18 September 2009

Moving

All August we have been converting the printworks and finally things take shape. So we are about to move from Bankfield Mill





to the Old Printworks in Clayton West.





We have been shifting stuff most everyday, bit by bit.

But hopefully some of our friends will help us this weekend. It would be great to have some more hands and extra wheels to shift the bulky stuff. We should be able to crack it in a long half day, then we’ll light up the BBQ and crack open some beers.

[images, and indeed some of the text, by John Coombes]

06 September 2009

Telegraph review: The V&A's World Beach Project

Hoooray!
Sue Lawty, who had the idea for the World Beach Project, just told me that my piece for the project was heavily featured in the Telegraph review!!

Here are some images Sue sent me:





Can hardly believe it: It made it to the front cover of the Telegraph review!
Sometimes it is worth getting cold fingers. :)





[click on the images to enlarge]

Very cold fingers indeed, as we went to a beach in North Yorkshire on a stormy cold December day. Also see this post and more images, or go to the V&A site to find out how to join in.

Here's the link to the article on theTelegraph website - (and there's my piece).

The Daily Telegraph is one of the biggest newspapers in the UK with a daily circulation between 842 000 and 911 000.
That is more than Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Sueddeutsche Zeitung together! - I am quite gobsmacked.

The article is great, congratulations to Sue! I hope many people will be inspired to create their own piece and take part in this fantastic project.

01 August 2009

Superfluous signs

Some more signs had to come down at the printworks.




















And whilst John was up there to check if the big sign at the front would come down easily he put in the missing apostrophe. He just couldn't resist. Punktuation mistakes really bother him.

18 July 2009

The Paper Collar



Late last night whilst John did some lighting tests I was folding sheets of beautifully aged paper to form a collar for todays photography session.


[photo: John Coombes]

Todays Photo Sesssion



Been working on another photo session today. This time we have been shooting upstairs!

Possibilities and facts

The possible flowers have turned into real flowers,
the possible garden has turned into our garden
and the old printworks, well, John signed the contract last week and we will turn the old printworks into our living and working space.



Taking the sign down.

11 July 2009

ArtWEEK Fringe @ Holme Valley Warehouse

There are some gorgeous things on display at the Holme Valley Warehouse.



I fell in love with this little creature. Introducing... Brains Floatation Device for fairies.
See more "Brains Fairy Aiding Inventions" by Samantha Bryan























Raku fired sculpture by Andrew D. Hill.

10 July 2009

Possible flowers



Possible flowers for the possible garden.

22 June 2009

Holmfirth ArtWEEK

I will be exhibiting at the Holme Valley Warehouse in Honley
next week as part of Holmfirth ArtWEEK.




‘thoughtful art’

an eclectic mix of fairies & 3 dimensional art


Thursday, 2nd July - Saturday, 11th July 2009


Holme Valley Warehouse

11 Westgate
Honley HD9 6AA


You are welcome to come along!

19 June 2009

The vegetable high bed

We were building a raised bed for vegetables at the possible garden yesterday.

We built the wooden frame on Thursday evening and went back yesterday to fix some polythene to the inside. Then we started filling in twigs and sticks for the first layer.
Next layer will be cut grass/turf and then maybe some horse manure.
Then straw or hay and then a thick layer of leaves,
then compost and finally topsoil.

The frame is 240 cm long and 160 cm wide, which is a bit wider then recommended but I will still be able to reach across.

Can't wait to plant my seedlings outside! Meanwhile they sit here at the studio at the window cill.







16 June 2009

The new lens

John got a new lens for his camera today. It's a Nikon Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF and John seems to love it. I was allowed to have a go with it as well.

So he took pictures of my basil and I took a picture of him.



My basil.



My sweetheart.

The dead tree in the buttercup meadow



Seen in Yorkshire on Sunday, 14.06.2009

08 June 2009

Art Market Holmfirth

I have had a good day at the Art Market in Holmfirth yesterday.



Me on my stall...



just finished setting things up and waiting for the first people to arrive.



And my friend Rebecca, with one of my corsages in her hair, helping me at the stall. She's been great!

05 June 2009

Coutdown for the Art Market

Only two days left!



I found this gorgeous cube calender at the Open Market in Huddersfield.
But right now I am not counting days, I am counting hours. Still SO much to do for The Art Market on Sunday!



I finished this piece last night. Now that I've done all the figurative embroidery and print on cotton and silk, the pieces have to be framed and labeled and... I'd better stop blogging and get back to work!

02 June 2009

The Mysterious Tree and Buttercup Meadows

There is a huge tree in the Possible Garden and for weeks we did not know what it was. Now, finally, the leaves came out and we were able to identify it.



Apperantly it is a Robinia pseudoacacia also known as Locust Tree.

The German name is Silberregen, literary translated silver rain. In a few weeks time it shall be in blossom and we shall see why.

At the moment it's got very bright green young leaves that looked amazing against the clear blue Yorkshire skyes yesterday, so John took this picture.

It's been sunny and hot and we've done a short trip to the garden, only to find that we do not have to water the plants as the snails have already eaten most of them.



On the way back to the studio we passed meadows that were blazing yellow.



Buttercup meadows in West Yorkshire.

Dança em Foco

Hooray! The short dance film "Trapezius" of my sweetheart John was selected to be shown at dança em foco, the international dance film festival in Rio de Janeiro.

Congratulations to John! This is the third year one of his films has been in this festival.



I did a lot of work on this film as well so I feel a little proud myself. :)

01 June 2009

French window

Well, it is not exactly a french window, but it is a window in France.


photo copyright © Katrin Freitag

I just fell in love with these gorgeous tall old windows, the blue shutters and the beautiful curtains.

Provençale interieur

Desire to inspire, one of my favourite blogs, just wrote about provencale interior designer Nathalie Vingot Mei. Read the article here.

Look at Nathalies portfolio here.

It so much reminded me of our friends house in the south of France were we were staying.
Below are some photographs I took.









31 May 2009

La Provence



The landscape was just gorgeous and even better than in any picture or painting. We found some wild thyme on that hill. What we haven't used for cooking yet is in a bowl on our kitchen table. Fragant memories of Provence, dry soil and a warm summer breeze.



The vinyard and farmhouses on Domain de Sigalous.

Domaine de Sigalous



Yes, these are the flowers you see through the window on the photograph of the previous blog entry.



And this is were we have been staying and working.

27 May 2009

Provençale inspiration



Just came back from a short trip to the South of France, with new impressions, fresh ideas, beautiful bundles of lace and lots and lots of photographs.
We also brought back some bottles of the very tasty vine they make at Sigalous, and some olive oil and wild thyme. Thanks to Jeanette and Alain.

21 May 2009

The Art Market & Vanstallation

The Art Market is a unique event where selected artists & designer-makers sell beautiful homewares, garden sculpture, jewellery, paintings, fashion, photography and more, direct to the public.

The concept is to have a gallery of stalls, each manned by the artist/maker, showing, selling, receiving commissions and often demonstrating their own unique works.

The Art Market’s aim is to stimulate interest, knowledge and sales of good quality art, craft & design.

The Market is in the centre of Holmfirth, a small creative town in West Yorkshire. The Art Market is run by The Art Market Team small team of artists, for artists and lovers of art.

The benefit for the artist is direct contact with buyers, finding out what the buyer likes about their work, receive commissions, meet lots of other artists and designer/makers and avoidance of gallery commission, all for a very low cost.

The benefit for the public is the chance to ‘meet the maker’, find out about the making process, & the artists inspiration plus buy and commission amazing, unique works directly, missing out the gallery.

Also, it’s a great day out! We have live music, food and drinks and a welcoming atmosphere.

I'll be showing my work at the Art Market in Holmfirth on 7th June.
Here's the official invite:

We would like to invite you to…



June 7th & 14th 10am – 4pm
Holmfirth Indoor Market
Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

  • 80 Artists and Designer-makers selling their own original work
  • Demonstrations
  • Live Music
  • Food and drink

Only £1 entry!
(free entry to our Art Raffle)

For a list of all the artists and designer-makers, directions, parking and much more – check out our website www.artmarkets.co.uk

The 3rdArt Market is included in Holmfirth Arts Festival when there are many other things going on in Holmfirth in June – live music, workshops, Vanstallation & performance. Event listings can be found on www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk

Also The 4thArt Market, in time for Christmas, on 22nd November 2009

_________________________________________________________________

Also come along and see…

‘Vanstallation’© Art installation in vans…

We are looking for Artists to create unique installations inside their vans. Big vans, small vans, work vans, campervans, caravans, all kinds of vans with art installations inside. Performance, sound, light, art, sculpture whatever you like…

The second ‘Vanstallation’© will happen on June 14th 2009 12 – 4pm in the centre of Holmfirth. Would you like to take part? Apply on line at www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk or email vanstallation@googlemail.com
Deadline 1st June.

Please feel free to pass this on to other art and design lovers you know!

[text by the Art Market Team]

20 May 2009

Moldgreen Barbie



Found just outside my studio, on a pavement in Moldgreen, Huddersfield, UK.

19 May 2009

The Art Market

I'll be showing my work at the Art Market in Holmfirth on 7th June.
Find out more on their new website!



Beautifully designed by Takae Mizutani.

Waiting For Godot

We went to London on Wendesday to go to the Theatre. So here's John and me, waiting for Waiting For Godot.



The play, the actors, the stage design, it's been brilliant!

And the theatre itself, Theatre Royal Haymarket, has got the most amazing decor. Sadly it is not allowed to take pictures inside, so to see the stunning painted ceiling and get a glimpse at the balconys and for the whole flair you have to go there yourself.

Here's a picture of the box office and Martin and Rebecca getting our tickets as this has been a treat for us.



Seeing Captain Picard dancing with Gandalf was a real treat!