...to http://thegiftshed.wordpress.com

I got tired of having different blogs for different things, so everything is now on one single blog. I hope to see you there!

Well, this was a very unusual piece of inspiration! The envelope contained two cords (or dreadlocks) from a komondor - kindly sent to me by some friends who live in the Orkneys and keep two of these amazing dogs.


They gave me the impetus to try felting. I knitted a sheet of fabric using 100% pure wool, and then wet-felted it in the washing machine to produce a sheet of felted fabric. I also braided some cord using the same wool, which was felted at the same time. The result was an incredibly tactile notebook.

This inspiration turned out to be a rather pretty metal bead sent to me by Becky. I loved the pattern on it, but I'm not too keen on yellow - so I decided to use the shapes but change the colours.




I created a small painting, gouache and acrylic on canvas.

A very special recipe book, commissioned as a wedding gift. The recipes were supplied by the colleagues of the bride, and are all tried-and-tested family favourites. I was giving complete freedom in the design, and as the bride is a lover of fairy tales I decided to produce it in the style of an old-fashioned story book. Each recipe begins with an illustrated capital letter, and the text is handwritten throughout in an evocative style of script. The book features three original illustrations of ingredients.

As promised I've made a second, final, version of this piece. I've used a proper canvas this time, and added torn strips of paper to the top and bottom (on which the text is scrawled). I've also intensified the colour of the eye to try and make it 'pop' a bit more.


EDITED TO ADD:

I seem to have lost the original blog post for this piece. It was inspired by a poem which was sent to me by a lovely woman called Claire:

NORTH OF COVENTRY
A curse be upon you

May you find yourself
trapped
in a Virgin Pendolino toilet -
the 'unlock' and 'alert driver' buttons
desecrated by my own hands.

May you shudder your way to
Bournemouth
and be assaulted by The South.
We are coming for you, with
southern gags,
correctly punctuated and pronounced.

May your excuses prove obsolete,
and your protests gagged out as
Southern electricity is passed
through your body until you are
electric.

May you awaken and love me.
May you awaken and love me again.

The overwhelming feeling from this was obsessive love... and so I created this piece (which could be hung on a wall, or placed on a shelf - who knows!).

A birthday commission.

Commissioned as a birthday present for a film buff. Features the recipient's favourite film still from a Jim Jarmusch film.