Goodbye Childhood..........

Years ago, I was commissioned to paint a very large fantasy painting to hang in a little girl's bedroom. The instructions were to try and include night and day, horses/unicorns, fairies, parrots, mountains, a castle and to generally let my imagination run wild. It was one of the most enjoyable commissions I have ever had, and took months to complete. It had to be painted while sitting on the living room floor as there just wasn't room for it anywhere else and it certainly was far too big for my easel. It was quite a challenge finding reference pictures to use and making it all tie in as one complete scene - I even painted the little girl and her brother as fairy children.

Last week I was contacted by the mother of this little girl to ask how to best store this painting as it was coming down - the little girl is now at secondary school and I guess the time has come to put aside childish things! Made me feel a little sad....but I thought it was worth another look, especially as all the recent work I have is just potatoes. What a contrast!

A Bear & Some Mohair.....

As an antidote to all the knitting of the denim blue shawl, I made a little felt bear and used some tiny teddy bear eyes that I bought from America - I think they work better than beads. He's not quite ready for sale yet - I'm still thinking about accessories.....

Next to the bear is my current knitting project, a wisp of a shawl knitted in Habu Silk & Mohair yarn, which is so fine it must have been spun by fairies! This has to be one of my favourite yarns of all time - for all it's delicate appearance, it is quite robust to work with and with it's fuzzy aura, it just looks wonderful in either a lace pattern or plain stocking stitch.

Painting-wise, I am incredibly busy this week with a fridge full of potato specimens awaiting their portraits - I have painted 3 and a half since Sunday, 5 and a half to go until the next lot arrive, as well as finishing the top leaves of the plant painting.

I Got The Blues......

For the past fortnight or so I have been making this shawl. In the past, I can usually make a shawl in about a week if I really go for it and knit every evening for a few hours. This one really took a lot of effort! It is made using a thin cotton yarn in denim blue, which I originally bought a couple of years ago to make a light, breathable hat for my brother-in-law and was left with just about a full cone of it. The dye came out as I worked and I had to scrub my hands clean after knitting.


It began with 400 stitches to make the slightly scalloped edging, and slowly decreased to end up with the finished triangular shape. I think it looks a bit like a moth's wings when spread out - I had trouble finding a large enough piece of floor space to photograph it on and had to stand on a chair to fit it in the lens! When it was completed, I brushed it with a dilute bleach solution to make it look like battered and faded blue jeans - hopefully with time and washing it will fade even more and gain character as it goes.

This will be up on Etsy later on - of you'd like to snap it up before then, contact me at the e-mail address above. It will be £50.

If You Can't Find It, Do It Yourself (..or why I'm feeling a little smug today...)

If you were to follow me around the shops (please don't though, I'm paranoid enough!) you would quite often hear me rant about the sudden decision to take a product I like off the shelves for good. It seems that if I, or any member of my immediate family, express a liking for something readily available from your average supermarket, that is the signal for some higher power to withdraw it from circulation - I could make a list...but I won't.

Today's cause for exasperation (other than the usual fruitless hunt for Chappie Chicken & Rice dog food, which might as well be the Holy Grail in my town) was Waitrose's continued lack of Cypressa Filo Pastry. Having lived in Greece for many years, we still enjoy Greek cooking and I regularly make a family favourite, Spanakopita (spinach pie), and have so far been able to almost keep it authentic by using this filo pastry from Cyprus. Last week it wasn't there and I had to buy a nasty English subsitute which shall remain nameless but was gummy, alternately stuck together and fell apart and made for a very sub-standard pie. Today again there was only this revolting stuff on the shelves and I threw a small tantrum, stomped off and decided I'd damn well make it myself......something I never managed to to with any great success when living in Athens!


But after sifting the flour, rubbing in the olive oil, adding egg & water and kneading vigorously, it actually started to look like it should do. I even managed to roll it to the thickness of a piece of watercolour paper...


...and it covered the base of the pan perfectly and held the spinach mix with no leaks.


It made a lovely smooth top....


....cooked to a crispy golden brown......


...and tasted delicious!

In your face Waitrose, you can't defeat me, I can make my own damn filo! Now, about that dog food........



My daughter also wanted to have a go at cooking and made the apple pie on the left with the bare minimum of help. She has Down's Syndrome, so this was quite an undertaking with so much fiddly preparation involving her fine motor skills - I'm very proud of how she got on and can't wait to sample a slice later on today. On the right is a jam tart made with the remainder of the pastry and home-made berry jam - not pretty, but oh so tasty!

Slow & Steady......

If I've been a bit quiet this week, this is the reason why. I've been working away at this potato plant for nearly a fortnight and it is very painstaking and time-consuming, but thoroughly enjoyable to work at my own pace for a change rather than rushing. It took me three afternoons to map out the leaves using a selection of photographs taken of the actual plant. I blocked them in using the approximate colour and tone, and I am now working my way through them painting in the detail. I have completed the bottom left hand section and am on my way around anti-clockwise - no particular reason, just the way each leaf is leading on to the next.

I am saving the flowers until last - firstly because they are very pale and need to be painted on top of the green to prevent ragged edges, and secondly because I'm looking forward to doing them!

This is painted in acrylic on Dalerboard.

Knitting-wise, I have been labouring over a lace shawl in a denim cotton yarn. A slightly unusual combination, but it seems to work. As it began with 400 cast on stitches, this project is a little labour intensive as well - thankfully it is decreasing with each alternate row to getting easier as I go along.

I'm also counting the hours until school breaks up for the summer and I can have a rest from the day job for a while....I'm tired!

If You Can't Afford It, Make It Yourself!!

Where I live there is a lovely little jewellery shop that sells all silver pieces in contemporary designs. I have to walk past it every time I use the car park to go shopping and can never resist having a look in the window as there is always something I would very much like to own...in fact, I wouldn't turn down the chance to possess each and every shiny thing on display! But times being as they are, I can't justify spending the supermarket money on pretty things.....

Occasionally, however, it is possible to re-create something using what I have in my craft stash, which is what I've done with the above necklace. I've been drooling over this one for a couple of weeks now, and found some beads that would be suitable while rummaging in the bargain bags at the Gem & Bead show, and the rest I already had in my collection, so it was just a matter of putting it all together. There are a couple of differences - the large round bead should be wooden and the thonging should be double, but I am very pleased with the results - and all for under £5!

Lend us a Squid...........

One knitted squid, complete and ready to go off to his new home. I've added glass eyes once again to this pattern - makes the whole thing so much better, seems to pull it all together somehow. This was quite fiddly to do (those tentacles!!) but a lot of fun - I might just have to make another one...