Strictly Threads

Have been sorting out colours to start a new wool embroidery project tonight in front of a marathon Strictly Come Dancing feast. Good to have a  lap based sewing project in the festive period.

Hoop collages

Some small collages hanging up next to my £5 dress.

My £5 dress

I bought this silk dress for £5 at a market. It was scrunched up into a plastic bag  with a label "suitable for making dolls clothes). Yes its in tatters but beautiful and the label inside dates it to pre-1914.

Getting ready

My studio is normally a tip, with fabrics all over every surface and on the floor. Open Studios events make us all clear up and try and present ourselves a little more tidily. If you are local here is a taste of what you will find this weekend.

2 new pieces ready for the Open Studios event this weekend. .http://www.thehearth.co.uk/wb/pages/whatrsquos-on/art-events.php

Gleneagles

Staying at Gleneagles for the weekend. Total luxury! On the way back fitted in a little culture at the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. In the recent year I have become quite inspired by forest animals in my more figurative work so it was good to see these examples up close.

We timed it so that we could see the "murmuration" of the starlings at dusk at Gretna. People come from far and wide to catch this wonderful spectacle which thrills me every time I experience it. The photographs just don't do justice to the reality of the patterns created in the sky for about 20 minutes as the flocks gather.