Busy doing nothing June 2012

We are attending the Arley Garden festival this weekend, well my other half is. I am a fair weather craft seller I just could not face the rain & the mud & the three hour drive with the kids, sometimes it is just nice to be at home doing nothing. We have alot of shows coming up so I am really enjoying a lazy weekend.

I have just made a new heart design especially for the Lakeland Rose Show in a few weeks time, loads of dog lover's attend to see the dog agility show so I hope this will be a good seller, but often what happens is I will not sell any, then at the next show they will sell out.
You never can tell from one show to the next.

Hold your breath & cross your fingers - March 2012

 I have noticed that I hold my breath alot when slip-trailing out customer details so it is a relief when the design is done & there is only the painting to finish.  I also do alot of crossing fingers when the kiln is being opened, especially when there is a personalised item inside. I was very lucky with this plate, it did turn out okay unlike an anniversary plate I did a few days later where the glaze was too thick. I am lucky there was only 5 grand kids to fit on, if I made one for my mum I would need a 50 inch plate!

Beautiful Escomb -May 2012

Escomb is not the nicest village to look at, it does have a famous Saxon Church but I often wish I lived in a "pretty" tourist part of Britian. Most of the villages in County Durham are old pit villages, we do not tend to have village duck ponds & hanging baskets but rows of terraced houses. The main thing I love is the river valley I constantly find inspiration when out walking the dog.  Just yards from my house I saw this scene last summer & what luck, I had my camera on me. I have only just got round to painting it in the cold winter months. I always remembered how the wild blossom seemed to frame the picture of the horses & hopefully it will become a popular card (when I get round to getting it printed).

The next one in my mind is a swan I saw last summer on Escomb Lake with all the wild flowers on the lake bank in front of it, if only I could find the photos I took that day!

Mothers Day

    

Mother's day is fast approaching, so with that in mind I have made some gift tags.

I know every ones Mum is special but my Mum is more special than most. She has had a really bad year with her health & has recently had to stay in a Nursing home, but while there she is trying to teach the other residents to paint, she has inspired the Home to have an art exhibition & they have created an art room for the residents. It is a great achievement considering she has only been in the Home for just over a month. It also reminds me how important art is, it is a companion, a friend & a reason to get up in the morning.

Santa Paws

 
I was commissioned to paint some gift tags for a Bernese Dog lover. I found it a real struggle as I have a King Charles which is very similar to the Bernese when you are trying to paint them. I ended up with a different dog on every tag as with each one I was still trying to get the hang of capturing the look of the Bernese. They ended up like miniture portraits, I was never very good at quick cartoons.

Santas Super

I do like to keep my customers happy but I am not sure if they get a little too much enjoyment from pointing out my spelling mistakes.  I get so engrossed in my designs I forget about the spelling & it is not exactly my strong point. Anyway we all know that Santa is "Super" & most really small children cannot spell "Supper" so what's the problem?

Years ago when I worked on designs for Umbro I did get told off more than once for doing designs with "Umbro Sprot" instead of "Umbro Sport" but I cannot be good at everything & I never did like sport.
We are attending Brockbushes at the moment & it is going well despite all the gloom & doom on the news. As usual we are running low on "Granddaughter" items & we never make enough Christmas plates & gift tags. We will be in a mad rush to get ready for Blenhiem next week so I had better keep the spell checker handy!

Hearts filled with joy & sadness

I never know what I am going to be asked for next. A customer from Ireland ordered over 20 hearts to give to members of her family to help celebrate her wedding anniversary, with a big surprise party for everyone. I hope they all enjoyed themselves.
A while ago I painted some hearts for a customer who's brother had sadly died. I had to paint his favorite can of beer on the heart. I forgot all about it until  I got a call from a lady who had met my customer in a graveyard & had been been given my number. She had seen the painted heart by the graveside & enquired where it was from. She wanted a little something special for her children to put on their Grandad's grave. The children were quite young & it reminded me that my children lost their grandad when they were 2 & 4 which is very young to have any memories. I am glad that I could help out in a small way because as they grow up you realise how precious childhood is & how much they & their grandad have lost in time that could have been spent together.