fungi sketchbook

I'm working on a sketchbook with the theme of mushrooms and fungi and these are a couple of the pages which I've completed so far. I may translate the whole thing into fabric eventually or possibly a hand-made book.

dead sunflower head

This is from a photo I took last year. I don't like sunflowers but I love dead sunflowers - they are so much more interesting and have a soft beauty that the live ones don't have.

Sketching again

I don't know why I don't make a pact with myself to sketch something at least once a day. I really love doing it and am sure practice will improve me. So I did two sketches today - one which was just a copy of a photograph and the other was my Valentine's Day present which, if I'd left it much longer, would not still be there! Yummy...

I've signed up for Danny Gregory's Sketchbook Skool which starts early April and am hopping from foot to foot with excitement. Hope I don't mess up!

Tree Bark Studies

I took some photos of interesting tree bark today for a stitching project:

Burgundy and Gold

It seems so long since I've posted anything at all but I've been working on my stitching experiments and have also started to weave a tapestry for an exhibition in March (unjuried or I wouldn't have tried for it!). Plus the usual butterflying around between dozens of different projects!

Retirement is coming up in a few months and there's another puppy to think about finding so Rosie has a companion. She's curled up alongside my chair here in my workroom as always.

Workspace

This is my absolutely unprofessional workspace:

The frame is warped. The orange at the bottom is cut up Sainsburys carrier bags and it's used to form a nice straight base. Above that is a row of twine and then it's ready to start weaving. The cartoon is clothes pegged to the warp and I have a selection of wools ready. I'll have to combine some of these to achieve the shades I'm looking for. The tub on the right holds my bobbins and beater. The frame has to sit on top of a couple of blocks of wood until the weaving gets higher, otherwise I'll be bent double trying to weave the bottom few inches.

No excuses not to start now. I registered my entry on the 22nd December so I'm committed. Here goes...

Ideas

I have nothing to show yet but am thinking about designs and colours and have some outline ideas. I've warped the Mirrix loom and woven in the base of plastic to keep the bottom firm and straight (at least that's the idea!). It's the day after Winter Solstice so I'm going to sign up for the exhibition online and then it's a case of sticking with it and keeping the Gemini part of me in line.