hubcap mystery

me and will went for a walk to tesco today and on the way there was this collection of hub caps

and then over the road:

strange.


we also saw these berries. i have no idea what they are but they're pretty.
if you know what they are please tell me, i'm curious.
(the photo being blurry isn't my fault, it was windy and had just started to rain so i was trying to hurry, maybe it's kind of my fault but whatever...)


i just spent almost a year sorting out my sets and collections on flickr. you should have a look so it wasn't a complete waste of time, they're lovely.
i hope.

i'm going to start on some envelopes for my brooches while will cooks up some pork and rice, it smells goooooooooooood.

x

slr

last night i got my slr out and had a play.

this is me ready for bed. about to go to bed is always when i think of something i should do. i then have the dilemma of doing it or going to sleep. the camera won, but not for long.

i finally managed to use the macro mode on it. this is grack, having a little sleepy. aw look at his little face.

grack's tank turns into a brothel at night.

not a 'good' photo but i don't really care, i think it's pretty.

x

mum/dad

started on some new brooches today.

i'm loving all this sewing. need to learn to hold it up rather than bending over it though, my back's starting to hurt.



we popped into welwyn yesterday to sort out some council stuff and will needed some bits and then he treated us to lunch and looked slightly awkward while i took photos of him. ain't he pretty? i want the wall colour and the chair please. and the rabbit we saw in the pet shop. i'd have one of the bearded dragons too if you're offering...and some pick n mix.

x

art = happy becky

half term is finally over so i have time outside 'work' again to do art work, yay!
i'm so happy now i can get back into my stuff, i haven't been able to do anything for almost a fortnight.
i do have to leave for work soon but it's only a small shift so i've had all day to make these:

anchor brooches!
i think they're pretty cute if i do say so myself.

i'm excited for the next week. i only have 3 shifts and they all start in the evening so i have all the days to do art so my website/shop should progress nicely.

now i'm off to work a touch early to get some blue doritos for an on the way to work dinner.
not as good as the awesome cottage pie will made yesterday but it'll do.

x

lino fortunes

it has been half term this past week so i have been at 'work' a lot. i have hated it. it has meant i don't have time for art. and it also coincides with a pay day that doesn't include all these shifts so i'm exhausted but getting paid almost nothing till next month. but i have today off before another chunk of days being stolen from me so i'm going to make the most of it. i have scanned in my test prints.

and i think they're rather promising. now i need to find funds for decent paper so i can make prints for the shop.

will's sister has been here the past couple of days and yesterday they went to london and will came back with fortune cookies for me :)

i intend to.

i'm off to try and make notebooks and design some more brooches.

x

felt and lino

this morning we went to hobbycraft.
i may have gone mental for felt.
but look, there is polka dots!
i also got some canvasy/denim fabric to have a play with.
excited!

then once home i did some lino printing for the first time in yonks and i absolutely loved it. and for test runs they have come out pretty good.

this whole new start thing i'm doing is working a treat.

and i have just made brownies for the first time ever and the flat smells amazing.
what is not amazing is licking the butter and cocoa powder mixture on it's own, but it's made alright by then licking the finished brownie mixture which is goooooood.

x

valentine

we don't really 'do' valentine's day because we love each other all year round but it is a good excuse to spend money together that we shouldn't be spending.

will knows me so well. the wrapping was really part of the present, pretty pretty paper. pretty pretty presents.


he got me a necklace with a watch on it. i love it.

we went to starbucks. i bought will lunch then he bought me pudding.



happy valentine's day
x

news

before work today i did some art. i made some more skull brooches for my soon to exist shop and cut out a robot for printing.

getting rolled up paper to lay flat is difficult, no matter how many heavy things you put on it.

earlier today i saw once on twitter about a girl who's work had clearly been stolen and used in a paperchase design.
then i went to work for 5 and a half hours.
i come home and there are a few links to the newspaper articles about it. seriously, whoever the 'artist' for the design company that sells stuff to paperchase is should just fess up. if it's a coincidence that your girl is almost identical you're rubbish because she's not at the right angle to be leaning on that mushroom anyway!

i also came home to the news that alexander mcqueen has died.
i have never been a fashion boffin but i do indulge in fashion magazines now and again for inspiration and he was definately one of the designers that stood out to me and i am shocked.

slightly odd evening.

brooches cupcakes bookshelves skulls

yesterday will and i went to london to find a printmakers shop i'd found on the internet and to pick up a leatherbound notebook my mum wanted from covent garden market. we were getting ready to leave and tom text will saying he was going to london today, did we want to join him. weird.
we went to the printshop then met tom in covent garden. the printshop was amazing. i got some red fabric paint for my silk screen and a pack of random paper to have a play with. i also touched all the samples and wrote down the ones i liked the best so i could order some off their website rather than carrying it round london in the snow.

the book my mum wanted wasn't there because it was an antique market rather than the one my mum saw at the weekend which is a shame but i did end up with this brooch.

isn't it awesome. will got it for me. i love it.

then tom turned up and we wandered for a bit getting more and more frozen looking for a pub that did food at a reasonable price. we ended up in the slug and lettuce on leicester square and it was 50% off monday! bargain.
then we headed to the national gallery stopping off at the art shop on the way.

will got me a cupcake and a cup of tea because he's awesome like that.
we sat in the national gallery for a bit and then tom had to run back to hatfield (not literally, obviously) and we went to paperchase where i found some card that will hopefully be turned into covers for notebooks.
i love paperchase.


when we got home we put up my little bookshelf to go next to my desk. i cleared some stuff off my desk onto it today and i'm in the mood for working now that i have a proper space.
in this picture you can see fabulous bruno, the rhino will got from the art shop the other week. he's infront of the flowers on the table. he's beautiful.

the last bunch of flowers will got me are mental. this is another crazy growth.

i tried out making flower brooches. i'm really enjoying myself at the moment with all this making of things.

the beginnings of more skull brooches, waiting for the paint to dry.
i can't wait till my shop is up and running.

on our way home this afternoon will stopped and said is that a skull and picked something up and it was. a little pigeon skull. will's cleaned it and it's now sitting in the kitchen waiting for a home. we need to find a good way to display it. i love skulls, they're fascinating.

we're going to see 'the wolfman' tomorrow. i'm so excited. i've been looking forward to it for ages.

and then the massive work week begins. i hate half term. i have a huge week at work this next rota. it's annoying, i need the money but i don't like my job so i want to be there as little as possible. and the more time i'm at 'work' the less time i have at home to concentrate on making art my job. oh well, i'll just have to grit my teeth and get on with it till i can find something else to pay the rent with.
i'll have to make sure tomorrow is super productive to make up for the days i won't be able to do anything.

i'm a little teapot...

today the ma and pa came over and took me to the supermarket to buy food and then to hobbycraft to buy felt and to argos to buy a bookshelf and then they even took me out for lunch/dinner. they are awesome.

they gave me and will their old teapot. it's from cornwall. i'm so looking forward to our first massive pot of tea.

i did my first tries at felt brooches. one is stuffed and one isn't. i think they turned out quite well for a first attempt.

mum and dad also brought soil with them so i could give the baby aloe veras their own home and the adult aloe vera some more space. i hope i haven't broken them or anything.

it was a good day. a shame will had to work instead of coming along but we get to go on an adventure tomorrow.

i am listening to the score from 'the road'. will being the genius that he is spent the rest of his hmv voucher on it and it's beautiful. it's written by nick cave and warren ellis and if you like music you should buy it too.

i am so tired. i'm going to go to bed stupid early and read my new library book.

untitled

i love art.

new start

the other day i realised something.
i realised that i absoloutely hate trying to make the computer and the printer communicate in a way that will make the printer realise that there are 2 different types of brown in the image. not just always that same orangey brown it loves no matter what colour brown it actually is.
and i also realised that it's not just when i print 2 types of brown that there's a problem.
i realised that this works me up so much that it takes the enjoyment out of making images.
i came to the conclusion that i needed to not need printers in order to re-produce my work.
this has resulted in me disregarding what i had as a portfolio and starting again.
from scratch.
scary?
exciting?
i'm gonna say yes.
i am now working on getting together a portfolio and making enough stock to open up my very own little online shop.
and that's exciting.
at the moment i only have scraps of paper with vague ideas/designs and no actual finished pieces.
that's the scary part.
but
i'm on the road to something good. i can feel it.
i just have to get there and it'll be fun.
i have decided on how i am making my work now and it's all things i have done and enjoyed before, i just need to refine my skills and create things.
because that is what it is all about for me.
making things.
i get so much joy out of creating stuff.
it really makes me proud.
i don't want to taint that with the frustration i get from trying to reproduce it through the computer.
i realise there are going to be other things that are frustrating and challenging and that's fine but if i can remove something from my art process that creates so much anger then i think i should.
i want to make art for a living because i love it and i don't want anything to tarnish that.

so, i'm going to leave my website until i have everything sorted so it can all go live at the same time but i'll post stuff on here and flickr as it gets made and hopefully entice some people to check out the website/shop when it does get sorted.

wish me luck!

also, on a lighter note, look at how this flower is deformed.