Knitting and new stuff

So with the help of youtube I think I have grasped the basics of knitting! Silly really that I've not done it before but I must say I'm finding it most relaxing already.
My course is going well, I'm being set allsorts of briefs and being told we should be working 40-hour weeks....I've never heard of an undergraduate course being this intense! They're probably just getting us to get into good practice of actually getting out of bed each morning but still...

So far my favourite part of the course is called Print and Process and we're having to get lots of observational drawings together over the next 2 weeks that we'll turn into different kinds of prints (Monoprints, Etchings, Reliefs and Screen prints). Each process requires a different kind of starting image but I'm loving the simple colours needed for the screen printing induction we'll do. Eeee! I'm excited! And it's sunny! :) :)

The shapes we need

I've just been flicking through this amazing book and have got lots of ideas bubbling away now! The cover so reminded me of Francesa (Mrs Eliot Books)'s work I was instantly attracted to it, plus the cover has that gorgeous linen feel..yum. 

Unfortunately any ideas will have to wait a while as I have my first university lecture this morning on contextual studies. I'm really quite excited to sit in a lecture hall and take notes though! Also my after school pottery club for kids is back up and running so I need to think of something nice for them to do this afternoon... I'll get back to my own work tomorrow.

Pottery bargain of the week

This arrived yesterday, it's a lovely 1960's Hornsea salt shaker and I love it! It only cost me 99p on ebay so it was quite a steal too. Although it's a slightly different pattern, it matches my stripey butter dish perfectly and goes with the coffee jar I bought a couple of months ago too. Yayyyy!

Nice song

I just remembered how much I love Nellie Mckay. She's so beautiful and her lyrics are so clever...

Windows

I am loving the slightly colder evenings we're having. This time of year is so exciting for me as I always associate it with the beginning of term and new experiences. Plus the way the sun sits quite low in the sky (and the amazingly clear days autumn brings) means it can be a magical time for lovely contrasty photographs.
Anyway, this little picture was made after leaning out of my velux window in my room for some time this evening. The composition isn't amazing but I quite like the feeling of it. It makes me want to wear tights and snuggle up at home.

brrring brrring!

We bought this amazing phone this morning at the car boot sale near us. It's great for posing with. And it sounds pretty good too!

Farewells

Today is my last day working at my university job before I begin my degree. Yesterday I said goodbye to everyone at my school job, I'm really sad to leave both. On the bright side, I was given the most amazing pencils EVER!!! So there's no backing out of Illustration now...

Above is a new collage called "I built you a village". I think it seems a bit sad for some reason but maybe that's just because I made it last night and was feeling a bit nostalgic. The trees are made from 20 year old marbled paper that I made at pre-school.

Next week I'm doing all my registering stuff at uni - I'm so nervous! I've got that beginning of term feeling! Hope you have a good weekend everyone, wish me luck for next week!

Happy feet

This was a drawing I did of my feet dangling over the riverbank on our last fishing trip of the summer holidays. I was pretty happy with it at the time as it encapsulates my odd-looking feet, but seeing them on screen makes them look even more bizarre to me. I think maybe feet are just like that though, if you look at them for too long it's sort of like saying one word over and over and it losing all meaning.
Anyway, I had a little play scanning in the drawing and painting in the blue using Photoshop. I find the result quite pleasing :)

Cut it out

I was trying to make a complicated cutout picture thing the other day with different papers but got really annoyed with it and then discovered that all the bits that I'd discarded as I was cutting said complicated shapes out, were actually more interesting that what I'd been trying to achieve! I of course only realised this once I'd thrown them allover the floor in a rage. But whatever method works for you, right?
Hope you have a happy weekend all, I'm off to buy new shoes and colour pens...yum.

Geometry cake

I made this delicious looking geometric dollop this evening whilst watching telly. I was going for abstract and bold, I ended up with a graph paper dumpling. Nevermind. Dragon's Den was worth it!

Red graph paper!

It's the future! Yep I discovered red graph paper on Friday and am just a bit excited! I found it in two shades of red and I have one large sheet of orange which is to die for! God bless those cartographers at work who use the stuff. Hopefully they won't mind me using a couple of sheets to play with, it's like the best stuff ever!
I'm going to do more experiments later combining it with other coloured paper in a more abstract-y way. Watch this space for more paper-related geekery...