Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier

Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier.

It is, by my calculations, 4 weeks until we put up the exhibition which, for the part-timers, is the final part of this year's course. (Where the heck did that year go?) By now, I should be coasting gently towards the end, finishing off pieces for exhibition, making sure my supporting portfolio is up to date, and planning for a well earned break.

Am I? What do you think? 

I spent the first semester procrastinating by pretending to be working on the essay, but since the switch from trees to gloves, I keep having ideas. And I keep having tutorials in which other people make interesting suggestions. And I keep following them up. So that small but beautifully formed body of work which I thought I was going to produce (ha!) is, in reality, a collection of unfinished bits and bobs reflecting a series of wild goose chases.

For example, I think I mentioned the suggestion that I bought a lot of cheap gloves and used them to explore ideas. I started sewing them together without really thinking about it, and ended up with a short tube, which I didn't think I wanted, until I'd unpicked it. (Unpicking tight black stitches in black gloves in dim light is not a good idea and resulted in frayed cuffs and tempers.) (I've just read the previous sentence, and think I should make it clear that I wasn't wearing the gloves. That would be silly.)

Then I decided that a tube was probably a good idea, so I had to start again. The trouble is that sewing magic gloves together is both boring and difficult, which leaves to procrastination. Such as blog writing.

Here is the tube in progress on the right, and the remaining gloves on the left. Unless I decide I want a longer tube, in which case it is about half the remaining gloves. Then I have to decide whether I want an erect column of gloves, or a hanging cylinder, and go and consult one of our excellent technicians about how to achieve it.

My tutor suggested that I tried stuffing one of the gloves with fleece, and shrank it. So I did. I think you can probably work out which is the shrunk one. Interesting, but I don't think I'm going to stuff 4 or 5 dozen gloves with fleece, unless someone has one to spare - and even then I don't think I've got time or a big enough washing machine...

I had another tutorial last week - we are encouraged to book tutorials with all the members of staff.  I was enthusing about Louise Bourgeois's wonderful bronze hands - and was told to try copying them. Apparently copying is good, and trying to be original isn't, which was a bit of a surprise.

So here are two Bourgeois knock-offs. The single hand has yet to be felted, and will join two or three others. They are slightly more expressive than I expected, but somehow I don't think I'm going to be able to pass them off as genuine. 

And finally, some small gloves for an enlarged version of this. 

On a good night, I can make two of these, but looking at them in the photo I think I'm going to need a lot more than nine. Better get those needles clacking...

Weeks 25 & 26

have been busy, hence the radio silence. We have had two Visual Marks Sessions: a standard one last week, and then this week an excellent workshop with Cas Holmes. So although I have a lot of Uni work, today was scheduled for two VM activities as well: following up the CH workshop, and this, which  is one of the challenges our mighty leaders delight in giving us. 

 

In case you are wondering, it is a drip mat for a plant pot. Or it was. Not saying what I have in mind to make, but as you can see it involved a shisha/sequin. It is a long time since I sewed on a shisha, and the last time I did it, I cheated and used shisha rings. So, I have forgotten how to do shisha stitch. It took many attempts to get this far.

Then, as you can see, I spilled red bush tea on it.

Fortunately, the other side is OK, so I shall turn it over and have another go when I feel up to it. Possibly after my first drink of the day. White wine doesn't stain.

My Cas Holmes related work for today was to paint backings (below) for what I'd done on the day (above) - I decided they needed one after I got home. I managed to achieve that without mishap. Tomorrow I will attach the collages and try to pluck up the courage to add some machine embroidery. Mishaps cannot be ruled out.

 

The Uni highlight of last week had been the crits (critiques). Yes, really! I can't remember if I wrote about the previous  one, but it was a bit demoralising, so I was a tad nervous about this one, especially as it was a Friday afternoon. But the tutors were really positive and encouraging, with lots of suggestions about where to go from here.

Which led to an outbreak of lunacy in the garden. It was suggested that I think about putting my hands/gloves/prosthetics on poles. (Don't ask. I can rationalise it, but I'm trying not to overthink things.)

So yesterday we pottered off for a walk in the sunshine at the Hillier  Gardens, coffee and cake in the cafe, and the purchase of canes in the garden centre.

And the final task on the list for today was to put the gloves on the poles, stick the poles in the lawn, and photograph them. I was expecting the pole-pushing to be difficult, but one of the advantages of having a lawn which  is mostly moss is that the first few inches are quite soft. (After that it's chalk, and you need a pick axe.)

 

If the neighbours didn't already think I was nuts, they do now.

Week 24: a week of two halves.

Last week was reading week, or, as the little guys call it, half term. That meant that I didn't have to go into Uni, and because the little guys' mummy took the week off, there was no grandparenting either. 

Despite it being reading week, the only thing I read was Hilary Mantel. But as the Uni knitting I'm doing at the moment is straightforward once I've finished the fingers, I can read and knit at the same time,  so I hope counts!

Instead of reading, I'd planned some art/knitting related visits. The flu still lingers - next week will be the 8th week! - but I made myself go out, and I'm glad I did. Well, apart from Friday.

On Monday we went down to Walford Mill to have lunch - er - to see Knit 1, Mend 1, Keep 1, Change 1 - a title I find it impossible to remember.  However the exhibition was very good and very inspirational, and I came away with lots of ideas.

Tuesday was spent reading and knitting, as previously described. Two prosthetic gloves have now been finished, and a third is on the needles.

Yes, that is a plaster.

Wednesday was what was supposed to be the last meeting of 'neuf', the group made up of students from my year of the Foundation Degree. Since we finished, it's been increasingly difficult to find times to meet when we are all free, so six of us made it to the final meeting, for lunch and a gossip. Except that we enjoyed it so much, we will probably do it again in the summer!

On Thursday we went to Southampton Art Gallery, to see 'Artist Room: Louise Bourgeois' and Kurt Jackson's 'Place'. Both excellent exhibitions, interesting contrasts, and idea provoking in very different ways.

On Friday. Well, I would have done better to stay in bed. I wanted to go to Farnham Maltings to 'unravel': unfortunately a lot of other people had decided to go to Farnham too. After we had followed a lot of other people very slowly around completely full car parks, we gave up and came home.  

After lunch I decided to make some bread.

 

This is what a breadmaker loaf looks like if you forget to put the yeast in, and the nut dispenser doesn't work. 

Unfortunately I didn't realise that the nut dispenser hadn't worked until later, when it did work and filled the empty breadmaker with nuts, which  were very difficult to remove.

So the first part of the week was enjoyable and successful, and Friday wasn't. Not quite half the week, perhaps, but long enough.

We've spent a quiet weekend bracing ourselves for our return to the grindstone on Monday. And I even found the energy for some work in a sketchbook, thinking about  arrangements for gloves.

Week 23

I knew I hadn't posted for a while, but I didn't realise it was quite this long! My excuse is that what I was calling a chest infection turned out to be flu, because just like almost everyone else who had the jab, I still caught it. And I still have the cough, sniffles and occasional wheezing. And no energy.

I have been getting into Uni, where  we had a special visitor.

I managed to escape extermination, and after a couple of tutorials, the trees have been replaced with hands - or possibly gloves. The final deciding factor was these, which turned out much better than I expected, if a little small. I find those odd little fingers strangely expressive. They look even better pinned to a wall.

 

So now I am researching, collecting photos, drawing (!), knitting and modelling hands and gloves.

I"m exploring different sizes and styles, before deciding what I am actually going to do with them!

On an encouraging note, I got told off by a member of staff because I didn't put anything in for an exhibition which is coming up. I really didn't have anything suitable - they had to have D-rings attached, which is difficult with knitting - but in the depths of my flu induced misery, it was good to know someone thought my work was better than I did!

 

 

 

Week 20: The Missing Week

Term was supposed to start this week -and it did, for most people. But I've had a chest infection for about 10 days and I couldn't face hauling my sore-throated, coughing self into Uni. To be honest, the possible consequences of having a coughing fit on the M27, in the rush hour, in the dark, terrified me. So I stayed in bed. I did get my essay mark, via the wonders of the internet, and all was well. A reasonable grade, and there was only one  criticism which I completely agreed with, so no complaints.

Has lots of creative stuff been done in the extra time? No. All I've had the energy for is a bit of routine, un-artistic knitting. 

 

These trees/hands/sea anemones/gloves for very small people with very long hands have languished in their basket, waiting in vain for new friends to join them. I'm hoping to get back to them tonight. Not sure where they are leading - they were originally going to become a sort of clipped bay tree of hands, but they decided they didn't want to do that. Now I'm thinking  of a sort of carpet (well, small mat) of hands. 

I think hands - or gloves - or things that vaguely resemble hands or gloves - are taking over from trees.  Hands are symbolic of so many things, plus I've become besotted with phrases about hands - like “hand in glove” - and I'm pondering  how I can develop that.

So apart from coughing, and some extra grandparenting, not much has happened around Cheese Acres. Must do better.

Happy New Year!

I know I'm late, but I've just realised I haven't posted since last year. No excuses, I just never seemed to get round to it. It's not as if we've been that busy since Christmas, although there has been some extra grandparenting, which can be a little tiring, 😉

We had a good time with the in-laws to be on New Year's Eve, when we were treated to a Spanish meal, although it ended up with Welsh whiskey, which is becoming something of a tradition. The next time we meet them will be for the wedding. I am really looking forward to it, although I don't think we will be toasting the happy couple with Penderyn. I will also need to find something to wear...

Another tradition seems to be having a big clear out - never planned, but as it always happens around this time of year, I think it's become a habit. All sorts of things emerged: manuals for computers and phones we no longer own, chequebooks for accounts we no longer have, and an unused 2005 calendar.  On the other hand I can't find the 2015 one I'm sure I bought - presumably I'll find it in 2025...

The tree/hand knitting has continued. 

 

Binomial, Fibonacci and dreadlocked trees, one (unfinished) with a handful of hands, and a bunch of tiny pinkish prosthetics I'm not sure how I'm going to use. 

There has also been some ornament starting, although they  need beads, sequins and possibly a tassel.

Uni doesn't start again till the week after next, so we took advantage of a free day to go down to Bournemouth, have lunch at the Russell-Cotes, wander round the galleries, and take photos of the sea.

Today has been a flower day. As usual, our early snowdrops are out under the birch tree

And Wensleydale assembled our poppy, which arrived a couple of days ago.  It is bigger than I expected, and has a touch of mud and rust, which seems appropriate, really.

It doesn't seem much for nealy two weeks, does it? Perhaps too much drinking. Tea, that is.

Weeks 15 and 15a

Weeks 15 and 15a

Sorry to go AWOL, I've been a bit busy.

To begin at the beginning. Week 15 turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. The lecture we were expecting was cancelled, but as the essay really was finished, printed, bound and ready to hand in, I couldn't take advantage of the extra time for last minute revisions. So I handed it in, both paper and electronic versions (that was the challenging bit), drank coffee, and grabbed a quick tutorial/feedback on the crits. I found it demoralising at the time, but when I'd calmed down a bit, got a good night's sleep, and reread the comments, they weren't too bad. I am less sure of what I'm doing than I was a month ago, but I think the staff would think that was a good thing...

By that time, however, we were bracing ourselves for The Visit. It was Mr & Mrs Cheese Minor's 10th wedding anniversary, and they celebrated with a couple of nights in Berlin. Which meant that the little guys celebrated by coming to stay with us.

I'd spotted that Winchester City Mill, which is one of the VHC's favourite places, was having a milling day, so we went to have a look. This might not have been a good idea on the Sunday before Christmas, but the local buses  were remarkably quiet, unlike the park and ride. We bought  flour at the mill, and made bread the next day, before heading to Mottisfont for their Nutcracker trail. 

As we expected, the little guys loved the trail, especially the automata - and the ice cream (!) in the outdoor cafe. (Wensleydale and I opted for tea and cake.)

And on the third day, we headed for the Winchester Science Centre. Unfortunately their Christmas show in the Plantetarium had finished, but the little guys were quite happy with the usual one, plus plenty of time to explore the science exhibits. The cafe is good too - some of the best sandwiches I've had, and very generously filled.

You may be surprised to see no mention of Manor Farm in this itinerary. We had planned a visit, but Babybel didn't want to go!

After the little guys went home we needed time to recover, so we were glad to have no more social engagements till the 26th, when Babybel ran her first Boxing Day race with her mum and dad - 3 km in 20 minutes 'without stopping'! She wasn't first, but she wasn't last either, and she was so proud of herself!

The quiet time allowed plenty of time for sampling trees/hands/branches. (Second left is the beginning of a branch, whatever you think it looks like!) I've also been researching some artists recommended by my tutor, who seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of contemporary art. 

I also made some Christmas ornaments. I came across this lovely idea too late for this year, but I worked out if I started straight away and made two ornaments a month, we could have our own Advent Bough next year.  So next year the fortnightly ornament will replace the weekly book - I just hope it doesn't fizzle out like the books did. This is the last book, a variation on the palm leaf book I made earlier. 

 

For the ornaments, I chose a colour scheme of red, rust, yellow, dark blue and cream - which is not a good idea when you want to make Christmas trees like this. As it turned out, I didn't have enough suitable green buttons, and barely enough cream ones, which is why my tree is an odd shape. I have a lot of buttons, but I was surprised how many of them were shank buttons, which wouldn't work.

I made a couple more ornaments, as you can see, from ideas here and here. My intention is that they will all be different, more or less.

We have a few more quiet days now until New Years Eve when the soon-to-be Spanish branch of the family ( that is, soon-to-be family, they are already Spanish...) are coming over for a few days. Then we hit the ground running again when term starts again. Must get more rest!