feeling orange...

must be something in the air...autumn is hinting it's here...misty mornings when you can't see the hills, a sense of peace and calm after the heady summer days, quiet birdsong, flowers still colouring the garden...but seedheads and dry grasses filling up the hedgerows...change is afoot 

and C-art has been amazing again, 2 weekends done and one still to look forward to...been so great being with Ian and Steph in the studio once more...making art and conversation

and I've taught 2 lovely machine embroidery workshops too...can't beat a little bit of furniture moving in the middle of C-art!

Stephanie has been printing away...I love watching the process of her inking and mark making and playing with line and texture...

from all these bits and bobs somehow in Steph's hands... magic happens...

and in between talking to all the lovely people, drinking tea and eating cake... I have been able to play with fabrics, thread and stitch...and I am glad that textiles and machine embroidery is what I do cos it's much easier to clean up than paint!

happy? I should say so! 

hope you have a lovely week...maybe you're feeling orange too?? 

Emmaxx

making waves...for C-art

where does the time go? sorry I haven't been here much, just had so much to do to get ready for C-art, strange how in a year my studio has filled up with so much stuff! Thank goodness for the beautiful clean new loft space above and a loft ladder...husband of great patience I salute you!It felt like moving house, but now we have room for 3 artists and room for lovely visitors...

The New Bookshop in Cockermouth is kindly hosting a C-artists window display...so thought I'd better rustle up something new...been feeling sea-ish since my return from Mull...

here's a run through of the 'how to create a wave' process...choose delicious fabrics, snip them up and lay them on a backing of old blue blanket, needle felt with my fab machine, then get free machine stitching with more stunning blues...now the tricky bit, turn into a tube, stitch up by hand...luckily it just fits on my machine so I can stitch over the joins to blend them in and afterwards the fun part adding a lacey wavy top using dissolvable fabric...

I do like a technical and artistic challenge...and actually I am pretty chuffed...it worked! 

By the way I am having a few issues leaving comments on your blogs since I changed my blog name, apologies, I do visit and love your blogs, I will try and sort it out..any ideas please let me know!

Havea great week, back with some C-arty pics I hope, have a great week Emmaxx

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