Rust and Feathers In The Gutter

JAMIE'S BIRD: 01

iPhone collage

I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of creating art with my iphone: taking theraputic Autumn walks (inevitably damp) to find textures and compositions and then popping in somewhere warm and cosy for a cup of coffee, to play and experiment with what I have scavenged. The ability to photograph, edit, search the internet for ephemera, create an image and then upload it, all one little machine, pretty much anywhere I find myself, is exhilarating and liberating. The images are often simpler than the work I would create on a computer, more akin to sketchbook experiments or journal entries. This one began life literally in the gutter as it incorporates a number of photographs taken along the road, near my home. It is named after lovely Jamie at Art-e-ology who provided a beautiful piece of vintage ephemera for me to play with. Thank you Jamie!

Zetti Goes Mobile

Everyone Feared The Duplicity Of The Evil Zetti Brothers

Digital collage made on my iPhone

I do hope that those of you who enjoy reading about my work as well as looking will forgive me for being a little quiet of late. please do not adjust your sets, Normal services will be resumed as soon as possible.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today on my iPhone

TIME FLUTTERS BY

birthday card made on my iphone

This innocent little image involved far more jiggery-pokery than probably meets the eye!

Photograph of girl courtesy of Artezine. Background comprises two photographs taken during a recent walk.

Beam Me Up Scotty

As I shall be off to Lyon Festival des Lumieres, very soon, I have downloaded an App for blogging from the iPhone. This is my test post and I have no idea how it will look.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Never in Mr. Bell's wildest dreams...

MID NOVEMBER

digital print made on my iPhone

Well...it has finally happened...I have succumbed to the charms of the iPhone and I am totally smitten. Watch this space...I'm cooking up a collaboration.

The Romance Of Cheese

THE ROMANCE OF CHEESE
digital collage 12ins x 12 ins

LaWendula's Paper Swap is having a serious effect upon me. As my friend has not yet commented on my work with Barbara's papers, I can only presume that she is utterly appalled that her lovely idea has brought about such a rapid degeneration in my creative practice. However, I feel that Barbara must take some responsibility for this as she sent me the little Dutch magazine cutting of a cheese advert that inspired this layout. I find it difficult to be serious about cheese adverts. So, LaWendula my darling, if you want me to produce Paper-Swap art with more gravitas, you must keep Barbara and I apart in future or we are just going to carry on sitting at the back of the class and giggling.
Actually, I deeply indebted to both LaWendula and Barbara for providing me with some silly distraction while my mum and sister have been ill with Swine Flu. This morning, my sister reported that mum is back to talking for England and so MUST be on the mend. Thanks to all of you who have sent best wishes, my mum is thrilled to know that people all over the planet Earth are taking an interest in her health!


WOVEN LETTERS

Survival Of the Pointyest

SURVIVAL OF THE POINTYEST

12ins x 12ins digital collage
click here for larger version

The Postal Strike is over and so yesterday we received a bumper crop of mail through our letterbox, including a plump package from Barbara Morrison who lives in Holland. Barbara and I have been participating in my friend LaWendula's Monthly Paper Swap, over at her blog: Woven Letters. However much I love internet communication, nothing quite compares with the rosy glow inside that a package in the post imparts (so long, of course, that it isn't from the Inland Revenue or my accountant) and I could hardly contain my excitement as I opened my present from Holland. Barbara's creative work is quirky and eclectic and her choices reflect that spirit, including, amongst other items: a (specimen) 20 Euro note (bah!); a Dutch beer mat, a strip of rub-on vintage newspaper transfers, lots of pretty papers old and new and some fun, kitch newspaper cuttings. Barbara and I have agreed that rather than post a photo of the raw materials, we'll blog the things that we create with our papers. Above is a collage created with the first thing to capture my imagination. Barbara may have thought that I'd be inspired by the photograph of the Alhambra Palace, but as I'm still in an "if it doesn't move, stick a pointy hat on it" mood, I was moved to create something with the image on the other side, depicting Man's descent from the Apes. No disrespect to any of my gentlemen readers, but as a female of the species, I feel a frisson of annoyance that it's always a man that we see on these charts. Maybe I'm being a little unkind here and the choice was made simply because it's easier to hide the male "Naughty Bits" behind a carefully posed leg. Whatever the case, these chaps need taking down a peg or two, so pointy hats they shall have!
Thanks for the inspiration, Barbara and thanks LaWendula for a great idea.

Woven Letters
Barbara's blog
Stop press!!! Since first posting this collage, I have discovered the the artist who created the newspaper-cutting Evolution illustration was a gentleman named David Gifford and he has also done a female version. David, thank you, and I take it all back! Please can I play with that one too? David's clever work can be see HERE

Autumn With Hannah and Tom

Autumn With Hannah and Tom
digital scrapbook page 12ins x 12 ins
view larger image here


One of the things that I am trying desperately to reconnect with, following the loss of our child, two years ago, is my sense of fun. Hannah and Tom are experts on the subject and on Friday, gave a masterclass to me and my inspiring friend Elouise, who as well as being their devoted mother, is also a hard-working doctor. I have made this layout as a thank you gift to them all for being my friends and I hope it conveys some of the spontaneous, joyful magic that we experienced together. It needs to be viewed large, otherwise, you don't see the depth and detail.
I have just discovered that my mum has Swine flu and am not sure when I'll be blogging again. If I have not yet responded to recent comments, please bear with me. Also, quite a few new people have begun following lately: thank you so much for taking an interest in my blog, I promise that I will be in touch to thank you personally as soon as I can. I find it difficult to be mentally organised at the best of times and at the moment, I am even more distracted than usual.

Meanwhile, over at my other blog, I've posted photographs of the amazing work of architect Javier Senosiain. Click here to be transported to wonder...