MICROSCOPIC MIRACLES

 

Stephanie, my granddaughter who loves rocks, is studying geology at Cardiff university so when she showed me some photos taken of microscopic sections of rock I was really inspired by the beautiful colours and designs. This is one of the textile art pieces I have created this week using various scraps from my stash like organza and velvet layered over a white linen base and stitched on the machine.

 

 

Here is my original sketch done in brush pen, black micron pen and watercolour pencils.  I had a lot of fun on dark winter evenings interpreting the photos I have stored on my Kindle tablet.

 

The back of the stitching on the white linen base looks like a lot of doodles!

 

 

Stephanie didn't tell me the names of the rocks but it doesn't matter too much as they are such lovely abstract patterns.

 

This piece was made by making some scrap lace using water-soluble stabiliser so that I could place those tiny bits of blue silk in spaces on the background which is made from a part of my grandmother's silk velvet shawl that must be at least 100 years old.

 

Here's my sketch, I think it looks a bit like a planet spinning in space!

 

The third photo looks like the world with the equator running across the middle.

The sketch is done in watercolour and I really like the way the colours mingled when I painted them which I tried to replicate in the machine stitched version.

 

The black patches are more scraps of grannie's velvet attached with zigzag among the pieces of organza and hand dyed cotton.

I haven't quite decided what to make with these now, maybe some birthday cards or pieced together as a cushion cover.....That means I'll need to do another one to make a square, oh well, back to the drawing board!

ART & CRAFT ON HOLIDAY

 

We chose to stay at an adults only hotel this year and were delighted to find that there were lots of activities available to entertain us during the day as well as the evenings.

On Monday morning there was a silk painting class run by an English lady, Sue Brown, who lives on the island.  This is my first attempt at something I've often thought of trying.

 

The view from our balcony was very inspiring and as I had taken a selection of threads and fabrics I decided to make a stitch picture to record what I saw.

 

Another morning we had the opportunity to try decoupage and here is the first glass dish I made using cut up napkins and acrylic paint as well as the usual crackle treatment.

 

The second week I made another one and I think it turned out better as I chose the background colours more carefully.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing much more of this technique, I much prefer stitching and painting!

 

On the second Monday I had another try at the silk painting and enjoyed it so much I'm considering giving it a go at home.  I used pieces of rock salt carefully placed to make those lovely sparkle effects, something the teacher had not tried before as previously she just sprinkled it on at random.

I met some lovely ladies during these classes and we are keeping in touch on the Facebook page set up by Sue to highlight the work of the classes each week.

MORE FROM THE WINTER HOLIDAY

Part 2 of my holiday story continues with a poolside drawing of the palms in the gardens at the hotel Barceló, Corralejo Bay on Fuerteventura.

Our evenings there were spent in the lounge bar listening to a variety of live bands. This is a Beatles tribute trio that came on as Status Quo in the second half without their wigs and completely different music.

The Abba band was very good at getting people up to dance, here are my favourites. The man is a handicapped German who danced alone every evening till someone went up to join him.  I took a few turns too after these two lovely ladies went home.

Here are the group who entertained us so well.

We made some friends who we sat with some evenings, here is Derek while he was playing dominoes with the others.

This group played and sang and the girl in the middle also played the violin, at the request of one guest she did some amazing Irish folk music.

Some afternoons we sat on the terrace by the lounge instead of the pool as it was a bit sunnier later in the day being a level higher.

This was an amazing combination of Irish and Spanish dancing and music.  The foot stamping is very similar and the accompaniment on the drum combined with the flautist excellent.

Hard to capture the movement but the main thing is to enjoy the moment and not worry about making mistakes.

On our last day the mist over Lanzarote cleared enough for me to draw it in detail in my coloured pencils on this gorgeous tinted Ingres paper.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little trip to Fuerteventura, we will definitely go back next year.

WINTER HOLIDAY 2018

We have just come back from a fortnight's holiday in the Barceló hotel at Corralejo Bay on Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands.  I took my new sketchbook, no 44, and started it with a sketch of one of the great bands that entertained us during the evenings.

Mr Bana band was one of the best live groups I've heard, playing Rhythm and Blues music very professionally. I showed them the drawings when they finished and they were delighted to see them and signed each of their portraits.

We stayed in a room on the 3rd floor with a fantastic view over the harbour.  We could see Lanzarote in the distance when it wasn't too hazy.

The port was quite busy with ferries coming and going during the day between the islands.

Ile Lobos was just offshore and the sea sweeping in between the islands was quite strong making it fantastic for wind and kite surfers.

There was a lovely walk along the beach in both directions which we did most days when the wind wasn't too strong.

Looking southwards we could see the mountains in the distance behind the campanile of the shopping centre.

We spent every evening enjoying the live music and entertainment in the comfortable wicker chairs.

Another of my favourite groups was  'Jersey 's Best' a Four Seasons tribute band, very lively and entertaining.