Awel - An Autumn Robin Doll

 This is Awel, it is pronounced Ah-Well like a sigh and means gentle breeze in Welsh.  She is, as you can tell an Autumn Robin Doll.  Her dress is a lovely Lewis and Irene fabric called 'A Walk in the Glen' and this particular colourway is called simply 'cream'.  There are two other colourways on grey with purple heather and on fawn with lavender heather.

To enhance the Autumn feel to her I have added orange tones to her embroidery and I am very happy with the pattern of her plumage.  The pleasure I get from stitching these little birds is wonderful and if I do say so myself the tiny size makes them very appealing.  I definitely prefer the self coloured cloth, which in this case is a beautiful Oakshott nutmeg brown, to painted plumage as it has an overall better finish and is much easier to embroider.

Overall I think she is both delicate and pretty, making a happy addition to my patterns.  I am about to start a Winter Robin before beginning one or two Christmas birds.  I am making all my Christmas presents this year so I will have to start soon.  I hope you enjoy Awel and she brings some Autumn cheer to your day.

Tuesday Talent - Penny Lever Green

 Penny Lever Green is a British textile artist working with thread and fabric to create stitched pictures.  The provenance of both her thread and fabric is important to her and informs her practice.  For example on her website, 'www.pennylevergreen.co.uk' she mentions using a collection of linen family owned napkins to make a cot quilt or a 1940's child's handkerchief to make a piece about nursery rhymes.

Penny makes images that are both subtle and thought provoking.  She makes more that just birds, I happen to like her birds best but she works all kind of ideas into gentle images with quite powerful thoughts behind them.  For example at the Touchstone Gallery in Rochdale she showed a collection of work called Unintended Consequences - looking at the results of indiscriminate collecting of birds eggs by Victorian collectors and the results to the environment of invasive plant species.  That was back in 2013 and I have followed her work ever since.

Have a peep at her website, there are links there to her blog, which is current and enjoy a thoughtful artist working in a considered manner.

Autumn in Astley Village

I can feel it in the air, Autumn is well on the way. Darker, colder nights now and the leaves have a golden orange edge to them.  When ever the change happens, Spring to Summer or Summer to Autumn I am always ready for it and enjoy it.

This little sampler is my welcome to Autumn, pumpkin lattes and everything orange.  I've got all the apples in and bottled the damsons.  Very happily I have been busy with commissions this last few weeks and have not been able to share any new dolls.  So I had a morning of canvas work to celebrate the first day of Autumn, it was very soothing.  But back to work, I am hoping to have an Autumn Robin to share with you soon and then it is time to start all those Christmas requests!  My best wishes for the first day of Autumn.

Chorley Cakes - a favourite autumn bake

Tuesday Talent - Sally Nencini

 Sally Nencini is an Irish lass now living and working in Norwich.  She has an MA in Fashion from the Royal College of Art and has worked for such names as M&S and Levi.

Her impressive training shows in these lovely machine knitted birds and cushions.  Sally makes all kinds of machine knitted toys, cushions, scarves and blankets.  Her designs are complex and interesting with a quality hand finish.  She also embroiders, upholsters and is interested in vintage toys.  She works in lambswool and I love her colour palette, particularly liking the Land and Sea Scarves.

Have a peep at her on her Etsy shop to truly get a flavour of what she does - the shop name is 'Sally Nencini'.  She also has a growing presence on Pinterest and there you can see some of her past work.  I really admire this lady's work and loving all things birdie this little fellow is very tempting.

A Grand Day Out - Ilkley in Yorkshire

We have had a glorious day out in the little town of Ilkley in Yorkshire.  For the middle of September it was such good weather and that made the day even more special for a trip with my mum and my daughter.

Naturally we had an early brunch at the wonderful Betty's Tea Room - followed by afternoon tea about four hours later!  In this part of the world you find Betty's family of tea rooms, Ilkley, York, Harrogate and Northallerton have one.  Silver tea pots, sumptuous cakes & pastries and waitresses in high necked blouses with white aprons is all part of the experience.  It is not a performance and you find just as many locals in there as tourists but it is a very gentile way to have a cup of tea.  If you get to this neck of the woods try one it is worth it.  Ilkley is not a clone town, there are plenty of speciality shops to be found.  The book shop is a favourite, as is a new discovery Covet that sells all kinds of vintage and bespoke finds.  Parking is easy and the atmosphere is great for a gentle day in the Yorkshire Dales.

If you wait for a couple of weeks Ilkley's own Literature Festival is on for a fortnight from the 30th of September.  It attracts such people as Carol Ann Duffy and Grumbling at Large with Margaret Drabble.  There are workshops and poetry prizes with all kinds of interesting events, for more details check out the website at  http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk. The children's book trail through the town sounds like great fun, it should be a packed few weeks.  We fancy Mad Women in the Attic at St Margaret's Hall, part of the Beyond Jane Eyre Festival Strand - I always felt sorry for Mrs Rochester and then I read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and could never approach Jane Eyre the same way.  I'm rambling but the festival sounds like it could be a lot of fun with extra cake!
 

Tuesday Talent - Rebekah McMullen

 Rebekah McMullen makes dolls with the best attitude.  She is a London based lass that trades as Forgotten Stitches from Peckham.

Her dolls explore the fashion and lifestyles of bygone days.  Her glamorous girls look you straight in the eye.  She uses vintage cloths and threads to sew, bead or applique her beautiful period outfits.  All with a very high hand finish.  What's more she is quite happy to make you your own custom starlet.

I admire this lady's work very much and you can see more of her dolls at her Etsy shop at  www.etsy.com/uk/people/forgottenstitches or at her website at  www.forgottenstitches.com.  Take the time to have a look because you will find not just dolls but all kinds of  pieces looking back at golden days and the style of yesterday, Theses girls have such sass you can't help but smile.

Tuesday Talent - Zack Mclaughlin

I have to share a rare talent, this chap I just found while I was wandering around Etsy and his work is very good.

His truly lifelike birds are made from paper and wood. The detail is just breath taking.  I know very little about him only that he is a British lad working in London but is gathering a world wide following.

His Etsy shop has all kinds of goodies from these hand crafted pieces to do it your self kits and can be found at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ZackMclaughlin, there is also a new webpage at www.paperandwood.co.uk.  In both these sites you will be able to see more of this charming work.  It really does look like he is holding a kingfisher in his hand.

 As well as these paper and wood birds he carves wood and works in wire. A little bird has just told me this multi talented artist also illustrates children's books.  A real all rounder. Have a peep and enjoy.

A Grand Day Out - The Wit of Stitch

Lou Gardiner at Work

We have just had an amazing day wandering round North Wales.  We started off at Wrexham where currently Ceramic Wales is on.  This is a show of current ceramists based in Wales.  The exhibition is staged at the Art and Design Department at North Wales University.  It is a free show and will be on until 5.00pm tomorrow, Sunday 4th September.  If you can make it it is a great showcase of talent and worth an hour of any ones time.

Our second stop was at Ruthin Craft Centre, which is currently showing The Wit of Stitch.  This is not just about humour but about observations of contemporary life and the heritage of stitch.  The artists featured include Louise Gardiner whose humorous characters come alive in colour and stitch, Karen Nicol - all I can say is WOW! and Susie Vickory whose humour and craftsmanship impress in equal measure.  This is an excellent exhibition and well worth a visit, it runs until the 25th of September.

Showing in gallery two and three is a solo exhibition by Julie Griffiths Jones entitled A Room within a Room.  This exhibition shows such delicate work in wire and a collection of enamel onto metal plate all around the theme of folk art objects.  Very lovely and sits well with the main exhibition. Unbelievably Ruthin Crafts Centre is still free to visit and the quality of the exhibitions that they stage is so high, it really is worth a visit and the cafe does a very nice flapjack now with a decent cup of coffee.  

A Panel by Susie Vickery

Lou Gardiner with One of Her Amazing Panels