! 

(beautiful landscapes by David Sims in the background)

 

we had journeyed to Kendal driving down through the Lake District past Keswick and Ambleside, Windermere and beyond...we had made our winding way through the crazy one-way system in Kendal(anyone out there familiar with this??) and found ourselves on the first floor of the Town Hall...faced with a big blank white space, displaying only our names...two tired textile artists with boxes of stuff, tables, shelves and more...

so bring on the tech team and...

several hours and much shifting around later...ta da!

 we were very happy as you may imagine so a big thanks to our wonderful families for supporting us...

 

here's a tiny taste of what you could have seen...

Kelly Stewart's amazing prints

and the delightful work of Emma Louise Wilson...who coincidentally I met up with on facebook before we met here, and some of whose work I had already had hanging in my studio...

  

and did I mention the amazing pop up tea shop run by Frumenty and Fluffin...all day cuppa's for hungry artists and visitors...and cakes beyond your wildest dreams!



and yes I did do a little bit of shopping, as well as selling...so much to tempt me amongst all the wonderful artwork...I'll share this little beauty with you, so exquisitely wrapped, a present to me after all my hard work...

and when you open it... a tiny gem of a bowl by the 'other' Emma...you can see more of her work here

I think when you visit a show like this you little realise all the hard graft which goes on behind the scenes...so a BIG thanks goes to Rosie and Tina and all those who made ArtFest happen!
 

and love and hugs to my 'home' team...chief packer, and chief arranger and carer of dotty artist mother...

going home...it will all fit in...somewhere

had a long lie down this week, sorry not been around, normal service slowly being restored...back to reality and the very overdue hoovering!

hope you're enjoying the summer here in the UK...Emmaxx