Well what have I been up to? I left off just before the Homespun Fair which was a great success, a lovely day with lots of customers but my favourite bit as usual was chatting to all my lovely fellow stall holders, it is always so nice to see you all and I am always sad that we do not have more time to just sit and natter!
You may have noticed that Gertie and I are organising a little Homespun between Christmas and New Year, it will be just for the afternoon and we are looking for stall holders so if you might be interested pop over to the Homespun blog to find out more.
We had a busy summer but found time to get out and about. We decided that we would visit a garden each weekend who took part in the National Garden Scheme for charity and we went to some wonderful places that you would not normally be able to see and its a wonderful way of nosing round peoples gardens and houses and of course they always serve cake which is always a bonus! Here are just a few pics of some of the marvelous gardens we went to, I can recommend it as a summer past time.
Went to many car boot sales finding things for Christines shop, always an enjoyable past time.
Went to many car boot sales finding things for Christines shop, always an enjoyable past time.
A lady who came on one of my courses gave me these lovely price tickets, I just love the 'correct fashion' wonder what that was?
Recently I found these, a lovely old dolls pram and a sweet cot with a wonderful mattress, dont you just love the pics of the old toys?
But mainly this summer I have been trying to 'Focus' on my painting. I love to do so many things and it has been hard for me to really get on with anything of late as I keep side tracking myself into other projects. But we all know what happens when we spread ourselves to thin, nothing seems to get going so I have tried very hard to push all my other ideas aside and just paint and it has been wonderful! I am playing around with a few new techniques and researching American Folk Art and Naive painting which has been a bit of a passion for me for a number of years, trying to bring some of these qualities into my work. Its not everyones cup of tea I know and will maybe have a limited appeal but I feel like I need to follow my heart on this and not just do what I think people will buy. And I am glad to say that I have been selling a few pieces this summer in a gallery nearby and am hoping to be taken on by a few others soon, so wish me luck on that.
Here are a couple of paintings, the first is my more 'what sells' style, second one of my new pieces, quite large for me at 3 ft x 2 ft but I enjoyed every brush stroke! Its called "Reaching out" and its all about saying sorry and rekindling love and friendship. Much as I am hoping to rekindle my friendships with you all after being away so long, Sorry!