My Friday photos

It was nice to see some spring blossom in Totnes on Friday. And I love this graffiti which I think looks a bit like a line having a dance!

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My studio

Some paper I've been printing on using some of my husbands green wood offcuts and a lino cut. Gold and white - a bit Christmassy now but what do you think?
Some paper I’ve been printing on using some of my husbands green wood offcuts and a lino cut. Gold and white – a bit Christmassy now but what do you think?

I’m ever so excited today as I’m making some mobiles for a shop in London – I’ll post more details later – and they’re asking for some lovely new colour ways. I took my camera out to my studio today to snap some of the plastic bottles I’ve been sorting out. I need some nice silvers, greys and dark black to contrast with them now. I’m going to have to do a trawl around my local hairdressers!

Lovely pastelly and warm pinks and yellow plastic bottles for a couple of mobiles going to London.
Lovely pastelly and warm pinks and yellow plastic bottles for a couple of mobiles going to London.

As my camera was out there I started snapping some of the things that are in progress / generally just lying around and here are some of the pictures I took. My studio is always so busy and full – and a real mess to anybody else! – that it’s nice to see little areas sectioned off by themselves on their own, not surrounded by everything else.

Some offcuts from making a drip-drop mobile... I love the shapes and colours all together
Some offcuts from making a drip-drop mobile… I love the shapes and colours all together
Some leaves and drip drop shapes for mobiles in progress...
Some leaves and drip drop shapes for mobiles in progress…
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Some beautiful wooden shapes which I snaffled from our kindling, brought home from my husbands workshop. Offcuts! Too beautiful to be burnt!

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Some shapes which all happened to land here - I think I'll glue them down like this
Some shapes which all happened to land here – I think I’ll glue them down like this
A collage I was working on the other day but decided I didn't like it - but then when I saw it today I decided it's not as bad as I thought!
A collage I was working on the other day but decided I didn’t like it – but then when I saw it today I decided it’s not as bad as I thought!

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Hmmm, collage bits!
Hmmm, collage bits waiting to be stuck down somewhere!
Some beautiful driftwood pieces and some shapes snaffled from our kindling bag which came from my husbands workshop - I love the shapes. colours and textures together
Some beautiful driftwood pieces and some shapes snaffled from our kindling bag which came from my husbands workshop – I love the shapes. colours and textures together
An order from my Etsy shop which I made this morning
An order from my Etsy shop which I made this morning
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Wire!
Some of my many painted cork characters which live by a window.
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Some of my drunken – looking dolls. Made from air-drying clay

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Symbiosis colouring book update…

 

 

Etsy shop bannerMy colouring book ‘Symbiosis’ is now available to buy from my Etsy shop for £12.50 plus P&P.

There are 16 A4 pages printed onto lovely quality smooth white paper. What a fabulous relaxing Christmas present to buy for someone! My first print run of 100 books is already running low so I’m feeling pretty proud.

Here are a few cropped images from inside for a sneaky peek.

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Betsy Walton

Betsy Walton 22Every time I come across an artist whose work really speaks to me and when I do I just want to tell everybody about it! Of course, art is something very personal and not everybody appreciates the same thing – thank goodness – so I don’t expect you all to share my love of Betsy Walton’s work.

Why do I like it so much? Well I LOVE her vibrant use of colour! I think also I see patterns and shapes in her work which I also like to use a lot, so it feels like we speak in the same ‘words’. I feel that her work is very personal – I can’t imagine it being accidentally identified as being made by anybody else. That to me is very important in my own work. A lot of art I see I just don’t ‘get’ – I have absolutely no idea of what the artist was thinking or feeling when they did it – but with Betsy’s work I feel like I understand what she was feeling at the time when she produced it. Actually that sounds very presumptious. Maybe what I mean is that her work makes me feel something. Or that it speaks to me. Art is open to the viewer’s own interpretation.

Anyway, enough of words. It’s better to see her actual images, otherwise she might as well have just written it all down instead of painted it!

Betsy Walton 12 Betsy Walton 5 Betsy Walton 18 Betsy Walton 20 Betsy Walton 19

Here is a link to her WEBSITE

 

 

What do YOU do for colour?!

Hello hello, long time no write!

I’ve been busy busy busy over the past couple of months spending every spare second I have drawing my first colouring in book!

I’m REALLY excited about having it finished in time for Christmas… a perfect present for anyone who has joined in the colouring in craze. Here’s a peek at part of the cover…

My new, exciting colouring in book!
My new, exciting colouring in book!

 

I really have to thank all my followers on Facebook who have prodded me into doing this. It all stemmed from my ‘doodle-a-day’ project which was inspired by the lovely Emily Kidson who I met earlier this year. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for over 20 years but never had the confidence to. I’ve been overwhelmed by the amazing positive response I’ve had to it so far – and I haven’t even picked it up from the printers yet!

Please email me on becky@thewellnowco.intarcs.com for pre-orders. They will also be listed on my Etsy shop (re-opening asap especially!). I am picking the first batch up from the printers this week but it’s already becoming clear that I need to order more!

Here is a link to my latest newsletter where you can find details of all the shows I am taking part in on the run up to Christmas as well as details of my new wrapping paper.

Say HELLO if you see me 🙂

 

 

Time… with wings…

So, time flies when you’re having fun?

Fun has certainly been had over the past year… add on exhaustion and a lot of tears (from everyone in our house!) and all that is a recipe for the fastest year in my life. My little girl will be a whole year old next week and I am getting a tiny little bit of time each week for a bit of non-baby related creativity.

I have started attempting to do a ‘doodle a day’… which is surprisingly harder to do than I thought! I will post some of the doodles I’ve done over the past couple of weeks very soon, but THIS is a picture of what my little bundle of fun has turned into: IMG_1376 (768x1024) (2)

My creative life!

Well, things have changed rather a lot since my last post way way back in May.

My latest creation is a very noisy one, also very waggly and squirmy and is so time consuming that she’s the only creation I have time for these days! Her name is Alba-Lily and she is an absolute delight. She was born on August 12th peacefully at home in a water pool and life will never be the same again!!!IMG_8998 (600x800)

 

Mixed media and wire workshop pictures

Over Easter this year we had a family of 5 staying with us – the weather turned nasty on the Sunday so what better way to spend the time than to run a wire and mixed media workshop?! We had been to the beach the day before and had collected up lots of goodies to use, which we tipped into big bowls in the middle of the table which everybody dipped into. Ages ranged from 7 to 50 and there were 7 of us altogether. The following pictures are what they made in under 2 hours – I’m pretty impressed by the variety, imagination and inventiveness!

Made by Ruby, aged 7, using wire, beach plastic, corks, bottle caps and found ribbon.
Made by Ruby, aged 7, using wire, beach plastic, corks, bottle caps and found ribbon.
Made by Amber. Made from wire, drift wood, plastic bits and bobs from the beach.
Made by Amber. Made from wire, drift wood, plastic bits and bobs from the beach.
Made by Meg, aged 12. Made from wire, corks, rusty washers from the road, plastic from the beach and other found bits and bobs.
Made by Meg, aged 12.
Made from wire, corks, rusty washers from the road, plastic from the beach and other found bits and bobs.
Made by me out of wire, fishing line from the beach and uncut glasses lenses from my local scrap store.
Made by me out of wire, fishing line from the beach and uncut glasses lenses from my local scrap store.
Made by Rob, out of plastic found on the beach and wire.
Made by Rob, out of plastic found on the beach and wire.
Made by Peter, aged 50, out of a piece of random carved wood and wire.
Made by Peter, aged 50, out of a piece of random carved wood and wire.

My new ‘Flying Eyes Lady’…

I’ve just finished this ‘Flying Eyes Lady’ which I started a few weeks ago and have been working on when I’ve had a free few minutes here and there. She’s made from iron wire, steel wire, a fishing line ‘scribble’ picked up from Wonwell Beach, fishing line from my own collection and some wonderful discarded uncut glasses lenses which I picked up at my local scrap store.

flying eye lady a flying eye lady b flying eye lady c flying eye lady h flying eye lady g flying eye lady f flying eye lady e flying eye lady d

Another wire & up-cycled objects workshop date

Exciting news – I have another date for a wire workshop, incorporating found and up-cycled objects.

This one will be at The Up-cycled Home at Mount Edgcumbe on Saturday 14th June from 10am – 4pm.

The cost will be £50 and this includes a delicious lunch. Tools and materials will be provided, but please bring your own ‘found objects’ – they could be anything ranging from a scrap of fabric from your childhood, some sentimental broken jewellery, flotsam and jetsum from your beach pickings. Let your imagination run free!

For more details, email me at becky@thewellnowco.intarcs.com