It's All in the Presentation

A few day's before Christmas, in the thick of all the last minute shopping and present wrapping, I received an invitation from Talent House to enter a competition to design a pattern to put on to an UGG boot.They said that I had been invited because they had liked the designs in my portfolio on Artsthread.
I was flattered and thought I might give it a go so this morning I logged on to the website and discovered that voting was about to start. In rather a rush I tried to submit 3 views of of the UGG boot, with one of my designs featured, to find that it only accepted one image - and of course not the one I would have chosen.

The voting is done via Talent House's website and you can canvas supporters to vote for you so my daughter posted a link on her facebook page and I tweeted about it. Now however I wish I had paused a little to think about the presentation - which quite frankly was pathetic! To try to rectify this a little here is the same design but presented slightly better than on the entry.

My Design for the UGG Boot Competition

If however you did wish to view my portfolio click on  Talent House

If you like what you see support me by voting for this entry by simply clicking on "Support Mavis Glover" here .

Ready and Waiting

Lights are twinkling all around the house especially those
on the stairs that I made myself at the 1 day course at CCAD

"Deck the Halls..........."

With Christmas only a few days away the title of this post "Ready and Waiting" would suggest that I'm super organised and have got all of the food for the family Christmas sorted as well as all of the presents wrapped. In fact it is the title of the dry point etching by Emmerson Mayes, of two Redwings sitting on the branch of a tree, that my husband and I bought each other as a Christmas present. It took a bit of getting as the original print I saw at the Biscuit Factory was sold by I took Paul to see it. After e-mailing the artist it turned out that the other 5 prints had also sold in other galleries around the country. However after meeting Emmerson in November at his one man exhibition in Harrogate, featuring his latest collection of paintings from a year's work carried out at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, we agreed that we would buy the original "artists proof" which we had framed and is now hanging in our hall just in time for Christmas. It looks wonderful!

Ready and Waiting

Martha's New Cardigan

As Martha is going to the ABC Christmas party later today dressed as a reindeer she is wearing her brown tights and T-shirt ready for the transformation. More importantly she is sporting her new designer cardigan knit by grandma!
I made the pattern up my self but it was inspired by about five others that I had knit previously. Hope you like it.

Linen Brooches

Collection 1

Collection 2

I have just completed two collections of linen brooches using my own drawings. I digitally printed them on to linen and then hand finished by adding paint, sparkle and stitch. For the first set I used a black background and for the second I left the colour of the line. These were all round in shape, lightly padded and soft to touch whereas the black ones were mostly rectangular, lightly padded but stiffened at the back.

Lotus design based on the ones I saw at Kew Gardens

Desmid design of a microscopic marine creature

All comments on the different designs and styles would be gratefully received.

Iconic Landmarks

If you saw a much earlier post you might recognise my design for a cushion depicting a cosmic shower cascading down over the iconic Transporter bridge over the river Tees. This received a lot of interest at my degree show and from my blog, including a request from Alison in Abu Dhabi who wanted to commission two large 1m x 1m canvases. Being originally from the North East of England she also wanted a similar one but of Antony Gormley's Angel of the North. This time I had them digitally printed but have still embroidered the cosmic showers, one in red and one in orange to suit her colour scheme. She is going to have them stretched over a frame out in Abu Dhabi so sadly I won't get to see the finished articles but I'm sure she will e-mail we some photos when they are in situ.
Now that my hands have recovered from all that stitching into canvas I am about to embark on some more cushions using these designs.

Busy with the Sewing Machine

Cot Bumper and Toy Sacks

My Great-niece Hannah loved the cot bumper and accessories that I made for Lucas' nursery (now Martha's) and so when my Great-great niece arrived Hannah requested that I make a similar cot bumper for Allannah, but with a Gemima Puddleduck theme. It has been there on my jobs list but this week, at last, I got round to doing it. I scanned and printed the motif onto cotton fabric and appliqued it onto the striped fabric that coordinates with the bolder stripe that I used for the curtains. As a little extra surprise I also made some little sacks to store bits and bobs.

The Print Biennale

Rew Hanks' winning entries

Another Friday and another visit to a gallery hosting part of the International Print Biennalle 2011. This time it was to the Laing Gallery in Newcastle to see an exhibition of invited artists' work. This photograph shows the winning entries for the 2011 competition, which are lino cuts by Rew Hanks entitled:

• Hunter and Collector
• King Bungaree
• Macquarie's seat

My husband, who is a keen naturalist, commented on the uncanny resemblance of the man in the left hand print to Joseph Banks the explorer and collector. I was very impressed when I researched Hanks only to find that in fact it was  based on him!

Lauren Drescher's Animal Skin & Tattoo Skin
on Japanese  paper

As well as other contemporary print makers we also enjoyed the exhibition Lines of Flight
 celebrating 100th anniversary of  Mervyn Peake, who illustrated books such as Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

We couldn't resist seeking out the permanent display of Thomas Bewick's work as well.



The History of Quadrupeds

We also popped over the road to the Central Library to see their small display of some his woodbocks and

first editions.

The Whistling Bunting - Travelling Tea Party

 

Anyone thinking of hosting a vintage tea party or wedding reception and are looking for the perfect crockery and accompaniments take a look at Whistling Bunting - Travelling Tea Party. This is a little business venture that my lovely daughter in law Lynsey has set up where you can hire all you need for these occasions.

Simple Harmonic Motion

Having branched into the world of design rather late in life meant that I already had 40 years experience in what, some would say, was a diametrically opposite world - physics. Today I received a link to this Harvard website from the son of a close friend who knew that I had shown my students something similar. I strongly recommend that you take a look at the video clip of these beautiful rhythms and you will realise that the two worlds aren't really that far apart.

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

On friday a group of friends from college (Bev, Colleen, Joy, Jackie and myself) met up and travelled to Manchester for the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Having visited it last year we knew that we would be in for a treat and we weren't disappointed. The contributors are selected by a prestigeous panel of experts from gallery curators, lecturers andcreative directors. The categories include ceramics, textiles, glass, jewellery, lighting, metal and wood.
Because of our degree course we were probably more interested in the textile products but certainly not exclusively so.

This young artist Yu-Ping Lin produces textiles and jewellery inspired by Origami and was very happy to let me handle and turn her amazing 3D constructions.

Another young jeweller working with gros grain ribbon, under the name Maneggi   produces an incredible selection of affordable pieces. Jackie and I were delighted with our purchases, especially as it means I have now officially started my Christmas shopping.

Rosie's Armoire have a collection of french vintage inspired accessories but I was particularly inspired by her brooch collection as I'm just getting geared up to produce some myself based on my own drawings of all things natural.

I also liked the way Anna Wales combined little felt balls with precious metals to produce some exquisite jewellery.

Jackie and I had a lovely chat to the textile artist Caroline Kirton who has recently featured in Embroidery magazine. She told us that her work is inspired by observing her teenage daughters and their friends. I was taken with her use of text, also inspired by teenagers.

Clare Lane was exhibiting some huge canvases incorporating printed, stitched and mixed media inspired by the urban landscape. I was a bit aghast when I realised that the two designs, based on the Transporter Bridge and the Angel of the North, that I had been commissioned to do for a client in Abu Dhabi and had just sent off for printing, were as bit as Clare's biggest ones!

We also enjoyed a long chat to the artist behind &Made who had some simple but beautiful cushion made with quality materials. She told us about her studio in the Design Centre in the northern quarter of the city centre, so when we had completed visiting all of the GNCCF stands we took ourselves off there. It was well worth the visit so next time you are in Manchester pop in. We can recommend the little cafe in there where we stopped for a welcome cuppa and slice of cake.

Design Event Mart

Following in our recent tradition of making Fridays special, by trying to include something cultured or arty in to our day, Paul and I set off for Gateshead to visit the Design Event Mart at the Baltic.
We thought that we would first pop to the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle as I wanted to show him the Emerson Mayes drypoint etchings of birds, with the view to purchasing one of a Redwing that I had admired on an earlier visit. Sadly that particular one was no longer there but we did meet up with my friend Jackie and her daughter Amelia for a lovely bite of lunch.

                                    

International Print Biennale brings museums and galleries across the north east together to celebrate printmaking from around the world. Find out about exhibitions, special events and classes from 17 September to 19 November 2011.

Being so close to Northern Print we decided to walk down Stepnie Bank to take a look at some more prints from the "international printbiannale" as we had seen some already at Bowes Museum. It was only a small but interesting collection and we met a lovely bloke, Allan Barnfather, who is a sculptor and printer. He showed us some of his work which he sells at Northern Print. During our chat he recommended that we visit an exhibition, also part of the Biannale, entitled "Good Times, Bad Times, All Times Get Over".

Curated for the Queen’s Hall Gallery by Jonathan Watkins (Director, IKON Gallery Birmingham) and presented as part of the International Print Biennale, Good Times, Bad Times, All Times Get Over is a rare opportunity to see prints by the extraordinary nineteenth century wood engraver and ornithologist Thomas Bewick and contemporary responses to his work by artists Graham Gussin, Lutz and Guggisberg, and Bedwyr Williams.

Thomas Bewick vignette

That sounds like another friday sorted as I love the beautiful town of Hexham anyway.

Our next stop was back over the Tyne to the Baltic and Design Event Mart. Once again Claire Baker had a stand selling her amazing military memorabilia collection.

                                                          http://claireabaker.blogspot.com/
I was also pleased to see another former CCAD student, Ayme Fitzgerald, selling her colourful cushions from a nearby stand.

                                                               http://www.aymefitzgerald.co.uk/

I was delighted to hear that photographer Sally Thurell had been selected to feature one of her wedding shoots on the Whimsical Wonderland Weddings blog and that she chose our son's wedding to Lynsey as the wedding to feature.

They have included dozens of photographs.Take a look but scroll down to the bottom for a detailed account by Lynsey of the proposal, preparations and how the day went - it's so sweet. She has acknowledged all the people who helped make the day so magical and it was lovely to see Katy Howieson's name high on the list as I taught Katy physics and was then a fellow student with her on our degree course at CCAD. She graduated a year ahead of me and her blog was recommended by our Professional Practice tutor, Claire Baker, as an excellent way to promote your own business and it certainly seems to be working for Katy. She now has a new website so take a look.

Lynsey's hair piece
by Katy Howieson



Katy's bird cake toppers

Carrie's hair piece also by Katy

                                            


I already knew that our son was a bit of a romantic but when I read more details of the proposal I was very proud of him.

Sally captured them on the very spot where
they first danced together at Trevelyan
College over 10 years ago.

Variety is the Spice of Life

I received an e-mail today asking what I had been up to recently and this made me reflect on what life for me is like post CCAD.  I considered the last week and decided that things were pretty good with no two days the same. Here is a potted review of the last week.

Thursday.

After a few chores Paul and I joined our daughter Lynsey, grandchildren Martha and Lucas and the lovely Sally, who was the amazing photographer for our son's wedding, for a photoshoot at the fabulous victorian resort of Saltburn by the Sea. We were blessed with lovely weather and enjoyed watching her capture lots of informal shots of the two of them playing on the beach, exploring the pier and enjoying an ice cream. can't wait to see the full collection!
Friday.

Ben Nicholson's Birch Craig

Richard Hamilton's Interior1964-1965

Paul and I have pledged to try and make fridays our day of culture and so far so good. On the recommendation of Clare Baker we took ourselves off to Mima (http://www.visitmima.com/) to visit the Transmitter / Receiver  Arts Council touring exhibition of collage which was thought proving and we also enjoyed The Intimate Surface of Modernism exhibition of Ben Nicholson's work.
Saturday/Sunday.



Martha & Allannah (my Great, Great niece) on Saturday
when a large family group meet up for coffee in town

 Weekends are always busy family affairs, aswell as visiting an elderly friend in a care home, but I did manage to finish another cardigan for Martha and start another - but this time to my OWN design. Watch this space to see how it turns out.


Tricia Mc Kensie's pattern

 Monday.
This saw us back at one of our favourite toddler groups ABC
Tuesday.


Lucas grooming Harry the pony




Martha petting the baby guinea pig




Grandad & Lucas having
 fun with the pneumatic canon




Grandad & Martha with the tractors























We also have the kids on a Tuesday and try to have the whole day out somewhere different. This week we discovered Adventure Valley near Durham. It is an amazing farm full of fun things for kids of ALL ages and we managed to spend 5 hours there and still not try everything. Strongly recommend you pay them a visit.
http://www.adventurevalley.co.uk/
Wednesday.
After two busy, action packed days with the grandchildren wednesday is me time. This involves lunch in Yarm with my good friend Ann and often a nice cup of tea with Jackie. Bliss!
Oh yes and I did stretch my brain as i am coaching a student who has just started their A level Physics.
And here we are at the start of another week. I wonder what this will have in store.