Just spent several hours updating my site thanks to a very nice lady at University…who has been helping me figure out word press which is not at all intuative….websites are an anathma to me but I’m hoping it’s looking a bit prettier now. Its also serving as a bit of a displacement activity for not doing work..I have been making these though….
and doing lots of drawing…… and 
lots of prevaricating…
When I got back from the Knitting and stitching show last month with the Embroiderer’s Guild -was helping out on their stand – promoting the Guild, the Worlds Longest Embroidery and the Hardhome tapestry… I read Nicky Barfoot’s post of the Knit and Stitch and thought ah well don’t really need to bother to do a new blog now as she pretty much said it all!!! Thanks Nicky! The other thing I did like was the woman who was doing things with taxidermy ..she recycled old taxidermy items and added stitch to them..they looked great. Great to see Marks and Stitch doing so well…. and also loved the guy opposite – the weaver with the body stuff going on.
Liss in Stitches Exhibition was successful with lots of lovely feedback…….blink and you missed it…
….finding it really hard to keep up with everything but I’m managing to keep getting to my Art History Lectures and working on my ‘pack of cards’ and just seeing what happens. I’m keeping a sketch book so tending to write lots of things down and draw a lot and hoping to block out some time to actually do more making in the near future…been doing hand stitch which is portable too..what do you think Sarah?
Finding that I really need to focus on what I have done and not on what I haven’t done …… otherwise it gets quite depressing. So much to fit in!
Just got back from a week in Amsterdam was great..was inspired by Picasso, Tinguely …. the Rijks Museum and the Sedeljk. More than the museums the place is just full of inspiration from the canals and buildings and great Art Galleries for the well heeled client..amazing what art is for sale!!! Banksy, Klein, Koons, Hirst as well as Picasso and Van Dongen….wow!
also loved the story of the Beguin women and want to include that in my work too…..Beguine**** … the start of the 12th century, some women in lived alone and devoted themselves to prayer and good works without taking vows. At first there were only a few of them, but in the course of the century, their numbers increased. These women lived in towns, where they attended to the poor. During the 13th century, some of them bought homes that neighbored each other, and finally formal living spaces and some formed a community called a béguinage. Beguinages tended to be located near town centers and were often close to the rivers that provided water for their work in the cloth industry .
Still madly searching for inspiration…went to the Tate on Saturday evening and am now in love with Wilfredo Lam…one of Picasso’s mates..this is his version of my favourites….. Madesmoiselles d’Avignon
..also liked LouiseBourgeois Artist room..
and it was great to see a Leger painting in the flesh…
And now I am trying to stop going off on a tangent and go back to my mitochondria and under the microscope….. to help me stay focused….. am off to collect some more images and then draw them ..going to mark up a grid on my studio wall at uni and see what happens…..watch this space….
PS How are you Sarah? Are you ready for your cruise? I will email you the book stuff!x Promise!
PPS Helping out at an Amanda Hislop workshop on Saturday..hoping for more inspiration!
PPPS Making stuff for Christine Watkins Art House Open Studios in Romsey first weekend in December. Looks like there’ll be lots of lovely things to look at and buy.
PPPS looking forward to Livvy Stainer’s private view at the Flora Twort Gallery in Petersfield this evening..it’s on for a week….so get there quick!
I’ve signed back on at uni in an attempt to finish my fine art degree..managed to lose my student card after hanging on to it for over a year….so had to fork out for another one…and the student debt begins……fabulous to have access to great art facilties and looking forward to my art history lectures…already had some good tutorials and am now deciding which direction to take my work in for my final show…all I know at the moment is I’m liking… a pack of cards, a big box, biology and opus anglicanum..go figure?
-the Guild are showing the Hardhome Embroidery…. looking forward to seeing it in all its splendour…and the tiny bit by your truly…EXCITING!…..just remembered I didn’t take a photo of my final piece..I’ve got a photocopy of it tho! OOPS! – see you there!
.)……also did a lovely work shop with the ladies at Droxford Textiles group…..they are doing open studios too next weekend too…pop by and see them..details in the Hampshire Open Studios booklet….to complicate things even further.and contribute to bloglessness.. in my search for studio space we decided to sell up and move but after selling and then losing our dream house 
the mad canadian does……hello are you reading me in Canadia?
..
and what a fab time I’ve had since Brock…… bit pooped tho. Arrived home in the evening to find a house full of people around celebrating the now teenager going on thirty year olds’ 13th birthday, him in doors hadn’t really thought much past ‘ sausages and chips for the kids’ (ooh we’re classy!) so needed to whizz to Tesco express to buy nibbles and drinks,ho hum good job I’m creative! Just would rather not be that sort of creative too often! Went to the Shard the following week and sat and did some drawing up there ..and more when back on the ground…
Went up to the City of London on Monday night to the 
oes next. Great church for venue rebuilt by Mr Wren after the great fire. Bought the amazing book of Miss Dean’s work that was brought out in 2011 on the centenary of her birth and talked to her archivist. Read it on the train ride home. goodness she was a power house!!! Apart from all the fabulous photos of her work I really liked the ten commandments for the Deanery created by some of her students including gems like ‘ In the beginning of thy work thou shalt ask thy teacher. Thus shalt thou save thyself many problems.’ I remembered be blown away by her work at the knit and stitch in 2011.! Saving up for my goldwork course at the RSN…just need to fix some dates!! My fine stitch skills …still need much work but I love to learn
Also Ralph AKA The GOM. has gone to a good home!
Good luck to Worthing Young Embroiderers’ …Happy book making and email me your results will be great to see what you come up with! Been making more books this week …..
And yesterday well it was fab! I taught a workshop at the Ashcroft Centre in Fareham at their fabric day. It was great….my class was fully booked and we did my version of crazy patchwork ….think the ladies were a bit worried when my opening gambit to my ‘textures of quilting workshop’ was’ hi my name is Helen and I am not a quilter’… But think I pulled it back! There is something about the randomness and ‘more is more’ with crazy patchwork/quilts that I love. …. anyone who knows me, knows I am far from an exact person…and I am definitely not a quilter. There is nothing more satisfy thing than bringing together lots of old bits of material cutting them up joining them back together to make something new and beautiful that just sings!… Fitted with the theme of CAROL PARKER’s VISIBLE MENDING project – which was also at the Ashcroft …REPAIR – A participative postcard exhibition about visibly mending items when her allotment shed was broken into and she had to patch it up with whatever materials she could find.
Wish me luck!!!!
Before I left I managed to sneak into Jenny Rayment’s talk and let me tell you that lady should be doing stand up… So glad I got to listen to her. Her next book is evidently a hundred ways with a bathroom scrunching thingy!! Loses a lot in translation. Haven’t laughed so much in ages!!NB couldn’t find a photo of her as a bunny girl??
*’ see below’ as I cant manage to insert an EMOJI…Well what a week and it’s only thursday!
yes it really is the man him self…look in the back ground..check out those shoes! Starting with a conflab about room 6 exhibition at Birmingham NEC at the end of the month… to finalise arrangements. Sadly I will only be there on the Sunday but the rest of the group will be there ….come along and say hello if you are visiting the 
Tuesday started badly when I managed to fall over in a posh gallery in Grafton street looking at Tom 
Perhaps it was the post prandial seasonal lull..but I haven’t been totally dormant.. I’ve started an artist’s page and I’ve been making a lot of stuff . So with the glut of blue cheese and gin and too much Xmas cake a distant memory I am back in the blogosphere? (and arent you happy about that!!) Reading Nicky Barfoot’s blogs has made me laugh thru january , well feel happy then get terribly depressed when i realise i should be blogging too and that I need to get back into the saddle…. she’s also managed to provide me with displacement activities…good and not good..as I should be doing other things!!!! Check out her post on the textile challenge 
Anyway the good news is he sold and made lots of dosh for the canine trust..really pleased..it was fun to make …….
I love his work and the exhibition at the discovery centre last month was absolutely amazing!!!
also been finishing off my piece for the Embroiderers’ Guild on the celebration of 300 years of Capability Brown…heres a sneak preview.
Another reason for lack of blog is I have had to take on another paying job to keep me going on the art front but there are lots of nice things in the pipe line and, as a good friend said to me, Jan and Feb are the most miserable months and the best time to work lots. I’m also still in touch with uni and hoping to finish my degree next year, so I delayed the module I was going to do this term so can work to earn money to pay for the module..isnt that a 
?
helen sill 