Paying it forward

The big pebbles have been given a temporary reprieve.  

Last week I spent a few hours in the delightful company of jeweller, Clarrie Flavell and her amazing dogs (Irish Wolfhounds?).  Whilst I was there in came Sarah Wilkie, another jeweller, to use Clarrie's super workshop.  We got chatting over cabouchons, as you do, and she sorted through her old stash and gave some to me.  How incredibly lovely is that?  I'd only just met the girl!  Of course I took photo's.  And I seem to have wiped them - d'oh!

Needless to say the hooks got smaller that night and I was back onto something I've not done for a good few years now.  And I really enjoyed it.  There's 3 rings now although this was the first utilising a polished, triangular fossil of coral, I think.  Not too unlike the ones I find at the beach here although this is much more colourful of course.

Now I'm feeling the draw of Springfair to visit the stone merchants which starts this weekend!

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In the dark

I lived in Liverpool for 5 years during my Uni years and I never once realised that Birkenhead could look so pretty.  


Now then, will you excuse me whilst I take a little time out for some tlc away from the pc?  I forget sometimes that downtime isn't an option, that I'm not a robot and when it hurts, I'm supposed to stop for a while!  I'll still be crocheting but I'll be doing it quietly so I should have plenty to share soon.   Thank you.




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On a roll

That's one of the problems I have with crochet: it's addictive!  Once you pop and all that.  With Clarrie's black version finished I just kept looking at this lovely black brick-rock (brock?) and knew that it was going to be staying with me :-)


You probably can't tell but I've started to hang them on the wall too.  A finished piece of art crochet as soon as it's cast off!  That's the benefit of using 'brocks'; they're lighter than stones although you still wouldn't want this size falling off onto your toes.  There's a green one on the hook now but I'm uncharacteristically busy this evening so it may have to wait another day or two for completion.  The yarn is a wonderfully bright green and will be set off against an equally bright orange brick so I'm feeling impatient to see the result!


Busy day tomorrow too, I need some beauty sleep.




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WIP

Another coat for a big bit of brick.  Naturally!  


To be honest with you, it's finished.  I didn't get a shot of it in time before sundown but I'll show you the result tomorrow hopefully.  To say I'm loving these is an understatement.  They're fulfilling all manner of creative needs and they fit in with my current time constraints too.  And for the eagle eyed, it is the same yarn that I used for the necklace a few posts back.  It was a car boot find about 6 or 7 years ago and you can see from the photo just how much of it is left.  Good job too as I love the colour and the texture to work with.  


This brick stays with me :-)




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Please do not...

Well, it's Barbara Hepworth.  You just wouldn't would you?   But yes, sorely tempted!  Isn't that a beautiful shade to put the deep wood grain and white finish up against?  It might be enough to persuade me to choose a shade of brown for the living room to set against the pink sofa, god knows, I need a change of (albeit internal) scenery!

So then, I had a whistle-stop tour of the Tate Liverpool back in November and these are my highlights.  I should note that not all the walls were pink!  Just all the pieces I shot turned out to be exhibited that way.  A happy coincidence :-)  Unfortunately, I don't have the details for the other pieces so you'll have to check out the Tate's archive for any info you need otherwise, you'll just have to sit back and enjoy the  visual love!

I couldn't get my automatic to focus on this properly because the dark surface (marble?) reflected the colour so well, the edges couldn't be caught.  It's an interesting concept to play with.

But as for black marble, a neighbour once spent a fortune on it for the new kitchen floor and worktop.  Only when it was fitted did they discover it reflected the underneath of the floor and wall cupboards.  Most disgruntled they were!   Back to the art...

Again, apologies for the blurry self portrait below - it was busy and I had to grab the millisecond I had without some stranger poking their nose in!  Yes, that's me top leftish.  Hello :-)

And to finish on a very non-pink note, the Alice exhibition is on until the end of January so you've got yourself just one week to catch it before it's gone.  These stencils were all over Albert Dock promoting the exhibition and this was the best of them I think:

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Looking sharp

Yeah, pointy bits.  

The intention was to draw at some point over the weekend but all I managed was this rather aggressive doodle.  Somehow, the little oval(ish) shapes managed to force their way in and saved me from a totally male result.   All analyses welcomed ;-)  And as for the title, it was hand drawn in poor light with no hardware assistance.  Truly sharp, it ain't.

Of course, now all I want to do with it is colour it in.

Whilst we're on the subject of shoddy results look what else I did.  Yes, my titanium, rimless frames had broken previously and had been re-soldered.  No, I didn't expect them to last forever.  What I wasn't expecting was for them to give way whilst I was driving!  Thankfully, I was within a mile of my house but even so...*looks to the sky and is thankful*.

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Stagtastic

Even their logo is wonderful (see below)  Stag have been going for decades and they've made some utterly beautiful household furniture for the masses.  There's not a great deal of it around to be thrifted but when it turns up you can spot it a mile off.  

I've had these bedside tables (there's a pair) for a couple of years now and I still love them as much as ever.  But they're so pointy, I just find them a bit of a nightmare right next to the bed when the kids come in for a bounce ;-)  Plus, they're worth more to me sold than beside me when I sleep!  I'll just have to cope without them :-(

As I type, they're on ebay hoping to find a trendy young something that wants black laminate in the bedroom.  You can't see that in this shot but the top has a black formica top.  Now you want them, don't you?! It's the proportions that thrill me though, those long tapered legs - totally for their own sake.  The craftsmanship is to be admired too.  They are so STURDY!  Not a wobble between them after how long?  Good work chaps!  Now then, 12 watchers, 4 days to go, fingers crossed...

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Educational space

So you get your brand new playdoh out of the pot and it's got white dots in it.  First thing I think is "it's mouldy".  Second thing I think, "it'll be fine".  And it was.  Or at least, it hasn't made anyone ill yet.


My 5 year old is currently studying 'Space' in school at the moment.  I'm more than a little perturbed by the frequent mention of aliens!  We've got a couple of young science books that she's taken in along with her 'Moon in my Room' (brilliant night light and educational toy in one) to make sure teacher knows we like science here and not just little green men ;-)


More astro news later this week I think!






Edit: Watch Stargazing on BBC this week.  The night sky made simple for folks like me.




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Survivor

This covered pebble is actually quite a sizeable chunk of worn down brick and as I said in my previous post, not the original item I intended to cover.  Since I lost that under the clutter this amorphic chunk came to me.  Perfect shape to fit the nearly finished work although it wasn't until I photographed it that I noticed the teardrop it created.  I'd always imagined it sideways on (so like me, that) but either way, Clarrie is jolly nice and will appreciate the work in it regardless.


There's a lot of these bricks on our beach many of which have ACCRINGTON cast into them.  My dad told me the story about the old brick works 'up north' but I don't remember it now (getting a reminder is on the list).  Odd to say, but I feel such an affinity with them.  Maybe it's because when I was a kid my dad used to create similar by chucking a few bricks into the cement mixer at the end of the day to help clean it out.  It would always result in a big spitting out of grey soup with the bricks altered into lozenge shapes with rounded edges.  A very crude tumbler, if you will!  Hugely satisfying to watch and listen to.  Mesmerising, actually!  The other angle is that this is a self portrait.  Here I am, man made.  Used to having my edges battered and gradually finding myself hewn by time and experience yet with a need to cover myself in pattern (camouflage) to decorate (or conceal).  Bit deep that? Ok, I'll talk yarn...


The black was chosen for contrast and nothing else although the term 'gothic' has already been used to describe the WIP.  Here's hoping the finished result inspires something else!  This whole covering of stones started a few years ago with semi-precious (bought in Manchester Minerals which is where the 'tumbler' link will take you to) jewellery created for my Etsy shop.  I promise to show you some of that in the coming weeks and might even find the time to create something new in that vein :-)




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WIP

This has been a WIP for over a year now.  It was originally designed to work around a specific 'something'.  That 'something' is now lost!  But I have a replacement which is a little different and I like to think that it's taken until now for me to finish it because this is how it was supposed to be.  Now all I need is to to remember which hook I was using.  Honestly, I used to be a pro at this, you'd never know!


And yes, there's dog hair on that yarn but I'm sure the new owner won't mind.  The sooner it's finished the sooner I get to visit too so I'm on it tonight :-)




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