do you mind if i knit

Sketchbook-ing.

Well, this feels like a luxury, sitting here blogging, actually being able to spend some time saying hello and taking part in the blogging world.

My absence?

(Yet another absence)

Work.

Sheer work load. I haven't been ill or indisposed, I've been in a time warp where days seem to blend into weeks, and sometimes days have gone missing, or that's what it's seems like at times. In a telephone conversation the other day, the person I was speaking to told me it was Wednesday, and I exclaimed "IS IT?????!!!!!!!" For some reason I thought it was Monday, and my day management was under control. My day management (because days seem like a couple of hours at the moment) was not quite under control, and the worrying thing was that I had lost two days in the lead up to a deadline.

I always think that any kind of concentration, whether it be on a painting, or doing the accounts, or cooking a meal, involves stepping into an alternative reality. The process of concentrating on something means your mind is not focused on anything else other than the thing you're concentrating on. This is especially true for me when I'm doing my sculptures, paintings, or illustration work, I'm just existing in one dimension, my mind (!).

I've always been happiest when I'm living like this, removed. It probably makes it difficult for those around me I imagine. I'd quite like to be removed from reality all the time, like many of us I imagine.

Even when I'm having some down time, taking a break from work, my idea of relaxing is to do something where I'm removed from the world around me.

Like my sketchbook, (of which I'm showing you more pages, because I'm not able to show you what I've been working on recently, and I haven't got much knitting to show you).

It's sometimes a real pleasure to have a break from what I'm working on, and sketch. 

These drawings are of my two Miniature Wire Haired Dachshunds Ellie and Douglas, and a visiting Jack Russell called Cuddy.

I love my doggies. I love them a lot. They have their faults (most definitely) but they are mostly loveable. I even managed to talk about them to one of the classes I spoke to, on the school visit I did last week. Yes, I told the children I really love my dogs. When I was asked by the children to do a drawing of them, I drew Ellie, and talked about her waggy tail and love of carrots.

And just to link to my last post, in which I also showed you some pages from my sketchbook, here's what happened after my last blog post. A painting based on my sketches, of the brown mouse, on a loose piece of paper I could frame if I wanted to.

Doing the painting felt like closure on the sketches, it was satisfying, and maybe a proper fitting tribute to the Brown Mouse. A proper painting, not just a page in my sketchbook.

And now I'm going to be absent again, for a week. I'm going on a sort-of working holiday, renting a beautiful isolated cottage. It will take about seven hours to drive there, and I'm filling the car with all the art materials I use to create my sculptures and paintings, and I'm doing the holiday entirely on my own. Stepping out of reality, into what I like to think will be escapism.

This will be one week I do pay attention to the days going by.

See you in about a week and a half I imagine.

Cheerio.

Vanessa xxx

The Brown Mouse.

Hello.................... I found a brown mouse the other day. She was lying on the road, between two cobbles. I picked her up gently, and tried to warm her in my hands, thinking I might be able to revive her. On closer inspection, I found a tiny puncture wound on her neck, and came to the conclusion that the cat who lives on our street had caught and killed her.

The cat must have killed the mouse, just before I found her, because she was absolutely perfect, no decay had set in at all.

I've never been squeamish about things like this, only ever fascinated. I also count it as a wonderful opportunity to hold a tiny wild mouse, and be able to stroke its softer than soft fur, look at its delicate ears and examine its tiny fragile paws.

The last time I had this sort of opportunity, was about twenty years ago, when I was staying with my Mum and Dad in Spain. I went for a walk in the valley, and was stopped in my tracks by a tiny Shrew lying on the ground in perfect condition. It was hard to believe it was dead.

I took it home, and as with the brown mouse, I did some drawings in my sketchbook of the shrew.

I did my first ever school visit last week, and as part of my time there, along with the books I've illustrated and preparatory drawings and original art work, I showed them my sketchbook, which the children were fascinated by, some of them wanted to go about making their own sketchbooks, wonderful isn't it? I enjoyed the visit to the school so much (it's a fantastic school) I'd like to put my name down on the contact an author website for school visits. The positive feedback I got gave me a lot more confidence to do that, which is a relief as before I started my visit, I felt sick with anxiety about it.

Last week was a funny old week, what with the food poisoning I got from the smoked salmon I treated myself to, followed the next evening by burning my face while trying to liquidise hot carrot soup. It's a good thing I had my glasses on or I would have got some nasty burns on my eyes. I eventually took myself to A and E, and a sympathetic nurse dressed my burn, which is on my temple down the side of my face, close to the hair line fortunately, so not too noticeable.

One thing I did learn is that you should never put ice on a burn, only ever put a cool wet cloth on it, (after running the affected area under cool water for ten to fifteen minutes to reduce the heat of the burn), ice makes the burn react and go deeper, causing more damage. The nurse told me you should never let a burn dry out, she told me to apply vaseline on it a few times a day, until the burn fades (I think this is for minor burns, if it's a second degree or third degree burn you have to be careful about infection). The nurse who dressed my burn said it's a common misconception that you put ice on a burn. I had put ice on my burn, and that's why the pain was getting worse and worse, and I decided to go to our local Accident and Emmergency unit.

So this explains my absence last week, illness, accident, school visit, huge pressure from my art editor to finish another set of revised roughs, so the book can go to Bologna Book Fair and .........................

............ and picking up the plinths for my sculptures (above), all three pieces I had in the exhibition sold (hurrah!). The exhibition I'm talking about is the one I mention in this blog post.

I've also got another gallery wanting me to give them six paintings and three sculptures to sell a.s.a.p, that's apart from the solo show of my work at the end of this year, and the commissions I'm working on. I'm not panicking. No. I'm just seeing it as tremendous opportunities I've been given after a lot of hard work. I'm absolutely determined to take every opportunity that comes my way, and make the most of what I'm offered, this is what I've been dreaming of and never thought possible. So far this year, I've been extremely fortunate workwise.

And now I have to decide what to do with the little brown mouse. She can't carry on being kept in a sealed container in the fridge like she has been all week. Every time I open the fridge, there she is, peaceful in her little plastic see-through box, it's a bit disconcerting when all I want is the milk for my cup of tea.

Perhaps I should give her a full burial like my Niece Millie and family gave Bob the Hamster last weekend. Millie insisted on a minutes silence in his honour, she then said a few prepared words through some tears, before he was placed in the hole that had been dug for the Plum tree that was being planted. My sister said that the fruit produced from that tree will forever be known as Bob's Plums.

Cheerio!

Vanessa xxx

 

Warm colours needed.

Hello! Fancy seeing me here...............

I've been away because of illness, and I'm still not back to full health, but I had to pop by and say hello.

And I have to say a huge thank you for all your encouraging comments on my last post. Gosh, thank you so much, you were very, very kind and generous with your comments, thank you so, so much.

So yes, I've been down with a particularly nasty racking cough, which has now become a cold, and as with all things, feeling sorry for myself hasn't helped me get better.

Just being here does make me feel I've returned to normal a little, and that is something to rejoice over. Don't you find that when you get well after illness, life seems ever so wonderful? I'm not at that stage yet, but maybe I'm getting there.

I've been enjoying the Primulas on the window sill, they've been cheering me up a lot.

Aren't Primulas the most gorgeous cheery flowers? Just so vibrant, which is perfect for this time of year.

Whilst I have been pretty ill, as is often the way if you're self-employed like I am, illness is not allowed to get in the way of work, we just have to soldier on, however lousy we feel, and soldier on I have. Mostly.

I've been doing some work to this painting I started a while ago, and enjoying working with the warm colours.

It's following a similar theme to the painting above, which is still on-going.

I've been doing some work on my paper mache figures too. One Evangeline finished but not photographed yet.

I also managed to venture out of the house last Friday night for the private view of the exhibition I'm in, in Edinburgh. I felt slightly drunk with it all. The exhibition is very impressive, beautifully displayed in wonderful rooms. I still can't quite believe my pieces made it into that show. Both works are displayed on some plinths Hugo made for me. A couple of days before the show opened, there was a call from the secretary of the SSA saying that we had to provide the plinths, or my work would sit on the floor (!). So Hugo made two in one evening, and took them up to Edinburgh for me the next evening. I'm so fortunate that Hugo is a whizz at making things, and he missed his Life Boat meeting to take the plinths all the way to Edinburgh.

Righty-ho, that's all I've got the energy for today, so I'll say cheerio! Love Vanessa xxx

 

The light is getting longer.

Can light get longer?!

I suppose it can last longer, stretch over more hours........................ Our days are getting marginally longer, just a little bit, enough to give hope that winter will end.

I'm so looking forward to getting out in the garden a bit later on in the year, when plants are starting to wake up. I've got "Gardener's Question Time" on the radio (radio 4), in the background as I write this. I love listening to Gardener's Question Time, it's so old fashioned and reassuring. And it's generally civilized too, no heated debates that leave a nasty aftertaste, just differences of opinions about solutions to powdery mildew and what will help a beloved flagging shrub.

(There we go, Eric Robson, the presenter, has just said goodbye in his honeyed mellow tones, so that's GQT finished, I think I'll switch the radio off so I can concentrate fully on this blog post).

Because I'm working on some paper mache sculptures for a deadline, I've only been able to look longingly at the paintings I have on the go, (there are a few). I have made some progress on this painting I showed you a while back, so I thought I'd give it an airing on my blog today.

The before, above.

And the since then, above.

Sometimes, painting something that is just plain decorative, straight infront of me, is very satisfying. I love the work of Elizabeth Blackadder, because it is quite simply, beautiful. You don't have to think too much when looking at her work, you're just invited to relish the enjoyment of her images. Looking at a beautiful image can be quite a spiritual experience I always think, so in my book that makes it no less valid than a painting filled with deep messages or angst.

Today, I put up a notice of copyright in my sidebar, it says:

"Please note that the photos and text, my creations and my art shown on my blog are copyrighted and may not be copied, in whole or in part, without my express permission.  Patterns and techniques shown in my tutorials may be followed but for personal use only and not for commercial reward.  Thank you."

I've put this up because a couple of things have happened recently which made me feel uncomfortable.

One, I was alerted by someone that a blogger was using one of my photos of my fair isle as her blog header, and she hadn't asked my permission to do this. She's a journalist, so she'll understand the whole copyright thing very well, but she still claimed ignorance that you just don't do that sort of thing. And why would I want her to use one of my photos as her blog header? It was all a bit strange.

Then secondly, since revealing my paper mache creations on my blog, I've come across someone who says she's inspired by my paper mache work, actually lifting a very distinctive design element and using it on a piece she has put up for sale. It bears no resemblance to any of her other work, and is a copy of my work.

If I was just doing my work as a hobby, (like my knitting and crochet), this would be insignificant, but I'm doing my paintings and my paper mache work to sell, and I am trying to make a living from selling them, they are not a hobby. They are a result of years of developing my style of work, collecting materials, and a lot of time and thought is invested in them. My pieces, even the tea cups, take many days to finish, the figures take weeks.

I remember when I did a paper mache course with Julie Arkell, we were all invited to make creatures just like hers. I found I couldn't bring myself to copy her work, it didn't relate to me, (I just admired it), and I ended up making a Dachshund. If she had thought for one minute that anyone in that class was going to start doing creatures like hers, and then sell them, well, let's say this, it would have not gone down at all well. And I remember that she was not keen on the idea of being a presence on the web, because of the worry of theft of her ideas. She has become very successful and well known without having a website or a blog, which is interesting.

Being inspired by someone's work, and using that to make something for yourself, and your own pleasure is one thing, (and very flattering to an artist who inspires). Being inspired and then copying someone's style to make something to sell, well that is theft. So that is why I have had to put a notice up at the top of my left-hand side bar, explaining that using my ideas in work that someone plans to sell is something I cannot permit.

This is a serious note to end on, but for me, as a maker, it's a very serious matter, and is making me re-think what I show on my blog, infact, to be honest, I'm worried about all this. I do worry sometimes, and this is all a new experience for me. I worry about tackling serious subjects on my blog, I worry about having to say to people that, I'm sorry, I can't give you a tutorial on how to make my paper mache work, when they ask. It makes me feel uncomfortable to have to be proprietorial over my ideas, the one's linked to the work I sell.

I'll see you next week, have a good weekend. Cheerio! Love Vanessa xxx

 

A crisp and even new year.

Hello! Welcome to a bright crisp year, newly started. Lovely.

Well, here I am, no resolutions, but lots of hopes for this year. LOTS of hopes. Lots of "please this", and "please may that happen". Please, please, please, please, please. 

This year did get off to a wonderful start work-wise. Do you remember Evangeline, with her 'let's dance' apron? Well, before I managed to get her into my etsy shop, I got an e-mail from Becky, of company Dots and Spots asking if she could buy Evangeline!

I had put off placing Evangeline in my etsy shop because I'd been doing more work on her, by adding her little story to the stand. I just felt Evangeline's tale is part of her charm.

I was very flattered that Becky wanted to be Evangeline's new owner, and of course I practically fell over myself getting back to her to say yes thank you!

Evangeline was despatched yesterday, and as I boxed her up I felt a little sad. I get quite attached to these characters I create. Still, she'll be living in a lovely new home. Anyone who has a company selling dots and spots galore, (you have to see all the goodies they sell here), is living in my kind of world, so of course I love their dots and spots. I did especially squeal with delight when I saw the spotty tape they sell.

And the other good news this new year, is another case of an e-mail before this painting "Dachshund Meets Bird" made it into my etsy shop. This has gone to Lynn in the States, and again, I was very, very excited when she said she wanted to buy this painting.

I don't think I'll ever stop getting over the surprise when I sell work. There's always a nagging voice of doubt as to whether I can sell my work. I'm not looking for compliments here...... I think a bit of self doubt is healthy for the ego don't you? A big inflated ego is a dangerous thing.

So this piece has been packed up, and is winging it's way to America, now, as I write this, strange to think of it.

I have been working on more papier mache and paintings over Christmas, so there will be something to show you in Friday's blog post.

And just to tie up the loose ends of 2010, and the beginnings of 2011. Dog walking. Lots of dog walking over the Christmas and New year period. Ice cold beach walks mostly.

Beach walks and the odd country walk, where we encountered some Highland Cows.

Hugo and I always think Highland cows look cuddly. I particularly like it when they stand and stare at you, whilst chewing the cud.

And just to round off this post, a dollop of colour. I always feel a bit uneasy if colour starts to drain out of my blog.

This photo was taken in the children's play are of the Baltic, Newcastle. I found it the most exciting part of the art centre, apart from the beautiful wooden floors, and the church like feel to the gallery spaces.

Children had adorned lots of small Christmas trees with hand made decorations, and I thought it was absolutely charming.

I'd better be off then, ta-ra for now, and see you on Friday. Love Vanessa xxx

Dachshund Meets Bird.

Hello! It's a new week again! Don't they come round quickly? It's true isn't it? As you get older, life speeds up. I'd really like the days not to get any faster please, they go by in too much of a flash as it is.

I was watching a gardening programme on the television the other night, and it had been filmed in the summer. The longing for the return of those balmy days felt really strong. I have some Open Garden photos I haven't shown you yet, from the summer of this year, so if things get really desperate, I'll bring them out to cheer us all up. (Well, cheer me up). Actually, if you can't wait till then, and need a bit of summer right now, here are all my Open Garden blog posts.

So as usual, the weekend whizzed by. They should be called whizzends, much more descriptive.

I thought I'd start my blogging week by showing you this painting I recently finished, called "Dachshund Meets Bird". It's got some of my favourite subject matter in it. An Auricula (the last Auricula of the season from my garden), berries (I love painting berries, their colours and structures), a simple bit of greenery, and a little bird tweeting nervously to a Dachshund. This painting is all about the shapes of the things I'm painting, enjoying the forms, with the added interest of the narrative going on in the background (the dog and the bird).

The painting is framed, and I thought I'd put it in my etsy shop framed, which saves the hassle of taking it to the framer if someone wants to buy it. I must get a photo of it framed. That's another thing for the to-do list then.

And as a loose link to the mention of the dachshund in my painting, here's the splendid shadow of Ellie:

One of the many things I love about our doggies, is their shadows. On bright sunny days, when the suns rays are at a certain angle, Ellie and Douglas' shadows are just wonderful. Infact I find them funny.

Their shadows look like hairy monsters walking beside them, I love it.

But then I love their walking styles too, and it's not uncommon for me to walk behind them, admiring Ellie's jaunty little trot, and Douglas' tank like ploughing forth, and have a good giggle.

Little treasures they are.

Little treasures.

These are all photos of Ellie only, I think Douglas was on the lead for being naughty, and I didn't want the lead in the photos.

I took these photos before the snow descended on us, and we couldn't get the car out to go to the beach.

What a glorious day it was, one of those happy sunny days.

Just one more photo of her royal highness's shadow.

I'm going to get back to the papier mache now. Back to glueing my fingers together. Righty-ho, that's me. Cheerio! Love Vanessa xxx

 

My prints...................

Oh fantastic, only an hour and a half to go before it's officially the weekend! For me, the weekend starts at 6 p.m, that's when I start to think about the words 'cosy, cup of tea, fire place, warm toes and knitting'.

Last night, as I was closing the shutters (we don't have curtains), I caught myself thinking about how cosy it felt, retreating into the house, the windows shuttered, the fire blazing, and I came to the conclusion that I'm starting to come to terms with our winter season, and I'm enjoying it, which surprised me, I mean, we're meant to hate these cold dark months aren't we?

Tonight I've been shutting out the world of snow outside, it's been falling in flakes that have gone from big fat movie type snow, to thin drizzle resembling rain, and here and there there's been hail.

I love that cotton wool movie snow, it's so pretty as it falls, don't you think?

Anyway, on to those suspicious looking balls of wool in my first photograph of this post.

If you read my Monday post, you have probably guessed what this means already.

Yep! I have done the deed. I've unravelled my knitting that was the skirt section of the dress I was knitting.

Skirt section as was, in the photo on the left above, and skirt section as it no longer is, in the photo on the right.

The cables didn't look their best on my hips. Not for showing them off as cables, nor for showing my hips off to their best advantage. So out came all that knitting, and I've started re-knitting the dress. I've cast on 384 stitches, (I imagine it will seem less as time goes on!), and am knitting cables all the way round. The idea of the cables going from large to small as they progress up the skirt is still going to apply yo these cable I'm now doing.

Anyway, enough knitting talk, lets move on to my prints.

I am officially open for business in my etsy shop, selling my prints! Feels like a long time ago I first mentioned doing them.

Would you like a quick look at a selection of some of them?

I have prints that reproduce my still life paintings. Some of the prints are laser reproductions, some are reproduced by the more expensive method of giclee printing.

To give you an idea of the cost of a print, as opposed to the cost of the original painting, take for example, the picture of the "Daffs in a Spotty Cup"(above) which is a small painting. To buy the original would cost  £75, to buy a print of this would be £17.55, both prices would be plus postage and packing.

Other original pieces will cost from £75 to £145 to £220, whereas all the prints are under £50. The prints make my work more accessible price wise.

All the prints come with mounts and backing board, ready to go in a frame, and also have certificates of authenticity, they show the number in the edition, and there's some info about my background, and they're in protective self sealing propylene bags.

I've also done some prints linked to my illustration work, there's a separate section (prints, illustration) in my etsy shop for those.

Here's a selection of them:

So there we go! Tra-la! Prints all nicely packaged, ready for giving as a gift perhaps? Or have you done all your christmas shopping...................... If you're interested in buying a print from my etsy shop, the link is here.  Actually, I have to admit, I'm about half way through mine, which feels very organised.

Well, Hugo is cooking beef at the moment, and the smoke alarm keeps on going off, so I need to stand to attention to "waft" the smoke alarm when it trills. Ellie and Douglas hate the smoke alarm going off, they run and hide.

Ellie has just come in from outside, (to escape the noise of the alarm), and is standing shivering, covered in snowflakes, and looking at me very indignantly!

I'll be off now. Ten past six, and time for a glass of wine methinks. Have a good weekend, cheerio! Love Vanessa xxx

I've been watching the weather opera from my studio today.

Hello! I know us Brits love to talk about the weather, but when you live in this weather we have, well, it can be quite interesting! Have you ever had sun for a few hours, lulling you into a false sense of dog-walking security, followed by thin slivers of drizzle, then hail pelting down, bouncing off the ground like tiny ping pong balls, rain  following on, then soft cotton wool balls of drifty snow, more hail, more drippy rain, then by two o'clock in the afternoon, suddenly goes dark grey, then just dark?

That's a summary of the grand opera going on outdoors today.

Oh and did I mention that it's so cold outside, any exposed flesh, especially hands, feel numb very, very quickly?

I'm soooooo glad I wasn't out walking the dogs for too long. For Ellie, it was a "right, done my bits-n-pieces, lets go back home NOW, immediately, start marching!"

The dark started descending outside before I'd taken today's photos, I prefer to take my photos in natural light, the camera copes better.

I'm always telling myself I need better lighting in my studio, one daylight bulb isn't enough over my desk. The central light and two lamps don't really contribute much, so I'm finding that I have to stop painting between 2:30 and 3 in the afternoon, because the light changes dramatically, causing the colours of the flowers and the shadows to alter too much. It's then I get on with my papier mache figures (hope to show you something soon). I am loving doing the papier mache figures, love, love, loving it!

I've started a smaller painting too, with berries and a feather.

And my Orla Kiely mug, don't you think this pattern of Orla Kiely's is one of her best?

And I've been meaning to show you my latest knitting................... I think my reluctance to show it to you springs from my doubts about it.

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, I planned to knit this jumper, above. It's a Rowan pattern, from this book:

So off I went, knitting away cheerfully in the beautiful Rowan 'Renew' yarn, colour 'Garage', untill I reached the patterned section. I like a challenging pattern, and this was quite a complicated pattern repeat. I knitted a goodly section, only to find that the pattern wasn't showing up very well in the dark colour I had chosen. When you spend time and energy on a complicated pattern, you don't want the design melting away in the dark colour do you?

Well, rather than persevering with the Rowan pattern, (it dawned on me why all the garments in the book were knitted in light colours, the patterns in the designs show up better in paler colours), I had a re-think.

Maybe this was the opportunity to try a design I had in my mind after seeing the cable pattern in Debbie Bliss' book 'Design it, Knit it ' (above). I love the way the cable goes from large to small.

You can just make out in my scribble above, the design for a dress where three central cables go from large at the bottom, gradually decreasing to small at the waist, then they fan out from the waist up to the neck-line. It's exactly the same on the back.

Here's my effort so far.

There's just one problem. I have a sneaky feeling (and I think all knitters are familiar with this), that I'm not quite happy with it, and I need to unravel it all.

You see I've tried it on, and it's much more fitted than I intended. And it's not fanning out at that bottom, like I envisaged. I think the size of the cable at the bottom is too small. When I tried it on, I found that the cable was actually quite bulky, because of the flatter stocking stitch either side of the cables, which had the effect of accentuating my stomach, which noone wants do they?

I'm wondering if I actually need to have cables all the way round the skirt section of the dress, and abandon the three cables in the middle? The yarn is bulky, I think that's the problem, if this was being knitted in a finer yarn, it wouldn't be such a problem. What do you think? It might look quite nice with cables all the way round. Then the top section could just have very thin cables, fanning out or whatever, so they weren't too bulky, Or maybe I just need  the cables wider at the bottom................ I'll have a think about it, and listen to your words of wisdom.

Well, I need to have a bite to eat before I head off to my knitting group, so cheerio for now! Love Vanessa xxx

Prints are here!

Hello! Hope you had a good weekend? I had a busy, busy weekend, we seemed to spend the whole two days going to country fairs, an open studio and a garage sale, and it's quite nice to be back to the slower pace of life in my studio.

The one thing that stands out from the weekend is the open studio, (where I felt too shy to take photos), and the tent at one of the country fairs containing little webbed feet creatures, that is, poultry, and a few nervous looking ducks. But I'll show you those photos another time, because, although I promised to show you a finished sleeve of my fair isle dress I'm knitting, I've got something else to mention.

After a long absence stocking my etsy shop, I've just started to fill it, with my first giclee print. I'm going to try and put at least one in my shop every day, untill they're all listed.

They come with a mount and backing board, and have a polypropylene bag protecting them.

I'm producing all my prints under a label, named "Pink and Green Press". All my landscapes, illustration work, and abstracts will come under this label.

Hugo and I have been working on getting this all together over the last month or so. Gosh! It's been time consuming and complicated, and when I sit down and think about it, we've produced a lot, which I'll slowly unravel to you as it all goes into my shop, which you can see by clicking here.

I notice that etsy is now showing the prices in your own currency, along with the dollar price, which is brilliant for those of us not thinking in dollars.

I feel quite surprised at myself, that I've finally got my act together, and am starting to put prints in my shop.

I've been promising I'd do this for ages. Marvellous!

I did a lot of searching around for the best quality and price, to get prints made of some of my paintings. I'm so impressed by the giclee printing process, and if I could afford to, I'd have all my reproductions done by the giclee process, which is superb. Some of my reproductions are laser prints, which lowers the price considerably, but doesn't work for all the pieces. When I've felt the laser process was good and true to the original, I've used that process, where it hasn't worked, I've had to use the more expensive giclee method.

The painting in this post is reproduced by the giclee method, and I'm thrilled with the results.

Well my lovelies, it's a lot later than I normally visit you to say hello. On Wednesday I will definitely-definitely-that's-a-promise show you the sleeve of my fair isle dress which is actually sewn into the dress, (though the yarn ends aren't sewn in yet), and you get a good idea of how it will look when finished. Cheerio then! Love Vanessa xxx

Garden flowers.

Lovely day here today, sun shining, birds singing and tweeting, and me enjoying it all, from the peace of my studio.

And the garden is starting to twinkle with spring flowers, I love spring flowers. And I get a lot of pleasure picking flowers from my garden, I have to admit, I feel ever so pleased that I've been able to grow them. All of the flowers above are from my garden. Amazing.

Especially the Snakeshead Fritillary, that flower at the back with a snakeskin pattern on its petals, these are extraordinary little flowers.

I was determined to paint the Fritillaries this year, I missed doing that last year. And the Auriculas.

I started painting them yesterday, and have been unable to stop myself from painting them today, when I should be working on the final roughs for the mole book I'm working on.

You see we're going on holiday for two whole weeks this Friday, and they'll be long gone by the time I get back. We're going to Turkey.

Did I mention it was for two whole weeks!

There's the possibility that I'll be able to do some blog posts from where we're staying, hopefully it will possible, and I'll be able to continue my usual blogging pattern. Fingers crossed.

Just incase it's not possible, I'll say goodbye now.

I don't like goodbyes!

I'll just say cheerio, and hope I'll see you on my holiday, but apologies if it turns out not to be possible. Cheerio then, Love Vanessa xxx