A bit of book making…

and a bit of drawing took place today – as well as rather more photography.

The drawing was 2 minute continuous line sketching – I am doing more of this, and blind contour drawing, in an attempt to loosen up.

The books were quick, ad hoc things – after a morning with Babybel, good as she is, I didn’t have the energy for much else!

This, as you can see, is recycled yoghurt packaging. [Love those toffee ones]. One of my problems with getting interested in litter is that most litter seems to be things like cigarette and crisp packets, sweet wrappings and drinks cans and bottles – none of which we have around – and I can’t bring myself to pick them up…

This is much more salubrious – an off cut of hand made paper turned into an accordion book, I thought the flowers were interesting, but it needs something to bring out the patterns I cut in the inner layer.

By tomorrow I should be up to date with the photography challenge – if I can manage another two. Today’s are ‘someone you love’ and ‘a childhood memory’. I used PSE and PFAEC for both but I’m not completely enamoured with the results, and I’ve resorted to Picasa and Picnik to finish them off.

This is Babybel in the ‘echo tunnel’ on our Thursday walk. It’s an attempt at a ‘Fauve scene’ from PFAEC, but I was too heavy handed with the black lines, I think. I added some glow with Picasa which has improved it a bit.

 

 

 

and this sad gentleman is my childhood memory – my one legged, earless Ted, pop-arted a la PFAEC. I managed to work out how to add the text in PSE, but not how to get it into a speech bubble – and adding a frame was  completely beyond me, so that was done in Picnik.

I’m feeling a bit like Ted at the moment, as yesterday my GP confirmed what I have suspected for a while – that I have arthritis of the hip – and possibly back and neck as well. So it is time for X-rays, [just like Wensleydale], and probably physio [just like Wensleydale], and hydrotherapy [just like Wensleydale]. But if that lot does for me what it’s done for him, I’ll be a new woman <g>.

Numbers 7 & 8…

of the 30 day photography challenge are ‘Fruit’  and ‘A bad habit’.

So here is a ‘portrait’ of some very unripe apples in the garden, with my attempt at the Dutch Portrait effect from Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook, hereinafter known as PFAEC. I like this hint of a tint – might be good for litter images.

 

 

 

And rather too edible,  my newly acquired bad habit, some Botham’s ginger biscuits which came back with us from Yorkshire. [W’s mother lived in Whitby, home of Botham’s, so this was an exercise in nostalgia as well as biscuity excellence.] Unfortunately we ate the last two today.

This started as the ‘Modernism’ effect in PFAEC, but morphed a bit, in my attempt to make it less obvious what they are.

By tomorrow I should have caught up, but we have an extra Babybel morning, so maybe not…

And last Sunday’s challenge was…

to take a photo from a high angle – while Monday’s was, perhaps unsurprisingly, to take one from a low angle. Both of which said ‘stairs’ to me. I did think of lying down in the garden and photographing the trees and sky but there was too much of an overlap with ‘clouds’ and ‘green’ so I abandoned that idea.

I took several shots from the top of the stairs but the one which appealed most was this one – my attempt at the ‘lith printing’ effect from ‘Photoshop Fine Arts Effects Cookbook’. I wanted to get a slightly spooky B-movie effect and this is the closest I got.

Looking the other way, I tried the ‘Polaroid transfer’ effect. That border isn’t quite right, but I enjoyed adding the wiggles.

That – and a bit of knitting - is about all the creative stuff that’s happened recently. I hope to get something college-related done tomorrow afternoon – although I suppose improving my Photoshop skills is college related. Wonder if I should put these in my PMS?

One down…

a few more to go. Modules, that is. I handed in Module 9 today, although I was still finding interesting book artists last night – or rather this morning, after insomnia struck again. Enjoyed it [the RP, not the insomnia], but I'm glad it’s done. The draft of Module 11 is due next week, and then there are no more deadlines until next term – apart from the end of term show.

We all had tutorials on the PMS and the Personal Cloths – or in my case the Personal Papers. Obviously, if I’m going to work in paper, there is an overlap between the two, but I suggested that the PMS would be about the structure of books, and the PCs about the contents, and that was acceptable – although it was strongly suggested that either might wander off in other directions and that would be OK.

Now all there is left of the second year of the degree is two sessions of peer review, photographing the sketchbooks from drawing studies for video display in the exhibition, setting up the display and stewarding it. Not sure where the two years have gone.

Insomnia did give me a chance to play around with some more of my photos in PSE. Challenges 3&4 are ‘clouds’ and ‘something green’. For some reason I often seem to photograph clouds when I go to Walford Mill, so I took some more when we went there yesterday.

Guess what the weather was like? I did try photoshopping this one, but it wasn’t improved by the process, so this is the original.

I wanted to avoid the obvious solution for ‘something green’ – but there are very few green things around here, apart from the obvious. I did assemble a green still life – knitting bag, watering can, water bottle, potted plant – but I am clearly no Cezanne and the result looked dreadful, so I drifted down the garden and found some cobnuts, which the squirrels haven’t got to yet.

I took some photos, one of which looked like this – a combination of the wind and, I think, a bit of stray finger on the right.] By the wonders of PSE I combined it with a better one

 

and ended up with this. OK. it’s not as green as it was, but it’s not quite the obvious solution, and I like it. [Didn't know you can get catkins and nuts at the same time.]

Day 9’s challenge is ‘someone you love’ – and tomorrow is Babybel day – so guess who that will be? [Sorry, Wensleydale.]

Just a couple of steps behind…

so no change there.

While we were on holiday I came across this, and as I’m trying to improve my minimal photography and Photoshop skills, I thought it would be something to add to the roster of things I’ve started but not finished try.

I think the idea was that we started on June 1st – and I really meant to – but we were on holiday and other things took precedence – like the aforementioned eating and drinking too much.

So I started today, but I have taken several photos in an attempt to catch up. I haven’t photoshopped all of them, photographing being quicker than photoshopping, at least the way I do them, but here are the first two.

The first challenge was a self portrait, but shy, retiring soul that I am, I ducked out of the problem of trying to work out how to take a self portrait which actually showed what I look like, and went for a reflection instead.

I’ve been playing around with ideas from ‘Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook’, which, as it’s written for Photoshop rather than Elements, has been even more of a learning experience. ‘Fine Art’ in this context includes historic photographs as well as paintings and prints.

This is my attempt at a fake wet plate collodion print from the 1850s to the 1890s. It was taken in the conservatory looking into the dining room so there are quite a lot of reflections of things other than me.

The second challenge is ‘What I wore today’. Now this runs into the same problems as a self portrait – how do I photograph what I’m wearing? I could take it off – but it’s not bed time yet.

So what is easily visible? Well, the things I keep having to crop out of any photos I take of things on the floor.  Yes, my feet.

My skin isn’t actually blue, you understand, and neither is anything else – this my attempt at a cyanotype, c1840s, with a black line added by Livewriter without my consent.

Earlier on in the day I had collected my sewing machine from the repairers – so thanks for your suggestions, Sandy, which I will try if the Teflon foot doesn't work.

We also went out to Walford Mill to see the exhibition ‘Under and Over’, which is an interesting combination of very wearable clothes and accessories, and not-really-meant-to-be-worn art works inspired by clothes. I particular liked Carole Waller’s wonderful painted clothing, Elisabeth Hamlyn’s knitwear [oh, to have the figure/courage to wear it], and Elizabeth Forrest's combinations of recycled items of clothing and poems in calligraphy.

Funny how satisfying a busy day can be…

Tomorrow is the Research Project hand-in day. I keep finding new bits to add, so my initial plan not to include any print-outs has gone by the wayside – though I have read them all.

Am I turning into a bad-tempered old bat?

[Sons are not allowed to answer this rhetorical question.]

Coming back from Yorkshire on Saturday, I found myself snarling at a pair of people trying to sell me something in a service station – standing together so the second one knew the first one had already tried and failed – and they had another go on the way out. I’d said ‘No thank you’, politely like my mother taught me – so why did they try again, and again, and again?

Now I've just had to hang up on an importunate woman who asked me why I no longer wished to contribute to her cause [because I'm p****d off with them, that’s why] but then talked over me when i tried to answer her question – making me even more p****d off, and even less likely to contribute.

I did say snarl ‘Good afternoon’ as I put the phone down but I don’t suppose she heard as she was still talking. I hate losing my temper, but have very low tolerance for people who won't take no for an answer.

On to more cheerful matters – maybe. We had a good holiday, just wish it had been longer. Ate too much, drank too much, did a bit of drawing, bought a lot of books and a fair amount of cheese. Can we have a Booth’s supermarket and the cheese stall from Skipton market down here, please?

On the other hand, since we got back I’ve found it very difficult to get going on college work – possibly because I bought one of these in Liverpool

but more likely because I’ve got the draft essay and the research project out of the way and the deadlines for the sketchbook and the personal cloths are months away.

So I’ve made a new sketchbook, and, because the last two were a success with both Babybel and her daddy, a couple of aprons – not quite finished as the machine with the Teflon foot is in for repair after I sewed over a pin, and the take-to-classes machine really really really didn’t want to sew the PVC shiny side out.

These are, as I’m sure you realise, for when daddy or granddad [not ‘grangrad’ any more, she’s sorted that one out] help her with the washing up – while the other ones are for when mummy or gran help her cook. 

And of course, there have been the usual post-holiday delights of washing and shopping…

Other people…

come to the Yorkshire Dales to walk in the wonderful countryside.

We come and look at textiles. [OK, we do a bit of walking as well, but not walking, if you know what I mean.]

On Tuesday we went to Bankfield Museum in Halifax, which has a couple of textile-y exhibitions on at the moment, as well as one about sweeties. Some beautifully executed embroidery but it didn’t really grab me, although the costume galleries are always good.

Today we went to East Riddlesden Hall, firstly to have lunch in their excellent cafe [Yorkshire Ploughman's is recommended] but also to revisit the house and take a look at the garden, which we didn’t manage to see last time.

When we got to the Hall we discovered an exhibition about rag rugs [I can detect a textile exhibition from miles away]. Now rag rugs are not something I've ever really thought about, although I did try locker hooking once and got very exasperated with it as I couldn’t get into a rhythm. However this was a very well presented exhibition which made me think I'd like to have a go – so watch this space. And I’d forgotten that East Riddlesden has some excellent embroideries – I was pleased to see that they now have photos of the inside of their little stumpwork box on display, so perhaps my campaign to persuade the National Trust that their customers might be interested in textiles is paying off.

After lunch we moved on  to Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, because I’d seen an article in Embroidery magazine about ‘Between the Lines’, an exhibition of work by Naseem Darbey. Now regular readers will now that machine embroidery is not my favourite medium – but Darbey’s work uses FME in ways which would be impossible with hand stitch. The pieces are beautifully made and beautifully displayed - the photos don’t really do them justice because you can’t see the shadows – and I have a thing about shadows. I also loved her use of writing in the pieces. I won’t go into the thinking behind them, but there are details on her website.

There is another textile exhibition there too, of work by the Flax textile group, so Cliffe Castle is well worth a visit at the moment – and the building itself is gob-smacking!

Probably no more textiles before we go home – but there may well be some walking, and a bit of retail therapy…