Reflections.....

Well, today is the day:) The 40th birthday has arrived and nope, I don't feel any different;)) Not that I expected to, lol! Today though has been lovely. I've managed to talk to all my family and friends, received lots of lovely thoughtful gifts and messages and pretty much gone through today on a bit of high:) My balloon is bobbing around in the living room making me smile when I look up at it and as it's helium, it will be around for a while yet as a happy reminder.

But although I didn't intend to, you do start to take stock and think just what have I been doing in those 40 years? 40 years, blimey! When did it creep up to that?? I'd like to think I'm focusing on enjoying life in the now so I wasn't counting:)) But there do seem to be bits that just flew by as chunks of years!

All this introspection has made me hunt out old photographs. I'm not very good at keeping a photographic record of myself as I don't think I photograph well most days but as I've been looking back I realise I really should have been documenting those younger days - when I looked my best!!! But then, when I'm about 80, I'll probably wish I took some photos of me at 40 so I could see me when I was 'young':)) So everything in perspective. Also, I find it interesting to see my parents and their old photographs so I really should be keeping a record for posterity myself.

Me at 21, (on the right) celebrating in the pub at art school

So, a yearly birthday photo? Mmmm, wait till I wash my hair, and slap some make-up on:) I was also thinking how I wish I had written thoughts down at the time - what was that girl of 21 thinking in that photo? Was she happy? Was she excited, nervous, confident? Funny how  you can look more relaxed when it's someone you feel comfortable with taking the photo. The facial expressions look more genuine and less forced. OR maybe that's just the drink:)) Don't let the orange juice fool you, I'm sure there was vodka involved somewhere!!

I was never one for diaries or journals when I was young - "woke up, got dressed,  had breakfast, ....." same old, same old:) Although I am aware of the irony now I keep a blog which is essentially a journal. Although I do usually stick to creative endeavours in it but that's probably because I don't want to bore you with the trivia of my day - unless its eye candy trivia like lovely cakes or yummy new yarn:)

But because I don't write it here either, then there is no history to these photos, no context to put them in other than the year and names on the back, and my faulty memory. I don't necessarily want to save everything to posterity but maybe a little background detail should be written: where was I, was it a good day, what age was I, what dreams or aspirations did I have? - as by the time I'm 80, I probably won't remember anything except the names of everyone I went to school with when I was 4:))) Sounds pretty much like a personal diary to me. Maybe I've finally grown into diary writing  - as long as I don't have to write it every day - still suck at that as you probably know already:)

So, in the spirit of recording EVENTS, here is some lovely birthday cake eye candy for you to keep you going till I wash my hair and take 40 million photos till I get one I like:)

Thank you everyone for all my lovely birthday wishes and presents - now I'm off to have a piece of cake;))

Coloured Abstract

Felt is a lovely medium to draw with. It gives you instant blocks of colour, but can blend, act as a see-through filter to diffuse colour intensity and trap threads, lace, and fabrics. I also love the fact that you have to be a bit more spontaneous when drawing with fleece. Although there is definite care taken with balance of composition, detail and colour palette, I find it more expansive a medium to draw with.


This piece starts looking at abstraction, colour and drawing landscapes with felt and the intention is to take these initial studies further with stitch and collage embellishment. But I think I like this one as it is. The majority of the fleece is hand dyed shetland and wensleydale (curly bits) with some pre-dyed merino. I also have some silk tops I'd like to dye and use as a cobweb filter in places too.


The amazing thing about felt is the detail that the fibres give you close up - they could even be mini compositions in their own right. I also like the fact that felt isn't precious. If it doesn't flow as well as you intended then you can always take a viewfinder and find a new composition within, then chop it up!! I haven't done that here - this one is a birthday present - but the one before this has become a smaller composition, a birthday card and three small cards. Hey, it's flexible!


Another quandry I have with felt though is how to present it. Felt by nature tends to produce uneven edges and I like this element but I also love wall to wall colour with no white to distract the intensity/depth of colour. So, edges or no edges? (compare pic 1 and pic 5)
Also should it be behind glass or suspended as a wall hanging? Textiles as wall decorations will trap dust and are then difficult to clean so maybe glass should be used but then it acts as a barrier to the textile itself and it has such a tactile quality - touchy feely. Thoughts anyone?


So more of these to follow. I would like to gather some more source on natural forms and abstract elements in nature or landscapes - microscopic aspects would work here too. More development in the sketchbook and more playing with felt, I think!

Happy Birthday John! I hope you like your felted abstract landscape:-)