DEARY ME MR BUMBLE BEE

I found a rather distressed Bumble Bee by our garden gate the other day, he was caught in a spiders web and seemed pretty drowsy and not that bothered (I have no idea how long he had been there) so after some photos I released him and he groggily buzzed away up the garden. Though you might like to see the photos, they could do with a little editing on photoshop.

SECRET GARDEN PHOTOSHOOT

I thought it was about time that I got some new imagery for the exam (which was yesterday- more on that later) so I headed out in the sun on Sunday with my two glamorous models, Claire and Phil. Once again, I had issues with them pulling faces- Claire is definitely the worst! I also took some photos of bunches of roses as templates for sewing around (but they aren't very exciting,just picture after picture of roses). Here are some of the photos- I took 200 in all and I only need about 10 for my final piece, so I had plenty to choose from. I had my first 5 hour exam day yesterday and completed 1 of the three pieces I will be doing in the exam so I am on schedule. I also managed to do the collaged background on the other 2 which I am quite pleased with, even if I didn't get around to tea staining and burning them. It's all OK though, I still have another 10 hours to get yet. I have plenty of time! On a slighter sadder note, I heard back from my last university yesterday, for Fine Art, and I was unsuccessful, so I will probably not be a Fine-Artist in the near future anyway. I have other very good offers through, for Art History and I am looking forward to studying this course. I was torn between the practical side of art and the historical, but someone else has made the decision for me, I wasn't forced to choose, which in many ways, is a good thing. I can focus now on my A Levels and getting the grades I need to get into the University I want. Sorry for the long post, but as you can see,there is a lot o my mind at the moment! Replying to my offers on UCAS tonight and Student Finance- I need to start to get myself organised!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD

You might be getting sick of the Lamb photos by now, but I'm sure you won't mind these! This lamb was born today (this morning really) in my aunts field and it genuinely is gorgeous. You can't tell from the photos but he was staggering around, just getting used to his wobbly legs. I love this time of year, perhaps even more than summer. I love it when the sun is out and the daffadils bow their heads in the breeze and the lambs jump in the fields. On days like today, I don't think I'd want to live anywhere else.

HERE'S THE DOOR...

As you may have noticed, a new header has arrived! I thought it was about time and I had a free on Friday and access to Photoshop, so I sat in the lovely afternoon sun and had a little fiddle. Some of you may recognise this as my Bernina experiment (it is) and I am a fan of it so much I thought it should be my header. Well done to mum's old Bernina- it has fame at last!

Back to today's post, I though it was about time that one of my favourite features in my room was shared- the back of my bedroom door. Not very exciting on it's own, but over the few years I have been collecting postcards, badges and other little bits and bods from the museums and art galleries I visit. In general, I don't buy something from every gallery or museum, only if I really like it and it's less than 50p for a postcard (it's card with a picture on it, it does not cost £1 to print). Some are of stately houses (Basildon and Lyme Park) and some are from holidays (Prague, Chateaux's of the Loire and so on). Quite a lot of larger postcards are from a workshop with Victor Sloan, but these will be replaced as I visit more and more places (the door's pretty full now).
Monet's Garden and Basildon Park- a personal favourite! Who wouldn't want that staircase in their own home? I suppose you would have to have a pretty big hall though.
An Andy Warhol in the Modern Art Gallery in Munich (the bird next it is mean to be upside down, the artist is Georg Baselitz, he's challenging the idea of how a painting should be presented.)
A napkin from the Willow Tearooms in Glasgow (unused obviously)
A few other bits and pieces from a trip to Munich and at the far end, Rembrandt from a holiday in Amsterdam. Hope you like it! I love the back of my door. Luckily I have an en-suite, so I am thinking of expanding my collection to cover the two doors (although that is unlikely to happen before I reach university).

THE LAMB CAM

The Lamb Cam is the new name for my camera (as for the next few months, taking photos of cute lambs will be it's primary purpose), as it was another sunny day I headed out early to snap these shots (I finished college at 11 after 1 lesson, I love Wednesdays) and managed to find one photogenic sheep and lamb. They just couldn't get enough of the camera! I was also really pleased to snap the photos of the flowers below, I am really pleased with them and they will be look even better after a bit of tweeking on the computer, maybe into black and white- so watch this space!

A SECRET GARDEN STORY

I want to try to bring the idea of the story back into my work (and am planning a photoshoot for this weekend so some lovely new imagery to work with), as I feel that the that is something I have lost over the course of the project. The Secret Garden is first and foremost a story about the effect of nature upon two lonely and spoilt children. The Garden brings them together and although my models are a little older than 10, I hope I still maintain the feeling of innocence and friendship. Even though the characters hold hands, I don't want my work to be seen as a romantic twist or interpretation of the story.These fab little roses are inspired by Linda Young, specifically her tags and cards, rather than her unique and adorable boxes. I focused on her work with paper and thread rather than fabric, although I do love the boxes (follow the link above or on the right).I have also run into a few minor problems on this piece, the back of the canvas being one- it does look good from the back as well, however the Jamone is wasting all my thread by knotting it up, if there are any sewing machine experts out there who can help I would lose some abvice! I think there is something wrong with the tension, but I'm sure what altering it would do and it seemed to have little effect when I had a go so on some scraps of fabric. As always, this piece is unfinished and another post will be on it's way to you soon once I have got around to finishing it!

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

I cannot speak for the rest of the UK, but up in t'North of England, we have had a glorious day! After a cup of tea after college, I header out on my bike with the Camera to catch a few shots. My main intention was to take photos of the little lambs that are appearing in the fields round and about, however at 5 o'clock, they were all lambed-out and were either asleep in the sun or running away from me. I did manage to get a few photos, but as some very cute lambs have just arrived in the field behind our house, I will be out tomorrow in a vain effort to get some photos that aren't of sheep fleeing! Hope you enjoy them anyway, they are still adorable!