Art & stuff of Amanda Hone

Stoned Henge?

2011-05-04T20:58:00.004Z

A very busy few weeks with lots of friends visiting and good stuff going on, plus the not so good stuff of being laid low with acute abdo pain coupled with a particularly strident cold... all in all not a great deal of output from the studio. Nevertheless, I did find some time to indulge in a bit of Stonehenge love (60 x 75cm). Given all the psychedelia, perhaps it should be 'Stoned Henge'.

Deep In Deeping

2011-04-01T10:21:00.004Z

Very exciting day yesterday. Dropped off two paintings (Harlech Castle and Portmeirion) at the Royal Academy in London to be considered for the Summer Exhibition. Suprisingly nerve-wracking given that all I was doing was leaving the canvases at the tradesmen's entrance. Hah. It was very amusing to note that everyone there was unwrapping their work with great care so that no-one else could see their art. I think we pretty much all felt nervous and unworthy and perhaps a bit ashamed at our arrogance to even consider that we might be good enough. Is this a malaise of all artists I wonder. Probably so. On the way home I delivered the commissioned painting for Joe and Katie and thankfully they are pleased with the result. They wanted a painting of their new house but also wanted it to include the elements of their surroundings that are dear to them. The huge old willow tree opposite, the swans in the river, the bridge at one end and the wier at the other and of course the pub.

Deep in Deeping - 46" x 30" acrylic on canvas

Joe got the drill out straightaway and hung the painting. A real treat for me to actually see my work in it's final home. So a good day and now I have to wait 8 agonizing weeks wondering if perhaps, perhaps, perhaps I might be lucky enough to hang my art on the hallowed walls of the Royal Academy.

Robots, gotta love robots

2011-03-28T10:30:00.003Z

Yes! Finally Spring has sprung. The sun is bright, the weather warm and I am filled with enthusiasm for the painting ahead. Also I have moved my studio to a much brighter and inspirational space. Took me some considerable time to move everything as I have ridiculous amounts of arty and crafty stuff but it is done. I created a synth of the room for fun. See it here - Studio Riot. Well worth a look as panoramic synths are so clever. It really allows you to feel like you are actually in the rooom!

So with that done I have been painting like mad. I finished a rather fun piece last week. This is called 'Production Line' and is making me think that perhaps a series of robot paintings might follow.

Also I was commissioned by pals of mine to do a painting of their house. It's finished and will be delivered in a couple of days so I will post a photo of that once they have seen it.

Between Siberian spells

2011-01-20T15:32:00.004Z

Obviously not a great deal of production from the studio at the moment. It's barely warm enough to get out of bed, let alone stand around shivering trying to paint unwavering black lines. Nevertheless, there have been a couple of days a little less chilly so I have galloped into action and painted as fast as I can. Two new paintings to add. The latest is Stanlow Oil Refinery.. yes I know.. strange subject but I couldn't resist all those pipes and ironworks, plus I drive by it often enough to feel a strange sort of empathy with the place. And before that I did Llynon Mill. The only working windmill in Wales, situated on Anglesey. Both peices 24" x 24".

Also I have plucked up the courage to enter a couple of paintings into this year's summer exhibition at the Royal Academy. Rather nervous of that but it's about time I had faith in my work.

Can it get much colder?

2010-11-26T22:42:00.004Z

Two more paintings in my For The Love Of Wales series done. Not sure if I will be able to do much more for a while, my studio is so cold I can only bear to be in there for tiny periods of time. I truly do hate this time of year... please, please, please let central heating magically appear in my house!

Portmeirion - 48" x 36"

St. John's, Barmouth - 48" x 36"

And further afield

2010-11-11T13:18:00.002Z

Well, it's such a fabulous building.. had to be done.

Sydney Opera House on 24" square canvas.

Don't talk to me about battlements!

2010-11-06T16:40:00.002Z

And following closly behind Harlech Castle we have Caernarfon Castle and moments later The Clock Tower, Machynlleth. The battlements on Caernarfon were a complete nightmare to paint. Hours spent bent double with a tiny brush making sure that every corner was perfect, every line was straight.. phew... Hence the reason why I went for the clock tower in Machynlleth next, couldn't face another castle. Hah.

Off and running

2010-10-30T13:36:00.003Z

Well then... deeply inspired by the painting for June, I have started on a series of local views. Here is the first one.

Harlech Castle - acrylic on 48" x 36" stretched canvas

Delivered... phew!

2010-10-14T16:41:00.003Z

There is a critical mass for paintings. Once they achieve a certain dimension they stop thinking of themselves as canvases and take on all the characteristics of a kite. I tried walking down the town today to deliver June's painting and one small gust of wind nearly had me flying at altitude! Fortunately I managed to procure a lift for most of the journey otherwise painting and I might have achieved orbit.

Anyway, the moment of truth. The unveiling of the painting for June's first glimpse. Always a nerve-wracking moment but all was well. The 4.45 Train to Barmouth was a hit.

I foresee a series of landscape focal point paintings to follow. Hah.

So here you are, a photo of the painting in situ and a merry June besides.

The 4.45 Train to Barmouth

2010-10-12T18:03:00.009Z

My very good friend June has moved into a new cottage that she has just finished renovating. For her birthday, her son and daughter very kindly asked me to paint something for her brand spanking new white walls. Well... June said she would very much like a Barmouth scene. So very calm and collected I agreed that such a thing was possible and then went back to my studio and had a series of panic attacks. It occurs to me that one of the reasons I paint mostly abstracts is that when I have a paint brush in hand and a blank canvas before me, all wordy thought goes out of my head and I think merely in disjointed images.. hence the disjointed, abstract nature of my work. To have to not only compose a scene of the town that both June and I live in, but also then translate that composition to a canvas 48" x 36" in dimension was a daunting task. One that I feel perhaps I may have done not too badly at. Here are a series of 6 work in progress photos, followed by the final result... lovingly titled The 4.45 Train to Barmouth.

Woot! I won.

2010-06-08T18:10:00.002Z

Oh yes indeedy! I won the Member's Choice in the EBSQ One Word Concept - Green contest for May 2010. That is really very pleasing, especially as I made Allotments specially for the contest. Happy days.

All Green in the garden

2010-05-15T07:57:00.005Z

Yay, all finished. Here is my entry for the EBSQ monthly competition. The theme is Green so I rummaged around in my stash for all the green textiles and oh my but there was a lot of them.
So the finished piece is called Allotments and is my representation of British allotments as seen from a hot-air balloon looking down... lol.
It is 16" x 20" and has a multitude of fabrics and yarns and even bits of an old acrylic painting of mine chopped up into small scraps. I've used mostly black thread but there are hints of blue, magenta and bronze threads too. All in all, a riot of green-ness with a few contrasts thrown in for good measure.
If you are so inclined, come the end of the month when voting starts, do feel free to cast one in my direction. :) Click HERE to see the show. Also if you check out my Etsy store for textile art, you can see more detailed pics.

Bring on the tooth fairy!

2010-05-14T08:25:00.004Z

Well they really did have to go. Two teeth at the back which together have caused me no end of trouble for about 5 years now. Their time was definitely up and now they are gone, leaving behind a wretched and bloody hole that seems to be inspiring my tongue to do all sorts of acrobatics in probing the wound. I am sure I shall rejoice in their departure in due course but right now I am steeped in throbbing pain and reduced to puree-ing everything. Ho hum.

Meanwhile I am intent on finishing a piece of work for an art contest on EBSQ this month. The theme is quite simply 'Green' . I am struck by how noisy sewing can be. Perhaps I shouldn't but I always sew at absolute top speed and as a result my machine sounds like a lawn mower with pretentions towards becoming a jet engine. I seem to sew a little like the way I drive, hard and fast and breaking only at the last moment. Hah. What fun it would be if it had gears I could change... double de-clutch on the corners and zig zag stitch to the end.

So, until my 'Green' piece is finished, here is a pic of a box I made a few weeks ago. Pretty much all recycled as the inner card is from various cereal boxes and the material is just scraps left over from other projects. It's for sale in my Textile Art Shop if anyone is interested.

Textile lovliness, oh yes!

2010-05-13T08:04:00.005Z

Hmmm... a bit of a long gap but here I am again. Still painting and creating like mad. I've recently been learning how to use my sewing machine more. I bought it ages ago and it has sat in the corner of my studio for the longest time, glaring at me whilst gathering dust. I was a bit scared of it really. Here was this lovely machine with knobs and buttons and all manner of intimidating bits and I didn't really know what to do with it. BUT.. I am braver now. Actually I don't know why I was nervous of it because it has turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. So... here are a couple of textile art pieces I finished in the last few days.

This is called 'Sunset Over Tall House by the Sea' and is 16" x 20"

And this is 'Orbital Rhythm' and is 10" x 12"

Rotten Christmas and worse New Year

2008-01-31T14:37:00.000Z

Well it has to be said that Christmas and New Year have been pretty much the worst ever. With a global recession in full swing, art, and thus art sales are low on people's priorities. I am simply not going to recover from it so it's all change for me. Of course it will probably take months and months for my house to sell so in the meantime I am still painting.. hugging my studio close to me while I still have it.. sob. Strangely the darker my days are, the brighter my art seems to become. I don't know why that is. You would think that I would be painting more bleak and monotone art or something equally suicidal. Maybe it is just my sub-conscious desperately trying to cheer me up. Whatever it is, I am getting real pleasure from my work at the moment. Relishing the creative process while I can.

So here is a six piece that I completed a few days ago. It's called Swamp Fever.

And this one is a triptych called Bed Monster... one of my favourite titles of recent. Lol

Got to love texture

2007-11-28T14:04:00.000Z

I've been rather quiet on the blogging front recently. Mainly, it has to be said, because of that wretched game World of Warcraft. I knew I shouldn't have signed up... there are clear indications that it is hoplessly addictive... sigh. But it's not like I haven't been painting too. I paint, I play, I paint some more...

Anyway, I've been experimenting with texture recently. Interesting effects but very hard to take a decent photo of the finished work to show in all it's glory. My listings on Ebay and Etsy just don't do this work justice. Ah well. Here is a side view of a small section of a massive 3' x 4' canvas called Run of the Mill and a full photo of the last one I did called Middle of Nowhere at the same size.

A massive compliment!

2007-08-27T15:46:00.000Z

Well this new style that I have been exploring has pretty much taken over all my thinking. Totally loving it and I am planning a major list-fest on Ebay starting on the 1st of September. Meanwhile, Diane, my luverly friend in New York, paid me the massive compliment of buying three of my larger paintings for her apartment. I was unbelievably nervous sending them to her. Hoping against hope that they would be as she expected and not a real let-down... but all is well. They arrived safely and Diane tells me she is thrilled... she sent me a photo of them on her wall which was real fun to see... quite apart from anything else, I am extremely fond of that sofa, having slept on it a number of times.. chuckle.

Flurry of inspiration

2007-07-31T11:39:00.000Z

Goodness me yes... I have been wielding the brush with great fervour over the last week or so and I'm really quite definitely in the zone at the moment. Strange how it goes that way sometimes and then in due course it drops off again and I am back to having to dig deep to find my muse. So, I've been working hard to take advantage while the emotion is there. Here is a sample of nine recent works.

Good intentions..ahem!

2007-07-14T17:04:00.000Z

So... the summer slump in sales means I am supposed to spend June, July and August, building up a stock of work to hit the markets with come September. It is NOT supposed to be a time to abandon all good work ethics and play games. Not only have I re-succumbed to playing Magic: The Gathering online again... tempted back by my wicked son... nope.. not only that... I have now been tempted into playing Fallen Sword online by my equally wicked daughter. Sigh. Have to say though, it is a fabulous game and perfectly possible to have a thoroughly absorbing game without paying a penny. Free really does mean free here. Of course you can spend money on it but I haven't so far and I really don't feel I need to. If you are at all into role playing games then I can highly recommend it. Click on the button and go join the fun.

Boats and beaches

2007-06-24T11:49:00.000Z

I was asked to do a couple of paintings on a nautical theme for a new gallery a few weeks ago. Lots of ideas popped into my head but were firmly squashed when one of the other artists displaying her own work there, requested that I not use black outlines in my work as this would clash with her own style. Hmmm... It's not that I can't paint in different styles but somehow this request bothered me somewhat and stifled my creativity for a while. Anyway, I have come up with two collages which I am pleased with, only to find that my work is no longer required. Bit of a sour taste in the mouth all round.

Anyway, these two will shortly be up on Etsy... where my native style is neither stifled nor banned... thank goodness.

The summer slump is firmly under way. Historically this is always the worst month of the year for sales and thus I tend to live on a diet of beans on toast... probably do me the world of good. So if anyone is in the mood for adding some original art to their walls, you can buy in the knowledge that you are literally putting food on the table.. Ho Ho.

Head down... back to work

2007-06-01T21:02:00.000Z

Well despite my best intentions of a busy week painting, I was thwarted on several levels. Firstly by a serious bout of gastro-something-or-other which knocked me for six last Sunday and had me writhing around the bathroom floor fading in and out of consciousness and making me believe that my time had come. 'Don't fret' said Steve, my beloved one, 'Think how much your paintings will be worth when you are gone!' Yes, thanks for that. Very comforting.

And then having spent most of Monday asleep, the next three days were spent with a good friend of mine who came up this way to visit. It's strange but when you live in a place, you never seem to visit any of the attractions that the locality offers. Having a friend to show around galvanized me into actually visiting two of those attractions that I have been meaning to see for years. The first was a trip on the Ffestiniog Light Railway which is a beautiful stretch of narrow guage track between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiong. Ah the joys and nostalgia of steam.

The second trip was to the Centre for Alternative Technology just outside Machynlleth. Fascinating place and it renewed my interest in straw bale buildings... just need to find a suitable patch of land. Lots of chickens and geese running around and so many working exhibits.. it was thrilling.
So today was a case of head down and paint, paint, paint. Not a hardship though... I always love it.

Just add masking tape

2007-05-24T08:57:00.000Z

So, evolving the 'art without precision' technique and putting a bit of the precision back in with liberal use of masking tape... I have finished several paintings which I am happy with. Several layers in this sort of work and quite labour intensive but I find the final result is worth it.

Here is a triptych completed a few days ago called Sharp Suit.

Tag.. you got me!

2007-05-23T15:43:00.000Z

Hah.. this is fun. I've been tagged by Sara.
The rules - Each person tagged gives 5 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 5 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 5 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

So, five facts about me.
1. I used to be the managing director of an electronics company in London many years ago and succeeded in going bankrupt with it when I was 23
2. I have four children who are currently 19, 18, 17 and 15
3. I am a member of Mensa
4. I was expelled from school
5. My father was the main BBC TV weatherman for a number of years in the 60's and 70's

And five people to tag...
Sarah - who's adventures in knitting are such fun to read.
Jessica - who's art I deeply admire.
Tina - who was a pen-pal of mine many years ago who I have recently got back in touch with.
Sal - who is also a damn fine artist and favourite of mine
Deb - who's blog is always a feast of inspiration

Just one more game.. OK?

2007-05-22T06:27:00.000Z

It's been a mildy mad few weeks. Painting like a demon and also getting to grips with my new lap-top.. which is a total joy. Mostly I am using it in exactly the same way as my desktop but on occasion I have taken it outside into the garden and it is really weird to be able to muck about on-line with not a cable or wire in sight. Very cool.

Also I have renewed my acquaintance with Magic - The Gathering. To describe it as a card game vastly simplifies the play but in essence that is what it is. I first discovered it back in the early '90's and played so intensively at the time that pretty much everything else in life went on hold. When the on-line version appeared I was in seventh heaven and once again found myself absorbed. Now, after a break of a couple of years, my son, Toby has started playing and once more I am hooked.

In between games I have been quite inspired recently and sales have been good too so I don't feel too guilty about playing. Plus I managed to get a Member's Mention in the Repurposed Show on EBSQ with my recycled Postage Stamp Bowl. Yay!!!

Painting without precision

2007-05-01T19:08:00.000Z

Every so often I have one of those eureka moments and a new burst of creative technique gushes forth. Well, in this case, not so much new technique just a sudden feeling of comfort about applying paint. I so often struggle with my often overwhelming need to neaten my art. I do so love the precision of black lines and the delicate blending of colours, but also I admire very much that messier style of abstract art which comes across with so much energy and spontaneity. I find that very hard to do.. being the perfectionist that I am. So the last three pieces that I painted are an achievement for me. They are not precise and they are much more hap-hazard than normal and I love them. I am hoping they will sell well too because I really want to explore this style more. That is the one thing I dislike about making my living from art. I find that what I paint is very much dictated by what sells. I would love to throw caution to the wind and paint absolutely whatever I wanted but bills have to be paid and a certain business like attitude must prevail sadly. Not that it is a big problem. Mostly what I love to paint sells well so that's OK then. Fingers crossed for these three!

Red Herring

Hush Hush

Opium Fields

Swirly things

2007-04-21T21:19:00.000Z

Now this one I'm really pleased with. Another circular canvas and this one is swirly and bright... not for the faint hearted. I was sorely tempted to title it Walnut Whip in honour of one of my favourite and much missed childhood chocolate treats... whatever happened to them? Do they still exist? I certainly haven't seen one for years. In the end I decided on "Jacuzzi" which makes me really quite tempted to find one, fill it up with a load of different colour paint and turn it on... just to see what happens.

How to mow the lawn

2007-04-18T18:15:00.000Z

It's not every day that you wake up to find a horse in the neighbour's garden! I guess it's one way to keep the grass short. She's a very pretty little thing... yes I do mean little. Barely bigger than Pickle. I'm quite tempted to entice her into my garden... it could do with a bit of a chew as I haven't bothered mowing it yet this year.

Computer problems are still abounding but I have managed to get some semblance of normality for the moment. It's amazing how unsettling it is to not have your computer doing all those little things you took for granted.. and worst of all I've lost my running total on Spider Solitaire!!!! Rats... I'll have to start again now.
Studio output continues to be high and I am more than a little encouraged by another sale at Big Rock. One of my circular pieces this time. It amazes me that someone can pop in there for a cup of coffee and come out having purchased a painting. Honestly Big Rock is doing better for me than any gallery... and they make the best coffee for miles and miles.
Latest painting is another triptych and is titled Custody Battle.

Friday 13th eeek!

2007-04-15T06:54:00.000Z

Pure coincidence maybe? Or perhaps a virus slipped past my scanner and lurked in my drive just waiting for the dreaded day... In any event I switched my computer on, on Friday morning and whammm.... the hateful blue screen with messages of registry failure. It's taken me nearly two days to get some life back into my computer and that only because I have had to reinstall the OS into a new partition... just don't ask... I have no idea how I did that. I seem to have the knack of solving computer mishaps by sheer luck. Nevertheless, all is not well. I have managed to retrieve my files but all my programs have disappeared and I am reluctant to reinstall anything which requires rebooting the system. So... raiding my emergency piggy-bank, I have ordered a new computer. It's not going to be here until the 25th so until then, my computer stays powered up, just to be sure.
Fortunately I can still upload pictures.. just as well, given that my livlihood relys on it! And of course I am spending more time painting now that the computer is less fun to play with! Here is yesterday's output from the studio

Tailwind

Tick Tock

2007-04-12T12:53:00.000Z

Clocks! That's what today is all about. I am creating clocks.
Well to be precise I have created one clock, but I am excited about it so I think I may have to create more. This first one is sort of rough and ready but it's given me enough of an idea to feel that the next one might be rather funky!

Meanwhile, the latest painting to emerge from the studio is a triptych on three 16" x 20" stretched canvases.

Fractured Loyalty

An arty day

2007-04-05T15:47:00.000Z

Dutifully ignoring the housework and piles of stuff that needs doing, I decided to devote all my energies to art today. Seems like a long time since I last did that. I've been working on 7 different paintings so far and in between times I've made a few of my stitched collages in aceo size. Slightly tricky sewing in such a small space but they came out OK.

It's been the first day, this year, that I've been able to throw open all the windows and the door from my studio to the garden. All that gorgeous sunshine, it's really quite hot in there. Luverly. I adore this time of year. Too early for hoards of flies to come and stick themselves to my drying paintings and yet sufficiently summer-like to inspire the soul.

Tokarta Front Page

2007-04-02T10:14:00.000Z

Yay! It's me... I'm the featured artist on Tokarta this month. Yippee. All of April on the front page, how exciting.

Day on the beach in pictures

2007-04-01T15:06:00.000Z

Too beautiful a day to linger indoors so Pickle took Steve and I to Harlech beach for a spot of stick throwing.

It's quite a walk down from the road but what a glorious view.

Driving the car was easy, negotiating the gate is a tad more tricky!

Not to mention the fun of crossing the railway line. Look left, look right, look left again.

No.. don't stop here!

Not a soul for miles.

But plenty of sea to paddle in.

And found some beach art to admire on the way back.

Have I reached S.A.B.L.E. yet?

2007-03-30T11:11:00.000Z

I was reading artyfartykat's blog entry about yarn acronyms yesterday and the one that caught my eye was S.A.B.L.E. This stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy and means that basically you have achieved a stash that no matter how much you knit will be more than you can possibly use in your lifetime. I'm not sure if I'm there yet but given the sedentry pace of my knitting, I wouldn't be at all surprised. Random acquisitions on ebay plus manic scavenging in charity shops mixed in with the occasional bankrupting event of visiting seriously tempting yarn shops, has meant that most of my spare bedroom is taken over with yarn. To prove it, here are two pics. The first one is my clever use of multiple CD shelves and the second is my 'expensive yarn' shelves... Now then.. what shall I knit next?

Revamped and reloaded

2007-03-29T21:55:00.000Z

Yay. Finally, finally I have finished reworking my web-site. I started from scratch and completely redesigned it. Check it out here. If anyone sees anything broken or odd about it, do please let me know. It looks A-OK on my browser but might not work properly for others... I won't know unless you tell me! Chuckle.
I used my moody press photo for the home page.. or at least bits of it. Here is the full thing.. all arty and sombre in black and white. Thought it might make a nice contrast to the in-your-face colour of the rest of the site. Hah

Yay for Stupid Creatures!

2007-03-13T21:05:00.000Z

I got John Murphy's fabulous book, Stupid Sock Creatures, in the post this morning. Not one to hang about, I immediately set to with a pair of scissors and a handy pair of socks. Several hours later Henrietta was born. I can see that making creatures of all shapes and sizes could become seriously addictive. John's patterns are very easy to follow and his sheer enthusiasm is infectious. Anyway, here the little lady is, in all her glory.

Forget the pins.. go for magnets

2007-03-08T14:34:00.000Z

I have discovered that if you take the pin out of the back part of a badge before assembling it, it then leaves you with a perfect place to attach a magnet instead. Thus my packs of 6 art magnets has been born. Why six? Well I have these really neat plastic hinged boxes which are normally used for storing trading cards or ACEOs and they are absolutely ideal for displaying 6 magnets in. Anyway.... why buy one when you can have a matching set! Find them in my Etsy shop or at The Big Rock cafe in Porthmadog.

Front page on Etsy!

2007-03-08T14:19:00.000Z

Only for about four hours but my Robin Hood bag had a front page slot and in that short time I had over 500 hits on it. Wow, that's seriously good exposure. I don't think I've mentioned the bag before. I made it before Christmas when I was just beginning to get to grips with the really funky Janome sewing machine that I bought about two years ago. It's been sitting in my office ever since, glaring balefully at me every time I looked over at it. I eventually had to give myself a stiff talking to and point out that it was sillyness in the extreme to spend vast amounts on a sewing machine and then be scared of it for that long! Since then I have used it pretty much every day and am having enormous amounts of fun sewing stuff. Anyway, this Robin Hood bag of mine was the second one I tried and it turned out pretty darn fine I reckon. Check out my Etsy shop to see more details of it.

Shoes and gloves

2007-02-13T10:02:00.000Z

Very exciting mail this morning. I bought a pair of altered sneakers on Etsy by Jelene and Dog Bone Art. They were made for the recent Upcycling contest and I loved them the very first time I saw them. As luck would have it they were my size so I took that as a sign that I was meant to have them! Anyway, they fit perfectly and I am thrilled.

Now I have to spend the rest of the day finishing off the pair of gloves I am knitting for my beloved one for Valentine's Day tomorrow. I thought I would go for seriously bright and colourful because.. well, let's face it, when did I ever go for anything pastel and muted! Anyway, it means if he ever gets lost in a snow drift, we shall be able to see him a mile off! Hah.

Badges or buttons or even pins

2007-02-07T19:34:00.000Z

Yep, after much deliberation I have finally bought myself a badge-making machine. Of course this has now highlighted to me the difficulty of translating between UK English and US English. I told my New York pal Diane that I was making badges and she naturally enough assumed I was making patches for jeans. 'No, no,' I corrected ... 'I am making badges that pin to your coat.'
'Ah', she said, 'You mean buttons.' Well do I mean buttons? So what do Americans have fastening the front of their shirts if not buttons? It's all very confusing and given that I am selling these badge/button/pins on etsy which is a predominently American site, I find that I am unsure how to describe them. Ah well, a picture speaks a thousand words so I will have to hope that my photos of the product will tell the tale. Mostly I am producing art badges but I have been tempted by a few wordy ones too. I have one that says 'Please tell me when it is obvious' which is a phrase that amused me when directed at me after a minor disagreement with my beloved one a few years ago. I also have one that says 'I have a badge making machine and I'm not afraid to use it.' Pinned within a cluster of other badges it's quite amusing.

I popped in to The Big Rock for a spot of lunch today and was delighted to see that 4 have sold. And this is winter when only the brave venture out. I see that their web-site is slightly beyond conception now. See it here . Their jacket potatoes are second to none.

Big Rock - the place to stay in Porthmadog

2006-11-17T12:20:00.000Z

If any of you are ever visiting Snowdonia in Wales then I can highly recommend staying at the Big Rock Cafe in Porthmadog. Wonderful food, friendly atmosphere and best of all, my art is on the walls! Chuckle. They are still working on their web-site so I can't give you a link just yet but as soon as it is up I'll post it.

I can barely move in my house at the moment. My art supplier was having a sale so I ordered about four months supply of canvases. That's about 500 canvases in total. (Did I mention I was prolific??) Mind you, quite a few of them are smallish and are used for triptyches. I have a new load of circular canvases to play with. Here is my first circular three piece.

Power Down

To New York and back

2006-11-16T08:06:00.000Z

Winter is setting in again but strangely enough when I visited New York a couple of weeks ago, it was surprisingly balmy. Not quite t-shirt and shorts weather but definitely not as cold as I was expecting.

Central Park

It's always a pleasure to visit the Big Apple and I stayed with Diane Casey and her husband Jason again. Such good fun. We sure know how to make one another laugh! I took my son Toby with me as a treat for his 19th birthday and as he has pretty much spent his entire life in a small Welsh village, it was amusing to watch his reaction to the bustle of the city. He loved it.
I got the opportunity to see some of Diane's recent art. She really is a stunningly good artist. And desperately undiscovered I could cry. Her work wouldn't look out of place in MoMA and yet she remains in the depths of obscurity like me. S'not fair. Here is a link to her Ebay listings. See for yourself.
I'm just about recovered from the jet-lag of the return journey. For some reason it really hit me hard this time and my sleep pattern is still a bit off. No worries. I can paint any time of day or night so it doesn't really matter.
I've been working on some circular canvases recently. Here are a few of my latest.

Enigma Variations

Callisto

Rock Steady

Playing with collage

2006-09-23T09:11:00.000Z

A new direction for me. All those magazines that have been piling up are finally being put to use. I've been experimenting with collage. Mainly because I discovered the Etsy web-site and wanted to put some work for sale there that was a little more affordable to send worldwide than my box canvases. The collage's I've done are really light which is perfect. Here are the first three.

Heat

Grazia

Steam

Cross Stitch and Knitting

2006-09-18T21:35:00.000Z

Got a bit side-tracked over the summer months but now that autumn is here and the Ebay season is hotting up again, I'm back to work and back to blogging. I've spent the last few months trying to diversify away from solely surviving on art.. and it would seem to be not a moment too soon. The prices that my paintings are going for on Ebay at the moment are staggeringly depressing. I know that everyone loves to get a bargain but it breaks my heart to sell so low. Makes me feel that my work must be totally rubbish that people aren't prepared to at least pay the cost of the canvas. Jeez! Anyway, I've been designing cross stitch kits based on my paintings and thus far they have proven to be very popular. Here is my favourite one called Chameleon.

My Horace pattern has also been selling steadily and my Funky Hat pattern is keeping up with it too. The more strings to my bow the better!

More Horaces! Yay!!!

2006-03-17T17:08:00.000Z

Sal has finished her gorgeous 'Special Needs Horace'. Let me allow her to introduce him in her own words...

He had a traumatic birth, being attacked by crazed burglars shortly before delivery, which may be why young Heinz Harold Horace is such a sad and saggy bear. His arm deformity is also being attributed to this attack (rather than maternal neglect during pregnancy...)
Being rather self-conscious about his deformed arm he tends to wear a glove...

And Jane has knitted a third Horace (WOW Jane!) Here he is sitting next to her second Horace. One of these will be going to Tami... you lucky lass.. which one will you choose?

So I've updated the Bears United web-site accordingly and am now waiting for more Horaces to come along.

Men in Lycra!

2006-03-11T12:51:00.000Z

All the snow has disappeared and magically Spring seems to have sprung. I drove down the road to the Coed Y Brenin (King's Forest) which is just five or six miles away from home and met mum for coffee this morning. The Coed is one of the best biking trails in the country and to prove the point there was a plethora of men in lycra fiddling with their bikes and chattering to one another about gears and tyre pressures like a load of pensioners at a knitting club. Exceedingly difficult to avert ones eyes from the manly bulges that were everywhere you looked. I kept my eyes to the sky and tried to think mundane thoughts.
The Coed is a glorious place and has a well deserved reputation. Even at this time of year before the trees get their full crown of green, it is still heart-stoppingly beautiful. Here is a photo of The Bike in the Tree which is just visible from the cafe.

March UK ACEO Theme Week

2006-03-04T14:48:00.000Z

Just finished my entry for this month's ACEO theme week which starts tomorrow. The theme is Mother and Child.
This is called On The Beach
Only realized as I started painting that Rotring ink is not waterproof which is really irritating. I had assumed it would be but didn't check. Managed to avoid smudges this time but in future I'll have to ink after paint.. ah well.. the Rotring pen is a joy to use though. Love it to bits.

What a view!

2006-03-03T10:08:00.000Z

And because it is such a beautiful day today I thought I'd take a pic of the lake (Llyn Trawsfynydd) that I can see from my studio. Very inspirational.

Brrrrr! Chilly

2006-03-03T10:04:00.000Z

No more snow overnight but it's really cold and the snow from yesterday has really frozen up. Pickle (who is a border collie for those who wanted to know!) took one look at me taking photographs of my paintings and decided that sitting in front of the log fire was a better idea. I was up to my knees in snow taking this pic!

Snow, snow and more snow

2006-03-02T11:48:00.000Z

A good five inches of it at the moment and still it comes down. Hauling parcels up the hill to the post office has become an Olympic sport and somewhat treacherous at that. I could do with a pair of those nice spiky football boots really.
Anyway, I've been staying warm and busy in my studio and have been doing quite well with ebay sales in the past few days. I've also been working a little bit looser than my normal style which has been fun. Here is one of my triptyches called Skittles & Beer.

All this softening of the landscape is really rather beautiful. I let Pickle out for a run in the garden this morning and he promptly disappeared in a snow drift. All you could see were the tips of his ears twitching in a manic display of sheer joy. I took a picture of him once he had scrabbled his way to solid ground.

Still not smoking and am now on day 17. Think I might be almost a real non smoker .. hope so!

Parents evening

2006-02-22T16:41:00.000Z

It was Katie's open evening at Dolgellau college on Monday. She is in her first year of an art foundation course so I was very keen to see what she's been up to. Very interesting place and lots of diversity in the work. I'm deeply jealous. It's all very well being self-taught, but I've really missed out on all the inspiration working in a group can give you. Katie is doing very well. Her tutors sang her praises which was great to hear. The college is starting some evening classes in March.. might have to investigate that further.
I stayed over in Barmouth with mum on Monday night and Tuesday we drove over to Welshpool again to pick up the last of the yarn from Colinette I wanted and tidy up all the loose ends. It's turned out that my lower offer to them might be acceptable but they still think it's too high. I have got other ideas now so I'm not concerned about whether they come back to me or not. I most certainly won't be going any lower.. that's for sure. They've put the plans on hold for a while anyway.. I think that is probably just the cowardly way of saying no thank you.
Still managing to not smoke although I am going through a tough patch at the moment. It's day nine today and I have really struggled with it. Spent twenty minutes punishing myself on the treadmill in an effort to feel fit, even if I'm not!
Lots of paintings being produced and I did an ATC2 card for Vicki in the spring swap. Daffodils.. naturally enough.

Five aceos

2006-02-19T17:53:00.000Z

I uploaded a load of new aceos on to ebay late last night. One for the ACEO Theme Week (Hearts, kisses and flowers is the theme) and the other four to support it. These are all worked with oil pastels and ink in a very loose almost outsider style which I really enjoy.

I've got one more to list on the 20th for Nibblefest. The theme is Self-portraits this month. It was quite accurate until yesterday when I hennaed my hair again.. so now I am more chestnut than I am black. Has covered the grey nicely though.

Very odd giraffes

2006-02-19T17:41:00.000Z

I painted a very odd painting on Friday which I called Giraffe Stampede. I rather like it, it makes me giggle. But then this morning Steve told me about three giraffes that had been in a zoo fire and died.. all three or two, or one.. not sure but how really odd is that. I'm now wondering if I could have subliminally heard about it on the news and from the depths of my sub-conscious I painted the picture. I'm a bit worried about the fact that I've listed it on ebay. Seems a bit insensitive really and it certainly wasn't meant that way. I hadn't even heard about the fire when I listed it. This is not the first time uncanny things have happened to me to do with giraffes. Maybe I was one in a previous life.

Working with texture

2006-02-17T17:26:00.000Z

Still holding firm with not smoking and it seems to be making me more productive. I think it's because I am constantly tring to distract myself. I did three paintings concentrating on texture which I'm listing tonight and tomorrow. The first one is one of the 36" square canvases with the 10" hole in the middle. They are interesting to work with but I shan't get any more after my stock has gone.. mainly because they take hours to package up for posting.
Anyway, this is Penumbra

and Watershed - 20" x 20"

and finally my favourite - Calgary - 20" x 20"

Willpower is still holding

2006-02-16T17:53:00.000Z

2 days, 11 hours and 53 minutes without a cigarette....

Not that I'm counting at all.

A2A drop number 7

2006-02-15T20:33:00.000Z

I did my A2A art drop today at the cashpoint machine in Tesco's Porthmadog. I didn't see who picked it up but it was gone within a few minutes. Not surprising really, it was a very busy cashpoint and I had to wait ages before nobody was using it. Here is a pic of the aceo and one of the drop site... can you see it, just below the cash dispensing slot.

Sparkly stuff

2006-02-15T18:53:00.000Z

Ooo exciting! I won the ACEO UK Theme week for this month. The theme was shoes and this is my aceo that I listed for it.

Not famous just yet

2006-02-15T18:05:00.000Z

It seems I went in too high with Colinette and they came back to me in outrage.. ah well. It would have helped if they had been prepared to give me a ball-park figure in the first place. Anyway, I have lowered my fee but I don't think they will come back to me again. Not to worry. I have BIGGER plans.. chuckle.
Have been out today so no painting but here are the two I finished yesterday.

Shelf Life (20" x 48")

and Double Time (20" x 20")

It's my second day of not smoking today. Yesterday was pretty hard going but I did manage to go... ooo a good twenty seconds or so without thinking about a cigarette today! It's hateful but I shall keep trying my best. I did a respiratory test at the doc's this morning. It is designed to test lung capacity and to my astonishment my results were extremely good. I have excellent lungs! How that can be after nearly thirty years of smoking I have no idea. Nevertheless, I am very pleased to know it.

15 minutes of fame perhaps?

2006-02-14T11:37:00.000Z

All thoughts of painting and art went out the window last night. I got home from a trip into Blaenau Ffestiniog to find an e-mail waiting for me from Colinette. They have asked me to quote on producing 8-10 Horace patterns.. well obviously not all Horaces but other animals.. zebras, pigs, elephants... that sort of thing. I am really excited by the possibility but completely at a loss as to what to quote. I phoned several friends and got loads of really useful advice from the lasses on the Art 2 Art group site and have finally come up with what I hope will be an acceptable figure. Watch this space!
Meanwhile a few hours before in Blaenau, I had a chat with the cafe owner in the high street and left him my brochure in the hopes he might take some of my work for his walls. He's redecorated the cafe since I was last in and it looks very modern. Definitely needs modern art on the walls!

Four from the week-end

2006-02-13T13:05:00.000Z

Still miserable weather but I've managed to sneak some photo taking in between drizzles!
Here are the four paintings that I finished over the week-end.

This first one is a 10 piece of 10" x 10" mini canvases and is called Winter Moods.

The second one is a triptych of three 16" x 20" canvases and is called Smooth Operator.

The third is the same dimensions as the last one and is called Sunset Boulevard.

And the last one is a 24" x 24" deep canvas and is called Pavlova.

These are all painted with acrylic and with the exception of Smooth Operator using palette knife.

Pavlova is already listed on Ebay and the others will follow tonight and tomorrow.

Meet Horace

2006-02-13T08:00:00.000Z

It's cold and wet again this morning. I need a break in the rain so I can get outside and take photos of my work in readiness for listing on ebay. Here is the link to my shop there. I have to list two paintings tonight and I really don't want to have to resort to taking pics indoors. The flash really washes the colour out and glares off the surface too. Anyway, I have four paintings finished so it was a productive week-end.
I also managed to get a fair bit more knitting done. I'm supposed to be working on the design of my second bear but I got somewhat distracted by a new jumper design I found in one of the Colinette pattern books. It knits very quickly though so I'll get back to bear number two in due course. My first design... Horace bear is doing really well. Fantastic response to my first dutch auction for the pattern and still hoping that Colinette might pick it up too. I even sold one pattern from the Bears United web-site which is damn good going seeing as I only started it last week. Here's a pic of Horace.