My New Scarf and My New Computer

This is Mitch wearing my lovely new scarf which I won in Phyllis's giveaway on her blog Spin, Knit and Life. Very warm and toasty....I am not sure if Mitch will hand it back.

I had to wear gymslips very like these when I attended primary school many years ago. The only difference was that mine had a belt around the middle so I resembled a sack of potatoes. This piece is called "First Day at School". The hats are pure fabrication of course.

This is a rough sketched illustration which I have coloured digitally, again roughly. She is definitely growing on me. I love the palatte of this image and they are all CMYK colours so they won't look different when printed.

Another sketchbook bird, this one is also in fibre tipped pen colours.

I originally designed this for a needlepoint I was planning but I never actually got around to doing it. One of these days perhaps....! It is watercolour at the moment but I may decide to digitalise it.

A very fancy red sketchbook bird. I have used fibre tipped pens on this one.

This is one of my favourite sun designs and I use it a lot in various pictures.

The following images are all the artwork of English pen and ink artist Seren Bell.

I received a lovely prezzie in the post the other day. I had won a hand knitted scarf on Phyllis's blog Spin,Knit, and Life. She had a giveaway and I was one of two winners. Being a non-knitter I received the already knitted item. It arrived this week and it is a beautiful navy blue wool scarf. It came with instructions on ways to wear it - thank you very much Phyllis. I love it and I will enjoy wearing it this autumn/winter. I have always been a "scarf" person. I know I have posted pictures of my old ted "Mitch" wearing it but I hate photos of myself and Mitch is much better looking. I was given him when I was 9 years old and frightened of the dark. Needless to say, he didn't help much, but he is rather lovely, if a trifle dirty and threadbare (no pun intended). So once again thanks very much Phyllis.

My main news this week is that I am now the proud owner of a couple of large boxes. What is interesting about that I hear you say. Well it is what is in the boxes that counts. It is a brand, spanking new computer with Windows Vista to replace my old XP. The screen is 22 inches instead of the tiny one I am using at the moment. I really won't know myself when it is all installed. Thanks to my brother and his partner, Lesley for sorting it out for me... and hopefully they will also oversee the installation and transfer of all my stuff onto the new model. I can't wait. It is by way of being all of my Christmas and birthday presents for the rest of my life.....!!!

My artwork this week is more illustrative. I have always been a fan of illustrations, particularly contemporary, so I thought I would start drawing some myself. I have been checking out the illustration sites on Flickr and there is so much fantastic stuff on there. I also own a couple of very large illustration tomes which are endlessly inspiring. I borrowed a few library books with images of 1950s designs for wall paper and curtains. I love the 1950s era for design. The colours are great and the artwork itself is very distinctive. So watch out for a few retro pieces from me in the coming weeks.

My featured artist this week is Seren Bell. She is an English artist who specialises in pen and ink with coloured pencil. Her chosen subjects are usually rural scenes and especially sheep. Her style is totally different from Caroline Ireland in last week's post, as her palatte is much more subdued and natural looking. I love her work. Never have sheep and lambs looked so interesting. She can be found on the internet here and here.

Now I am off to make room for that new computer.....!