arches and another paintbox

I've been away again, and have photographed several arches and other views looking through spaces, it seems, so I'm guessing there is some kind of fairy tale idea developing in my subconcious for painting soon.

I've also added another paintbox to my collection - a lecherpentier barbe which needs a lot of cleaning

8 Random things about me

I've been tagged by Penny and Toby - http://naturalattrill.blogspot.com - to tell you 8 random things about myself. It's been fun thinking what to tell you, and I hope you enjoy finding out more about me.

Now I have to tag 8 other people. This is not compulsory, and if I have chosen you, and you don't fancy joining in, that is fine. Here are the rules:

1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random acts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

I tag:

1. http://www.thecolourbox.blogspot.com/
2. http://bengrubb-illustration.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.lornaart.blogspot.com/
4. http://paulabowles.blogspot.com/
5. http://theimaginationofladysnail.blogspot.com/
6. http://fesansom.blogspot.com/
7. http://chichiparish.blogspot.com/
8. http://www.ravenmadness.blogspot.com/

1. plectrum collection

My plectrum collection, the majority of which I have found in the street or on buses!

2. peaches v raspberries

I love both peaches and raspberries, and have never been able to decided which is my favourite fruit. Today I am eating raspberries, because the peach is not quite ripe!

3. asiatic pheasant

I use asiatic pheasant china most days: I love the design, and old Victorian one, which fascinated me from when little broken pieces of it would turn up in the garden when I was a child. Then to my delight Habitat re-introduced it for a couple of yearsl so my family gave me loads for presents. Nowadays I also have a few whole items of the original Victorian china, too.

4. A shared birthday

I share my birthday with one of my nephews: here is us together in 1998.

5. thimble and scissors set

My granny gave me this embrodery scissors and thimble set when I was about 8. It's had a lot of use over the years, hence the worn out state of the red leather case! The set was made to commemorate the coronation of the queen in 1953, and the thimble has a coach and horses round the base, with ER and 1953. I think my granny gave it to me in particular because I love sewing and all crafty things, and was born the same year.

6 . paintbox

My first proper artists watercolours paintbox was this wonderful Victorian Winsor & Newton tin of half pans I bought in a junk shop. It still has some of the original colours in it, plus I've added some. I love the shaped, almost fleur de lys ends to the paint sockets, which I have tried to show in the photo. Yes, it is still in use, although I do have some less battered sets now.

7. cornflowers

These are my absolute favourites.

8. Live music

Well, this one will not be a surprise to many people: I love seeing live music. This photo is of the fantabulous Tinariwen at Womad a couple of years ago.

I'm looking forward to visiting the blogs of the people I have tagged after the second half of my holiday.

final hats

I've finished making this year's batch for the Innocent smoothie hats fund raiser. You can see hats made by others here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bigknit2007/pool/.

Other news: I've been tagged - more about this later on.

Beautiful Days

I'm enjoying my summer holiday doing some of my favourite things: time by the sea, lots of drawing, and watching live music! The photo - taken on mobile phone - is of The Levellers, taken yesterday evening at Beautiful Days, a fab festival at Escot in Devon. I also saw Willy Mason, Afro Celt Soundsystem, K T Tunstall, The Rumblestrips, and Dub Sound System.

still knitting

I am still rather focussed on knitting and crocheting smoothie hats: today I made another bobble, and a crochet butterfly for the tops of two of them! However, I also cleared a whole load of stuff off my painting desk, and did a tad more to the painting in the photo ; )

More hats especially for Toby

I've not done very much drawing at all since my last post: all I have done has been sketching out ideas for knitting! Most of them have been stitch ideas for the smoothie hats, but some are for another project which will be shown soon. Knitting rocks! It's being a real pleasure to re-connect with a favourite hobby since I learnt how to knit when I was six years old. Toby Attrill (www.naturalattrill.blogspot.com) asked me about the size of the smoothie hats, so I've put one onto an empty smoothie bottle to demonstrate. The downside of the hats project is that I don't enjoy making the pompoms to put on the top. Maybe I'll make some more crochet flowers, or even tassels.

bracelet, drawing and hats

A delightful gift arrived from Toby Attrill (see naturalattrill link): a fab pearly green and white bead bracelet!


At life drawing today the model was wearing shoes with very high heels - and she is tall without. Quite a challenge to get the proportions for the drawing right.

Here are the first couple of smoothie hats I have knitted for the Innocent Age Concern fundraiser: I'm very much enjoying being creative with them, and may have cheated a little by using crochet to make the pink flower!

Innocent Village Fete

I've been to the Innocent Village Fete today: http://www.innocentvillagefete.com/. Wonderful weather, and very enjoyable. I contributed a flag to the longest bunting in the world, and saw some great live music, especially Seth Lakeman performing on the tiniest, cutest stage - see photo. There was also some gothic morris dancing, games like quoits, and a knitting tent. I'll be making some more knitted hats for smoothies for Innocent's Age Concern fund raising: I love knitting anyway, and the hats are tiny, so lots of opportunities to make something creative quickly : )

Under the sea

I've noticed quite a few seaside or under the sea type ideas creeping into my sketchbook over the past few weeks - eagerly anticipating forthcoming holiday in a week and a half. The page on the right was inspired by something I saw on tv, and I think it has potential to be worked up further, so watch this space1