Hatchling

Flicking through my sketchbook, I came across this page I doodled a few weeks ago.  Each of the birds is based on a google image, mixed in with a lot of artistic license.  Incidently, the little robin-esque bird on the bottom left is where the name of this blog came from (it's a happy looking egg I think.)

As always, I doodle these things full of intentions and promises, then semi-forget about them, or forget what they were for.  My attention span at times is just shocking!

But I brought this page out of hibernation to have a go at some embroidery.  It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at satin stitch.  I don't think he's finished yet either - I want to change his eye and beef up his wing a little bit, and perhaps give him a border of some sort - but I am excited about where he's heading.

He's taught me a lot (3 strands of floss for the outline was perhaps too much, for example), and I think I still have plenty to learn from him.

Once he's fully finished and looks "right", I might offer up the pattern for free if anyone is interested in showing me how it's done ;)

I hope you're all having a happy first day of Lent :)

Kim

Scribbles

Clicking on the images in this post should take you to larger versions...

I've had so many lovely, encouraging comments about the sketches in this blog, that I thought I would dedicate a full post to sharing some more...

I'm afraid that I've not a clue how to reply to your comments directly (or even if that's possible...?), but I do read and appreciate them all...

     

I don't have any sketches framed (although perhaps I should think about it), but I do sometimes blu tack some to the wall.  The rest stay in the sketchbook or folder.

It made me laugh that upon encountering this sketch at a university exhibition, the Mayoress of Bangor had absolutely no idea what it was meant to be (she even held it upside down for quite some time).  I decided to call it "Mystery Fish" in her honour.

       

     

The pictures of animals tend to come from photography in the National Geographic.  I did the life drawings as part of the University Art Society which I helped to run, and the flowers either come from real life, photos or brain-doodles.

Unlike knitting or crochet, I find that sketching can sometimes be a bit frustrating because it's not always possible to acheive the exact effect I'm going for.  But when I'm in the "zone", I think it's probably my favourite hobby of all.  :)

Grannies, Tulips & Butterflies

I'll admit that granny was having a bit of a snooze (no progress for more than a week!!), but as soon as I re-started, I was - as they say - hooked all over again.  ;)

It's currently 41 stripes long (82 rows!  Golly gosh), and only something like 19 stripes to go before it's border time!  Oooh, it makes me soooo happy happy happy :D

But, happiest of all is that the granny-bug has bitten not one, but TWO of my housemates!  Both came and requested I teach them the basics so they could start on granny stripes of their own.  I'll have to ask their permission to take photos, but they're both looking lovely.  Only one more housemate to convert *ahem* inspire...

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Tulips are without doubt one of my favourite flowers.  These turned up on Valentines Day, during our anti-anti-valentines/embrace-your-singledom celebrations.  I expect that they'll show up in a few doodles later when I get round to scribbling down some ideas.

The trouble is that there are just so many ideas fluttering around my brain like little butterflies at the moment.  That's how my art teacher used to describe my thinking: "a butterfly mind". 

It's not a terrible thing in and of itself.  If anything, it makes me happy because at my lowest points my imagination disappeared completely and that was a terrifying thing to feel.  But having so many thoughts; images; colours; strands of sound at one time, it becomes exactly like trying to catch a cloud of butterflies: they don't want to be stuck down and tamed.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining though.  I try to embrace these periods - they make me feel well again :)

Green

Here's a little preview of something I've been working on for FAR too long.  Somewhere in the region of 4 months in fact.  And when you discover what a simple little thing it really is, you'll wonder how on earth it's taken so long.  I've not a clue I'm afraid.  What I do know is that it WILL be finished by the end of next week, OR ELSE!  ("Or else" what is yet to be decided.  An extension of the current self-imposed "no WIPs please, your indecisiveness is costing me a bloody fortune in materials" policy?  Probably not.  Maybe just an outright biscuit ban?  Hmm... something to ponder there methinks!)

Anyway, the real reason I start with this is because it's led to a bit of a new thing.  Namely, I can't stop buying plants (my dad will be so proud)

This is Henry.  His label refers to him as "a prickly desert friend", and I'll be honest, that's the main reason I bought him (what can I say, vague anthropomorphism is clearly a plus in my head).

Anyway, Henry is where it started.  Then I spotted Cuthbert (my friend Jo named him, just if you were wondering...)

So sunny and happy looking.  The yellow looks especially good next to the window, where the view is most decidedly un-sunny at the mo.  He reminds me of a couple of sketches I did a while back - there's the same kind of overlapping of petals/feathers/leafy bit going on...



...sort of...  I never did finish that parrot.  I love the shapes in the bromelia though, so no doubt I'll end up sketching that as well at some point.  I see it in a very symmetrical Art Nouveau style (but then again, that's how I see most things).

Probably at this point you're asking what any of this has got to do with that WIP up top.  Not much really, except that I only went into B&Q in the first place to buy the bits that I need to finish it.  I was fatally distracted by the "bargain!" sign (my Mum's turn now to be proud) at the checkout.

And now, even though it's gusting at about 50mph, and the rain is (as it always is in Bangor) falling horizontally, I'm setting off to walk back up to B&Q to buy the orchid that yesterday I decided was definitely too expensive.  It's quite a long walk though, so at least the exercise will do me some good!

Fuchsia