On the move

I am moving my art blog over to Wordpress - I prefer the format there as I can accommodate the different media on separate pages whilst staying within the same blog.

The new blog address is:

http://meanderingmuse.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there :o).

"Nature" Quiltie

This is my interpretation of this month's quiltie theme on Unlimited Textiles - Nature. I took a rubbing of some bark with a crayon on white cotton which I then coloured with blue/green inks - the scan is not showing the colours too clearly. I then hand-stitched a small amount, not wishing to detract from the natural pattern of the bark.

Art in a Carton #4

Oh another beautiful carton and art, this time from Lubna, a wonderful artist friend. The carton is not showing to clearly but was decorated so well. It contained a beautifully crafted journal, a lovely vintage ATC and a handmade ceramic hand glazed and with glass fused on top. There was also an incense cone enclosed which was to sit on the hand. Lubna makes such wonderful mosaics and ceramics - please go take a look at her work : Lubna

RAK'd

I have been RAK'd by Shakti and Mika with Art in a Carton. What a fabulous surprise it was with wonderful contents which speak to me. A beautiful Goddess doll, a shrine containing a small Goddess doll , a canvas on a stand which reads "The Magic World is Inside Us" and a fabulous ATC . Within the Shrine is a card which reads: "To the renewal of Gaia, Our Mother, and to the Goddess" and on the Shrine itself it reads: "Woman is like God, because she gives birth to the people" - African Proverb and "It is by and through Her that all things moving and motionless shine. It is by the light of this Devi that all things become manifest ". Now wouldn't receiving all these blessings just make your day too ? :o)

Catching Up - Again!

I have been quiet online for a little while but have been creating nevertheless. My neck/shoulders and therefore my arms/hands are still giving me problems so I am much slower than usual. I am finding though, that if I take my time I am enjoying the processes just as much, if not more - I have become more relaxed that's for sure - plenty of practice :o). Textiles seem to be calling me again at the moment - I am continuing with the large couched piece that I started some time ago - taking even longer now lol, but am considering the centrepiece again and think I may do a circle of crazy-quilting as I could then use images/text/symbols which all have meaning to me. I will update further with a new picture when I can.
I am feeling to work on several personal projects now and am reducing the amount of swaps etc that I am involved with choosing to focus on small exchanges only. I am happy with this. I will try to be more regular in my blog updates. Below are the pieces I have done whilst being invisible ;o).

Elements ATCs - Water

These are for a swap being hosted on yahoo group Alkymia. I decided I wanted to work in fabric/thread - seems to be the direction I am returning to. I played with layering and pleating in various directions and combinations wanting to create an impression rather than a direct representation.

Quiltie

This was my contribution for the Egypt swap on unlimited textiles. I used fabric transfer crayons for the Eye of Horus which I then hand quilted.

Goddess Atcs

These are collaged atcs for yahoo group alkymia - the theme of which was Images of the Goddess. I decided to take a slightly different take on the subject.

Art in a Carton - my own contributions

So far I have sent out four cartons and thoroughly enjoyed making the contents for them, as well as altering the cartons themselves. I didn't think to take a picture of the cartons or the journals I sent but I did remember to photograph the dolls. I have only shown three dolls as two were almost the same and just the one quiltie as they are very similar.

Art in a Carton #3

Received from Sherry another fabulous carton of art gifts as you can see: a beautiful box containing sweets :o) - yum!; a lovely objéct d'art made by Sherry - it is a small pile of wooden books - check out her blog for a decent picture (apologies Sherry) and something for me to use in my own art.
I really would encourage you all to sign up - it is such a pleasure to take part in.

Thank you very much Sherry.

Art in a Carton #2

Oh what a lovely surprise which really lifted my spirits. A carton arrived from Anna Nowicki
As you can see the carton contained a delightful goddess doll, a wonderfully textured atc and the most fabulous bag - all just beautiful. Many, many thanks to Anna for these gifts.

Art in a Carton

This is what I received in my first carton in this wonderful exchange - please do go take a look and, more than that, sign up :o)....not only do you get the chance to make some lovely art to give away you receive fab arty surprises!

This is what I have received from Susan .

This is what I have been doing..............

It has been a slow start creatively speaking, to this year as I have been having physical problems which affected my arms and hands, so any art I am doing is taking time - probably a good lesson in there somewhere ;o).
However, at the beginning of this year I decided to join SoulFoodCafe . I have long been a fan of this wonderful and inspiring site and felt it time to take the plunge and commit myself to one of their guided journeys. When I say guided, we are, in fact, given prompts which we use to kick start our own imaginations to expand upon and develop our own individual journey. It is a challenge - I am no writer, but wanted to stretch myself not only textually but in the drawing department too. I am charting my journey as if I were journaling along the way - sketches accompanied by a little writing. So far so good - I am enjoying it and my confidence is growing. I had to start a new blog to do this as it is a team blogging effort and all the blogs are linked by a central one - amazing piece of organisation I must say.
I would be delighted if you'd care to visit sometime - all encouragement and constructive criticisms gratefully received.
The link is to the right of this blog under Soul Food Journey.

Art in a Carton - Join In

I wanted to let you all know about this wonderful venture created by Susan called, funnily enough, Art In a Carton . It is a wonderful idea that works on a kind of chain letter principal - except everyone involved gets fab art. Please visit the site to get the details and sign up :o).

Crazy Quilt

At last I have completed this quilt - it is backed and ready to hang hooray! It is machine pieced, all offcuts and pieces from hand-painted batiks of mine which I then hand-quilted lightly - I was restrained in the quilting as I know what I am like - it would never have been finished! So here it is, the finished article plus detail :o).

Night View

Nothing to do with my art - or perhaps it is ;o). I was sitting, being creative at my space upstairs, gazing out the window - the sight was just so fabulous. Not a great picture, but hopefully you will get the sense.