There are so many creative people enjoying working in lots of different media here, and it's been so exciting to be a spectator of a growing art scene right here in my own little town - and one day I hope to move from spectator to participant!
(Wouldn't that be fun?).
I saw paintings, found objects, moulds, prints, wire work, textile pieces, and every person I spoke to was so friendly and welcoming.
One such artist is the lovely Jenni Burrows and when I popped into her studio we ended up nattering for quite a while. I told her how impatient I am with the process of working on my pieces. I just want to get to the end, see the finished thing and move on. We talked about the 'journey' of creating, working on things over time and holding on to an idea. She uses sketchbooks to really explore all the things that pop into her head. I know that I do sketch, I do write ideas down, but I don't like to leave them or experiment too much.
My kids have taught me a lot about slowing down. This week my youngest had chicken pox so we spent a lot of time sitting on the carpet doing puzzles very sloooowly.
I pulled every ounce of patience out of me to wait and see how my daughter wants to tackle the puzzle. And I realised that, for her, the process of doing the puzzle is far more fun than seeing the completed image. Finding pieces, seeing what fits and what doesn't - that's 'doing a puzzle'.
So here's a sneak peek at something I am in the 'process' of working on. I'm not sure what will happen with it, not really sure where it came from [although I know he's called 'Macaroni Cheese', as named by my youngest!] but the process for me is deciding on colours and layout, looking at contrast and shade, tone and opacity.
Below is the pony in colour and the pony in red.
Which do you prefer?
I'm really not sure... let me know what you think!
