Spring Flowers

The magnolia in the front garden is blooming and with Spring in the air I have been going flower mad. Some new flowers fairies have been blossoming in the studio ( below is a close up 

of the 4cm little sprigs .) I shall be bedding them down in little boxes and selling them for £8 each should anyone be interested but I shall be away until 27th April , so please don't contact me until then ! 
They are machine and hand embroidered using velvet and organza and the main flower is

is hand painted , bonded Jap silk.

 
I'm also framing some for the Brighton May Festival - is it really that time of year again ?! 

Following on is a sneak preview of the flower embroideries I've been excited about making. They are a mixture of re-cycled old tablecloths and chair backs ; machine embroidered back together with hand stitching on top . I do feel rather guilty cutting into needlework pieces that somebody once painstakingly worked on , but I am also rescuing them from the obscurity of a bin in Oxfam to live again on somebody's wall. Having said that , it is getting harder to find them as a lot of household linens don't seem to get as far as a charity shop floor as they get taken as rags.  This one  is the largest one , measuring in at 38 x 32 cms. What I particularly like doing is 'drawing' with the needle on the machine and it is also refreshing to work larger and freer after dealing with the fairies !

 

We also had a birthday in the family this week , so will finish up with these pink Bergenia

to keep the flower theme going ( but I really wanted to show off the rock cakes in the foreground !) 

Next post I shall be talking about my brand new studio that is to be erected whilst I'm away in Cornwall  in the corner of the garden . Brian and I shall be able to wave at one another

as he takes over the big studio and I will be happy to work in a bijoux box that I can make my own and listen to Radio 4 in, blissfully uninterrupted !

A Day Trip To London

I'm chuffed to say that two of my paintings have been selected for the Royal Water Colour Society Open Exhibition ( running at Bankside gallery, next to Tate Modern until 15th March ) and so a trip to London was called for last week . The painting below was one of them and it also had a red dot on it when I arrived (  a bit sad to let it go, as it is a favourite. ) Sorry the photos aren't brilliant - it was either a blinding flash on the glass or dull I'm afraid.     

Here it is in situ - the other photo was even worst so I've left it out ( though it was slightly annoying that they didn't hang them together. )

Flushed with success I headed off along the Thames to Borough Market and drank in all the wonderful smells and colours. These mushrooms were rather gorgeous but  daunting to cook .

Clutching some fruit and cheese I headed back home.

A colourful end to a colourful day.