Murmuration of Starlings.......and other things

I have had a great day drawing today, keeping warm in the studio with my cat, Snow for company. She decided that an old shoe box by the radiator was a good place for a kip.

Snow in a box!

I've been fascinated by birds for ages as regular followers will know. Today I've added a new one to my favourites list....the lovely spotty starling. Yes they can be noisy when there's a whole gaggle of them, but if you look closely they're beautiful birds. On walks around dusk you will see many of them doing their mesmerising patterns in the sky, called a murmuration. The other day we had a few visit our garden and watching them flit through the branches of the tree from my studio window was lovely.

My first picture started as an experiment using oil bars and oil paint sticks. I've had the the oil paint sticks for a while and have used them for a couple of things, but decided to give them another go. The oil bar was a sample from work, that I thought I'd try out and compare the two types. Oil bars take a while to dry so you have to be patient especially if you lay it on thick. The oil paint sticks are slightly more user friendly and dry in a couple of hours rather than days and can be used on fabric too!

Starling Dear- first step waiting to dry, Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2014

Once I was sure the oil was dry I then began to add to my image. I love geometric shapes and especially circles, so added some for a contemporary look rather than placing him in a garden setting. Mixing my two loves nature and science, well sort of!

Starling Dear, Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2014

For my next bird I've had a great time with my paint box and getting all those paints out that have felt a little unloved of late. Sitting with Snow for company a good tunes from my ipod I've had a great time painting this little guy, with all his spots and dots. I used a mixture of media from ink to gouache.

All the spots starling, Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2014

I'm now thinking how I can further develop these guys and the little grey cells are working on the next phase.

The piece I started over the Christmas period is now finished! Using a combination of hand and machine embroidery and introducing different stitches, needle felt, beads and paper, this piece is full of textures and I'm really please with it :-) Now all I need to do is find some where to hang it.

Dusky meadow, copyright Tracy Bidwell 2014

Having fun with textiles

I have really enjoyed being able to print and embroider over the last few weeks and have loved planning my little pictures for the market stalls and Folksy shop. It's great to have lots of ideas buzzing around my head and then experimenting with them. 

Yesterday with the buzz of having sold two of my bird prints as well as a few other things on the stall on Sunday, I got to thinking of other techniques I could bring into my textile pictures. Below is an idea I tried out using reverse applique and my ballistic owl lino print. I think he looks rather smart and will soon be in a frame ready for my next market! 

Ballistic Owl in a suit! Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

Along side making new and exciting things with textiles, I'm also busy drawing so I can expand my pattern portfolio and also have some designs to print and later add to things like my lampshades and pictures. This drawing forms part of a sheet inspired by the fantastic flowers I saw at Kew Gardens in April. Once it's finished I will experiment with pattern repeats!

Sketch book drawing. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

I'm loving Instagram at the moment and find it's a great way to show work in progress and quickly put them up on my Facebook page or on Twitter. I also use it when I'm out and about, and take a snap when I spot something that could inspire a design. I have also taken quite a few of my cats, so you will have to excuse me on that, but they are very cute!

Instagram picture of work in progress. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

As some of my lovely prints have flown the nest, I have added these two gorgeous ones to my Folksy shop and they will also be at my next market stall at Tynemouth which I'm planning on doing on the first Sunday in July. The Ballistic Owl is a lino print with hand embellishment and framed in a smart white box frame and is £24 plus p&p. Humming bird with tropical flowers is also available in the shop and will be on the stall if he doesn't get snapped up from the shop first! 

 The Ballistic Owl. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

If you love these, but would like something a little more personalised for yourself or as a gift then please get in touch either via my Folksy shop or my Facebook page, links above or they can be found down the side of the blog.

Humming bird with tropical flowers. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

Thank you for popping by and I'll look forward to seeing you again soon :-)

Fancy a bit of retail therapy?

I've been busy over the last few weeks designing and making these gorgeous little chaps. All hand printed and hand embroidered. They look lovely on my shelf but would look even more gorgeous on yours.

Little bird in the lavender is a lino print and he's enjoying a spot on the lawn by the lavender bush. He's in a 10 x 10 inch black box frame and can be your's for £24 + p&p. Click here to find him perching in my  Folksy shop.

Little bird amongst the flowers is also a lino print, but he is exploring the trellis which has been screen printed in a lovely soft blue. He is perching next to lavender bird in my Folksy shop too, and his measurements are as lavender bird and he is also £24 + p&p.

If you'd like to see more of my items on Folksy just click the link in the side bar under the title of 

Retail Owl: online shops.

My Etsy shop sells mainly cushions at the moment ranging in price from £30-£65. Including this screen printed Gothic cushion, measuring approximately 40 x 40 cm and includes a pad for UK orders only.

I'm trying out both these shops at the moment, but will make sure I leave the link for each item so you can easily find them.

Wall art - Secret Garden

If you've been keeping an eye on my Facebook pages you will have seen little snippets of this embroidery over the past few weeks. I've really enjoyed doing it and building the layers within stitch and beading work. Well I can now say it's FINISHED yay!

I decided to semi quilt it and have some areas that were just embroidered through the cotton layer and other sections through both the quilting and cotton. It adds a variety of textures and depth and it kept my knee lovely and warm on those cold days we had a week or so ago.

It's called Secret Garden as it tells the story of a wonder around a beautiful garden and highlights all the lovely things you may spot or find there. I love visiting gardens and finding inspiration in the borders and meadows.

Part quilted section with images of feather finds. 

Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2013

 My favourite bit of the piece, love the combination of colours, layers and textures.

Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2013

 The peacock feather.

Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2013

 The whole piece complete with ribbon for hanging.

Copyright Tracy Bidwell 2013

Secret Garden may find it's way onto my website or my Etsy shop, I've not quite decided yet, but it makes a beautiful wall hanging.

Thank you popping by and I'll look forward to seeing you again soon :-)

A measure of time.....

It's finished (well almost), just a few finishing touches to add and a trim. I'm really pleased with this piece and glad I managed to resurrect it from the land of unfinished embroidery. I've really enjoyed sitting by the fire on these chilly nights and sewing away. I also like the way it grew organically and is quite different from the plan I had originally sketched out. 

It reflects on the thoughts of too many things to do and not enough time to do them in, but also that I'm away a fair bit and do not always have the time to indulge some of my other passions. I am though more determined to make more time for my other indulgences and enjoy the progress and the final product of that time.

 A measure of time, 

copyright Tracy Bidwell February 2013

 Bird detail from: A measure of time, 

copyright Tracy Bidwell February 2013

 Detail from: A measure of time, 

copyright Tracy Bidwell February 2013

So what next you may wonder........Well I have lots of ideas and pieces of fabric waiting to be worked into and developed. But I have enjoyed the embroidery so much that I'm going to continue with it especially on these dark nights. I have this piece in progress, which is on a cyanotype print I did last summer when we had that one day of sun! So watch this space, I will post pictures of it's progress here or on Facebook.

My next project......

Solihull and the embroiderers guild

Last March at the Fashion, embroidery and stitch show I met lots of lovely people and had great conversations with many of them. One lady who stopped by was Ann from the Solihull Embroiderers Guild, we had a lovely chat which then led to Ann asking if I could visit the guild and talk about my work. Now Ann is a very organised lady and the following years speakers are always booked way in advance, by the beginning of last April I was booked in for February 5th 2013!

Last week that date arrived and I enjoyed a lovely ride down on the train, reading my book, gathering my thoughts and looking at the gorgeous countryside as it whizzed past. Once in Birmingham I had to change trains to get to Solihull and took some snaps on the walk in between.

The side of Selfridges was amazing with its big aluminium discs and as I turned the corner a man was abseiling down it! 

 In contrast the lovely old Birmingham Moor Street station, with its iron girders and old style lamps and signage. I loved the little old train sitting at the platform here.

 The old seats with high backs, it was like stepping back in time at this station. If I'd have had more time between trains I would have explored a bit more.

My work spread out ready for the talks, it was really hard choosing which pieces to take, but I think I got the right mix in the end!

The guild meet in the local Methodist church hall on a Tuesday and have two meetings, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening. It's a well attended group with at this particular meeting 40 ladies in the afternoon and 25 in the evening. I was asked to speak for about an hour at each session after the general announcements were made. 

The talks went very well with lots of lovely comments and feedback afterwards as people came to look at the work in more detail. Particular hits were my drawing sheets and prints from the minute detail, big impact project, my embroidered dress panels from the 2nd year fashion project where I looked at birds and Art Deco. Also my cyanotypes and needle felt clock that I have worked on since I graduated. 

I loved the whole experience and all those crits and presentations Claire and the other tutors made us do really stood me in good stead! 

I was very well looked after and in between each talk I was taken to a lovely ladies house for cups of tea and dinner. We talked about all sorts of things (even though I was slightly croaky after the talk), including some of the courses she has been on and showed me some of her beautiful work. As well as the guild gaining some inspiration from what do, I did too by looking at some of the projects my hosts had completed. 

Ann and the Solihull Embroiderers Guild are a lovely group of people and very hospitable and I'd like to thank them for inviting me to talk to them and for looking after me so well. They produce some gorgeous embroidery projects and if you go the Fashion, Embroidery and stitch show this year look out for some of their work on the guild's stand.

Mr Ballistic Owl finished!

I've had a lovely few days finishing off Mr Ballistic Owl, found it really relaxing sitting embroidering and half watching half listening to the tv or radio. All I have to decide now is what to make him into, a cushion, a piece of wall art, a framed picture or a quilt.......? A friend suggested making a quilt and having it as a part of that, I quite like that idea. I found an article in an embroidery magazine about journal quilt, maybe that's an idea to pursue mmmm .

A journal quilt is where you create a section of quilt every month and it reflects what is happening to you that particular month or how you feel, a favourite find, the topics are endless really. Then at the end of the 12 months you stitch it altogether and there you have it, a year of your life in stitch fab! I'm not sure I could stick to one a month as work keeps me pretty busy, but I may give it a go and use Mr Owl as my first section.

The journal quilts of Liz Brookes are a good example of how they work and she has added a description for each one: http://www.lizbrookeward.com/journal-quilts.html

A fantastic time.

My stand at the Fashion, embroidery and stitch show NEC.

My favourite dress from the Downton Abbey collection.

Keeping my hands busy during the show.

Wow what a week it's been! This time last week (9:15 am) I was on the road to Birmingham with a boot full of exciting stuff for my stand at the NEC and feeling a bit nervous. After 4 1/2 hours I reached the enormous site that is the NEC, I've never been before and was was quite taken aback at how big it was! The hall was a hive of activity with other stand holders putting up their displays and arranging stock and the fashion show people testing the sound system and putting out chairs, the atmosphere was great.

I had an idea of how to display my work, but until I was there it was not a really firm idea. The top image shows part of my stand and the rug I had made especially for the show. I was thrilled with it and it made a real impact on the display. It was based on my design and hand tufted by the lovely people at Turnberry Carpets based in Scotland. It was held in place with velcro, nails and crossed fingers! Fortunately nothing had fallen off overnight, although Stacie and I did get to the show early on Thursday just in case it had.

The show opened to the public on Thursday 22nd and it was a very busy day. The embroidery I did for my fashion project caught peoples eye and drew them to the stand and then they noticed my other work. I received lots of lovely compliments and comments from "your work is lovely" to " you've really inspired me and I love the colours you've used". I may even have an order for a rug which will be fantastic! A few embroidery guilds have asked me to speak at a some of their meetings and I take that as a great compliment as they've all been embroidering for a lot longer than me.

All in all the show was a great experience and may even be tempted to do another. Madeira were very generous in giving me the opportunity and I'm really grateful for it.

See you there!

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break and are looking forward to what 2012 may bring you.

Yesterday I received an email saying I had been selected to display my work at the Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch show at the NEC Birmingham in March! Some of you may remember that I was sponsored in my 3rd year by Madeira and used their gorgeous threads in my final major project. It is through them that I have been awarded a spot on the stand, fantastic!!

So for the next few weeks I will be working on some smaller pieces to sell on the stand, from cards to small stitched pieces. I had been thinking I'd not done any embroidery for a while and should do some, time to get the brain ticking!

A date for your diary then, 22-25th March at the NEC Birmingham, if you want to have a peek at what will be there follow this link ICHF. It would be great to see you and might even be tempted to purchase a Ballistic Owl original.

10 hours!

It's amazing how time flies, when you're busy and it slips past almost without you noticing. I've just finished this small section on my 4th embroidery piece, and then sat and worked out how long it took me. I was quite shocked to discover it took me 10 hours! That's just using one colour and 3 different stitches. I wouldn't like to try and add up how many hours it's taken me to do some of the other pieces I've done. Time to rest the old eyes and have a cuppa now I think.

It's been a while!

It's been a little while since my last blog, but I have been pretty busy. I've been spending my days sewing and embellishing my embroidery samples, and where the time goes while your sitting sewing I'll never know! I've made quite good progress with my 3rd piece under way and 1st and 2nd are almost done. I hope to start my 4th sample next week, but time is ticking and still need to trim and mount my work eek.

Over Easter I went with my family to Twycross Zoo, somewhere I've not been before. It was a great day out and we saw lots of animals including this magnificent giraffe. It was a very hot day though and ice creams were needed. There was also lots of shady places needed for the animals and humans to retreat too when it got all too much. We did find the elusive Snow Leopard, fast asleep in a shady spot.

And so to thread!

It's time to get sewing! The second part of my project involves embroidery and time to sit and ponder as I sew, ( and rest the poor tired knees, which have been aching like mad from standing for long periods).

I am combining print with stitch and introducing some typography too, which is something a little unusual for me. I often put words on my drawing sheets, but they never seem to make it onto my patterns. I'm also looking forward to using my Madeira threads and my ever growing collection of beads and bits.

The contraption in the image, that is kindly holding my embroidery and hoop, is affectionately known as the dinosaur. A very lovely friend of mine, has lent it to me and it's a great help, as you have two free hands to sew with. This means I don't suffer from quite as much back ache or stiff shoulders whilst sewing.

Inspiration for embroidery

I am about to embark onto the embroidery side of my project and I have been looking at some contemporary embroiderers. As I was researching I was reminded of the work of Louise Gardiner, top image. Her work is full of quirky characters and interesting combinations of techniques. I love her bird embroideries, they all seem to have been portrayed in such a way, that they each have a little personality of their own. I love her mix of techniques too. Take a peek at her work and I'm sure you'll find something to inspire you too!

Also if you like felt and bold bright colours take a look at applique originals, Jane's work is fun and has a lovely simplicity to it. She is a local artist and has some of her brooches for sale in the Biscuit Factory gallery. The bottom picture is an example of her work.

It's interesting to see the way two different people have interpreted an image of an owl too.

Reunited

Just been reunited with my first year work after college had it in their archive for the last year. Looking through it I had almost forgotten just how much work we did that year.

The image is of some of my embroidery done for the fashion project. It was based on peonies and took me ages to sew as I did it all by hand.