Well there was a slight intermission after my degree finished .. but as a friend said to me yesterday…… once you’re on the bus dont get off..so here I am again on the art bus, we just had a bit of along stop waiting for a new conductor…..now that shows my age..all 39 and three quarter years of it…………and now we are trundling forward into/onto wherever….
So whats been happening…….well afer my degree show (I passed by the way)…..I was straight onto an exhibition with Sarah Waters at Rums Eg….Under the Microscope…..
and then at the Petersfield Museum..People of the Heath….. to do with the long term community project I am involved with which is an artist reponse to the archaelogical dig on Petersfield Heath
and then .. I know too many and thens..but I’m a grown up who cares about the rules…..and then I was back to working on my installation with Charlotte Edsell which opens at West Dean’s Chilli Festival today…….Pepenadores. Super excited about that…..I sort of went off into a little world of my own.. the brief was a response to Edward James’ surrealist sculpture garden in Mexico using recycled materials..(sub text make something for nothing) and I’m always up for a challenge and it was right up my street..so I imagined I was a waste picker..female of course….
and what would I do if I was just using the things around me to create an art installation…inspired by Stephen Turner’s ‘everthing comes from the the egg’ on at the Aspex Gallery at the moment….we set to work….Charlotte had load of plastic cups and i has a trampoline insert..yes….. well here it is……..
if you’re there use the pathway to go round the back of it..its a good view from there too……
In between times I’ve been inspired by Bedales’ Shakespeare Festival and ‘As You Like It’ …great to see that one of the girls who used to do Phoenix Juniors was helping out doing the costumes..which were AMAZING! ..also had a few visits to galleries ..including the superb regency Jane Austen pot by Grayson Perry which is in Winchester Discovery Centre a the moment , went to a talk given by Pat Hunter on the Henry Moore Tapestries and loved Chris Ofili Weaving Magic….. – great tapestry done by Dovecote Studios in Edinburgh currently at the National Gallery….oh and I’ve visited a few festivals with glastonbury Girl..all the envirionmental art at glasto was great…..and am now off to ITALIA for more inspiration….
Blink and you missed it but I also did open Studios at Christine Watkin’s Art House for the Romsey Festival at the beginning of July and will be at showing a few things at Christine’s Open Studios later on this month…..currently waiting to see if my funding comes through to start my Masters Degree in September..I’ll keep you posted..oh and Ive been invited to do some handstitiching for the Embroiderers Guild at the Great British Sewing Bee at London Excel in September and will be with the Embroiderer’s Guild at the Knit and Stitch in October
So I thought I was being a slacker over the summer……this blog is definately a good idea for me……not sure about anyone else…….
ttfn……….
PS look forward to seeing your solo show at Ally Pally Sarah..how are the Stones?
PPS Must dash off to West Dean to meet my public… (sub text….. loiter in the bushes and her what they say about it)x
and the following weekend I will be at the the 
exhibiting with Sarah Waters..we’ve put our heads together and come up with a new show called ‘Under the Microscope’ and its our response to all things microscopic with a heavy slant on artistic interpretation..the private View is on 23rd May… please come!
This post started life as ‘lost girl’ around two months ago..and just haven’t been able to get my self past the title….been having a bit of a hiatus with regards to this particular blog and it was feeling like a chain rather than a release…I kept writing it in my head and for some reason have been scared or unable to write it down…anyway I’m ready to take the plunge now… this is a quickie but hopefully I’m back on track to using this as something as useful…I’ve remembered that it’s just for me…and of course you….Sarah…..just need to keep remembering it’s all about me..what’s new there then???? and what I think,..nothing else..FOCUS, focus, FOcus……as I type watching the bio of Francis Bacon…which is flippin’ inspiring….Picasso ..Muybridge…it may take a while to finish this now..the bio is way more interesting than this blog…..
Definately worth a butchers on the iplayer…
….right I’m back…..So happy new bleergh …or should the be kung hey fat choi..Been up to lots in the last few months and been being pulled in lots of different directions artistically..(on top of all the general pulling about about that happens in all the other compartments of life!!!ouch!) so I have been thinking about loads of stuff and trying to get my head straight about stuff … its a bit of a juggling act..been doing lots of life drawing ..and been experimenting with paper and stitch…. …..
on the front of the Guardian.. so here’s my starter for 10…………………………………………..⇓⇓⇓⇓.
…gutted that missed out on a place on the Opus Anglicanum stitch work shop a the RSN last week as I had to work..now there’s dedication for you…or stupidity!!! That really was a bleurrg…am on a cancellation list for the next one..so fingers crossed …….my spirits were raised by listening a great talk by Kay Ashby at Liss in StitcheS in the evening..very entertaining and lovely work.. I love that group..definitely builds your Wah!
..also liked LouiseBourgeois Artist room..
and it was great to see a Leger painting in the flesh…
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
helen sill 