More Open Studio Inspiration (2)

Bridlington harbour...

plus.....

 Ken Shaw has work there at The Spa that would look great as patchwork!

                                  (anna.kirk-smith@alumni.rea.ac.uk)

I loved this one above. 

They appeared to be white painted wooden boards with drawn grids of approx 1" squares, which were then each coloured in pattern or left white.

Stunning view from the huge windows of The Spa cafe!

 The south beach tide was out when we had a coffee there.

Then we moved on to the Prospect Studios in North Street.

I was blown away by the work of Patrick Wise there......incredible drawing style and figures.

These would also transfer to textiles so well too...........

I just love his faces.........and the cat!

Jean found a stunning rusty old gate........there will be some close up shots of it on her blog.........she got some brilliant close ups!

jeansmuse.blogspot.com

Open Studios work in East Yorkshire (1)

The Big Coast Felt Picture

48 felt panels made by children from 5 to12, at felting workshops run by Lynne Henderson. These are displayed in The Spa in Bridlington and have some items attached that the children found on beach walks too. Additional paper mache items made by Nicky Clacy, have also been attached.

Great aren't they!
Now how about these? Photos?

Stunning right? But not photos............. nope...............gouche!

These also on display in The Bridlington Spa, are by Fred Corrigan
(01262 403230) some of his work has the most amazing photographic quality.

Aviator Mouse, head huggers and metalwork!

Well here's my first attempt at Helen's wonderful Aviator Mice. 

Naturally I didn't follow the pattern exactly so the dimensions are skew whiff...sorry Helen! 

But I will make a felted version in the same dimensions next lolThis chap is in an RAF Denim-Aircraft, doubt they'd have been a pilots popular choice and a bugger to land I'm sure lol
The wispy bits near his nose were sposed to be whiskers but they ended up skew whiff too lol bless him........
Mind you the red spot on my RAF roundel is too big........why didn't I notice that before........hey ho

At the weekend I went to see a caravan and mobile home show thats held annually locally. I went off to see round some static vans that Ive been viewing online, with a view to buying one to live in, to downsize into...if I ever manage to sell the house that is.
Now I began last year with the idea I would live in a 3 bedroom wooden log cabin..ha ha...sooooooo expensive....sigh.
Then I considered a 3 bed less expensive lodge............now, realistically I'm looking at a poor womans Lodge lol ...........and there are 2 that Im keen on.

http://pembertonlh.co.uk/model-range/brompton/

and also the quirky
www.atlasleisurehomes.co.uk/downloads/atlas-concept-lodge.pdf

but those aside...........I spotted these statues set amongst some vans and found them interesting..

Clever stuff I thought but no signs to acknowledge who had made them!

Now at car boot I picked up this rug for a £1......... so much for my downsizing, right! 
But what struck me was that its been plaited yes, but its plaited wool, then machine stitched together with a wide zigzag stitch.
So not plaited fabric strips, but maybe 8 or 9 wool threads in each strip to plat together............does that make sense?!
Maybe you can see the structure in the pic if enlarge it, hope so.

I've a stall at the end of the month at a music festival so have been making more head huggers.

The idea is that whilst I can sell my stuff, I should also show anyone interested how to knit, crochet or stitch bits with recycled materials. 
Pal Jean will have the rug making paraphernalia on a stall and I will have stitchy bits to show, so Jean will have this bargain rug on her stall to show as an example. 

Lucky me !!! A runner up prize whoop...whoop....

http://bustleandsew.com/store/

If you havent visited Helen's wonderful site Bustle and Sew, please pop across and languish amongst her delightful patterns and handi work.
There are really wonderful patterns to buy, a few offered free and a  useful pdf which you can download too, explaining how to transfer patterns.
Helen has a Bustle and Sew eZine, featuring some of her patterns as well which looks really interesting.

The Bustle & Sew Magazine offers at least 3 free original Bustle & Sew patterns each month, plus vintage patterns, news and tutorials from other designers. It’s a great read and is delivered in pdf format so it’s easy for you to download and print too.

Helen had a draw and I was lucky enough to be a runner up and I have received a pattern for the most wonderful mouse Pilot!
I am totally smitten lol THANK YOU HELEN!

Helen's 'Brave Aviator Mice Softies'



Aren't they just wonderful!!
I have lifted this pic off Helen's website, so please pop in and see her Monty the Parrot softie and her Owl and the Pussy Cat softies too.
Then go find her also delightful, Stitching Bunny by Nakisha who is so very, very lovely too.

Now do I make this aviator mouse for my grandson.......
or for ME since I'm ex RAF aircrew myself!!

Though no, I didn't actually fly the aircraft.... I loaded it with freight and passengers, then flew with the airframe wherever it was going to.
(Sheer Hell - Fiji, Midway Island, Hong Kong etc..........sighhh, themS were the days....)
But I loved flying and had I had the ability would have loved to have piloted aircraft. Though not the VC10s which I worked on, think I'd have been more light aircraft material!!

I have always been fascinated by the women who flew in what was very much a mans world back in the early days. 
At school I knew about Hulls' own Amy Johnson and learnt about Amelia Earhart and felt they were ahead of their times and must have been strong willed women.
What great role models for women to follow.

These female pilots were called 'aviatrix' - women who were aviators.........what a bizarre word lol but I love it!

There was Karen Blixen too who was fascinating in her own right as a woman in the African colony and a writer. 
And Beryl Markham who was the first woman to fly from England to America in 1936.

Beryl flew and lived in Africa at the same time Karen did.
In fact Beryl also dated Denys Finch Hatton...he got about abit, that chap!
Her biography 'Straight on Till Morning' is well worth reading if you can find a copy..........she must have been one hell of a capeable woman.

And then there were, the as amazing women, who flew all manner of newly made WW2 aircraft  from aircraft factories, to the pilots who would then fly them on into war.
These women had to fly all manner of aircraft types at the drop of a hat and without them, the young pilots would not have had aircraft to fight in the skies with.

So...........yes....
I will make a male aviator mouse for my grandson ....
AND an aviatrix for me lolol
Watch this space..........I'm off to search thru my many felted woollies!

Felt wristlets and a daft idea.....

I took myself off on sunday to the coast, whilst the weather was bright and sunny. Sometimes I just need to see the sea and listen to it you know?
Anyway I went to Flamborough Head where there is a lighthouse but its years since I was there last, I guess when the kids were small...and they are late 20s now lol

 I ended up turning to south landing and it was not the place I was expecting........no lighthouse or caves in the rocky cove, so I suppose I should have gone further, to north shore maybe lol

Anyway since I was there and didnt know what was ... there ... I walked down the hill towards the water......down a  --- steep --- hill, no cars allowed and sat for an hour or so, on white chalky stones and watched the tide flow out.
Fishermen were there but using canoes/kayacks to fish..... and Id not seen it done that way before.
 I forgot my camera and though I did take pics on my phone, Im still looking for the widget to take my phone pics off and transfer them to the pc .............. its somewhere safe.
 
Anyway these chaps had 2 fishing rods sticking up at the back of the canoes and theyd simply canoe out into the furthest reach of the cove and back again, offload whatever theyd caught then set off back out again!
Quite calming to watch, no idea what they were catching but it struck me as 'fishing with exercise'............not least because theyd be lugging the canoes up and down the hill!

Ah yes, that hill.................a third of the way, walking back UP that bloody hill.............it struck me how insane I was to have gone down it in the first place.
It was easily 1 in 4 ie. it rose a foot in every 4 foot, then eased to maybe 1 in 6.........thats steep.............especially when I recalled that my struggling to breathe, had as much to do with the fact that Id had heart surgery only just over 4 weeks ago.............
............how can I be so dim?

I had to walk abit, stand and look back and 'admire the scenery' whilst desperately trying to breathe. I sat on the few seats and walked abit further after each one ............ I was crackered by the time I got back to the car ............ I wont be going back there soon!!
Brainless............Im just brainless ............ so last evening and today Ive done very little, to balance out abit lol

Ive made the wristlets as part of that doing very little, pics above, from hand made wet felt I made a while ago.
I machine embellished some yarns into them, then hand stitched here and there. Cant decide whether to stitch press studs or use an inch or so of elastic as a fastening, so I will sleep on that and decide tomorrow.
Glad I have tomorrow off as a concessionary day, so its  ashort working week for me thank goodness...... : )

Another beautifully illustrated story and a discovery box of sorts

I couldnt resist paying 50p for this story book at a charity shop.
Whilst I will read it with my grandson, it's really for me!
Just look .............

These above are the inside front cover pics....notice anything unusual?
 If you enlarge them I think you'll get an idea how clever these illustrations are...

And remember, these are pages from the book.
This edition was published by Walker Books Ltd in 2001 and at the back the author Jeannie Baker says the following..
"All the pictures in the book are collage constructions."
It took her 2 years to make them and she collected grasses, feathers and other found items which she treated especially to strengthen them, for example grasses and leaves were bleached with chemicals and soaked in glycerine for several days.
Then they were sprayed with oil paint as near to their natural colour as possible.
Tree trunks were modelled from clay and beyond the creative skills used to illustrate it, the story is simple but quite delightful.

Mister Punch has been gessoed in readyness for painting.....

and today Ive been making a discovery box for use with our VI kids.
I started with a car boot buy that I machine washed, a set of several fabric square boxes, in reducing sizes.

the idea is to put items in the container/box and the child takes them out one by one, discusses them and hopefully recognises them!

obviously still missing a 4th flap at this stage......

I've cut pelmet vilene flaps and covered them in fabric, so small hands can push nicely into the box through them.
There's a similar kind of solid box in one of the educational catalogues but its an arm and a leg price, so it will be interesting to see if this does the job just as well.
If you get chance to buy or see the 'Home in the Sky' book, you too may be as enthralled as I was, it' s worth enquiring about it at the library at the very least.

Ralph McTell and Edwina Hayes.....

Not great pics, but this is the inside of Holy Trinity Church in Hull where last night I went to see Ralph McTell ( Streets of London) and listened to his velvety voice..........and he still sings divine!
His voice is better now than when he was younger I think.

But I was totally won over the most, by local living Edwina Hayes, who has a voice thats crystal clear...........do yourself a favour and listen to this.......
(it says it all for me about my ex husband, who left then died at only 40....)
 but her voice is just wonderful...she's an unassuming lass with no affectation..very refreshing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry4M-eifR-4

hard to make out on this wobbly pic but the ceiling above me made me think of patchwork hexies lol

Its funny sometimes what happens when you pay a £1 for an old, year 2000, boxed game at the charity shop...........will it pass an hour away for a child or not...........well this is one major success!

Its been a real winner lol

Then there was the ambitious ice cream.....

that nannie had to finish....yummmmmy

I really like this statue thats been erected alongside the harbours entrance here at Hull's marina.

It commemorates the many europeans who passed through Hull, on their way to Liverpool and onwards to America in search of new lives.

It was donated to Hull in 2001 by the Sea Trek Foundation of America as they retraced their descendants journeys in tall ships from northern europe.

It's a touching statue, not simply tactile but emotional somehow.

This muddy clagg is what give the River Humber its distinctive colour! And also why one side of Spurn Point is so great for wetland birds

I imagine. Note the wartime artillery gun.......still aimed at Lincolnshire!!

I know, I know but for some reason I do like these architectural waves laid beside the harbour ...... well I think thats probably what they are meant to be ...
though Im sure they are fun to ride bikes over, for the young at heart....................
I resisted walking up and over them but of course grandson had a go - holding my hand naturally, in case nannie fell over watching him....................