Yellow leaves and a spot of mudlarking

 

Yesterday Mr. Millicent Crow and I were standing in the rain at Pt Chev beach cackling like a couple of hyenas.  We'd walked to the beach to gather seaweed for me to draw and as I was pouncing on new exciting bits to add to my collection I realised my hands were already full of rosehips I'd picked up on the way (also for drawing).  Too many treasures!  Pretty much alone on the beach, getting soaked through, it suddenly seemed to be a pretty eccentric way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  My slightly obsessive treasure collecting has led me to come home with pockets full of yellow leaves lately and I've finally painted them into a yellow leaf sampler to go with this one and this one.  Maybe a seaweed painting will be next on the agenda?

Swiss cheese and yellow leaves

 Most winters I seem to get around to doing some knitting just as it's starting to get warm again, and this week I've been making a swiss cheese scarf.  It's a bit wonky, but it's going to be turned into a cowl, so hopefully some of the wonkiness will be hidden in folds.  Very importantly, it's helping me stay awake through TV shows and movies; I have a bad habit of getting too relaxed and falling asleep halfway through, no matter how suspenseful the show!  And it matches these yellow leaves I've been hoarding - they're going to become a painting like this one and this one. 

Hopefully I'll get the scarf and the leaf painting finished before Spring gets here!

This little collection

 ...is what I pulled out of my pockets after my evening walk around Western Springs last night.  I've been collecting a whole lot of red leaves lately, I'm hoping to do a drawing of them soon.

I had to ward off a very angry swan to pick that feather up off the ground!

My creative space: willow pattern

 Today in my creative space I've been printing up a storm.  I just got a whole lot of lovely sturdy linen cheaply because it was a bit water damaged and I've been trying out some blue ink on it. 

The colours reminded me of willow pattern.

 I'll probably sew it up into some more pouches - I've been thinking about making myself a screen printed obi-style belt too - using the same pattern you can see in these photos.

Joining in today with "My Creative Space" over here.

Happy Thursday!

Printed

 I tried out my new silk screen the other day and this is the fabric I printed - a piece of calico about the size of a sheet.  It was fun printing the repeating pattern, although I did have a bit of printing rage trying to print the repeat pattern in a small corner of my bedroom!  Now, what to make with it?  I'm thinking totes, pouches, and a few brooches?

Dots on sticks and a splash of colour

Some more late night pattern practice...'night!

Playing with patterns

I'm borrowing my sister's computer this weekend and having a play with making patterns in Photoshop.  I'm making patterns from some drawings I did a while back - they're similar to some of the stamps I've made to use on fabric.  I'm hoping to turn a design like this into a silk screen so that I can make fabric with a repeating pattern...

My creative space: lunchtime drawing

I've been trying to squeeze in a bit of drawing in my lunch breaks this week, so I've been taking my sketchbook to work and collecting leaves to draw when I get a chance:

 I worked on this drawing in stages

 

 Finished it at home

 

And trapped some more leaves in my sketchbook to use later on.

How about you, when do you steal moments to make things?

To see lots of other people's creative spaces, head on over to the "our creative spaces" blog.

Happy Thursday!

Falling leaves

I was admiring these leaves on an awning on my way home from work, the glass awning was a bit like a light box. When I got home I made this leaf mobile, kind of inspired by the leaves and the glass:
I stamped the gingko leaves onto tracing paper, then taped strings to their backs and taped the whole thing to the wall (don't worry, with nice, easy to peel off tape).

Then I couldn't resist trying it out in different parts of the house. Here it is on the stippled glass of the kitchen door. That green behind it makes me excited about the green fabric stamp pad that's on its way to me from the US of A!

Oh and you've still got until tomorrow night to enter my caption competition. Good luck!

A little collection

Some of the things that have found their way home with me lately...I've been finding lots of lovely-shaped leaves lately and I always seem to come home with my pockets full of them. I bought the beetroot especially for drawing but it'll be good in a salad too!

Simplifying

I made some more rubber stamps this afternoon based on some little treasures I found at home. I had lots of fun working out how to simplify the images I used from this:

To this:

To this:Then I turned them into patterns:

I'm hoping to have a go at stamping these on fabric...maybe for patterned pockets for a plain skirt. And I'm eyeing up the four fresh new erasers I brought home from the supermarket!

Have a good weekend!

My creative space

For the last couple of weeks my desk has been covered in leaves in various states of decay and autumnal colour. I have a map in my head of places around town where there are leaves of a particular shape or colour in case I have to replenish my supply...must remember, corner of Williamson Ave & Millais St there are some heart-shaped ones that are turning red at the moment.

I'm drawing them for a project I'm working on at the moment, the cover of Mr. Millicent Crow's forthcoming album. This has been accompanied by challenges like "Make that leaf glow...like it's got a halo around it!"

Here's a sneak peek:

Looking for leaves has reminded me that I've always loved this building in town that's covered in ivy and is like a barometer for the seasons. Right now it's a good place to find autumn leaves. To see other people's creative spaces have a look over here...