today's firing

I unpacked the kiln a few hours ago and there are some great results.  I've been experimenting with glazes and trying to load each surface with texture, colour and different translucencies of glaze.  

JT came home with a beautiful bird in his hand - a baby chaffinch or goldfinch which had fallen from its nest.  He fed it some worm and then put it back, wishing he's left it there in the first place but it was in the road.

car booty

Went to a car boot near Twycross Zoo at the weekend and found this treasure! I am particularly fond of the Dunlop golf ball bag!

Been meaning to post a photo of this lovely card alternative Jo did us, it now sits above my mac near my paper owl!    

 

I have a kiln firing at the mo with a head in a saga, it looked so appealing all packed up. I'll be extra nervous when I open the kiln tomorrow to see what's what. 

Today I learnt that the cat on our wall is called Hilary and she likes walls. She doesn't like being picked up but is happier being held. 

P.S I am not a fan of John Prescott but I am a fan of his baggy face.

Ana Marie Pacheco

Looking at the teeth two posts back makes me think of  Ana Marie Pacheco's use of teeth.  Her work left a lasting impression on me as a whole when I saw it in Bath a few years ago.  The Victoria Gallery was transformed - her work was in a dark room within a room in which you were forced into darkness, round a corner and then confronted by  a group of slightly smaller than life size figures staring back at you.  

flat footed cat

We have spent a good part of this evening trying to get a mysterious flat footed cat down from our wall but our ladder falls short and the gloves act as a repellant.

Here are some bits and bobs. Andrew gave me this mask from his collection of office items, it's diddy and I love the colours!  Last Sunday we did a car boot sale and managed to not spend too much of our takings!  This lampshade was £3....and my cactus has recovered from it's move into a bigger pot, I'm not usually convinced by house plants but this is a quite beautiful thing! 

idle hands again again

teeth!

We now have a blog to chart our progress as we head towards the next idle hands show in December.  It is www.idlehandsartists.blogspot.com.  Dates and opening times have now been posted.

sketch book stuff

I've been doing some drawings and plannings.  I've been thinking about conversations and family trees, although today I have dropped the family and just made trees. 

Thinking how to represent conversations without using words is my puzzle at the moment. I read a great article on texting by David Crystal last night taken from his book the Txting: the gr8 db8.  The invention and playfulness of texting is fascinating.  I'm always perturbed by those that want to preserve the language as is when there is so much fun to be had with it.

Shards

Here are a couple of images of one of my heads from the 'Shards' installation which accompanied the Idea and Act Symposium.

Gwon Osang

I stumbled across some brilliant work today by Gwon Osang - he currently has work at Manchester Art Gallery, it made me want to run out of the building and make my way north!

I've been painting faces today, yesterday was spent photographing my work with Tas, great fun until the lense started pointing my way for a portrait.

We've just listened to Sundays  'Open Book' on radio 4 - repeated tomorrow.  John gets a mention for sending in a photo of all the things he's ever found in the pages of the second hand books he buys!

bubbles

I've been making speech bubbles today -  the lines of clay left on my board from cutting out the pieces made a great pattern.  I'm still recovering from the weekend where there was bottomless pimms so not much more to say today...

ain't quite the ticket

Took photos of my work last night for an application - messed around with the top pair in photoshop and they are looking fabulously baggy and moody! This one is called tiny boat.

Jo D has just sent me the photo of me and the chair.  I was sitting in the just bought chair waiting for John to buy an inner tube thinking I bet I'm going to see someone I know.  Then Jo turns up and she's got a camera!  When I showed John this photo last night he said I look like I aint' quite the ticket.

I took this photo a while ago and on the mantle piece is a picture of a real person fallen off of a drawn bike - an image I found and stuck in a frame without knowing anything about, it has fascinated me for several years.  And I have JUST found out the artist's name:  Robin Rhode <<<

nice things

Look at these special things... printed plant labels by Kim Jenkins - Lucky Bird. I ordered a couple of packs the other day and have gone back for more already!  Sunday was a day of calm and relaxation in a house with a fantastic array of old wallpaper.  Just got off the phone to Charlotte, great to catch up and compare notes on Hastings, talk about penguins of various colours etc etc. I've just had a look at her spot as artist of the month on the Brighton Art Fair site and her commission for High Tea of Highgate.

Bikes and shoes

talking on the phone and doodling always takes me back to shoes and heels - the head shoe combination is a new one on me though!

John tries to line me up with a biker's body!

paper and petals