Oh my oh my this has got nothing to do with Brexit..and,  I haven’t been so caught up in Brexit that I haven’t been able to blog. No dear reader I’m just a bit rubbish at social media. So what have I been up to since December – well here’s an over view…
January: spent trying to keep my instagram up to date! Still digesting all the lovely things from my travels in Gujarat taking me quite a time and I was also busy with deadlines for University. I arranged and ran a lovely arts day called Gujarat Journey at a local school last month and also talked about my work at a teacher’s Art Conference at Southampton Art Gallery.
Can’t wait ( but I have to) for my next trip to India this time I am going to Rajasthan in October 2020 and will be hosting a trip with the wonderful Colourlicious. …do come with me if you can I know it’s going to be fantastic! I know it’s along ways off but places do book up fast so have a look now!
January: off to Newcastle and a whistle tour of all the Baltic had to offer. Sadly not too much appealed to me which is such a shame as it’s a great gallery space… it all seemed a bit dated. Ended up explaining what a rave was and clubbing to the teenager. There’s some great stuff on a the mo tho. On the plus side I did replace my angel of the north key ring which was looking decidedly tatty …….well there wasn’t much of it left actually….
.
February /March: Ran a kantha evening at Liss in Stiches and talked about what I had learned on my travels and the history of kantha quilting. I am indebted to Dorothy Tucker for letting me know about this amazing book. Kantha Recycled and Embroidered Textiles of Bengal
Its fab..get it before it goes from  being expensive to extremely expensive! Mainly images and it is really beautiful.
I am continuing to research for my master’s paper and trying to decide what to hone my research on..I really want it to provide a firm basis for my PhD..,.ever onward…..you have to aim high…and I just love being a student.
March: A trip up to see the Embroiders Guild at the NEC Fashion and Embroidery Show where I got to see my heart and medal for 100 Hearts with lots of other lovely work. It was good to see some of the graduate show case too as I was in India for the Knit and Stitch last Year…..and of course look at all the other lovely things on offer..I needle felted a bee and leant about traditional scandi stitching on linen.. hard!!!! No backing calico!!! And linen thread…what’s all that about!!!! Hard! Hard! Hard!!!! Their designs are so beautiful tho. My friend bought a fluff remover……the less said about that the better…..mentioning no names ..Helena!!!!…and she drank Guinness….
Next it was time to take my turn stewarding at Ramster Hall where I was very pleased to be exhibiting for the first time.
The grounds and the tea room are excellent too…- loved being a part of it.
April: Last month I decided to take the wayward teenager to Egypt..sorry Megs!! We had the most amazing journey. I cant begin to tell you about how fantastic and incredble all the amazing art we saw was. We travlled from Cairo to Abu Simbel just North of the Sudanese border. I came across these guys and the ancient art of Khayamiya………..check it out ..fascinating or what???/!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvrMJHaXBBk
I had a lovely chat with one of the stall holders in Luxor who made pieces for the Coptic Christian church there. I bought one teeny piece…..although I would have loved some of the larger pieces – they are truly magnificent. The video of how they make them is intriguing!!
Also bought some ‘secrets of the desert’ essential oil…supposed to drive men wild. I’ll let you know!!!
I drew a lot – not as much as I would have liked -but the most interesting thing I did was when I spent a day on a felucca…won’t talk about the night on the felucca and it was nothing to do with ‘secrets of the desert’or maybe it was? Lets just say Helen nul points mosquitoes 1099’……ok back to drawing…..as we were sedentary while the boat moved I drew lots of people and used my camera to fill in the details of the poses….a really interesting exercise!!!
Here are some of my images…..
I am now stitching them. Currently working on a piece about community and using examples from my draw every day book…….. which is still going strong… very proud of that Sarah H thank you!!
Gearing up for a workshop on boxes with the Phoenix Juniors Stitch group and the Beltaine festival at the weekend…….more drawing……. before heading off to Paris next month to look at some art with my teenager…….oh and probably sample a few macaroons and a croissant or two. . Also, due to an arts council commission ………which I sadly didn’t get… are you supposed to share your failures.. well I do ’cos I think you learn from them… told you I am no good at the social media game…….….I am revisiting old work. Phew that’s it!!! Up to date!! Just got to load it all now. Fingers crossed!!!!
Ps Great talk at uni by the Caravan Gallery check them out they have work at Mottisfont…and managed to catch Pete Codling a t Portsmouth Cathedral…….beautiful huge drawings….there until June
PPs looking forward to visiting the Emsworth and Chichester Art Trial later this month…….Pat are you ready????
PPPS Doing some work on a community art project at a hospital……..
BYEEEEE!!!!! Off to stitch!!!! I’ve realised why I don’t blog…no time!!!!!!!
PPPPS Sarah can I still come and see you……I’m sorry that you cancelled your computer lesson…my bad…totes x
helen sill 