Happiness, sorrow and more painting and dyeing!

Hello fellow Artists.

Yesterday morning..Tuesday, l was on top of the world. l had been accepted to show in a Local Art Exhibition in our town Shopping Complex. Then l accepted a very nice space, in a new gallery with 4 other artists from this coming Saturday! Yippee...Panic! Need to frame some silks by Friday. So, off to Ikea to get some nice but inexpensive wooden frames, which is better than £120 for one frame which l was quoted earlier! Took ages to check silk pieces with frame size, colour etc..finished and took one hour to return to our flat. That is when disaster struck. No blue bag with about 12 silks and 2 phones in!!!!!! Panic phone calls, dash back to Ikea...they have been taken. Don't know if l want to cry, be angry or just feel totally stupid? In fact l feel all of them! The reason l had BOTH phones in the bag was because l had to take them back to the phone shop, because of problems with one of them. Otherwise, l would still have my old phone but not my NEW one. Unfortunately, new one was in between insurance!!! NOT A GOOD DAY!!!! Apart from the hassle and the money angle, it is the time and effort l had put into those paintings. Oh well, hope whoever has them gives them to someone who will love them. Police reports, cancelling phones etc..too tired to cook and eat supper..off to bed.

Well, enough of me wallowing in self pity..off to paint 12 new silks. 

The other day we had a bigger than normal moon and l managed to get a few images. Most images l have seen have been much nearer but l do like this image.

I was checking some of my dye mixes, or, as my husband calls them,..."witch's concoctions" and found this. Isn't it beautiful?

This is the lot about to be opened..so exciting! See them later in the post.

On my walk last weekend in Rutland with Andrew, Tony and Alfie the dog, l found this amazing piece of wood.

I also found this empty gun cartridge. I was excited because it has a brass base which l can use in some of my dyeing. I had not realised that gun cartridges were made of plastic now, l thought they were still being made of metal.

The next image is one of the many keys l have managed to force to "rust".

Managed to get some cheap Eucalyptus leaves..lots of different species..great fun.

Some feathers and 2 walnut shells found on the same walk with Alfie in Rutland.

On this same walk we went though a field full of sheep and their new lambs. They were gorgeous and l picked up a small piece of shedded fleece. I decided to clean it and see how it turned out.

This image could have been the subject for a Gainsborough painting all those years ago...not much has changed on some farms in Rutland.

The next few images are from the results of the Eco bundles you saw drying earlier in this post. They have all been dyed using Eucalyptus leaves on wool.

This material is old, thin, white cotton from France.

Wool again. Just LOVE this orange.

The next few images are of old pieces of French cotton. Not sure what caused the tiny piece of purple colour in this piece. Don't you just love accidents, or Nature's chemisty at work?

Back to a piece of originally white wool.

This last dyed image is of an old, French, white, cotton top that l aquired that was beyond mending. So l decided to save as much of the original shape l could, dye that and then add it into one of my embroidery pieces at some time in the future.

Below is an image of my wonderful old jam making pot l found at an Oxfam shop....just what l need for dyeing.

Another batch of exciting bundles being boiled up! Love this part.

And here are the next lot just out of the pot and now the waiting begins.

One last image in this very long post today. While on the same walk l talked about earlier, l collected loads of galls. These are a sort of ball shape you see attached to Oak branches. A Gall wasp is a small winged insect of antlike appearance. The female lays its egg in plant tissue, which swells to form a gall when the larva hatches. They make a gorgeous brown colour as you can see from the image.

I have written this blog in between my gutta drying and the next stage which is painting. Also, my back and fingers need a rest, if truth were told. My mind may not be getting old but l don't think my body knows that!