Well, I’m home alone for the first day with our new little addition – Arthur the miniature schnauzer puppy! Otherwise known as Arthur Daley, King Arthur, Arf a cucumber!!!
He came home with us on Saturday and had the best bank holiday weekend ever. Such an intelligent cheeky little chap, we love him to bits already.
gilhoolie is still open for business as usual although I may have to make lampshades when he’s sleeping or when the boys get home from school to start off with. But that’s fine. It’s been good to slow down and just watch him growling at pine cones and chasing his tiny blue tennis ball around the patio in the sunshine this morning.
I promise not to bore you with too many cute puppy photos but I’m afraid he may become a bit of a celebrity on here as he keeps me company while I’m working.
Very quick blog post today I’m afraid. I’m not sure where the week has gone, feel like I’m on a bit of a roller-coaster really. But I didn’t want to miss writing on here. It’s so easy to get out of the habit so I must make sure I find time.
I know I mentioned in passing a couple of blog posts ago that I’m taking part in this local art event but I thought it was worth it’s own post really so here we go.
Art on the Street CIC is an award-winning social enterprise committed to providing opportunities for artists. Twice a year we showcase over 100 stands of fine art, prints and photography being sold direct from the artist, to a backdrop of fantastic entertainment – music, performances, free workshops, activities and street food.
I’ve been before and often found several artists whose work I really like; there’s a lot of talented people out there. I always think they have a lot of guts to stand up and show off their work in front of everyone.
And now I’m doing it too!
No big deal though; I’m sharing a stand and going to treat it as a day out, hopefully the rain we’ve been having lately passes by then! It’s on Saturday, 17th June, put the date in your diary and come and visit me… please!
Okay, so I’m treating it as a day out… but I still want to produce some really good work that’s worth showing. The idea is to concentrate on my house commission drawings this time. I’ve done an awful lot of them so I’m going to pick my favourites and try to draw some more in the next month. Then people can order commissions on the day.
I’ve also been working on some of my drawings of local buildings this week. Below is the Cliveden drawing I completed quite a while ago. I decided to add my patterned sky to see how it looked and I’m playing with other patterns too so I’ll post those another time. I absolutely love going to Cliveden; never get bored of it. My kids do though – they refuse to come now, must be all the times I took them when they were little, ah well, more scones with cream and jam for me! 😉
I’m sure I’ll write more about what I’m working on for Art on the Street so watch this space, or do come and see me on the day.
It’s true to say that, until last weekend, I had never taught anyone anything, unless you count teaching my children how to use a knife and fork (still trying with that one!), how to fasten buttons, to have good manners etc etc. So, naturally, the thought of teaching a class how to make a lampshade was a little bit daunting.
But, you know what? I kept on telling myself that I am doing this because I love it, otherwise there’s really no point is there? Would I really want to go back to my old day job, sitting at a desk all day? No way!
So in the end I decided to take a deep breath and have fun which is exactly what I did, I really did!
The workshop was run at Sophie from Arts & Laughs house in Maidenhead so the atmosphere was very relaxed and I was right when I said we would eat lots of cake and drink lots of cups of tea! We even managed to sit out in the garden for a well-deserved break half way through as the weather was so nice (it’s very taxing making lampshades you know!)
It's amazing what you can make from some old curtains! Picture by Clare Kelly (http://passthepattern.tumblr.com/)
Five lovely ladies, including Clare, a freelance journalist for frombritainwithlove, came from as far away as Gloucester to learn how to make a simple drum lampshade. Everyone’s fabric was very different in style: from vertical stripes to floral print to Matisse and a vintage Magic Roundabout curtain.
I won’t go through all the details of the course but it went in a flash, with very few hiccups, and everyone got along brilliantly. By the end of the workshop everyone was smiling and pretty proud of their achievements.
That evening I had a celebratory glass of wine and the next day I was on a real high. Feedback from the workshop couldn’t have been better, with everyone giving every aspect of the day top marks. I know one of the ladies has already been inspired to order supplies to make more lampshades for her home. So, what did I take away from the experience? I think the main thing is that it’s good to put yourself out of your comfort zone sometimes – the rewards can be enormous and teaching others a new skill is great fun. Watch out for more dates coming soon and photos of the workshop too…
Just to let you know I will be running lampshade workshops in the New Year for Sophie from Arts and Laughs. You’ll be able to make your very own 20cm diameter drum lampshade to take home with you. Oh yes, as well as chat, drink tea and eat cake, all in Maidenhead.
All you have to do is bring 0.5m of your own fabric (check out the links on the right-hand-side of my blog if you need ideas or get in touch with me if you need help choosing).
Click on the Arts and Laughs link for more details on dates and times.
Email sophie@artsandlaughs.co.uk or ring 07837 449 319 to book a place, it’ll be such fun!
I don’t know how organised you are but I can’t start thinking about Christmas until around now so I thought I’d let you know about some forthcoming events where you can find me.
I will be at the Alwyn and Courthouse PTA Christmas Fair this Saturday, 26th November, from midday until 3pm and then at Norden Farm’s Christmas Artisan Fair on Saturday, 3rd December from 11am until 4pm (free entry).
Please come along and say hello and take the opportunity to catch up on some Christmas shopping. I’ll be taking orders for lampshades, soft furnishings and personalised house portraits as well as selling handmade Christmas tree decorations. Must get on, lots of sewing to do, hope to see you there!…
Just a quick post to let you know I have joined the Craft Coop. Their website describes the Craft Coop as:Â “A virtual home for crafters;Â an informal co-operative of like minded local craftspeople; a great way to buy and sell locally produced, hand-made items.” I’m hoping it will be a good way of finding out about events and meeting other people making crafts in the Maidenhead area.
gilhoolie is on their Members and Friends section, you just have to scroll down a bit to find me. I didn’t realise how many craftspeople there were round here!
This week I’m putting the finishing touches to things and I thought I’d practice arranging all my creations ready for Thursday evening. I put this display together in half an hour before I rushed off on the school run, but you get the idea! As you can see, I got the bunting bug last week and made some more out of scraps of fabric from our bedroom (Romo Quadra Dahlia and John Lewis chevron in sulphur).
I guess it isn’t a coincidence as I’ve made lots of things from the same fabrics, but it does feel like gilhoolie has some kind of identity now don’t you think?
My next task is to take some more professional looking photos so that I can sell gilhoolie things on-line; I might need some little models to pose on the beanbags and pouffe!
