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On our recent trip to Pembrokeshire I became the junk shop equivalent of David Dickenson (without the perm-a-tan though!)
It would seem that Wales has lots of vintage goodness ready to sell and at good prices.
We found one cold, warren of a place piled high with everything you could think of and not being staffed by the owner. This opened up the opportunity for some cheeky bargaining (I still don’t know what came over me.)
I came away with 3 old wooden storage boxes, two blue and white jugs, a tiny floral jug, a lace work cloth, two embroidered chair-backs and an enamel pan for £15. I quick-stepped it out before the owner came back. I mean when is anything ever as cheap as 50 pence! My gall is a disgrace!!
The next day I spotted two lovely white and blue enamel pieces sitting outside an antiques shop and bartered them down just a little bit.
I have a plan to fill the oval tub with lettuce seeds so that we can grow our own salad this summer and keep it by the back door.
So now the garden is ready for it’s thrifted, vintage makeover (as soon as it stops raining).
We had also been very lucky on a recent family trip to Manchester to come across an antiques arcade. There was beautiful crockery, coloured glass wear, old books, crocheted loveliness and a super wicker basket to carry it all home in.
A couple of Christmases ago I saw that Helen had made a decoration which was a reindeer in a glass jar with sugar for fallen snow. It was gorgeous and so simple but effective and the idea has stayed with me.
When I was in Paris (did I say that enough lately!) at the flower market I was overjoyed to find these little mushrooms and one thing led to another and I recreated Helen’s idea but with an Easter theme instead.
Even Mr L (not prone to sentimentality) said it was sweet !
Easter is my favourite celebration, even more so than Christmas.
I love that it’s not been hi-jacked too much by having a major shopping focus and all the work that Christmas requires. It seems a much lighter celebration and the weather and spring flowers add to its joyfulness.
And I love the real meaning behind this celebration.
I bought marie claire ideas when I was in France.
It is full of inspiration (and French descriptions which I promised myself I would translate and improve my French – yet to do!)
I was gifted a bag of old music scores by a friend at work and set to, to try to add to my Easter dec’s.
© Claire Leggett
For the past three weeks I have been sitting at the computer pattern designing (can’t show you as I want to keep it for my portfolio.) Lots of fun until my ideas about layering and rotating and duplicating images meant that my old Mac’s processor couldn’t keep up with me. One day I sat for 15 mins waiting for my design to move half a centimetre down the design page. Not fun anymore.
© Claire Leggett
So having felt like Rapunzel stuck in the technology tower, I decided to cut free yesterday and not even switch the thing on at all, all day. Instead I emptied the drawer of ‘nice things that never get used’ and used them.
© Claire Leggett
It’s always good to reconnect creatively with yourself and get messy with glue and paint. That and a new audiobook; IQ84, and I feel a little more soulful today.
© Claire Leggett
A trip to the Apple store has been booked and the mama of all machines is coming my way (knuckle biting excitement.) Then no doubt I’ll go full circle all over again.
I don’t think I’ll be alone in admitting that I sit (knitting) in front of Kirstie’s Handmade Britain, tutting and eye rolling at the heavy weather she can make of what seems like a simple craft project.
Take the second episode where she worked with Clare Cole on an embroidered card. It looked easy peasy, just some cutting and stitching. Just drawing with thread right? How hard could it be?
Well I can now say that it’s harder than it looks having given it a shot myself.
Sorry Kirstie – I shall no longer be so smug about trying something new and being good at it.
Happy Halloween. Do you like our pumpkin lantern ?
These two clever peeps spent just over four hours creating this masterpiece while I cooked up the insides for soup. Just a regular night!
Ollie is really good at sculpture – clay, bronze, pumpkins… And he loves cartooning and you can see where this crazy hybrid of activities has taken him with the autumn fruits!
So happy Halloween to you whether you are simply celebrating summers end, or All Saints’ Day or just carving a crazy lantern because you can! (like we did.)
- Summer 2010 Julie Arkell
I enjoyed the whole Smile exhibition but must admit that seeing Julie Arkell’s work in the flesh was the motivating factor for going.
Her work fits perfectly into the brief for the exhibition because it is delightful, whimsical, nostalgic and amusing. It made me smile, coo, ahh and giggle.
Julie Arkell is one of Britain’s most recognisable folk artists. She works in paper mache and mixed-media .
Her construction process is completely handmade, beginning with manipulating the paper mache into figures and then dressing them by knitting and sewing bespoke garments.
Her work is the meeting point of domestic craft traditions and sculpture.
- My heart’s in high lands with lambs Julie Arkell
The ‘people’ she makes have references to bunnies, people, children and dolls but are none or all of those things at once.
I think this is what gives her work a storybook quality. That and the narrative which is hinted at through the embroidery on the clothing and the title of the work itself.
The clothing is reminiscent of an earlier age where petticoats and hobnail boots were standard. Julie likes to re-use items from the past such as lace trimmings and brooches which reinforces the historical quality of the characters.
I have always loved to make things using accessible materials like paper, glue, cardboard, fabric and wool, which relate to my papier-mache pieces. I am able to make pieces that express my feelings, thoughts and ideas, bringing past and present together. Julie Arkell, Flow Gallery.
- They were sisters Julie Arkell
I really loved this one A LOT. I love the expressions on their faces made through very little marking but a lot of expression through shape. I can just imagine these two sisters gossiping and comparing notes on things.
I adore the way their hair has been made and piled upon their heads and pinched in with ribbon.
I’m amazed by how much character comes thorough with such a lightness of touch. Carefully poised dots and lines, rouging and a clever wittiness with the printed text all combines to create a character that you can ‘read’ almost instantly.
There is something endearing about anything that is miniature and this outfit is no exception.
- All because of Stanley
Collecting things is an important part of my work. I look for postcards, plastic dolls (that I take apart and rearrange) old books, aprons, fabric, buttons, jewellery, used toys and much more that captures my attention. I’m constantly writing down words and phrases and thinking up stories for the world I make. Julie Arkell at CAA
I think her work perfectly suited this particular exhibition and I admit that I would like to don an apron and a pair of knitted ears and go and live in her fairytale world where it looks like relationships matter and its playtime all the time.
- Lucy Casson Upholsterers
Yesterday I went into Staffordshire town center to catch the end of the Smile exhibition.
This is a Ruthin Craft Centre touring exhibition. I think it’s going to King’s Lynn next but you can look here to find out.
And the theme of the exhibition was simply ‘Smile”.
- Janet Bolton
The exhibition showcases the work of thirteen contemporary applied artists all working in different fields.
- Janet Bolton
The exhibition “looks at how makers have explored the quintessentially British love of everyday humour. Many of the works suggest memories of childhood and long-ago holidays or explore the comedy in ordinary life.”
- Janet Bolton
- And it did just that. It was a small exhibition but it had me smiling and exclaiming and cooing and feeling light-hearted and whimsical.
- Who couldn’t fail to smile at this simple, cute, crazy idea?
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Freddie Robbins
And I really enjoy Linda Millar’s embroidery because I love the celebration of life that these convey.
Linda Miller
They do work to make me smile and feel happy, apart from being eye catching patterns and colours and well crafted.
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Linda Miller
“All the people in my work smile because mostly they are genuinely happy and contented and busy being about their business.”
Linda Miller
And finally here’s a little Julie Arkell, but it’s just a taster.
Julie Arkell A lamb For Heidi
There was much more than this but I have made a post for tomorrow which is dedicated to just her work.
Remember the French Journal Belle Rose fabrics that I posted about last week. Well they have inspired not only a bout of collaging creativity but a whole pile of delicious mess all over the studio floor. You know it’s good when it’s everywhere!
Here are some close-ups of the two A2 sized collages that I made. One was a pink theme and another blue.
The French Journal Belle Rose fabric has lots of images of birds and flowers laid over old postcards and snippets of writing, geometric designs and beautiful paintings.
I have two drawers, two boxes, a basket and an old portfolio full to bursting with lovely papers, snippets of wrapping too nice to throw away, fancy packaging labels from things we’ve eaten, chinese newspaper…you get the picture.
I have paintings which didn’t work out in their entirety which I cut up, like these quails eggs above.
And some images I scanned from my sketchbooks onto cartridge paper to keep the hand painted feel to them.
It was really relaxing to make an assemblage like this because I usually work on a very different way.
And you know what they say about a change being as good as a holiday. This has been a creative mini-break!
