Thursday, February 25, 2010

Parcel of Goodies In The Post

Isn't it dreadful that there has been yet another earthquake causing loss of life? Apparently it was 500 times greater than the Haitian one but far less devastating due to being deeper in the earth and the Chilean buildings are much sturdier than the Haitian ones. We who live in quake free zones can have no idea how frightening it must be to feel the earth moving beneath your feet.

The weather conditions have been bizzare this winter too. Very severe rains in Madeira and it seems we have caught the tail end of it this afternoon in southern England, but trivial compared to what the Madeirans have suffered. Nature is an all powerful force.


Nestling
I gave the rapidographs a dusting off and produced this over the weekend. Next time I will do a full sized rook rather than just the head.
These fascinating etchings are by UK artist Tim Slatter. Tim has work in collections all over the world including 16 in the Houses of Parliament permanent collection. That must be something of a record. He originates from Yorkshire and I recognise quite a few of the places he has etched from my own travels up there. There are lots more like these on his website here.

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe


Autumn Arngill


I love these bright contemporary paintings by artist Irina Alexandrova.

Palace


Summer In A Summer Residence


I was surprised and delighted the other week to be told that I had won the "pass the book" giveaway on Carolyn's blog Love Stitching Red. The book has been beautifully covered and annotated inside by Emma of Silverpebble blog and is just waiting for me to start reading. I knew that there were little gifts from Carolyn included in the parcel because she had mentioned them but I was amazed by just how big the parcel was and how many beautiful things she tucked away inside. Everything either heart or red/pink themed. I have listed my loot below. Carolyn, for those who don't follow her blog, is a very talented craftswoman and reading her blog is a delightful experience. She produces stunning textile work and I am very partial to her photo mosaics. Pop over there and see what I mean.

This is the book.
You will probably need to enlarge this photo but this is the inside of the book where each recipient records their name and blog and the date they read the book. Hopefully when it is passed on, there will also be some lovely items to go with it to its new temporary home. I am not sure what mine will be but I definitely won't be able to compete with Carolyn's wonderful array. I will have a giveaway when it comes time to pass it on though.


The contents of the package were extracted slowly and oohed and ahhhd over. Here is a package of vintage style festive 3D decorations, some little printed motifs with love on them, Carolyn's superb handmade and decorated collage tags and my favourite piece, a wonderful velvet and fabric hanging heart with lovely stitched motifs. So much effort and thought went into the giveaway that I am truly astonished. What a very generous lady.


Here is a beautiful length of lace, and another of check fabric, a lovely Gisela Graham beaded heart decoration, a tiny cross stitch heart and two lovely vintage pictures. A long length of pretty red heart lights emerged and I know exactly where I will be putting those. Also received, but not photographed, were two little bags of pretty red beads and another of pink and reddish sequins. Oh, not forgetting those delicious choco and toffee hearts...yum.


Here is a lovely little stash of beautiful red and pinky threads, yarns and ribbons, all sitting in my little ali baba basket. Sorry the photo isn't too great but Blogger doesn't like reds for some reason.
My favourite is the red and green entwined sparkly ribbon.


Thank you so much for all this bloggy loveliness Carolyn. I feel like it has been Christmas all over again.

This is the Sunshine Blog Award which I received from the lovely Lesley of sea blue sky abstracts blog. Thanks very much Lesley. I have previously put awards on my sidebar but Blogger is refusing to put them on there at the moment so here it is.

This is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. The rules are to put the logo on your blog or post and pass the award to twelve bloggers linking to the nominees in your post. Let the nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog. Link to the person from whom you received this award.

Stephanie of Primitive Folk Art
Shirley of BeadBag
Melissa of Art In The Wind
Joy of Jamjar

Some pigeons and sheep which caught the attention of my camera lens




From time to time I find a real gem of a book in a charity shop and this book is one of those gems. Although I have no connection with jewellery making or enamelling I am always fascinated by different areas of craftwork. This is a gorgeous book with lots of lovely photos displaying enamelled artworks. It is written by Linda Darty who is a professor of metals at an American university. She teaches and practices the art of enamelling and has some wonderful work on her website here.

Enamelling Book by Linda Darty


Linda Darty - Garden Brooches


Part of a page from Linda Darty's book on enamelling


The Virgin And The Unicorn-William Harper


I first came across Evelyn Williams art when I bought her book "Works And Words" many years ago. The picture below is on the cover of that book. I was very drawn to her portraits particularly, although she paints all sorts of other subject matter. A good proportion of her artwork seems to be the relationship between people and communication without words. I find her work quite dreamlike, haunting, and at times, difficult to understand, but very beautiful. Evelyn is now 80 and has won many accolades for both her paintings and her sculptures. You can find examples of her work all over the Internet by just typing her name into a search engine but a good cross section of her work can be found here at artwales.com and on her own website here.

Meeting No: 1


All The Days Of My Life No 2


Promises


Ritual


Mother And Baby No: 3

40 comments:

Pomona said...

What a lovely parcel to receive! I have been meaning to read Miss Read for ages, and such fun to get all those extras, too!

Pomona x

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Hi Cathy, what a lovely giveaway from Carolyn (to a very deserving winner).

Hope the weather where you are is not too bad? The rainstorm missed us in the far West - having been bright and breezy here today. Bye for now, Lesley

Caroline said...

Hi Cathy! Well, aren't you a lucky duck this week! What a bag of goodies you received - congrats on winning the giveaway - hope you enjoy the book too.
Always happy when you post your bird illustrations - love the colours in Nestling and will look forward to seeing a full Rook soon!
I am a fan of etchings - the colours in Tim Slatters are dreamy! I tried etching myself some years back but couldn't get to grips with it :(
Have a good week - hope it's drier!

Caroline said...

P.S. Congrats for receiving that award and thanks so much for passing it on to me!!x

Cathy said...

Hi Pomona. It is wonderful to have some many gifts. I have always admired Carolyn's work. Looking forward to reading the book too.

Cathy said...

Hi Lesley. We had terrible weather yesterday but today is the total opposite. I think spring is springing...lol.

Cathy said...

Hi Caroline. You are welcome. Glad you like the birdy pix this week. I was going to do a full size rook but I ran out of time. Definitely one on the cards though. I love etchings to bits. I tried a bit of dry point which I loved but you need an etching press...sigh. I love looking at other artists etchings though. The colours are always so much more subtle than painted ones.

Holly Zemak said...

Nestling is a great piece - I keep seeing two arms and hands in place of the branches. Very Clever.

Anonymous said...

Love your Nestling illustration but find the stripes very distracting. The two trees entwined are lovely. Would love to see it with a plain background. Love your blog, so many fascinating links. Thank you.
Deb

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

So glad you liked your goodies. I hope you enjoy the book, I know you will! The rest of your blog is a dream. I always love to come over for some inspiration and beautiful art

Have a lovely week xo

andamento said...

Hi Cathy,
My favourite things this week are your two pieces, particularly Nestling - great work.
The pass the book give-away sounds a good idea, always nice to receive a pleasant parcel in the post.
Anne.

Kat Mortensen said...

Beautiful things you are displaying, as usual, Cathy.
Thanks so much! I am not averse to accepting and passing on awards. I will put this in my sidebar and pass it on when I have some time to do a post on it.
I've visited your other honourees and they are all delightful!

Kat

Cathy said...

I had another look Holly and I can see what you mean. Not intended but a very nice touch...haha.

Cathy said...

Hi Deb. Thanks for visiting. I know what you mean about the stripes but I had designed it primarily for greetings cards and I thought it would look more "filled" with stripes. I must admit I am very keen on stripes...haha.

Cathy said...

Hi Carolyn and thanks once again for all the lovely goodies you sent. Such beautiful things. I am in awe of your talents.

Cathy said...

Hi Anne. Yes, I am looking forward to reading the book and passing it to the next blogger in my own giveaway. I will have to get my thinking cap on for that one though.

Cathy said...

Hi Kat. Pleased to give you the award. It should have been twelve people really but I do know quite a few of my blog list friends are not keen.

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a wonderful parcel of goodies! I love your nestling and rook pieces!

Chatters said...

P.S you so deserve to win the sunshine award, your blog is very inspiring and enjoyable to read

Chatters said...

Hi Cathy

What a gorgeous goody bag. I loved the look of those decorations. Really enjoyed your whole post today. I had time to sit and read it too. Haven't had time to indulge in my hobbies recently, yes blogging and reading blogs is one of them (-:

My favourite from your lovely artworks was your rook, I love the way you draw. And thank you for introducing me to a stunning artist Evelyn Williams, isn't her work so haunting, I loved her work and I have added her as a favourite to my list

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Juliet.

Cathy said...

I know what you mean about time to do hobbies Amanda. It is something we are always so short of and there are so many brilliant blogs to read.

Evelyn Williams work is quite exceptional and I love the mystery of it. Glad you like the rook. I love drawing rooks. They are my favourite birds, probably because they epitomise the English countryside for me.

Old World Primitives said...

Hi Cathy,
Thank you so much for the award! I am honored. :) You are certainly well-deserved of it as well!

I really adore the colors and design in your Nestling piece! I can imagine it printed onto an entire wall in a trendy NYC cafe. And the detail you are able to draw with your radiographs is just amazing! Wonderful textures.

The "pass the book" giveaway is such a fun idea... and what an amazing array of goodies that you received along with it! Congrats and enjoy! I am off to follow some of your links...

Stephanie

Cathy said...

Hi Stephanie. Glad you like Nestling. I got the idea for those colours from an advert in a local shopping centre. I had to try and keep them in my head until I reached home...haha. I like the idea of having it in a trendy NYC cafe.

I haven't read my pass the book book yet but I will do so when I have a quiet moment. I loved getting the package from Carolyn. Such a lot of goodies.

Acornmoon said...

What a delicious package and what a delightful selection of goodies.

I know I am off to explore all your links to lovely places.

Cathy said...

It certainly was Valerie. I was very lucky to win it.

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Hi Cathy,
I love the colorful stripped background on Nesting. Lovely colors. Congratulations on winning Carolyn's blog giveaway.
I do enjoy reading her blogs she is a very talented lady.
Such lovely red treasures.

* said...

I love the art in this post.

PS: Kat pointed me here & thank goodness she did. What a lush, artful blog! I'm adding you to my reader.

Cathy said...

Hi Phyllis. Yes, I was thrilled to win the book giveaway. She is very talented as you say and her blog is very popular.

Cathy said...

Hi Terresa. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Glad you like the blog.

Artist said...

good job on "nestling" !! i love the lines in the back, their different colours and thickness

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Artist. I love drawing and colouring stripes.

bunnits said...

What a wonderful box of little goodies. Just looking at them makes one feel happy.

Thanks for the award. I really appreciate it. I'm rather computer challenged, so I hope you aren't offended at my not having put anything on my blog yet.

I love the rook. Our American Ravens are all over the place here. That family of birds is really intelligent and inquisitive. Bet they could help me out on the computer!

Kat Mortensen said...

I came back to check the rules and realized I'd missed those great photos of pigeons (I love pigeons.)

Kat

Cathy said...

Sorry to hear about the computer Melissa but mine challenges me every day...haha. They have a mind of their own. There is no hurry about the award anyway. I love all black birds especially rooks, crows and ravens. I was thinking of drawing a raven soon actually. Not sure if I could do it justice though.

Cathy said...

So do I Kat. They are very underated in the bird world I think. We have quite a few wood pigeons coming to our bird tables.

I have cheated a bit with the rules of the award. Couldn't find as many people as I should...lol.

tess stieben said...

I agree with the trees giving the impression of two hands holding the nest up. It is that impression that stayed with me, its so wonderful. I love the variety of artists work that you show, gives me an all rounded education, thank you.

Cathy said...

I have seen that image everytime I look at that drawing now Teresa. Perhaps it was subliminal..haha. Thanks for visiting.

ArtPropelled said...

Nesting is a striking piece. Love the two arms stretching up.

Cathy said...

That has been a really popular one Robyn. I picked up the colour scheme of the stripes from an advert in a local town but their blue was more of a sky blue and I added a bit of gold to the mix.