A Song Bird and a Blue Bird.

A song bird that is not necessarily a songbird and a blue bird that is not a bluebird. For the Christmas Fair.

Song Bird (drypoint etching with original music sheet collage)

Blue Bird (drypoint etching with stitching)

Work I, II and III - stitched.

I have finished stitching the three Work etchings, yippee yay. (I used three live ants, had them walk over an A4 page and traced the trails with different coloured pencils, then used this as a template to stitch the etchings.) I used muted colours for the three separate trails so that they do not stand out too harshly from the etched lines and plate tone.

Inside Out - an assemblage.

The requirements -  to make an assemblage piece with the theme "inside out", using at least one piece of wood and incorporating at least two techniques (apart from gluing and nailing stuff). I transferred a picture to wood (using acrylic matt medium), tapped the tap (no pun intended) into the wood with the help of L'Usband, drilled a hole for the lens, and glued on the rest of the items. Incorporated is an etching of an ant which you will recognise from my Work series, and I attached to the tap five inked perspex etching plates with ants. I seem to still be obsessed by issues involving work. the creative process, and ants.

Inside Out (assemblage with wood, paint, transfer, dry point etching, collage, perspex etching plates, brass tap, glass lens and keyboard letters).

Two books.

I 'discovered' these two books at exactly the right time. Slow Motion - stories about walking by Andie Miller is a book that I found on a library shelf - without looking for it. Well worth reading for anyone interested in slowing down & walking mindfully.

Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland was recommended to me by my art teacher. A fantastic book that felt as though it was written especially for me :