Pictures not words- teapot & flower

Pale & interesting

Necklace by Jorge Manilla at Klimt02


Ceramic lungs ashtray by Finding Cheska

As I was focussing on white things I thought I'd check Justine Smith's site to see what she was making these days. You'll probably all remember her lovely cut paper butterfly work from a few years ago. I hadn't realised she'd switched to using money to make paper sculptures dealing with issues like power and corruption.and these include intricate and beautiful flowers like this one...


Specimen 2 (Poppy) detail Chinese bank notes, 2005

Spotted, via Poppytalk, the gorgeous new ceramics of Jasna Sokolovic...


Jasna Sokolovic "It is time for a change" 2007

She also has ceramic jewellery on her new ETSY shop, She makes so many things I'd like to own like this wall tile duo, and this and this I really want one of the tiles in her online shop...


Jasna Sokolovic "Leave it all behind" 14x14cm

Given that my title is pale and interesting it's ironic that my skin, which is usually very pale, is now a too brown. Oops, perhaps I went a little heavy on my first application of the year of fake tan. That said, it's the skin friendly one that the lovely Miss P gave me and it looks great on my arms and legs. I should have diluted it with moisuriser for my face. On the positive side it makes my teeth look incredibly white!

I've been getting really down about not being able to walk Lucy properly. Poor dog, she has to go so slowly beside me, though she perks up when I find her good sticks. But things are looking up for her. MrP bought a new bike last week and I was getting all miz cause I haven't been well enough to ride mine for 2 years.

Then it dawned on me, for where I need to take her I actually wouldn't need to do much pedalling at all, it's pretty flat. So out came the quite squashed and rusty bike. MrP did some tyre fixing and I took the pliers to the squished bits and voila, working bike. It's akward while she is on the lead, but once she's off it I can cycle, gently, far further and faster than I could ever hope to walk (and makes it way easier to avoid the chatty folk that drain my energy).

11 may-12 june 5649

Pictures not words - green outside

My work - seed pods

For Julie ,one of my seed pods
(sorry about poor photo quality, it's scaled up from a tiny jpeg)


A3- pastel, paint, tea & coffee drawing, 1992

I drew 1000's of seed pods during my time studying at the herbarium in Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. It was only when working as a volunteer in the gardens years later that I found out how lucky I was to be allowed in there, apparently they just don't let people in to do that sort of thing. I can only image that the woman who gave me permission was bowled over by my obsessive enthusiasm for seeds and pods. Let's face it, most 21yr olds wouldn't choose to spend a month of their summer holidays in what is effectively a library of dead plants. But to me it was like finding a treasure chest, there were things in there that took my breath away (literally, some were a bit poisonous!) and I would have stayed longer but that was also the summer I headed to Canada on the college exchange.


Fused and heat coloured copper 1992

These are some copper pieces I made that were influenced by my summer drawings. It was also a point where I took my environmental concerns further and did all my Canadian work without using solder to join pieces or chemicals to colour them. I wanted to emulate the way that in nature heat joins metals together and colours them...

Tagged 7 things- Jade & Milla

I've been tagged by Milla of Made by Milla and Jade of Spectrescope (click their names to see their response to the 7 Things tag). I planned to blog about Jade in April and about Milla in May so this seems like the ideal opportunity to say a bit about them before listing my 7 things.

Jade Pegler of Spectrescope lives in Wollongong, Australia (coincidence - I nearly went there to do a residency after my degree). I strayed upon her blog by accident a few months ago and immediately fell in love with her work. She uses the kinds of papers that I love working with; creamy colours, clothing patterns, book pages, all intricately layered, folded, illustrated, made into books or sculpted. Paper heaven.


Jade Pegler, Crumpling & Small sculpture

Do you remember me getting excited about Origami Crumpling last year? Well she crumples in an organic, scultpural way that I far prefer to the very geometric perfection that most of the 'technical' crumplers were doing, and she photographs her pieces well. She's another person who's studio space I could spend hours on end exploring and never get bored.


Jade Pegler, work on paper


Jade Pegler, detail from 'The Mechanical Equitant'
See full piece and read more here

Camilla of Made by Milla is a seriously busy person, I've said a little about her before but I don't know if I had pics? The following three are my favourites...


Made by Milla, Self Portrait, Calico, paper, stitching


Made by Milla, St Werb's poster.


Made by Milla, Bluetit screenprint

Milla has her finger in so many pies I don't know how she keeps up with it all. Milla, you probably would say you don't keep up, but I reckon you're doing a pretty well (planning to send you some of my images to order badges in summer). She paints, sews, prints, curates, has an allotment AND she's studying. I'm tired just typing it all. Oh, and she's the only person I know who also likes Kimya Dawson, 'Hold My Hand' is one of the saddest but most powerful and beautifully sung songs ever.

Ok, it's getting late and I have to get this posted before I conk out so here goes. I have to reveal 7 things about myself and then tag 7 of you. The last tag I responded to was 6 odd things where I think I maybe did seem quite odd, so this time I've gone with some simpler things:

1. I'm 5ft 7inches tall and have UKsize 8 feet (Euro42)
2. If I feel sick I watch science fiction to distract my mind
3. I hate wool next to my skin, but tolerate merino for the warmth.
4. I like to lie in long grass in the sun and watch tiny insects going about their business.
5. I'm very shy, but once I feel at ease you can't shut me up.
6. I can't eat first thing in the morning, unless it's chocolate
7. I hate seeing food dribble on people's necks.

That Oasis add where the juice goes all over his face, eurgh, hate it. I freak out if anything sticky, like juice or jam gets on my neck. When I was about 14 I mentioned my dislike to my mum and she confessed that when I was a baby, and she was a first time mum, she didn't know that babies have folds in their skin and it was a few weeks (or more? I must ask again) before she realised I'd had food gathering in my neck crease and it had gone foosty and made my skin all horrible.

Now, since I was tagged twice, I thought I'd give you another 7, this time I'm theming it, 'things I never cease to be amazed or excited by, no matter how old I get'...
1. Seeing big blue dragonflies at a pond
2. Meeting foxes in the middle of the night
3. Watching November meteor showers
4. Playing on tree swings
5. Eating nutty chocolate
6. Finding a major bargain in thrift shops
7. Being listened to and believed

I forgot about tagging 7 of you. I'm so tired, I can't face double checking who's been tagged and who's not, can you tag yourselves and let me know in the comments? I do hope so. Got to get some sleep now. Have a great weekend.

Thinking Blogger + Vanessa Valencia

Oops, I accidentally pressed post TWICE while this was unfinished and dated last month (I'm so behind with my posts), sorry readers, my brain is like mush, can you hear it sloshing about? Here it is properly with the pictures and more up-to-date links added...


Vanessa Valencia - 'Super Cupcake, Bake Girl'
Acrylic on wood 8.5"x6"x1.75"

I was immensely surprised to discover last month that Vanessa Valencia of A Fanciful Twist (whose 'V' doesn't work on her keyboard!) nominated me for a 'Thinking Blogger Award'. I've not been doing much blog reading (but a little picture perusing) so I hadn't realised - sorry so late in my response Vanessa, and thank you, I feel really priveledged to be on your list. And don't think that I've put you on mine out of courtesy, you would have always have been on it.


Vanessa Valencia - 'Leaves will fall, fruit will ripen, time will tell'
Acrylic on wood 8.5"x6"x1.75"

I love how Vanessa's work is so distinctly her, I've seen people with a similar style, but Vanessa's are just so clearly by Vanessa. They remind of Pippi Longstocking. I VERY much wanted to be Pippi Longstocking when I was a kid. I totally identified with the mismatched clothing, long pigtails, affinity with animals and, of course, the fact that she wasn't like the other kids.

I just love the way Vanessa's images are so full of life and colour, and stories (and cakes!). It means her pictures can make you think just as much as her words can, which is great when I'm too tired to read blogs, I can skim though her images and get a burst of colour and an idea of what's happening in her life.


Vanessa Valencia - 'On a Certain day'
Acrylic on canvas 12"x12"x1.5"

The works above are all from Vanessa's most recent Thinking Blogger post (she gets lots of us thinking) where she is also announcing updates to her shop. Definitely worth a visit, though what I'd really like to to is visit her real gallery space in real life. It's one of those places that just oozes the personality of the person who makes it. I'd even more like to visit her house, she has the most fantastic collection of religious icons and the like. I bet I could spend hours, weeks, months in her house ooh-ing and ah-ing and taking photo's. I hope you are enjoying your trip Vanessa, and eating some green beans while you are away :0). Ok here's the Thinking Blogger response...

If you are nominated and decide to join in you should reveal the origininal source, say who nominated you (Vanessa), nominate 5 blogs which you read that really make you think and finally display the thinking blogger logo/button.

My 5 nominations are, in the order that I discovered them:
1. Anna Torborg - Twelve22
2. Alicia Paulson - Posie Gets Cozy
3. Lisa Solomon - Lisa's Musings
4. Vanessa Valencia - A Fanciful Twist
5a. Julie Avisar - Handmaid
5b. Anna Peach - The Golden Egret Studio (cheeky, but she makes me think most of all)

There are more, of course, of course, but these are the ones that post regularly and make me think so much they enter my dreams. And they have all positively influenced the way I live my daily life. They all have passion for what they do. They immerse themselves in things whether it be food, art, crafts, discovery, experimentation, friends, travel or just life. You ladies really have enriched my life in ways that you will probably never know, thank you.

Tomorrow I'll respond to the people who tagged me for the 7 things meme. (although bloglines readers will have already seen it, but without the pictures).

Pictures not words - green garden

World Environment Day

It's World Environment Day today.
I'll be marking the occasion by finally potting on my 1 courgette plant. 1, I know it's crazy, but I got a bit consumed by my veg last year, clearly the opposite of what ought to be happening. So this year I'm doing less of certain vegetables, but doing it properly instead of chasing my tail trying to keep everything growing. One courgette plant can produce a lot of courgettes so it's not like I'll be running short.

In lieu of the big green post I had planned (too tired today), here are some natural looking lovelies that caught my attention at the weekend. First up the Green Lotus Leaf collection Chintz & Company...



A lot of us are used to being creative with Kraft paper, but Molo Design have taken it to a higher level with their beautiful Paper Soft seating...

Organic Clothing UK

Hemp bag & hooded tops from Downbound


H&M (and several other Hight St. shops) are now selling organic cottons! Guilt free High St. shopping may be closer than I imagined. I've not seen what they look like yet, I'm guessing the range is limited just now. And I'd still shop with Howies for good quality items that will last.

I only discovered this after Helen at Living Gorgeously posted about the return of the maxi dress (with my legs this is a blessing from above). I commented that I was off to scour the internet for an organic one (she found one for me later that day, tip top service over on that blog y'know). Me being me, I got lost in links for all my fave organic clothes suppliers - and also found some knew ones PLUS... a new eco shop in Glasgow called Entrading. Hope I can visit this summer. They sell a pretty wide range of eco goods from paints and jewellery to electrical goods (inc. washing machines, fridges etc) to and clothing including items by Seasalt who have I have a summer clothes wishlist with.

I'm always confused about why it takes Scotland SO long to catch up with the US & Canada when it comes to this sort of thing. I used to LOVE shopping, or just simply hanging out, at P'lovers when I lived in Canada. When I went to get their link just now I saw that they have 5 stores now. How lovely, I hope they all smell as good as the one in Halifax. It was such a calming place to be, especially when the alternative was the flat we shared with a guy who said he was building a partition wall to so that my boyfriend and I would have our own room, but what he actually did was just hang a couple of sheets down the middle of the room.

It wasn't a big room so it didn't took a minute for his frequent near lethal curry farts to waft over and choke us (particularly after he silicon sealed the windows so they wouldn't open). And trust me when I tell you that was the very very very least of his horrible habits. You do not want to know what the others were but let's just say there was a reason why we stopped coming home to sleep there and just stayed in college all day and night. Oh the JOY of 24hr opening at college. That's something else we've yet to catch onto over here or has that changed now?

Jellyfish

I see the sea and the sea sees me.

I don't see the sea just now, so I've been needing to get my fix on Flickr instead, indulging once again in jellyfish. I am always astounded by them, they are so profoundly beautiful, so other-worldly. Nearly all the images shown are in aquariums as they are easy to take, but it is SO SO SO important to defend our oceans so that these amazing creatures, and all the other under water wonders, can be preserved. Our seas and oceans are under enormous threat from humans yet we have the power as individuals, as voters and as consumers to help turn that around. Also, see the end of this post for how your art can help. But first, the jellyfish!...


Portugese Man 'O War (i think)
originally uploaded by entertreynment


left pic originally uploaded by FlgCEH
right pic originally uploaded by rosswebsdale

My brother and I once swam in a lake somewhere in the East coast of America which was filled with 100's of 1000's of tiny see-through jellyfish the size of a 10p piece (or a quarter in US) a bit like these. They didn't sting, at least, not that we noticed, and it was better than being out of the water where the biting flies were.

You Tube has a nice clip of a mass of jellies floating about, though these are much chunkier, denser, more complex jellies and there are far fewer of them - but they are in dreamy green water. I noticed lot of the You Tube jellyfish clips have innapropriate music with them but I did find one that worked, at least for me it did- large floaty see-through jellies wafting through blue water like ghosts with Enya singing Carribean Blue, very fitting. I like Enya, not the hits so much, but the other stuff. The ethereal ones.




both shots originally uploaded by mafic

Now I've got Enya in my head. I just found one of my favourite Enya tracks Exile on You Tube and noticed for the 1st time that Enya looks a bit like Ulla. Actually the Carribean Blue video (see here) is very 'Ulla'. My favourite track, usually, is 'Evening Falls' (lyrics here, short Last FM soundclip here and full track with video on here). It really reminds of how disconnected I felt when I was living with my crazy Aunt, but in my own house.

So strange to have your home, your things, your pets and your neighbourhood right there but to feel like you are in a strange and horrible place where nothing is safe, everything familar has been transformed into something threatening. You remember everything as it was, but it's not like that anymore (and never was again). I got through it by really going into myself, it was like there was an out of focus film between me and the life I used to have, but if I tried to have any of that old life she would try and destroy it. So I withdrew so that she couldn't identify anything else to attack.


originally uploaded by itsray


Portugese Man 'O War tentacles in a jar
originally uploaded by mastergeorge

That Enya song really reminds me of that feeling. I think I would have gone crazy if I hadn't withdrawn and become a 'Stepford Niece'. Not that it made much difference, my family seemed to think I was pretty crazy anyway. That was the hardest part of all. Escaping her to visit them in LA during holidays only to find that they saw me as being like her, the enemy. After that I think I pretty much gave up realising there wasn't anywhere where it was ok to just be me.

We all get on ok now but I have never felt part of my family since then. Not that I ever felt like I fitted in anyway, but I at least felt like my Dad used to understand me. But after living with his sister he never looked at me the same way, I was like tainted goods, tainted with her craziness. It doesn't help that I look a bit like her - which is why I hate my cheekbones even though people keep telling me cheekbones are great.


originally uploaded by kasiaeryn


originally uploaded by seancadzow

That's why I love blogging, you lot seem willing to let me be myself, all the sides of myself. I can do a post that starts off with me being all happy about jellyfish and then unexpectedly (I never saw this coming) slip into some bad memory, but I know you'll forgive me for it and that I'll come out of it feeling fresh and posting about my joy in what is around me, like today's freshly opened peonies (photo soon).

Blimey. What a mini journey. I just looked at where I started this post, I see the sea and the sea sees me. That pretty much sums up my love of the sea. I feel at home there (mermaid wannabe) and when I stand on a quiet beach with the wind tangling my hair into thousands of tiny knots and my eyelashes building up a layer of salty air I do feel like finally some'thing' can see the real me.


originally uploaded by kyoten


originally uploaded by fiveholer
clearly not jellyfish but it's so very very 'me'

I never show you my 'serious' artwork. but a lot of it is work around that stuff. About not being seen, about people projecting ideas of what they think you are onto you but not actually seeing you at all. About the body being like a seed, all full of potential, like a shell with the inside often very different from what you see on the outside. I'm very interested in symbiotic realtionships and how amazing they can be and you see a lot of that happening in the ocean, another reason why I'm drawn to the water. There's a LOT of symbiosis in the oceans.

See the amazing jellyfish sculptural window display at Magic Pony, Toronto here.
Jellyfish street lighting here.
Cute painting of a jellyfish by Christel Weixelman.

And on the subject of art - Greenpeace are asking for your ocean inspired art which could potentially shown in their art4oceans gallery. Find out more here.