A day in Hay-on-Wye

I love going to Hay on Wye, the shops are always so inspiring and there is much vintage goodness to be rummaged through and inspiring books to peruse. Yesterday's trip was particularly peachy as it yielded a great many fabulous goodies. Some things to make things with, some things to read, some things to wear and some things just to wonder at.



This beautiful child's dress was lovely, in one of my favourite vintage shops in Hay. Lok at the amazing smocking and the colour combination is just perfect.



The Vogue's Guide to Dressmaking, a wonderful bossy little booklet from the 1930's which is full of fantastic tips for the stylish and thrifty woman.



Vintage mother of pearl buttons and some incredibly tiny baby ones!



The Wendy Multi Needle, with full instructions to make pretty flowers. I think it is a kind of flower loom actually and have already found a flickr group for other people who have these, from the 1960's I think.

Sewing...

Little scraps of fabric are always saved in the moshi factory. You never know what tiny beauties you can concoct with tiny bits of loveliness. So I have been making miniature bags and little lavender sachets to keep my bigger pieces of fabric fresh.

Spring is Sprung!

Now that Easter has been and gone I feel like Spring has finally arrived, although the summery weather here makes me feel like the seasons are getting ahead of themselves. The sun is always welcome and has prompted much primping and making neat in our neglected garden. The snow we had did for many of our plants, so there were some sad holes to fill. But we have been able to sit outside and enjoy the fruits of our labour in these balmy evenings.

Vintage find...

As a keen sewer I have a great nostalgia for anything haberdashery. I loved the smell of certain shops when I was a kid, the newsagents with it's scent of printers ink and the promise of comics and black jacks sweets was one. But I was fortunate enough to have a mum who sewed and so we would often go searching for fabrics and supplies in proper haberdashery shops, full of bright colours and knitting needles and yarn in soft bundles.



I saw this little set of drawers the other day in a lovely vintage shop in town and had to have it. It is a bit battered and is showing it's age, but I love it and it is perfect for all my little sewing bits and bobs.

Our house is a very very very fine house..

with two cats in the yard...

My dad used to play that song when i was growing up and i loved it, and now my house does have two cats in the yard. I love the colours of our house in the rooms that we have sorted out and that reflect our taste. I am especially keen on the colours of our rooms reflecting the particular quality of light we have here. It is cool and bluish, quite a harmonious colour and i did not want to use colours that jar with that or strike a false note.

I love scandinavian palettes and the dusty greens and blues that seem to make me think of the design from there. I also love georgian decor and the lovely blues and greys that Farrow and ball use for their paints. We can't afford Farrow and Ball, but we can aspire!

Colston girls School

Well, the first part of the project is now finished. It took three days to complete, although I only cleaned up the edges on Thursday and touched up a few bits.

I used Acrylic paint and matt medium to paint on the walls, having first roughly mapped out the drawing in pencil. This was quite a change from the way I did my drawings for the MA show as I drew directly on to the walls in that case, but I was aware of the need to get it right for the school and also the time frame meant that I had to plan it out.

I am really pleased with the outcome and hope that the girls like it too.

Colston Girls School, Bristol, Day 1

I am working on a commission in Bristol this week, and today was my first day installing the piece. Went well, and tomorrow I will be putting in the ship and hopefully getting it near completion.





The nice thing about being an artist is that generally people are very interested in what you are doing, so all day I have had different people coming up and chatting to me about the work and being very encouraging. Even the poor caretakers who had to move a cupboard that had been bolted to the wall because of some miscommunication were very kind. It would have obscured the painting, but now it is fine.