"I begin with an idea ... and then it becomes something else"
~ Picasso

Sunday 19 February 2017

colours of the season and the tides of the sea

a fab day on Friday visiting some of my favourite places locally ...

at Godrevy ... the light is always amazing


this gorgeous rugged coastline and beautiful white sand beach
(owned by The National Trust) is one of my most favourite places ever

for quite a while I just sat on the headland to breathe in the salty sea breeze

I want more of these peaceful moments this year


the colours of the season in the winter landscape are very calming ...


I visited Sharon McSwiney's exhibition
at St. Ives Arts Club

"Colours of the Season"
11 - 17 February 2017


Sharon was exhibiting her gorgeous metallic wall hangings, pictures and jewellery
with her friend Alison Dupernex, a textile designer who creates beautiful knitwear

their work complements each other beautifully
and a lot of thought goes into ensuring their pieces reflect their chosen theme

"Colours of the Season"

these gorgeous seaweed pieces were my favourites
in particular the shapes, textures and colours in the patinas

Sharon offers workshops at her Garden Studio to make a wall hanging
like these or smaller pieces of jewellery / art cards
so I'd really like to try and do a workshop with her this year

(I've thrown a photo in here that I took the same day on Long Rock beach
the colours complement very well, I think)


below are some of Alison Dupernex's textiles
I adore the tones and textures


Alison's work picks out the colour palette I associate with the beach and the winter season
(my photo centre of pebbles taken the same day at Long Rock beach)


all of the work at the show was gorgeous and very inspiring
but sadly the exhibition is finished now

if you would like to see more of Sharon's and Alison's work you can visit their websites
and Sharon has a shop at The Drill Hall in St. Ives with a good selection of all that she produces
as well as her private Garden Studio where she offers one to one workshops

for another chance to see their work at St. Ives Arts Club
Sharon and Alison will be exhibiting again in October 2017



following the show, and some lunch at Porthmeor beach,
I headed over to Long Rock beach in search of more beach inspiration
(looking for interesting pebbles and tangles of seaweed / beach string)
to work with for the "Cornwall" theme for St. Ives Textiles

I'm spreading out my collections and sketchbook samples at home
trying to narrow down my focus a bit as I've been feeling
rather overwhelmed by the amount of inspiration all around me
Cornwall is a very large theme ... but I must decide very soon and knuckle down

meanwhile ...
I'm just enjoying time to walk on the winter beaches and breathe ...


St. Michael's Mount through seaweed


Sharon's lovely sketchbooks

colours of the season ... on a winter beach


lichen at Long Rock


St. Michael's Mount ... always visible on the horizon
and beautiful winter colours ...


finally ... here are my stencil prints from week 2 of The Surface Texture Workshop

following the prompts ...


"redux"

layering newspaper and taped text and stencilling over the top
(will probably work more into this one before sticking in my sketchbook)


New York London Paris

"drama"

combining colours that "pop"
layering stencil prints over newspaper and taped text
the "pop" is gold metallic paint, heated to create texture, then gilded



"regular"

stencilling with gold leaf


might try cutting this one up


"enhance"

seaweed and mussel shells
printed using a hand made stencil with metallic paints heated and gilded
painting and filling in around the edges of the print



a negative taken from the earlier print ... on tissue paper


"smear"

dragging a ruler across the wet print for effect


"mark making"

scribing with a tool in white paint before layering with more stencil prints


"bling"


"texture and bling"

stencilling, burnishing with a spoon, then stencilling again with texture paste
enhancing with metallic paint then gilding for extra bling


"soft"

soft watery metallics in silver and gold with extra "bling"


well that's it for today
thank you for visiting and for all your very kind comments

I will be posting The Surface Treatment Workshop each Wednesday from now on
with textiles, catch ups and general updates on Saturdays

with love x

9 comments:

Magpie's Mumblings said...

You mentioned just sitting on the beach and absorbing your surroundings - if I had somewhere that spectacular to go I think I'd be sitting there ALL the time!! I don't know how anybody could NOT be an artist with all that inspiration surrounding you. Now I'm off to visit Alison and Sharon....

Julie said...

Thank you for the links to Alison and Sharon's sites. I Sharon's work and I've got a set of her beautiful jewellery to remind me of St Ives. I love her seaweed wallhangings too. I didn't know Alison's work before - it's inspirational.

chrissie said...

An amazing post Carolynwith such wonders and all the colours of Cornwall in many guises.

Thank you for sharing the stunning things you have seen

Love Chrissie xx

Penny said...

I had a lovely time wandering through your photos, thank you.

Anonymous said...

It's so great to see the beaches mostly barren of people so their true beauty comes through. Your blue and white experimentations are fantastic, looking forward to all your inspirations and some new pieces. Be well. xox

Tanya Rogers said...

Lovely to see your regular posts again - no wonder you are overwhelmed with inspiration for your 'Cornwall' theme, so difficult to choose a particular aspect! Look forward to seeing your progress xxx

Carol Rigby said...

I have to change from my phone to my laptop to enjoy your posts in all their glory. Another beautiful post....can't wait for the next.

Lynn Holland said...

So lovely to seeing you blogging again. Beautiful posts and Alison's textile work is to die for.
Love Lynn xxx

Sharon McSwiney said...

Lovely to see you at our show Carolyn & thank you for your great pictures & comments. Hope to see you again soon xx