Gillian Lee Smith

Mosaic monday 23rd March

Mosaic monday 23rd March, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Many thanks to all the artists, artisans and crafters for sharing their work as ever.

mosaic monday 23 feb

mosaic monday 23 feb, originally uploaded by gilfling.

 

1. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenoise000/3301523781/">negate</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29488741@N06/3298019643/">casatorre1</a>, 3. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30630895@N05/3290764695/">stoneknot</a>, 4. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astulabee/3288789260/">woodsy ghost 2/17</a>, 5. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/danitaart/3300097051/">20090218 Me And My Panda Dolls And Box</a>, 6. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25258999@N08/3261104865/">RedfordKatharine06</a>, 7. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gesah/3303415486/">Trees on Water, Monoprint 3</a>, 8. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/novembermoon/3300806391/">bluebell (doll in progress)</a>, 9. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14461380@N00/3300174677/">To keep pins and needles safe</a>

with thanks to the artists, artisans and creators for sharing their wonderful work as always.

I have a busy few days for the next few days 'employed-work' wise with various meetings and me leading my first staff training session in one of the care homes I work with - I am so nervous!! However the focus for this 'introduction' is activities to inspire each one of us in our own reminiscing so it will be very activity based and hopefully alot of fun. Although I love working with groups, I get very shaky and nervous when 'presenting' to people - but am hoping that I will gain confidence the more I do - I am not a natural at this atall but as it is part of my job it is something i need to get used to!

I am just off into town now to spend lots of money on props and tools for this and other sessions which I hope to be able to do a post on nearer the end of the week. I am hoping you will recognise some of the things and they may even spark some reminiscing for you too! Unfortunately my studio time will have to wait till the end of the week but I do have some images to show you from last week so will be posting them in the next few days.

Have a wonderful beginning to your week!

Mosaic monday 9th Feb

Mosaic monday 9th Feb, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Just a quickie but I had to post as it has been so long!! January really went by in a flash and I think after taking 'proper' time off after Christmas (which seems forever and an age ago) it took me much longer than it should have to get back into the swing of things :).

With all the busy'ness of pre-christmas craft fairs and shows I had become a wee bit behind in my job as Memories are made of this co-ordinator (reminiscence work with older people) one of the bonuses and pitfalls of managing my own time and having a very understanding manager!! However January has seen me catch up on all these hours and more so I am now up-to-date and can now focus on gettting my 'other job', in other words my art and design work, back on track. Of course in this job the boss is 'me' which is not always easy!!

However I had a wonderful day at my painting studio at the weekend which saw me writing and writing and freeing up my mind and my 'I-haven't-painted-in-ages-anxieties' to work in my sketchbooks and just drawing and sketching for the pure joy of it. So this week I am looking forward to getting back there and actually beginning some new work. Unfortunately my camera is really playing up and I cannot work out if it is the camera or the memory card that is causing me to lose almost 90% of my images when uploading them to my laptop. Extremely frustrating and it means I don't really have much to show you! Although I have been working on a wee commission so am really hoping I can get at least a couple of photos before handing it over to the customer on Wednesday.

So enjoy the mosaic above and once again many thanks to the artists and artisans for sharing their wonderful work.

Be back soon!

Happy New Year!!

Mosaic - Places 2008, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Well I am a day late but I do hope you enjoyed welcoming 2009, however you chose to do it.

We spent the evening with friends and then had a relatively quiet day yesterday before joining friends again in the evening for our weekly evening of board games (we live the party lifestyle don't you know!)

So many wonderful things have happened this year for me creatively and professionally and I am excited about what 2009 may bring.

I do feel I have achieved quite alot in 2008 and I even thought about going through my years blog posts to read about what I have been up to, to remind myself - however I very quickly realised about 2 posts in that I didnt want to get bogged down in reflecting on the past - I just want to get on with doing and living and creating 'now'!

I don't really do 'resolutions' but it is always good for me to have goals and set myself challenges. Some of the things I have in my list of 'to-do' are to.....

~ Get back into the studio and begin painting again (something that has been very much lacking these past few months)

~ Take my dolls further - incorporate more ideas and designs and stories

~ Improve the way in which I promote my work - I already have a few ideas for this which I shall hopefully reveal soon

~ Really push myself creatively - expanding the way I think and create and open myself up to new ideas and opportunities

- Visit more places and take more photographs - this is part of me learning to moderate my 'work time' and 'play time' and create greater balance enabling Mark and I to get out more. I want to 'see' more - places, details, landscapes, colours - part of this is also remembering to take my camera out with me (something which I have not been very good at up till now) and really capture more inspiration.

So although these are more general goals I have also been thinking about the specifics of how I am going to achieve these things - this is a work in progress and I have alot more to think about!

One thing I do want to remind myself of is just how much I enjoy writing this blog and even more how much I enjoy the people I have come to know (both in the internet and 'real' world) - so thank you very much for continuing to visit and comment and share this space with me. Wishing you a wonderful year for 2009.

My 2008 - a year in images

Mosaic Monday - My 2008, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Well it has been quite a year - mostly good and when I look at all these images together I realise again how lucky I am to be following the path that I am on. A creative life, and one in which I am free to pursue my own aesthetic rather than being bound by other's ideas of what I should be doing.

It is strange in a sense as only the other day I was wondering (not for the the first time) at the fact that I have not pursued a career in costume design (my degree was in Performance Costume). I had a lovely and very forthright gentleman challenge me at the recent gift fair I exhibited at - he was wondering why my designs were not 'in convent garden, in a theatre..on the stage somewhere' - he was looking at my Baroque Baroque print as we were discussing this. I guess I did not really have an answer for him - except to say that this is the journey I am on. It was almost comical as he was a businessman and kept throwing questions at me - what about if I got my doll's mass produced abroad, or charged £200 for a print - why weren't my originals 10 or even 20 times the price.

God bless him, a lovely man with the best intentions at heart and wanting to see artist's making a decent living. But all I could say to him was that I was happy with how my career was progressing, I could never have someone else producing my art dolls. Everything I offer to people who wish to support me in my art and own a piece for themselves...everything has been made by my very own hands and I want to keep it that way no matter what. I may never earn a fortune but every stitch on every doll is stitched with my hands.

On this path, I get to paint one day, stitch the next, tell stories the next. I am working to no-one else's deadline but my own (meeting deadline's has never been my strongest point!) I am creating my own story and who know's where it might take me. Perhaps I will return to costume design at some point, perhaps not but I am open to whatever might happen!

The most important thing for me is that I recognise myself in everything I make, that all my work is a perfect reflection of me and my character and aesthetic and this little mosaic makes me smile when I see all the details together, the colours, the textures, the age-old feel - I can't wait to keep creating in 2009!

So if that gentleman is reading this - just know that I got alot of pleasure in speaking to you, it was great fun and certainly challenged me in lots of ways. I do appreciate the time you took out of your day and that you do have an appreciation for the arts and artists. But I did learn something - mostly just how important it is to remain true to myself and to carry on creating for me in the hope that other's will appreciate what I make and desire a piece of that for themselves - that is what makes this all worthwhile after all.

Lest we forget

Lest we forget, originally uploaded by gilfling.

1. Poppy field, 2. Poppy, 3. Campo de Amapolas, 4. Red for Love, 5. Remember (49/365), 6. Red.Source, 7. last days of april **2, 8. meadows of heaven, 9. The red planet

Many thanks to all the photographers who have created these beautiful images.

Mosaic Monday 27th oct

Mosaic Monday 27th oct, originally uploaded by gilfling.

More beautiful images

1. Poor Alice, 2. sketch, 3. balance, 4. solemn, 5. El caracol que amaba el mar, 6. awaken, 7. Registered, 8. Jellyfish Necklace, 9. Untitled

Many thanks to all the artists, artisans and photographers who share their incredible work - please click on the links to view the individual artists' work

mosaic monday 20th oct

mosaic monday 20th oct, originally uploaded by gilfling.

More beautiful images from flickr. Thanks again to all the artists, artisans and photographers for sharing their work.

I am slacking a bit on blog posts at the moment - I know!! So, so busy with various things, mostly work (which is really 'play' too of course) not to mention a very painful trapped nerve in my neck last week which held up creating.

So many craft fairs coming up between now and christmas and after a very successful craft fair at the weekend just gone I will have a frantic period of making until the next one on 1st November - just less than 2 weeks away (eep!). I shall try and upload some in progress shots in the meantime.

Hoping you are all well and happy!

mosaic monday 12/10

mosaic monday 12/10, originally uploaded by gilfling.

1. You should have told me, 2. artist book no1, 3. DSC_1269.jpg, 4. home, 5. daytime forever, 6. tiny world house 7, 7. New Work, 8. 20081005 Too Many Boxes, 9. dress with pants.

Thank you so much to all the artists, photographers and artisans who share their work on flickr. Click on the links to see more wonderful work by these artists.

mosaic monday

mosaic monday, originally uploaded by gilfling.

1. Der Alte und die Weisheit (6), 2. pause, 3. cobweb scarf, 4. Dreaming Hair, 5. a matryushka of tears and triumphs, 6. sneak peek, 7. lace top jar , 8. lulu, 9. Wrist warmers soy silk with black bow, 10. Nino-verde_7, 11. Onion still life., 12. 3 random poetry birds, 13. sewn - the underside, 14. Embroidery Inspired by shells, 15. sunday morning, 16. pause

I got so excited about making this mosaic today - really I am always overwhelmed by the wealth of beauty and talent out there - such an inspiration.

Many thanks to all the artists, artisans and photographers who's images are here for our enjoyment. Created using mosaic maker on flickr