A wise old owl at the exhibition.

                                                   'A wise old owl lived in an oak
                                                   The more he saw the less he spoke,

Sharon's horned owl

The less he spoke the more he heard,

                                                               Why can't we all be
                                                               Like that wise old bird?'
                                        ...............................................................................

     
                 

Exhibition room 

    Isn't it sad?  Everyone's gone home.

Grayson Perry discusses craft and art

Is it Art or is it Craft? When a painting turned up for our exhibition it got us wondering. We weren't sure.

I turned to Google to see if anyone could throw light on the subject. Grayson Perry really doesn't seem to know either but I stuck with it and found him amusing.


 

 We at the Harmony Hill 'Craft' Group just think ANYTHING GOES!!

There's light at the end of the tunnel. 'A Pocketful of Dreams'.

It's exhibition time for our craft group and yesterday we were setting it up ready for opening next Tuesday.
It's not easy  ----  and this one seemed particularly awkward to me.

               


                                                                   Island Arts Centre.

                                                My cat on a bicycle is waiting it's turn.

                                           

                                     Displaying the postcards......this year's group activity.

                                       .... and the little golfing man Elizabeth made here

for her beautiful doll .....can you spot him?

  

Imena

                     
                    Not knowing the meaning of the name, Imena, I came home and looked it up.
                 
                                                                          DREAMER.

                                                    Of course.  She's got a pocketful of dreams.

                                   Exhibition is up.   Now I can see light at the end of the tunnel.      
           

Finishing off...

I am always leaving the fiddly bits to the end as I don't like finishing off. When I was making Father bird I could see him with a knapsack tucked under his wing. I've re-cycled a tyvek seed pod and changed it into a natural looking knapsack. It's filled it with a mix of PVA glue and seed. After all, a bird family has to eat!

seed pod knapsack

Father bird

PVA and bird seed








When I made these dolls I wasn't thinking about standing them up, or that I would be putting them into the exhibition. Hindsight is a great thing! It would have been so much easier to put stands into the bodies of the dolls when I was stitching them together. My handy man husband has made little stands for them now and I've glued them to their bodies,  under their clothes. They are a bit wobbly but I think they'll do.

'Shall We Dance'

                          I'm going to attach these two together now but there's a look in the eyes of that man doll like he's begging me not to!      

Annual Exhibition 2012.

Last year I was having a bit of a rant, you can read it here.

The advertising for our 2011 exhibition was a paltry few lines in the IAC's Seasons Programme.

We were annoyed because we felt other exhibitors were getting better coverage than us.

We are a local group who, every year, put on a good and varied exhibition of craft that consistently brings at least 300 people through the doors of the IAC. 

Our group decided to do something about it!

Yvonne, in particular,worked hard at this, writing a letter and chatting to the Centre staff and consequently we were asked to bring in some of our work and have it photographed.

This year advertising seems to have changed and I picked up this leaflet for May/June when I went to my group yesterday.

This is a great improvement and nice for some of our ladies to have their work pictured.



Thanks to Yvonne and the IAC.



At the moment I'm working on this for the exhibition. It's a sign for the front of the 'cat on the bicycle.'





I've machine embroidered on pelmet vilene, added a cord to give it a raised edge, and backed it with felt.
Then I added some paint and metallic 'rub ons' and used my heat tool to pierce the holes. I wrapped a wire to hang it on the bike.  In other words, Mixed Media!
It's turned out o.k. but, as usual, not exactly how you would like it. I hope it is clear to people what it says.






 Not long to go now before this cat picks up it's passengers and they set off for their 'Dream Destination'.



Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made too!

Postcard from Hampton Court Palace.

Finished at last!


You can read a bit about how long it's taken me here!


I've painted a piece of Pelmet Vilene with acrylics, mounted my embroidery onto it and satin stitched around. It's not exactly square but it'll have to do.

Count the knots!

Just plain weird!

When I was in Donegal I picked some gorse petals to try some egg dyeing. I wanted a coloured egg to go with one of the birds I'm making.
I hard- boiled the eggs along with the gorse but didn't have much success. I probably needed a whole lot more gorse.


So I boiled an egg with red food colouring. I liked the result and painted on spots with a Lumiere metallic paint. I then gave it a coat of varnish.

I like this egg but it's too big for my bird so now I'm going to try a smaller egg.



Mother bird is patiently waiting for her egg.

I'm going to tuck the egg under her feathers.

It was Mother's day today and my son gave me the ' little birds' book from the Design Collective that my friend Sharon had shown me.

Sharon is making the owls in this book and they are gorgeous.

The girl who compiled this book says she likes projects that are 'beautiful and sweet' and that she's seen her share of the odd, irregular (and just plain weird).

Well she ain't seen nothin' yet!!

Father bird, almost finished but I don't like his collar. It's coming off. And I think he needs a knapsack.

Then there's a nest to make and a suitcase and I'm thinking I might make a mouse, or a rat..........

Weird or what?

Castle Espie Flyer.

Just need the passengers now!

Postcard from Hampton Court Palace.

February already and it's time to start thinking about the Harmony Hill Craft Group exhibition, because before you know it, it will be May and I'll be running about wondering what to put into the show.

This years theme is 'A Pocketful of Dreams.'
If only it was as easy as this...more like 3 steps forward and 10 back when you're stitching.



As a group activity we are all making a postcard so I've been working on that. This is where my postcard is from.

Thinking about the 'dream theme' I sometimes think I would have liked to have been an apprentice at the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court. It must have been amazing to have had a part in making this dress.
So I thought, for my postcard, I would make a little knot garden and it's already taken quite a while. Laura, from my group, lent me a stitching tool to speed things up!

This is a Russian Punch and I've been using it to make the hedging around the edge of the garden.

It is most definitely 3 steps forward and 10 back. It's very frustrating but I like the effect.

Laura also gave me an old book, 'The Embroiderer's Garden' by Thomasina Beck, and in it I found the plans of the gardens at Hampton Court.

Look at all the knots!

Now how to make it into a postcard? Why do I give myself all this work?!