Alice Fox Lost and Found

Today was the first day of the Summer School at Art Van Go.

This year Alice Fox will be leading 4 wonderful days of Eco Printing, Dyeing and Stitch and I am one of the lucky ones who managed to get a place on this great workshop.

I love dyeing with rust and natural materials and Alice's work in this field has a delicacy and depth of feeling that is breathtaking. When one of my bestest friends told me she had put my name on the list for 'Lost and Found' with Alice I was so thrilled.

We had to take along a collection of found objects to add to our work. I took some beautiful sea washed shells which have the most subtle variations of greys, blues, pinks and creamy white. They are so matte with little hints of pearly shell showing through. Others are really pitted and textured. So very beautiful.

We also had to take rusty things with us. These were for  making  prints and marks onto paper and fabric. There is a kind of magic that happens when time and chemistry combine to make Art! 

I took these huge rusty nails!

They are about 6 inches long and came from a proper old fashioned hardware shop. They were found in the back of the store room where they had been for 3 generations of the family owners. They were so amused that I wanted rusty nails and were quite happy to see them go I think. I was so happy to have them.

I will show you tomorrow what we did today. It was so lovely, so exciting and a little bit magic.

Happy New Year

Another year has flown by and we are all poised at the start of 2015 wondering what this year has waiting for us.  For those of us with worries and health issues it may have been quite good to wave goodbye to 2014 and to look forward with hope to a new year.

It can be quite scary not knowing what challenges are ahead but it also feels like a fresh page is waiting to be decorated with the colours of life. Sometimes those unexpected events can also show us how blessed we are and may lead to exciting changes that we wouldn't have been brave enough to make for ourselves.

I wish you a New Year that soars to new heights of happiness, hope, good health and good fortune. I wish you exciting adventures and the comfort of knowing how priceless it is to have wonderful family and friends.

This little New Year Dove is painted with white gesso onto a background of black gesso and gold acrylic paint. The gesso was straight out of the pot and painted in directional strokes for the feathers and swirls for the background which gives it lots of texture. If you have a moment have a little play with making textures with gesso and stuff you have lying around like plastic cutlery, wine corks, cardboard rolls, or a cocktail stick. It is a great way to prepare a new sketchbook and cover your blank pages in readiness for the colours of a new year of art. xx