Moving On......

Thanks to everyone who lent their support to yesterday's post - I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that's a bonkers way to run an exhibition. I got a more detailed explanation from one of the organisers today and it still makes no sense to me at all - I completely understand that they want to give new artists a chance and that space at the venue is very limited, but to cut people alphabetically? Selection committee, people, the clue is in the title. Apparently I can enter again next year.........great.


Anyway, enough of that, it's not good for my blood pressure! Here are some potatoes.....not just any potatoes though - I grew these! First time in my life growing spuds - aren't they pretty? And it was half an hour between getting them out of the earth and serving them on a plate for dinner. Yum!


I've been knitting this camisole top from a pattern in this month's The Knitter magazine. A bit complicated but well worth it - I just love the zig-zags & the way the cables make it pull in at the waist. I still have to sew in a bit of narrow elastic around the neck to stop it from gaping as the cotton is soft and flops a little. Considering this batch of yarn was £10 on eBay and has stretched to two summer tops, it was a real bargain.


Now that is finished, it is time to get back to knitting little creatures - depressing though the thought is, Christmas will be upon us quicker than we think and I need to be stocked up beforehand. So this little dog is the latest addition to the menagerie - he's a bit more butch than the pups I have been making lately. So butch in fact that he deserves a specially designed coat.....


.......although if he was really that tough, perhaps he wouldn't wear a coat!

He will be on Etsy as part of a set later in the week.


Don't forget that the giveaway - Eldritch the witch's cat - is still open and will remain open until the end of August. Click here to leave a comment and enter yourself in the draw.

'B' is for Barred

The past three years I have entered my paintings into the Best of Hampshire Artists exhibition held at Hillier Gardens in Romsey and had my work accepted. This year I am not allowed to even submit work....because my name begins with 'B'. Apparently, because so many new artists want to have a chance at entering, the committee have decided to omit anyone whose surnames begin with either 'A' or 'B' from even submitting a painting before the selection committee. Forgive me for thinking that the whole idea of a selection committee is to sort out the pictures they deem suitable for exhibition thus giving everyone a fair crack at it.

Also, how can the exhibition now be called 'Best of Hampshire Artists' - should there not be an additional line to the title '...excepting anyone whose name begins with A or B'? Hard luck Mr. Botticelli, Mr. Bacon and Mr. Burne-Jones, better luck next year maybe. Lucky you, Mr. Whistler and Mr. Watteau, you won't be excluded until the year 2022.

So I'm off to enter some of my work at the Mall Galleries in London where I can be accepted or rejected based on the quality of my work rather than where in the alphabet my name falls. That is the kind of rejection I can accept with grace and understanding, unlike this which leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Some Japanese Yarn and A Day Out.....

Shamefully, this Shoshenshi linen paper yarn by Habu has been languishing in the bottom of a bag for nearly a year now as a half-knitted bolero. I re-discovered it while sorting out some of my extensive yarn stash (discovered some other yummy yarns too!) and after studying it for a while, realised I couldn't remember where I'd left the pattern or how on earth to take it up again without making a mess of it. So I unravelled it down to the ribbing and started again in simple stocking stitch and made the above waistcoat in about 3 evenings. The yarn is amazing, it really feels and sounds like thick tissue paper and knits up beautifully with a lovely texture and drape. Hopefully, it washes like linen and should come up as good as new...fingers crossed! It's a pity no-one in this country seems to stock it, although there is a source on eBay.


I had two paintings accepted in the Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition this year, held at Hillier Gardens in Romsey. Yesterday, my dear partner decreed he would whisk me away from potatoes for the day (hooray!!) and we went down there to see the exhibition, have some lunch and a walk around the lovely gardens. The Art in the Gardens exhibition was also being held, with such interesting pieces as the above horses made entirely from chicken wire.


There were several of these pensive little copper statues dotted around - I love the little boy on the right and could imagine him peeking out from some long grass under a tree in someone's garden.


We saw a pair of deer just beyond the wire horse sculptures and watched them for a while before they noticed us and trotted away at high speed. (The stag is behind the large bush.) It was a pleasant change to be able to look quietly at some deer without restraining a slavering saluki!!


We hiked up a big hill to some woods to see some pigs that had been introduced for the summer in order to clear the undergrowth. They were fit and happy and digging huge holes under the trees, better than any JCB! Unfortunately my photos of them are pretty rubbish and the video I took is too small to reproduce here. On our way back down, we found this enormous eucalyptus tree with a completely smooth and naked trunk, the bark having all peeled off on to the ground.

So today it is back to normal, with a couple of potatoes awaiting their portrait to be painted, but I feel better for having had a day away. Today's Spud picture is Number 70 - can you believe it?

Pinky-Purply -Knitted Necklace!

I had a completely free day today - by that I mean no housework, no cooking, no shopping - doesn't happen often! So got LOTS of things done - including the above necklace which I have been planning ever since ordering the fantastic knitted tube from Habu over a month ago. I just haven't had the time to make it until today, and I am so pleased with how it's turned out. The tubing stretches considerably, so I have stuffed it with various wooden beads, alternating with beads on the outside too, each separated with a small coil of dark blue wire. It's gone straight into my Etsy shop - but I have lots more of the tubing left, so there will be variations on the theme coming up in the future.

Also re-framed one of the three paintings I have had accepted into the Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition, being held from 1st September at Hillier Gardens in Romsey. Wish me luck and that all three sell!

And started potato painting No.5 - wish I could show them as I go, but don't think I should reveal any more until the book is published!

One Zebra - Finished!

And that's how much spare time I've had this weekend! Finished this this afternoon, ready for the next one whatever that may be. This is in watercolour with touches of ink. If you are interested in buying it, please get in touch - if not, it's going into the Best of Hampshire Artists exhibition this summer.

First Sale at Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition

If anyone remembers this painting from a few months ago, well, I have just sold it! It was one of the five paintings accepted into the Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition this year, and first to sell. I'm really pleased as it is a whole new district and viewing public. Also the quality of work in this year's exhibition was exceptionally high, so a sale is terrific! One down, four to go......

I shan't be quite so prolific now that I am back at the day job - not so much time as well as feeling rather tired at the end of the day. I also have various commissions in the pipeline, so will be working on them when I can - Christmas is coming and there will be presents to buy...! I'm not complaining, it's all good!