thank you!

Well, i just wanted to say thanks to whoever is reading this, my creative blog. It must be very boring as not a lot is written from month to month, but without fail, every day, someone checks in. I am very touched that anyone bothers to come back!

I am so aware the last few months of how little i have been able to do creatively and in general. Life has been such a struggle and had that “one thing after another” feel about it. I have had ideas and i have written them down on my to-do list. That is as far as it has got. I also wanted to do things for sending to people at Christmas, this has not happened. it is so frustrating to live like this… i have been struggling to write regularly on my usual blog, with posts started in May still languishing there waiting to be finished!

One thing i have been enjoying lately is this on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/starpoi/sets/72157622830567344/ Starpixie has started to do a doodle a day – there is also a website: http://adoodleaday.co.uk/

After an internet friend sent me Danny Gregory’s book “Everyday Matters” out of the blue (a great surprise!), I resolved to do something similar, but have not managed even one whole doodle, only a few badly-looking seagulls (self-projection or bad drawing skills? i think the latter!)… i really have not been feeling good and any energy i have seems to be taken up with the daily tasks of living. I have really enjoyed seeing these doodles though and i hope to be able to do one a week (or something) at some point! I am really bad at drawing actual things and really want to get better so i need to DO IT! I admire Starpixie for getting on with it even when feeling unwell/uninspired…

 

Autumn Haiku

the crow-full wind blows

the white light ambrosia*

clouds into sunset

 

* i know “ambrosia” means “food of the gods” but i am using it to describe the colour of rice pudding in the sky!

 

Colorbox!

They are soooo BIG!!!

 

Looking towards Dunstanburgh

Last week i made a new stamp (well two actually for one image) in order to make a card for my partner. I also sent it to a friend and have a couple more prints that are good enough to use as cards. It took two days to make. The first day i designed/drew it and carved the two soft-cut blocks. The second day i did the printing. I used some relief printing ink that i bought. It comes in tubes and is really messy to use! It was quite tricky to get good prints and also to line up the two separate images. The ink also took about 24 hours and some hairdryer action to dry – i was starting to worry it would stay sticky forever… I have since ordered some colorbox ink pads so i hope they will be easier to work with than the messy ink and roller combination. I only have the two colours at the moment: black and silver… when my ink pads come there will be (almost, as i forgot to get black) no limit to the spectrum i can use – I can’t wait!

 

Inspiration!

It has been an inspiring time for me lately, though i have been very busy and have not actually done much creative work. I have been getting out and about quite a bit more than usual as i have been feeling stronger and have had visitors, so have been making little trips out to shops and an art gallery.

The first thing that happened was a few weeks ago, when my good friend RachelCreative sent me a book: Nature’s Engraver: A Life of Thomas Bewick by Jenny Uglow. Here is an article describing the book. I think she saw the connection to my bird project and my love of nature as well as the fact that he was from Newcastle, where i currently live. I am only half way through the book so far, it is a very well written and absorbing read. I have learnt a lot about Newcastle’s history and the second half of the Eighteenth Century seems to have been a time of great change with some of Newcastle’s most important buildings and streets having been built. I feel more connected to the city now, as i have been feeling as if i am not really a resident of Newcastle: I rarely get to go to town and even when i do i cannot wander the streets, only get out of the taxi then back in again on the same street a bit later… each time i go in so much has changed and feels unfamiliar. I feel that in learning more about it’s history, I saw it differently when i went into town recently, which was so nice to experience. I was also feeling well and managed to go to four different places/buildings in town, which added to my feeling of being in the town properly!

So a couple of weeks ago i went to an art and craft shop as i have a few birthdays etc coming up and i wanted to get some special things. I do most of my shopping online, but it is so nice to be able to go into a shop, especially when looking for something handmade and unique, and to actually see it and touch it before choosing.

I did not get something for all the occasions i needed to buy for, but i did find a beautiful card of a wood engraving by Caroline Coode. Unfortunately she does not have a website for me to link to, and i think it does breach copyright to post a picture of the card here, but take it from me it is exquisite - i noticed it as it has a feel of Bewick’s woodcuts – small and detailed. It is called “Lindisfarne Castle – early morning” and shows the castle and it’s reflection in the sea, with vegetation in the foreground and a tiny person walking their dog, as well as a sprinkling of birds above. As we went to Lindisfarne in February it reminded me of the special holiday we had and i fell in love with it! I found a few references to her online and she turned 70 last year (see here for flyer (half way down page) for her retrospective) and is a Quaker. There are a few of her images here on Flickr. It is so interesting to discover a local artist carrying on making woodcuts in Newcastle after learning about Bewick…

It made me think and look at my photos from that holiday and wonder how i would go about reducing those images down to simple lines and silhouettes…

During that recent trip into town I went to the Laing Art Gallery to see the Bewick exhibition they are currently showing and it was absolutely fascinating.

Amazing  to see the actual boxwood blocks that he had engraved and how tiny and detailed they were. Also showing was part of the Northern Print Biennale which was showing contemporary work and also very interesting to see how simple some of the most effective images were. I went to the gift shop and found some more inspiration there – printmaking and simple sillhoutte designs are everywhere when you start to look! From wrapping paper to cards, to the teapot i now own as my partner bought it as my anniversary present (ECP design):

(note the bird-theme!)

And also this leather brooch, which i love, and bought for myself.

See next post for a card i have made, inspired by Caroline Coode and all this lovely stuff – hoping i have the energy to do lots more soon!

 

Bullrushes

In early 2007 i took this picture of bullrushes:

In September 2008 i took this one:

I was really pleased with them both. I don’t know why but i really like these dramatic plants! A couple of weeks ago i went out and took some more pictures of bullrushes… i really enjoyed it – a short burst of activity in the sunshine!

 

Poem: Ten

I can now share with you my poem “TEN”, because the book people do not want to publish it. I don’t mind, i can’t expect my first effort to be successful and i am still happy with it, even if it’s no masterpiece! Maybe it being about M.E. is a bit predictable but they do say write about what you know, don’t they? I enjoyed writing it and working on it/editing it, which took some time. I have never really changed a poem or worked on it much before, or written anything with a particular title or theme and that was a learning process which i think will help me next time.

 

TEN

 

A decade, I say, though I try not to count;

But every time I do go out:

Hello, so nice to meet you!

What do you do?

I don’t. I’m unwell.

Oh, but you really can’t tell…

 

How long has it been for you?

Since I turned twenty two.

You were so young! Just making a start –

It must have really broken your heart?

 

Yes. And now it breaks again:

I never thought then

That I’d look back now and count to ten.

 

 

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

 

poem called “Ten”

Although it may seem like nothing creative is happening, as i have not posted anything for a while, i am gently ticking over…

I have written a poem called “Ten” for a local competition – there is no prize except to be included in a collection of poetry called Ten, for publication. I consider that a prize in itself as it is an ambition of mine to be published somewhere!

As it has to be previously unpublished i will not share it with you yet… but if it is not chosen i will share it with you then, the deadline is the end of the month so i am not sure when that will be. 

I am quite pleased with it (and have worked on it and edited it much more than I ever have before when writing, a process which i have really enjoyed and learnt from) but i am no poetry expert so we will see what they think!

Cross your fingers (or whatever you can) for me!

 

Tern Stamping

I have grown to love terns, there is a pond nature reserve near my house and it is often the only place i can cope with going when i am up to going out, but only just, as it is only a few minutes away in the car and a short walk to the water’s edge. When i get to the bench, there is always seems to be an arctic tern or two flying over the water, back and forth and they are so fascinating to watch: so elegant and graceful yet sharp and precise. Just to see them helps to take me out of my body, to relax me, help me to breathe more calmly, deeply and feel a sense of peace.

So for my first attempt at making my own stamp, i chose a tern. I will put it into my bird book!

 

Cards for a friend

I have recently made two cards: one for my friend’s birthday and one for her baby boy who is about to turn 6 months old.

Card for Jo:

It’s made from a cut-up art magazine.

Here is the card for Edward, her baby:

This one is acrylic paint – bold colours to catch his attention i hope!