Dreaming Spirals

With the hot weather we have been having over the past few weeks, I decided to test out Kimberley’s instructions on solardyeing which she gave us in her regular Prairie Fibers newsletter a few weeks ago. I cheated a bit because I put the fabric and the dyestuff in together with one of these so it may not work but I had the kids at home and didn’t have time to do much, so I thought, better do a bit and experiment and if it doesn’t work it’s better than doing nothing! Now I’ve just got to wait for a week or two or three or however long I can manage to keep my hands off them…

They’ve all got silk and alum in them. The one on the left has bindweed, of which we have far too much in our garden. The one in the middle has comfrey liquid which has been busy composting in water for a few weeks already, and the right hand one has some powdered madder which I bought at the American Museum in Bath a few years ago so it’s time I used it.

I’ll let you know the results in a few weeks… or less….

[Read more →]

The lockgates are an endless source of amusement to my children. They spent a happy few minutes opening and closing them. (These ones are not operational as the canal is only navigable on special occasions such as Open Days by the local canal boat society).

On our way back, we noticed this family of swans - Mum and Dad and five cygnets. Here they are sitting on their ‘nest’ or at least a convenient refuge from the public on the other side of the canal from the towpath!

Here are a couple of them swimming - when they saw us, they obviously came to investigate!

[Read more →]

Halfway along the canal walk, another canal joins it and we walked along this one. Here is a cycle path waymark similar to the one by the River Usk cycle path which I photographed a few months ago.

At this point, the canal tow paths go under the M4 motorway. Normally you don’t see the concrete structions underneath motorways so I always find this interesting.

It is imposing architecture in its way.

Some of the local graffiti artists had been indulging:

And finally we emerge into the sunlight again along the new canal:

[Read more →]

On Saturday I managed to inveigle my 3 boys into a voluntary walk along the canal…. The bribe was a new mobile for DS3 and a visit to a Domino’s pizza takeaway shop a couple of miles out of town (the mobile shop in town had sold out). Amazing what they’ll do if they have an incentive! Domino’s advertisements always precede the Simpsons so this obviously gave it a mystique in their eyes (or at least a feeling that it was superior to ordinary frozen pizzas from Sainsburys)!

Here is one of the bridges we went under:

Not many people along the towpath, but lots of wildlife! These ducks couldn’t decide if we were a threat or not so they got ready to slide into the canal if necessary!

These ducks look as if they are on a solid surface, so thick is the algae!

I think this is hedge parsley …

Seed heads are very photogenic…

[Read more →]

I bought these three necklaces in Skegness at Easter from a stall selling boomerangs, bongos and other stuff. I love the markings on them.

Here are close ups of all of them. I really must have a go with Paint Shop Pro with one of these.

[Read more →]

I’m sorry about the lack of blog posts over the last few weeks. There are so many activities and end of term events and suchlike that I haven’t had time to make anything or do anything art-related. Except for occasional Artist’s Way morning pages… It’s the end of term at the end of the week so I’m afraid it will stay quiet for a bit but I hope to make up for it when September comes!

I had the third stage of my tooth work done today and have now got a temporary crown, which I hope will last for the two weeks till the proper one is made! Then tonight I took the kids to an orienteering and barbecue evening with the cubs and beavers at Sirhowy Valley Country Park, about 10 miles out of Newport. Here is part of the track we walked along:

We walked up from quite low down in the valley - the sides were quite steep!

We walked back in the middle of the trees - it was quite dark in there and this photo is quite blurry but I like the effect - it looks like something you can do in Paint Shop Pro!

And a bit lower down:

[Read more →]

I finally got round to washing the shells I picked up on the beach a couple of Saturdays ago. They were starting to smell nasty - I think there were a couple of dead shellfish in the snail-like ones so I threw those away - ugh!

Here they are, waiting to be used:

As you can see, there are lots of shells with tiny holes already bored in them by the action of the sea. And a piece of driftwood.

When I go out on daytrips and holidays, I always mean to do a sort of scrapbook journal page/sketchbook page about it. Well, I finally managed it for this one! The colour printer was out of ink so I printed the photos with the black and white laser printer and watercoloured over them. I made a backing of tissue paper stained with tea to make it look like the seashore and stuck these over with the receipt from the country park car park. I also stuck on some sand and shells to add to the texture.

Here are pictures of the two pages:

I had an exciting letter this morning! Do you remember the Transporter Bridge postcard which I made in March? I entered it into the Newport in Bloom art competition… and I won second prize!!! Fun, fun, fun, especially since it’s the Transporter Bridge’s centenary year - I’d forgotten that when I decided to make the postcard.

[Read more →]

Klara of the Quiltart list gave me this link to Japanese manhole covers. I must say, they put ours to shame… Colourful, quirky, unusual…. Thanks, Klara.

[Read more →]