Life does have its twists and turns

Getting older is a right pain in the behind. There are some benefits, if you are lucky enough, but generally the physical side of things just steadily deteriorates. The only variable there is the speed of the deterioration!

That said, onto some other stuff!

As my vision is not what it used to be I’ve had to rethink my Master’s proposal. My ability to focus visually is essentially gone now, and isn’t stable even on a good day. Doing anything requiring fine attention to detail and working with sharp objects is no longer on the table. On a really good day I might be able to read a label, with my prescription glasses only; most days I have to ask someone to read them for me. So reading warning labels, instructions for mixing materials, etc. is not possible. Why oh why do manufacturers insist on printing instructions in a font size of 0.002?

I’ve discovered that monoprinting is something that I can do without having to be concerned about my ability to focus! I can get assistance from the in-house studio technician to find the ink colours I need (as I can’t read labels and actually can’t tell brown from purple anymore, amongst a few other colour identification issues.)

Also monoprinting is something that doesn’t need precise detail; it is a more intuitive process of creation. No two pressings will be the same, no matter what you try – and that, I am discovering, is exciting about it. What I’ve made so far I like and am stoked to continue to create in the technique. I plan to incorporate mixed media into a lot of my work too, playing with different mark-making methods, media and collage. It is getting my enthusiasm levels back up to where they used to be when thinking about my upcoming projects! I didn’t realize how much of that excitement has been missing.

Back in November and December I did the induction workshops for the Screen Printing studio and the Printing studio and I blogged about those here. And next week I will be doing the induction for Collagraphic printing as we didn’t cover that in December – now that I am interested in exploring it more.

I’m planning to do most of my experimenting at home, and then use the studio for the larger formats and scaling up ideas I tested at home. Also, printing the backgrounds in the studio is a lot faster and smoother.

I like utilizing uncommon methods to get an end result. Usually involves using craft materials or techniques to make “fine art”… to me it is all art. It is the creative process that is used to create something to been seen that is the “art” part to me.

We have a lot of crafting equipment and supplies at home. While I had to disburse all of my lifetime inventory when I moved to the UK, my friends have TWO lifetimes worth of stash which I now can access! I’ve already been utilizing the die cutting machines to make the cutouts to use with monoprinting. There are also embossing machines, cutters, a Cricut, thousands of metal dies, many types of paper and cardstock, stamps, inks, markers, adhesives, fabrics, fibres, stretchers, ribbons, floral crafts, wire, beads, and a lot more. There is an entire room in the house that is floor to ceiling art/craft supplies.

I’ve also managed to accumulate a fair amount myself lately – those art and craft box subscriptions are helping with that. I’ve now got a fair stash of lino blocks, cutters, screens, printing inks, rollers, markers, bookbinding supplies, as well as the usual paints, etc. So I have MANY ways of making marks.

I haven’t been back to the glass studio since before Christmas – which is when my eyes started to get bad. Hopefully, once I’ve got my school work up-to-date (was totally unproductive for most of January and all of February due to my eyes) I can get back to that, carefully though – blood can spill quite freely working with glass.

I picked up the prints I did last Friday in the studio yesterday – quite a few aren’t dry! I was a bit heavy handed with ink as I was using a palette knife to apply it as well as the rollers. I did 21 prints in total and about half are still sticky – I had them laid out all over my room, trying to balance them near the radiators. Then I had an epiphany… bought a two pack of those wire drying racks that sit on the radiator! Perfect! I’ve got two – one on each radiator in my room… Fits (just) on the radiators, sits behind my table so no contact with anything to transfer ink onto. The other one is also blocked from any contact. So glad that occurred to me before I started playing with wet inks at home.

I think my drying rack is actually better than the one in the studio! What do you think?

Monoprinting means you get one impression, and subsequent pressings (the “ghosts”) are faded versions of the first. I mess around with the plates after the first press, moving things, adding things, removing things, even re-inking parts, etc. And you NEVER know what you will see when you pull the paper off the plate. That’s the really exciting part I’ve discovered.

Here is what I produced last week – some will be used to create mixed media works, others I am going to leave as is as they are really cool (at least I think so!) I used cardboard cutouts and die-cuts, and pampas grass (the curly stuff) and plant parts I’d collected while walking the dog.

I am partial to the ones that are messier looking… I think because the results are more of a surprise. Once I get more familiar with the whole process I may be able to better predict what I will get, but, maybe not. That keeps it exciting. Right now, the predominantly yellow ones are my favourites – might be because of the contrast as I can see them better.

I’ve collected a lot more grasses (the pampus grass grows all over the place here, and I just love the curly strands,) spent seedheads, twigs, and other things to use in my next batch. I’m also pressing flowers to use in the mixed media aspect, or maybe even in the printing process if they lose their colour when dry.

Subscription boxes… this could be addicting

I’d heard about, and seen posts, from people who subscribe to various subscription boxes. People I follow on social media would post “unboxing videos” of whatever boxes they were subscribed to. I thought it was a neat idea but didn’t really think it was something I would necessarily be into.

Well… let me tell you about my last 12 days…

While randomly bopping around my feeds, in particular, YouTube (as I do subscribe to some artists’ channels,) some unboxing videos popped up for Artful subscription boxes.

Hmmm… Well, as you may know if you follow my blog, when I sold my house, and then eventually moved to the UK, I had to “get rid of” my lifetime accumulation of art and craft supplies and equipment. The hardest was when I was packing to move over to the UK – I only had three suitcases and a backpack to contain my entire life.

I arrived with minimal materials – some needlework items, a few sketchbooks, my watercolours, brushes, fine liners, pencils, pastels… Well, I suppose that doesn’t seem like I’m deprived, BUT, as someone who always had everything possible and stashes of scrap and reusable materials on hand, it is a bit of a challenge!

When I got here I went and bought new acrylic paints as I didn’t think packing used tubes was a good use of my luggage weight limitations (and what if they leaked in transit?)

So on Saturday, January 14th… I started Googling art and craft box subscriptions… just as a survey you understand, to see what they were like, and how they were rated. That may have been a mistake… or not? Jury is still out on that.

I checked out some blogs that ranked the various subscription boxes, looked at the websites, checked out a lot more videos of unboxing and artists using the materials from the boxes, and some of the instructional videos the various companies had up.

The Artful box subscription looked pretty good – the boxes looked to be good quality, containing everything you need (for the most part) and the value/cost looked very reasonable to me. They are a quarterly box, and there was a coupon if you subscribed to their newsletter. There was also an option to pick your first box, or go with the current box. So, I subscribed that day for one year (four boxes)… I chose the Gouache box for my first one. I’ve never actually used gouache so that seemed a good one to start with, to get a feel for how comprehensive it was – materials, instructional videos, etc.

I also ordered the “upgrade kit” for the Gouache box which contained a ceramic mixing tray and more brushes, and a few other things from the Artful store site – Ohh Deer.

Then, on Tuesday, January 17th… sigh, I started looking at craft boxes. Oh man… Again, I looked at reviews, videos, etc. Cosy Craft Club looked good. (BTW, these are all UK based companies that I was looking at due to postage costs!) All these companies have “old” kits available for individual purchase, so I ordered five kits from Cosy Craft Club: 2 x Mini Junk Journal Kit, Twine Basket Weaving, Loom Weaving, and Softcut Lino Printing.

I was impressed with the customer service from both Artful and Cosy Craft Club. The owner of Cost Craft Club immediately makes contact and engages in conversation via email which I thought was great. Artful responds quickly to questions and issues too, resolving them promptly.

The first order to arrive was Cosy Craft Club. It arrived around noon on Saturday, Jan 21st. That is one thing I love about the UK – Royal Mail delivers on Saturday. I immediately unpacked the shipping box – then had to open up each kit to check them out and, of course, took photos…

The five kits ordered…

Mini Junk Journal Kit (green cover option)

Twine Basket Kit

Softcut Lino Printing Kit

Loom Weaving Kit

I immediately started on my Mini Junk Journal. I had to email Cosy Craft Club as I couldn’t get the link to the instructional video to work and she responded right away! As I said above, I am really impressed with her customer service!

I watched the video through once, then got going. I had done bookbinding in school, once, but it was a riveted cover. The instructions were clear, and everything needed was in the kit, including templates for the hole punching so no measuring of anything was required. The video was very thorough, and easy to follow through the entire process.

Each kit is put together by different artists – so branding varies, and they make their own videos. So far I am impressed with the instructions given in the two videos I’ve watched.

I really enjoyed this kit! I made a few “mistakes” – I think I flipped the template on one of the three signatures as it is out of alignment with the other two, but it is a learning curve, and I am really pleased with how it turned out. When I was finished I went downstairs to show it off… and it was 8 p.m.! I had no idea how much time had gone by.

As this was a “junk journal” the included papers were a little too messy for me – tea stained printing paper, odd sized scraps of lined papers, etc. So I replaced and added to it – artist paper mostly. Also, I created some pockets using card making supplies. On the artist who created the kit’s YouTube she had videos of other journals and books she made and many of the larger ones had pockets, etc. so I decided to make some for mine. There is a roll of funky tape included in the box so I used that for the edges/sealing of those pocket pages.

I haven’t tried the others yet. I passed along the Twine Basket Kit, as after watching the instructional video, I realized I won’t be able to manage it as I’ve some arthritis and RSI issues in my hands, and it requires at lot of tension, grip and twisting with your hands/fingers.

I was having such an enjoyable time with the book binding that I got back on the computer… oh yeah. I did a thing. So on Sunday, Jan 22nd I ordered a “Complete Bookbinding Starter Kit” from Learn Bookbinding, and several (as in five) refill kits – with the two included in the starter kit that is seven books! That is next Christmas sorted! They are really responsive to inquiries too.

The next delivery was Monday, Jan 23rd, first thing in the morning. It was the additional order from Ohh Deer (Artful’s store). This was the Upgrade kit for the Gouache and a couple of Papergang stationery boxes.

Gouache Upgrade Kit

Eden Project Stationery Box

The Menagerie Stationery Box

The Eden Project Stationery box contained a “Grower’s Journal” which was why I ordered it… it was a disappointment. The print was light grey on white and in a microscopic font size. I simply could not read it. However, their return policy is great – return it immediately and they’ll reimburse postage. I emailed them about why I was returning it and they immediately responded to thank me for my feedback on the journal. I sent it back by mail on Tuesday, Jan 24th.

The Eden Project Stationery Box

Contents of the Eden Project Box

The Grower’s Journal… not useful to me.

The other stationery box, The Menagerie, was nice. It contained a calendar that you can start for any year (I’ll save for next year as I have one up for this year already.) These stationery boxes have one main item that varies, an art print, a couple of note cards, maybe something else (this one has stickers for the calendar,) writing implement(s) and a pamphlet or booklet.

Back of The Menagerie Box

Inside The Menagerie Box

First look in the Menagerie Box

Contents of The Menagerie Box

The Menagerie calendar – any year

The upgrade kit for the gouache box (they call it “Paint Mixing Kit”) was nice. I like the ceramic mixing tray/palette – very heavy and won’t shift if you are working the colours and loading your brush. It included two brushes – a fan and a filbert (which are different from what is included in the main box!)

First look at Paint Mixing Kit

Contents of Paint Mixing Kit

The Gouache Box arrived later on Monday, Jan 23rd. Which was amusing as I didn’t get confirmation it was shipped until the following day. I am pretty impressed with this box.

Gouache Box

The packaging – they really pack well

Nice box!

The paint I assume…

Nicely boxed set of 12 gouache paints

Nice size!

“Art print”,,, well, guess it will go in the stash with the rest of random things I can’t quite throw away.

25 page Mixed Media art pad

The paper quality is nice

Four blank note cards with envelopes

Blank colour chart

Pencil, F

Four brushes with storage bag

114 page magazine featuring Gouache

The amount of paint is great – proper sized tubes, not “samples.” And the magazine is full of examples and some instruction about gouache. The brushes are synthetic which is fine – I have a massive supply of natural brushes. They do appear to be good quality (there is a no. 1 rigger, no. 3 round, no. 3 angle and a teeny tiny 5/0 round) but I won’t know until I use them! An F pencil is good for sketching before painting – lighter marks. The pad of paper is nice – a full sized art pad (many other kits seem to only include a pack of small sheets for use.) The colour chart is handy, and fits inside the box of paints (presuming I’ll leave them in the box they came it – it is a nice box!) Apparently every kit has four blank note cards – I assume to make your own custom art cards using this month’s media.

There is a link in the magazine to “tutorial videos” on Artful’s YouTube page. These are private until a couple of months after the kits are sent out. I have to say I was underwhelmed with their “instruction” video. But when it finished, YouTube populated the screen with dozens of other videos from other channels about gouache – now THOSE were helpful!

The magazine does contain instruction and information about gouache. And includes a pictorial step-by-step of the painting of the art print that is included in the box (not sure why I’d want to paint that as they sent me a print of the original? I would have preferred a step-by-step of something else.) There are articles about multiple artists and examples of their work using gouache. So the magazine is very useful.

Here are the links to the places I’ve ordered these kits and supplies from:

Artful and Ohh Deer

Cosy Craft Club

Learn Bookbinding – I’ll post about the kit I ordered once I receive it! I’m pretty excited to make a “proper” sized book. ** Right after I posted this I received notification my package had shipped! Yay!

And 2023 has arrived.

Turn your back and the new year sneaks up on you.

The entire household has been down with the flu – we had to cancel all Christmas and New Year’s plans completely. For several days over Christmas (23rd to 26th) no one here could manage to do anything. I was the only one still able to get out of bed at a reasonable time (by 9 a.m.) The others sleep until after 2 p.m., sometimes 5 p.m. The dog needed to go out and be fed so I did that each day, then crashed for a nap.

We still haven’t recovered. The housemate who brought it home (because she stopped wearing a mask!) is the sickest of all – she’s on week four of it, and still very ill. She passed it along to the rest of us, and at least one neighbour. I’m feeling better and have a lot more energy – I’ve been cooking dinner over the last week so we’ve been getting hot meals – but still need to sit down between activity. Making dinner is a big production as I do it in stages so I don’t have to stand at the counter for an hour.

As we’ve been ill, the glass studio and shop have been closed – which sucks as the Christmas trade is the biggest period of income for the year. But… at least I’ve got a head start on inventory for next Christmas (trying to be positive.)

I’ve got until the 12th when classes resume to be “better”… hopefully I’ll make it. We can Zoom if we can’t make it to class, but that isn’t ideal.

Before I got sick I did manage to get my candy made – brittles and truffles – for gifting. Although, a fair amount has still not been distributed. But it keeps.

I finished a portrait of Pippa the Morkie as a Christmas present – I call it “Pippa-rella” as she is in Cinderella’s dress. As you can see, it is a small painting. Done in acrylics.

For school, I finished my sculpture in polymer clay and baked it. Then started making the 2-part mold in the studio – I’ll be finishing the mold as soon as I can get back to the studio on campus (depends when I feel up to it at this point.) In my original timeline I wanted to have this finished and have at least one piece cast from the mold to work with over the holidays – obviously, plans have changed.

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The mold is silicone with plaster reinforcement. These photo show the first side being made. That is how I left it. I had planned to go back the week before Christmas, but obviously those plans changed.

I don’t see much point in doing a “year in review” post for 2022 as it doesn’t have too much to cover. Other that starting my MA Fine Art and examples of art I’ve made, which have been covered well in regular posts.

I hope for and wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.

What I’ve been up to for school

I’m finding working on my MA Fine Art to be a lot different from college/undergraduate studies.

I liked the structure of multiple classes running at a time (5-7 per semester), deadlines, due dates, assignments, lots of different professors/instructors to discuss things with, etc. In the MA we’re doing one course per year (it is a three-year part-time program.) We go on campus once a week for our seminars for that course. We have writing assignments for each seminar (the topic of which covers two sessions each at least) that are due before the second session.

We also have, on the same day, either workshops, tutorials or critiques with the whole group or individually (they combine all three years of the program together for this.)

Not that there isn’t work to do, but it is self-generated – research and documenting what we are working on for our proposals. Is a but of an adjustment for someone who is timeline driven. All those years of working to deadlines has really conditioned me to want things broken down into a hard schedule.

Now that’s off my chest, I have been enjoying myself learning about new media and updating my skills and knowledge in others.

I’ve taken the “introductory workshops” in the studios for Mold Making, Ceramics, Screen Printing, Printing and Metal Workshop, and in February will also be doing Letterpress. There are many others available in technology – 3D printing, Photography, Green Screen, Film and Audio, Virtual Reality, etc. but I swore I was never, ever, doing any of that again once I got through the courses at college. And I’m sticking to that.

The studios here at the University of Plymouth are extremely well equipped with a full-time technicians there to instruct, advise and assist!

Mold Making was a bit of a refresher for me, but the great equipment, facility and materials are something I’ve not been able to access on my own! I am going to be using it to create the main work for this year’s art project.

The first photo here is the silicone mold – I’d sculpted a relief portrait of Pippa (my furry friend who wakes me up every morning) and the next shows the results.

We also made some coasters.

The next was the Metal Workshop – I was curious as I though I might use metalwork in some capacity, but this is heavy duty metalwork! Interesting, but not something I think I’ll dabble in. Too much physicality involved for this old tired body. Plus, using a forge and different types of welders are a little out of my comfort zone! Also, couldn’t use the electric powered arc welder anyway due to metal implants in my body… go figure.

Then I did Ceramics – we got to build a pot. I think it is being fired as it has been missing from the shelf in the studio for a couple of weeks. I hope to see it again soon. I intend it to be a garlic pot.

I will be using clay to create my main work, which is then going to be cast to make a mold.

The next one was Screen Printing. This was fun. I wasn’t able to access Photoshop (long story, would take a whole post up just telling it!) so made up acetates of a drawing (the single rose) by hand at home using black acrylic paint. I wasn’t sure if the image I really wanted to do could be done the morning of the workshop. Ended up the tech in the print shop/paper stores was helping everyone photoshop and print their acetates, so I was able to get my skull illustration separated and printed.

As I had two sets of acetates ready I was able to make the screens to do two different prints, which was great. I was able to try two ways of aligning the second colours – the second (on the single rose) worked way better for me.

The last workshop was the Printshop. It was a two-day workshop, but as I have a medical appointment on the second day, I arranged to go in last Thursday (just for three hours rather than all day) to cover it with the technician by myself. The first day was Relief (woodcut, linocut, etc.) and Intaglio (etching, etc.) – I’d done some linocut before. I didn’t find these techniques of much interest/use to me.

BUT… the second session was Planographic Monoprints. THIS was brilliant and I think I will be doing a lot more of it! The technician said I had “a flair for it.”

It is a very enjoyable process, creating the different impressions of the monotype. The only problem is cranking the antique press – my elbow is still extremely painful – the cranking was done on Thursday afternoon, it is now Sunday afternoon.

I hope to be able to work on my sculpture in the Mold Making Studio this week… I have my armature ready to go. I’ll use waste clay (texture isn’t important) to do the sculpt, then we have to cast the mold. I think it has to be a two-part mold, but all that is going to have to be discussed with the technician once I have the item in the studio to show her. I need to make at least six casts so the mold needs to be durable.

All in all I am having a great time. There is also a Woodshop on campus and I really want to check that out too.

Christmas… it’s coming!

Today was the first day of the Buckland Abbey annual Winter Food & Craft Fair. Today was a lot quieter than the Friday was last year. Probably has to do with the economy and lack of disposable income. We are hoping for more traffic the rest of the weekend.

We like to have a lot of items that are priced so that people can afford them. Anne always stocks items that she says are “for the kids to buy as gifts.” Our Christmas ornaments start at £,2.50 – very simple but pretty – and go up from there.

I spent most of today in production mode – made stars and my first sheep and dog ornaments. Both kilns are on and I should have these out for sale tomorrow afternoon. I was going right up to the last minute as I wanted to completely fill the kiln with a few more critters, but Anne was turning the lights off on me!

Last week I did a couple load of wreaths (my best seller), many Christmas trees and lots more icicles. We are selling the small wreaths mounted on a handmade Christmas card.

Tomorrow I’m assembling a new “Icicle Swag” with large icicles and silver chain – it will have five icicles and be made to hang on a mantle or in a window. There will be a limited number available. I’ll share a photo once I get one put together. I’m quite excited about the design.

I’ve also made tealights and many scenic hanging ornaments.

Tomorrow I’m going to take a bit of time to take photos of all the different things I’ve been making. I am really bad at remembering to take photos as I make things.

Getting started

I’m now registered, enrolled and paid my tuition for year one of my MA Fine Art at the University of Plymouth.

I was assessed as an International Student (as I don’t have permanent residency status – I have to be here five years before I would be able apply,) so the tuition is pretty high. Percentage-wise it is a lot lower than my old school in Canada. For my program, UK residents pay £500/10 credits, international students pay £850/10 credits; it is 60 credits per year so my annual tuition (remember, this is a three-year program) is £5,100 (approximately $8,104 Canadian at the time I paid it!) And next year it increases.

Generally, international students are not part-time because you can’t get a Student Visa for part-time programs. But I am here on a different type of Visa that lets me do what I want, as in work, study or not. Figuring out how to classify me took three departments! But as I hadn’t met the specifics of permanent residency, I’m considered an International Student.

Masters are quite a different animal from undergraduate programs. Massive amounts of reading and research, group discussions/critiques, one-to-one tutorials, totally self-directed as to media/accessing studios/project scope, lots of “optional” activities like workshops, artist’s talks, gallery shows. I’m taking it all in and adapting to it. In my professional life I am a task oriented person – I like having a brief to fulfill (provided by clients/employers/or survival requirements.) Here, I will be setting my own parameters, and getting guidance and feedback on what I am doing. A bit different than I am used to, but I am looking forward to pushing myself past my comfort zone.

Last Tuesday we had an introductory workshop in the Mold Making/Casting Studio – somewhat of a refresher for me as I have done life casting, but wow – so many materials and options are available in the studio! It has opened my mind up to ways I can incorporate it into my project. Now that I’ve had the introduction to the studio I can book time in it to work on my project(s) and get advice and assistance from the technician. We got to make some coasters for practise, and create a small silicone mold after sculpting something to cast. The coaster molds were provided, I made three – the two blue ones were ready to take home but the yellow hadn’t set enough to remove, and the silicone mold had to cure a lot longer. The studio tech said she would take the cast from our molds for us, and that the molds would be reusable. I might use mine in ceramics! I didn’t remember to take a photo of my sculpted item before pouring in the silicone. I really need to remember to take photo of processes.

Tuesday this week is the introduction to the Metal Workshop – which is something I’m unfamiliar with. It involves power tools… I’m not a huge fan of those, but I am interested. There is always a chance of collaborating with others in our projects so… finding out what the possibilities are is important.

Back to School, again!

I am really excited to share that I will be starting the MA Fine Art program at the University of Plymouth next week.

After deferring my other offers to 2022, I ended up withdrawing my applications (even with a £5,000 bursary attached to one of them) as I was/am still not all that comfortable with the continuing pandemic and needing to live in student housing, etc. Plus the costs of relocating to Ireland or too far away to compute to in the UK added huge costs. As I now live in Plymouth I won’t have to add the additional living costs to my school budget.

I had budgeted for living abroad before the pandemic started, but it threw my plans off. Living with roommates who didn’t share my concerns was very stressful. It really isn’t all that comfortable now, either, as I appear to be the only person still wearing a mask everywhere I go, but I will continue to take the actions I feel necessary.

The program is part-time over three years which suits me. I can continue working in the glass studio, have regular semester and summer breaks, etc. Tuition and supplies expense will be spread out too, which will be convenient. The campus is a 20-minute bus ride from the stop right outside my front door as well, which is fantastic.

The program I am joining is a small cohort of only ten people which includes all candidates in the program – first through third year. I was told that most on campus sessions (one per week) would consist of fewer than ten. That will keep me happy about contact with the masses and I’ll still be wearing a mask – probably the only one, but that doesn’t bother me.

And interesting, to me, in both MA applications that I’ve done, they have been keenly interested in my make-up and theatrical work – this interviewer, right off the top, said she hoped I would be bringing in my prop and costume skills to the program. Wanted to know if I had stopped doing that, as in completely retired. I assured her I was still happy to use all the skills. My last production closed in February 2020 and I hadn’t worked in the field since due to the pandemic lockdowns. It wasn’t a choice I made, but rather one I was forced into by circumstances.

Since I submitted my application (which was on September 7 online – totally last minute) my mind has switched into creative mode – I’m keeping notes of all the ideas that are popping into my head for creations and what media to mix to make them. I submitted a research proposal with the application for an area of interest I want to develop and I’ve got some interesting concepts brewing. I think glass is going to definitely be playing a role.

Induction is next Thursday. I still have to get all the paperwork done – the professor who interviewed me made the offer on the spot at the end of the interview, and I accepted. But it all has to go back through Admissions to get me actually registered and enrolled, fees paid, etc. I’m just waiting for emails so I can get it all done.

I am really happy to be getting back to school… I can understand how people can be “professional students.” It is so much fun learning and being creative in ways you hadn’t tried before and interacting with others who are there for the same reasons.

I’m having to set-up a workspace at home, Last night ordered a shelf/desk combo from IKEA which will be perfect (had to measure the space available in my room first!)

The IKEA desk I’ve ordered

The desk won’t be delivered until October 2nd, and delivery cost a fair bit BUT they will carry it upstairs. That is worth paying for.

I have a certain amount of art materials, obviously, and access to many more in our household as there is a room that is JUST art and craft materials and equipment which I can utilize. I am silently repeating my mantra “repurpose, reuse, recycle” as in, DO NOT buy new stuff if there is a suitable alternative to hand. I put a moratorium on myself to stop buying make-up many years ago, and it worked, I actually started to make a profit with my business. I do have excellent willpower and believe delayed gratification is a good thing.

Orcas at Sunset

The dog days of summer ended, and I missed it

Apparently, the Dog Days of Summer ended on August 11th. I looked it up. The term refers to the hottest days of Summer, which lasted until a little over a week ago around here. The change was quite dramatic in our garden. We went from close to 30C to 20C daytime highs. We were getting sun from around 10 a.m. as it appeared over the buildings to hit the back fence, then as it moved, the rest of the garden would get time in direct sun until close to 8 p.m. in the evening. This last week it is now starting to hit the back fence around 1:30 p.m. and a strip of around four feet of ground along the fence until 4:30 p.m. Everything stuck in all-day shade in the rest of the garden has reverted to Autumn shutdown stage.

I did a bit of clean-up by removing summer squash plants that haven’t been productive and are stuck in 100% shade now. Even though they were blooming, all the flowers were male so no fruit. The last of the zucchini has several small fruits on it but they’ve been the same size for around three weeks! Not sure what’s up with that. Also pulled out done flowers and other vegetables, pruned the plum tree (apparently they need to be done late summer, not while dormant,) and have started cleaning up planters.

The cucumbers are in a perfect spot up high on the wall and are still getting all the sun – and being productive. And I move my peppers around to follow the sun as they are in pots.

Mini cucumber

Hot peppers

4 mini cucumber plants in planter

I’ve finally been able to make pickles!! Refrigerator pickles as I’ve no inclination to do actual canning – an issue of space for storage really. They’ll get eaten fast enough.

I was not able to find PROPER sour dill pickles here in the UK. So I made my own and they are fabulous! Salty and sour with garlic like I was used to getting in Canada. Everything here in the UK is sweet… EVERYTHING. It is crazy.

homemade refrigerator pickles

homemade refrigerator pickles

I had six pint jars which worked out well for the amount of room I had available in the fridge. I’ve already consumed most of the cucumber dills from my first jar. I made four jars of pickles so far, with a fifth jar that is just brine, ready to add the next batch of cucumbers to. And if my hot peppers ripen I’ll pickle them too!

One jar is just cucumbers from the garden; one is “recycling” a jar of gherkins that weren’t sour enough for me with added red pepper and some mushrooms; one is recycling supposedly “New York Deli Style” pickles that in no way resembled deli style dill pickles (I couldn’t bear to throw out perfectly good food product!) with green and red peppers; and one is asparagus. I’m quite happy now. No one else in the house likes pickles so they are all mine!

I’ve been on a baking kick this week making cookies. I’ve been trying new “keto/low carb” recipes I’ve found online. They all need tweaking to suit me better, but are tasty nonetheless! I made a Tahini Chocolate Nib cookie and a Almond/Peanut Butter Brownie cookie. I substituted things based on what I had – using chocolate nibs instead of chips, using some peanut butter as I only had half the required almond butter, etc.

Almond & Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

Tahini Chocolate Nib Cookies

The Tahini cookies need more tahini (recipe was half butter, half tahini,) needed to be flattened, less time and lower temp. The Brownie cookies need more moisture (I will probably add cream cheese next time) and need to be a bit flatter. But they did turn out and are not crumbling in my hand.

I am painting my bedroom. Last Sunday I did the front wall… almost died. I was up most of the night with vicious cramps in my upper thighs which I think were from balancing on the step ladder. Not fun – took almost four days for the tightness to ease. BUT, am happy with this wall. Anne is going to paint the opposite wall for me – says she’ll be MUCH faster and can cut in better than me. I won’t argue!

I managed to match the paint colour with my curtains without taking the fabric along to match – I’ve a very good eye/memory for colours. I had an ink & watercolour I did a couple years ago that is a perfect piece to go on the green wall so I got a frame for it.

Before

Matched the colours

Not bad on cutting in

Finished with curtains back up

Ink and watercolour work

Framed art up now

This wall painting project is making me frame up a lot of the art I kept and get it on display. The new paint is making the other walls look bad, but I’m not up to painting THAT much. I’ll just cover them with lots of art.

Oh yeah… today is my one year anniversary of arriving in England! I can’t believe that much time has passed already. And we still are dealing with the bloody pandemic. At some point I hope I’ll be able to start travelling around Europe on short trips like I had been planning for the last seven years! I am not comfortable with the travel situation (virus, delays, unrest, etc.) so will keep occupied locally.

August 27, 2021 – Arrived at Heathrow (the mask stayed on until the car park!)

June’s projects

I’ve been productive this month.

Spent a lot of time sorting out approximately 15 kg of scrap glass we acquired from another glass artist. Most of it was in containers by colours (i.e. “blue”) but not all of them by specifics (i.e. “transparent turquoise” etc.) I like my bits of glass to be sorted out so when I want something specific I can find it without digging through a large bin. It was a treasure trove! So many shades of blue that we didn’t have. I love both Turquoise Transparent & White Streaky AND Aqua Transparent & White Streaky – they are absolutely gorgeous and perfect “sky” glass for landscapes/seascapes. Watch this space to see what I do with all of it!

I made several lanterns in the last several weeks. All different – size, themes, etc. I’ll soon be making more as we’ve acquired a large selection of new lanterns of various styles. Some of these pictured are still available in the shop at Serendipity Glass Design.

Multicoloured dots

A mosiac perennial border

A rainbow/Pride theme

A campfire

1/2 Plymouth Hoe with Seaton’s Tower

2/2 Eddystone Lighthouse

I made another big bowl last week. I had one large circle of transparent sitting on my shelf so on the spur of the moment I decided to create a fruit bowl. I sketched it out on the “back” of the glass and then used tiny bits of scrap to create the mosaic. Working with scrap can be a challenge, in that sometimes you aren’t 100% positive if what you think the colour is, is actually what it is. Makes life interesting.

Before and after being fired in the kiln – the white was a reactive glass that changed colour. Oh well…

After the fusing – still a flat circle

After slumping, still in the mould

Despite the watermelon rind interior ending up pink, I love it. Next one I’ll take the white from a labeled piece of glass! This bowl is now in the shop, Serendipity Glass Design, for sale at £75.

And here are a few photos from the garden, which is doing phenomenally well! I’ve been eating salad daily as I over planted the lettuce (should have succession planted, not all at once – I do know better, just didn’t.) I’ve got masses of baby cucumbers starting and the zucchini are setting as well. Not to mention all the herbs flourishing. Also, finally, the garlic has started. I was worried about it as it took so long, but it is looking good – but won’t be ready until late Fall.

As it is officially Summer I’m hoping the weather will settle into a calmer pattern. Although, I will not hold my breath – this is England after all. The winds really smack around the plants in the garden and the heavy rain beats them up! Not to mention walking the dog in the wind and rain isn’t fun.

Hope you’re having a good start to Summer wherever you are.

Heading into Jubilee Celebrations

This weekend will the be designated period to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here in the UK. Thursday and Friday have been designated as bank holidays (aka statutory holidays as they are called in other places) and Saturday is the big party day – community block parties, etc. Here on the estate I live on there is a community BBQ and party on Saturday afternoon. I’ll be staying home with the dog – still not interested in mingling with unmasked people in a crowd.

We put up Jubilee bunting out at the shop/studio for the occasion.

Have been working on more art over the last month – finished assembling my glass mobile yesterday and hung it up in the shop. Came out a bit longer than I was expecting in the end, but I didn’t want the glass pieces to strike each other constantly. I’m really pleased with it. I plan to make more but with fewer parts and more compact. I’ve figured out more efficient ways to make them now too.

I was planning to hang it in the shop window but it is too long to fit, so it is on the wall. We’re thinking of taking commissions using a “pick your option menu” for components and quantity, a header piece shape, colour scheme/theme, length, etc. with each option having a set price.

We accidentally ended up ordering three different types of chain for the mobile. I wanted stainless steel for it, but first order was miscalculated regarding link size (too small) so ordered a larger chain. Was supposed to be stainless… however it was aluminum and the links came apart easily simply by pulling. So, third try, got a good size and strength, even if not 100% what I was wanting. But it worked for this quite well.

I also finished up another batch of fridge magnets that are miniature acrylic and ink paintings of scenes of Dartmoor. The squares are approx. 2×2″, the larger are 2×3″ – I like painting little landscapes! I’ve got another batch with the bases done which will be sunrise/sunsets and seascapes/shorelines based on South Devon.

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I’m also starting a series of slightly larger (4×6″) mixed media paintings (on canvas board and framed) of specific plants and animals that are resident on Dartmoor. First one in progress is of bracken, then I’m planning flowers (i.e. bluebells, foxglove, etc.) and bushes (gorse, etc.) and ponies and other native animals and birds. I’m taking photos to use for reference for these.

Tourist season has started, albeit slowly. Coaches are starting to come to the Abbey now so we are getting little waves of people looking for souvenirs and gifts. I convinced Anne that we should put out a small display of our Christmas ornaments and cards… last year she wouldn’t let me put out Christmas items until November (even though we had people who wanted them.) And we’ve been selling them fairly steady! I explained to her, when I travel I look for items that can be Christmas ornaments, and the people who are buying them are doing the same! Now Anne is suggesting maybe I should start making more wreaths (which is my best seller!)

I remerchandised the shop – my sense of order was somewhat frustrated. So I moved some displays around – moved light coloured items from a white painted shelf to glass so they were more visible, spaced items out more, rearranged signage, etc. I was pleased with the results and it is really obvious that people are now looking at all the displays whereas before they walked by some without stopping to look.

We’re hoping the weather is going to cooperate for the Jubilee weekend as so many events are outdoors. Fingers crossed. Hope you enjoy your celebrations if you are participating in any.