I have been to Eigg again for a yoga holiday and the weather could not have been more of a contrast to my visit in 2017. Blue skies, turquoise water, sparkling sunbeams, sharply delineated skylines, rusty boats.
Lots and lots of rockpools and beachcombing
Inspiring this little work in progress
I am back from a rejuvenating week in Ceredigion, staying in an Edwardian railway carriage, directly on the coastal path. Mixed weather, from glorious sunshine
to rain
to freezing fog
but with enough opportunities to gather some treasures from nature
and marvel at textures and colours
One year I hope to visit “Sculpture by the Sea” in Australia. Until then, I make do with seeing sculpture in weathered shapes at British beaches
Cramond causeway, weathered U-boat defences, reminiscent of the cardinal sculptures by Giacomo Manzu.
Or with less sinister features
With a stretch of the imagination, beginning to resemble the Venus of Willendorf
Ogmore beach, wooden groynes weathered in to anthropomorphic shapes
These shapes are percolating through my mind as I have forgotten to bring any sketching or stitching materials on holiday.
Besides the ever-changing colours of the sea, Eigg has many examples of different rock formations
Rock or macaroon?
Too much inspiration and not enough stitching.
An unexpected visit to Nature in Art, near Cheltenham, to see the work of StitchextileArtists. Lovely textural pieces, with an oyster shell made of cloth being particularly notable.
The sculpture in the gardens added to my obsessions with fronds and seed heads.
For some reason, it was very difficult to portray the scale of these pods - they were at least 5 ft high.
Inside, some lovely work with found wood
and with carved limewood, made by Robert Cox.
Hoem to an unexpected find n the local library, “ How to Make Beautiful Buttons” by Beate Schmitz. Having done the online course with Karen ruin on buttons, I didn’t think there would be a lot for me in this book, but I was gladly mistaken. Some fun ideas, so the may be renewed up tot he maximum three times.
Buttons as drawer knobs?
Carton buttons?
My brain is pre-occupied by tomorrow’s talk, so a discovered kit from Deborah O’Hare of QuiltRoutes.co.uk provided some pleasant distraction. Very simple and effective, but I had my usual problem of the Heat’n’Bond seeming to melt into the top fabric, and then not sticking to the lower layer of fabric. I wonder if I am holding the iron on to it for too long?
