Explorations.......

The last few weeks are full of preparation for the Christmas Emporium on Sat 28th November.
But still some experiments and exploration happen in the studio...whether with paint, textile or print.....

abstracts and invitation!

I've been working on some painted abstracts lately and am loving the process and the results....they are a mixture of painting very quickly and then layering paint, stencils, hand carved stamps and pan pastel.

I'm thinking of doing a step by step for the blog...if you'd be interested , let me know and I'll make some more!

This montage of abstracts are all about 4x4inches....

Also an invitation to those of you who are nearby to the third Grand Christmas Emporium on Saturday 28th November.

Eight talented artists and craftspeople and their gorgeous Christmas gifts at my house, along with the Emporium Cafe in the kitchen with home made cakes, coffee and tea for Maggie Centre in Newcastle.....come along, we'd love to see you....

Art holiday in Morocco.......

'Creative Impressions of Morocco'

Holiday with a difference to Taroudant in Morocco.......

La Maison Anglaise is an eco guest house, supporting many projects in the area...bees, argan oil, embroidery and more!

Lots of creative holidays happen here and I am facilitating an arts workshop...making a beautiful travel journal, collecting images and ephemera from the wonderful gardens to the coulourful souks...

More information can be found at 

www.special-interest-holidays-with-heart.co.uk

or by e mailing me

jq@quinnjacqueline.co.uk

or

Jane bayley, the house owner on
jane@holidays-with-heart.co.uk

Little folded books.......

 Little folded books made from hand painted papers........

Experiments.......

Since May I have been hobbling about my gammy knee and it has knocked me out of kilter!

So...just getting back on some kind of track means,well for me,experimenting....no real direction at the moment in the studio.

Last week I was printmaking..tight and precise, though messy. 

This week...painting, oils yesterday, oil pastels the day before and today...acrylics.

I have no idea where this is all leading, but am happy to be pottering and having the sun streaming in through the window of my studio.

Here are the results......

I made this little grid with an app called Diptic...must be the easiest app in the world to use.

I hope that you can enjoy the sun when it makes an appearance....

saying goodbye.......its week 52!

Saying goodbye to my 'Be Still 52' friends......we may not be meeting on the photography dance floor but hope that we stay in touch over the ether.....

I will miss my weekly prompt from Kim....sometimes Ive loved it and sometimes its been a slog, but Ive learned a lot about composition and enjoyed using my camera more.

These strawberries in a wee crate were on sale this morning at the fruit shop and I couldn't resist them.....so had to use them in the shot.

Off to make strawberry smoothies, Eaton Mess, strawberry shortcake......:-)

Bloom and grow......

On another note, I was in the garden yesterday in the long lost summer sun!

Here are the results.......Im not a big watercolourist, but loved the freedom of painting these pieces.....off to make more...while the sun shines.

Thinking greetings cards......

movement penultimate shot.....

Penultimate shot of  Kim Klassen workshop 'Be Still 52'.

Movement....tumbling feathers......

Messy.......

Week 50 of 'Be Still 52'......

Prompt is 'messy' .......it feels counter intuitive to make a mess to make a photograph ....... !

Took a couple of shots of some embroidery that I'm finishing and added a couple of pre sets from my i pad.

stillness........

Practicing stillness........

tea and coins.....

Today's prompt...coffee and coins...

I have been working on some pieces today...colour and collage.

Made blackcurrant tea and found these coins that I picked up on our trip to Cape Cod last year at a flea market. Apparently they are coins that were used on buses  years ago.

Luckily I didn't spill the tea---though no one would have noticed on these pieces!

container......

Wow, have I taken a dive!

Retired and tore a ligament in my knee almost at the same hour!

Talk about slowing down. Im almost at a snails pace right now, with surgery on the horizon.

For a couple of weeks, I was discombobulated and frustrated. 

Now Im just discombobulated, with a dose of low mood! 

Such plans.....London to see the Alexander Mc Queen exhibition, meeting friends for coffees and lunches and some more useful stuff like helping out at the local food bank. Nada! 

(I heard that the Mc Queen exhibition is highly misogynistic ..... anyone out there seen it to confirm/deny?).

Feeling pretty lifeless but got my head around this weeks Kim Klassen prompt, which was about using different containers.

Grabbed some two-lips, (granddaughter speak) and a rather nice, but useless artists box that I bought a while ago as I thought it was a bargain.....it wasnt!

Made the mistake of not spotting the pollen.....

Anyway, week 47 of 52. Im no stiller than I was this time last year, but Im slower!

Here are my results.....how did you get on with it?

typography.....

caught up with this weeks 'typography' prompt......

my lovely wooden letterpress........

nature table......

OK this last weeks prompt!

Im behind.......

Some of my feather collection in the sunshine.....

turkish map fold.....or hungarian......or moroccan?

I learned this Turkish map fold from www.greenchairpress.com blog and I love it!

Though there is some controversy about whether its a Turkish or a Hungarian map fold...I'm calling it a Moroccan map fold, because I'm going to be teaching an art retreat in Morocco next April and I'm going to teach participants how to make fabulous papers, tassels and the famous Moroccan map fold!

More of that in a later post......this one is headed off to America........

pastels.....

Kim Klassen prompt this week...pastels for spring.

Bolt of raw silk, glass plates, embroidery threads, an Easter card......

There is sun today.......

Rainbows and retirement......

Week 42 of the Kim Klassen 'Be Still 52' workshop.....

10 weeks left to go......10 shots..... my photography has improved, I look at ways of taking shots and what might work in different ways.....I've developed a kind of style.....I wish it was linens and French Grey.....its not!

I closed my psychotherapy practice this week after 44 years of working as a social worker and then a therapist....I know!

Im feeling a bit undone sometimes.....quite a bit relieved sometimes......a bit sad sometimes.....feel that I should have spent my time drinking Proseco rather than wondering what hit me!

I finished a couple of projects in the studio and had a big tidy up.....these cards and words were left overs from a 52 card, weekly word set.......

The prompt is about using a crate....I used a wooden box on my old studio stool.

Although its freezing here today the sun was streaming into my studio and I ran to collect some crystals to reflect the light....and then there was a rainbow in my room.

Retirement and rainbows......

Still making.......

So, this weeks prompt on Kim Klassen 'Be Still 52' workshop is 'Make' again this week....long may this last, as I'm always making!

This week more making of 'Little Mouse', of which there will be more coming up to publishing.

Also on my work table are the Morocco themed pieces, some of which have morphed into artists books.

I'm going to be teaching a weeks workshop in Morocco next April, at Maison Anglaise in Taurodant ........a whole year to work on what Im going to teach!

I took these shots on my west facing table this afternoon. It may have been the first day of spring here in north UK. 

I walked on a cold, blue, hazy beach this morning, three enormous white swans flew out of the sea mist and honked their way south.

Here are my shots of handpainted papers and folded books.....which give a bit of an optical illusion effect.......