Strange days in March

This month has been a bit of a struggle for me computer-wise. It has been littered with dead laptops, software struggles and technology challenges. To cut a long and tortuous story short, I now have a new laptop, an old laptop fixed, and software on the two which doesn’t quite do all the things I could do before on the old broken one. Ho hum! at least I’m typing something now.

I found that my enthusiasm was sapped by the technology, but I did manage to get a bit of stitching done amidst tit all. I made one of my usual small scrappy landscapes for the monthly art project and was so much in my comfort zone that I lapsed into making another one to cheer me up!

This my monthly art project one (I called it Orange Sky – for obvious reasons)

Close up view: 

…. and this is the ‘comfort zone’ one (I called it Willowherb Heads)

Close up view :   

I was experimenting with another type of landscape, inspired by a Cas Holmes book (Textile Landscape:Painting with Cloth in Mixed Media) – which I can thoroughly recommend. For a while I have been toying with creating work based on the theme of ‘Two Miles from Home’ – where everything is inspired by things I see in a two mile radius. So I combined the two ideas, and have created pieces using a technique based on the ideas in the book, and designs inspired by my locale. Both pieces are unmounted at the moment, whilst I ‘stand back’ from them and decide what I want to do with them. I think I may add a few more small details to each, then I’m thinking I may frame them  (suggestions welcome!).

The old colliery

Close up view: 

 

The old pottery

Close up views:   

 

Back to the drawing board for next month!

Joan