A Minor Arty Thing but it’s a Start!

Sue Brown of http://suebrownprintmaker.blogspot.com/ started a project with Louise Asher and Liske Johnson called Same Sea: Different Boat. She asked for people to send in collagraphs of a feeling of the lockdown. She would print them and send them back for stitch. Though I saw it all happening from the start I didn’t actually decide to join in until the sending for printing stage had passed, typical, but she has been still accepting stitched pieces. I tried keeping with the overall impression by monoprining in Prussian Blue before stitching my piece.

Same Sea: Different Boat

There’s not much of the monoprint left to see but you can make out some in the foreground. I have really missed our regular early morning trips down to Studland for a good zoom on the beach so I thought I’d use that, the ammonite is of course reference to both our Jurassic coast and that my friends call me Amo and I do seem to use them a lot in my work.

The squares are quite small, stitched area 10cm and you can still join in until the 10th July.

Another finish is a poncho I started about 18 months ago as a car project. It was swamped by other things which is daft as it’s a really quick pattern and in chunky so grows fast too.

I think these are great to wear in the car too as you don’t have sleeves to fight with if you want to take them off.

I have been working on the summer cardie crochet in the evenings but I wanted a new car project. I had squishy post this morning!

It’s supposed to be for the Very Berry Smoothie blanket by Sara of Black Sheep Wools but it’s all stocking stitch and very plain so that would drive me nuts. I had to have those colours though.

Instead I found a block a month on Ravelry called Year of Squares by Marjan from Hobbydingen . Each square uses one ball of the Chunky Monkey and I only have to add two balls for the squares and two more for the joining and border. I’ve just started January in the Iris colour as you can see in the photo. The yarn is beautifully soft and I won’t get bored!!!

The table now updated.

In light of the lack of galleries open, exhibitions and open studios I have been looking at work to buy from real artists and to cheer us up. What couldn’t you like about this gorgeous little wirework wren by Helen Godfrey . She really captures her animals and birds perfectly, AND she lives just on the other side of the hill from me.

I exhibited with Helen at the Cranborne Open Gardens a couple of years ago and wished I had bought something then. Just recently the armillary in the front garden just seemed missing a little something and the wren is just perfect.

Another artist whose work I love is Sarah Ross-Thompson a collagraph printmaker who used to live locally too before she moved to Scotland 5 years ago. She recently printed several birds including my favorite bird, Curlew. I will be having these framed together side by side for above our bed. Once she knew I was putting them in the same frame she inked them up as a pair so they would totally match.

On Friday last week I finally managed to have Elsa and Chris over for the weekend. I’ve missed my kids!!!!!

We went for a round of golf, this is the only reason I wanted to learn to play, to get out there with these two. They’ve both been working at our factory the whole time keeping things going and we are very grateful to have them.

Finally a picture of poor Ellie who has been having shoulder problems, just like me. She had xrays a couple of weeks ago and she has some deterioration in the joints. On Wednesday she had a cortisone injection under sedation. I had mine on the Monday so we are both nursing our shoulders!!!

Doesn’t she look sad. In less pain soon hopefully!