Gillian Lee Smith

Dwellings

Hello there!

Now if my late non-blog posting was anything to go by, you might think that I have not really been up to very much work-wise and creativity-wise. My Etsy shops show no new work to speak of (even before their current short-term closure), and things may seem pretty quiet. However I am happy to say that behind the scenes, in my 2nd floor studio there are many cogs turning and the resulting mess is a constant reminder that in-fact at any one time there are several projects on the go (infact the mess that also tends to creep into every other room in the house beyond the door of the studio is certainly proof of this....)

The truth is that I do find it very difficult to balance my online shops with creating work for galleries and shops and in particular craft fairs at this busy time of year (if anyone has any hints on how they manage all this I would welcome any advice!). However I am hoping that in the early months of next year I can get back to creating new work specifically for my online spaces.

Lately I had been intrigued by the fact that many of the stories for my dolls tend to describe their homes and environment just as much as they do the individual named character. I initially had grand intentions of creating sculptural windmills and lighthouses and ruined houses to bring to life these homes ( I may yet progress to this in the future - we shall see!) . However on my twice weekly drive through Nottinghamshire on my way to and from my part time job I began to notice the very simple and intriguing proportions of the homes in this area. Cottages  that are stout with large deeply sloping roofs and old mill buildings and farm houses that are tall with relatively small roofs and many windows - all with wonderful aged textures and patterns.

So this has been the inspiration for my latest work - 'Dwellings' - all possible homes for my characters and with a similar use of colour and aged texture, some are even hand embroidered in a similar style to my dolls (umm house below took me roughly 5 hours to embroider a couple of weeks ago......) but I do love them. There is currently a collection in the Debbie Bryan Shop & Studio and I have only just today delivered a couple more to the Harding House Gallery on Steep Hill in Lincoln (along with a couple of paintings and 3 dolls) for their annual Christmas Exhibition.

I really am hoping to make more of these soon and am looking forward to experimenting with various proportions and styles and pattern. I am hopeless at remembering to take my camera with me for my journey to work and rarely have time to stop for too long due to my schedule. Perhaps soon I shall take some time to show you the wonderful buildings that have been my latest inspiration.

I do have plans which will hopefully enable me to plan my time more effectively for next year and help me to spend more time creating and less time standing freezing cold at craft fairs for very little return! I will hopefully be able to blog about this further in the future but would also love to hear your own experiences of managing the varying aspects of your creative life and doing more of the things that do work and less of things that don't!

You looking at me?

You looking at me?, originally uploaded by gilfling.

After our plans to go camping last bank holiday week had to be shelved due to Mark not being well we did actually manage a day out to Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire. A lovely day out and much needed time together during this very busy month for me where Mark is likely to feel quite neglected as most of my weekends are taken up with work.

Twycross is a wonderful zoo with such emphasis onconservation and a particular interest in primates although there are so many other wonders to see. Every animal is 'my favourite' when I am standing watching their antics and behaviours but I have always loved owls and their wordly wise demeanor. The meerkats had us returning to their enclosure again and again and really I could have stayed watching their family gatherings all day.

There was a baby elephant born just 4 weeks ago who was comical in her performance for her adoring audience and as ever the gorillas just moved me to tears. I have often found them difficult to watch (although watch them I will, as I am so very fascinated by them). I have always found them sad and melancholy creatures and worry that they are just so aware that they are in captivity -although I was pleasantly reasurred this time to read that actually their melancholy facial expressions are a sign of contentment. 

I was so tempted to take my sketchbook but as this was a 'date-day' you know sometimes you just have to leave it at home!

A lovely, educational, satisfying day out indeed.

A wee holiday!

Fishermans arms 1630, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Hello there! Well with all the excitement about my radio interview (thank you so much for your lovely comments) - I almost forgot to tell you that we had a wee (much needed) trip away last week. Our plans to travel up to Scotland had to change at the last minute due to Mark's first hand experience of the much reported 'swine flu' (he is fine now and unbelievably I managed to stay completely clear of it despite the media reports).

Anyhow, he managed to recover just in time for us to take a couple of days away for some fresh air and relaxation. Now I should perhaps mention here, that my dear sweetheart in all the time that I have known him, has never really been that excited about the thought of 'sleeping on the ground with little more than a piece of fabric protecting him from the elements' (as he would say). I, however love, love, love camping (can I really express how much I love camping?) but had not had the joy of going away since I met my future hubby.

I love the whole experience of it - the packing the car, the driving to who knows where, the 'will it won't it rain/blow a gale/flood the tent uncertainty, the fresh air and well, really just the whole shebang. So really you could have blown me over with a feather when the still slightly grey and shivering man agreed to camp out in unpredictable conditions with nothing more than a 'borrowed' sheet of fabric between him and the looming dark clouds.

So off we trotted to Robin Hood's Bay near Whitby in Yorkshire - a new place for me and an absolute treasure. The front door to our temporary home opened out to the view you see below and a ten minute walk found us visiting the most quaint, delightful village with eccentric little houses piled up on top of each other on the hill. Doorways that have stood there since the year 1630 as the sign about the door said in the photo above. Infact I found myself slightly obsessed with photographing all thd quirky little doorways and lanterns and steps to 'who knows where' and the sky and the sea and the space and distance inbetween.

 

You can see a few more photos here although I have not managed to upload all of them yet - so much inspiration and lovely memories of our couple of days away. I have a feeling some of these images may be appearing in new work very soon.

Oh, and yes it did rain, oh boy did it rain. Torrential rain and lashing winds the first night, relentless downpour the day we were in Whitby walking about like the proverbial 'drowned rats' in our waterproofs and sandals (ever hopeful that some sun would appear to warrant the clothing which expects all weathers). My lovely man could not resist a few half-hearted complaints, but deep down I knew that he was just as grateful to be away, somewhere different, somewhere new with nothing else to think about other than finding a tea shop in which to sit in sodden clothes and chat about this and that and gaze out at the coast and the dark clouds. The second day (of course the day we were leaving) was brighter and sunnier and more pleasant for wandering and discovering strange little quirky characteristics that make up this lovely little village.

Bliss.

Oh and would you like to know what our first priority was on our return? Before we had even finished unpacking and dried out the tent...............yep we bought one of our very own. Slightly bigger, slightly sturdier (we hope) and with standing room, so that the next time we go away to a rainy spot, to make a temporary home from home, we can set up chairs and a table, gaze out at the pouring rain, play cards, chat about this and that and make our very own cups of tea.

Again...................Bliss.

A wash out, a result, and a discovery

Hello! I do hope you had a wonderful weekend. (aplogies for the picture-less posts, time and creativity are in short supply around here at the moment!)

So Sunday it rained and it poured - our plans of a day out in sunshine to the Southwell Folk Festival ended up a complete washout unfortunately.  Being Scottish I would not normally let the weather bother me that much (we have been known to take midnight walks in torrential rain in summer clothing just for the delight of feeling that freedom of not caring) but with the beginnings of a potential cold, sniffles and the fact that it was so bloomin freezing I whimped out and we ate our picnic in the house amongst the packing boxes and mess. It was a shame as Mark had made a trip to our favourtie deli for lots of nice cheeses and pate and other treats and my other early birthday gift was a picnic set! Still it was fun nonetheless and we played card games, chatted, laughed, talked about 'new house stuff' and listened to music against the background noise of the rain outside. Ho hum - I am sure we will get the full use out of that picnic set during the summer though.

So using the random number generator we have a recipient for the print in return for comments on my new website. Really I cannot thank you enough for all your feedback - not being very creative in terms of internet and graphics and layouts I was so unsure of how my website would be received but really I have had some lovely comments. In particular on the colour scheme, design and ease of use which is encouraging as I wanted the background to be simple in order to show off my work (hopefully) so, really, thank you ever so much.

So the name and number drawn to receive a print is Tricia Scott. Tricia's blog is actually a new discovery for me, but is a peaceful, serene place to stop by and her artwork is beautiful. Tricia I shall email you for your details!

And another discovery is this fabulous store. In my part time job I can end up driving through lots of little villages in Nottinghamshire and stopping for a sandwich I was delighted to find this absolute treasure trove. Packed floor to ceiling with offcuts and vintage furnishing and upholstery fabrics I cannot wait to begin planning the decor of our new home. I do plan to make most of the curtains and blinds (gulp!) and with a limited budget and no real idea of how to even begin this task, this is a find indeed. Once we are moved in I can begin to think about colours and textures and as we cannot paint for at least the first 12 months it will be wonderful to think of personalising the space through fabric - tell me I am not over-optimistic please!! After all, I have not made a curtain or even a cushion cover in my life before - I do figure though that if I can make a costume, I should be able to make a curtain don't you think?

See you soon. x

It's about time....

I revealed my news!! Last week was such a whirlwind - with preparing for a new (to me) craft show which took place on Friday and Saturday and was busier than I could have even have hoped for; a trip to London on Sunday and then attending a wonderful, wonderful course at this incredible centre. I am now three weeks into my new job and already time is flying by but I do feel I am grasping what it is all about.

Anyway back to the news! After months of looking at this website and trying to improve my work and get to the stage where I thought it was about time I applied. I am incredibly pleased to say that my work was put for an independant panel and accepted! As a "Design Factory is the

East Midlands

’ leading design organisation that supports and promotes the regions’ top innovative designer/makers and manufacturers" (the website tag-line) it was not possible to apply with my 2d artwork - rather it was my accessories or dolls.

After a very useful 'application clinic' where I received some wonderful advice for my application I decided to go with the dolls - and I am glad I did! I have already put my name forward for 2 regional exhibitions and have high hopes that this opportunity will help me gain confidence and experience in pushing my work forward. So here is my profile page!

My website is also going through a bit of a change and will be relaunched with a whole new look soon to reflect my current variety of work - I shall let you know the date soon.

So I am gradually hoping to consolidate my work and improve my opportunities  - so many wonderful things happening and hopefuly more to come!

Ladybay Open Arts Weekend

Wow what a wonderful weekend! A fantastic local event with many local venues including the school, church, hall and a multitude of houses open as galleries, lots of stalls selling quality handmade creations, tea, cake and fine weather on the Sunday.

I was based along with my work in the school which they had done a fantastic job of disguising with these walkways to display artwork. I have to admit to feeling a bit down at the end of the first day after no sales but things sure perked up for the Sunday.

Sylvia and Hermione are now residing in a wonderful Edwardian home in Nottingham after being spotted by a delightful young girl who literally dragged her mother from her conversation to come and look. It was wonderful to see their reactions and incredibly generous comments. The debate whether to take one or both "yes mummy we have to take both, one for me and one for you...." and the incredible opportunity that has now been presented as a result of this meeting which I shall reveal to you once the work is completed!!! (oh I am hopeless at holding things back!! but I shall on this occassion) Anyway I have heard since that the dolls are now at home on either side of an edwardian mantlepiece so I know they are very much at home! (excuse the italics - typepad will not allow me to change back)

So a few more sales, lots of chatting with lots of lovely visitors, meeting  wonderful artists (check out this lovely ladies incredible artwork!), an entire box of moo cards given out and just a general feeling that, yep, I am the right path, all made for a wonderful weekend.

So with no imminent projects in the next couple of weeks (althought lots of future events to confirm and pay for, oh dear) I am excited about sewing in the loft space and painting in the studio once again.

Oh and with a 40th birthday to look forward to this weekend (40! How can mark be 40!) I am able to take some time out as 'us' time has been severely lacking in recent weeks with all the events I have been involved with. I sure am making up for it though with what is proving to be a very extended birthday celebration over the weekend! ...... tickets bought for an outdoor performance of Mark's very favourite Shakespearean epic (really hoping the rain holds off) , a visit with friends, a day out here and then a visit to his family! Honestly, and Mark says I am always working... still with no summer holiday, we think we deserve some time out.

Oh so much more I could write, but instead I shall finish there and wish you good-day! Wishing you a wonderful week and happy times!!

PS I shall be busy making more dolls and hopefully working on some new originals so will be announcing a Shop update in the near future.

She lives!!

Soon to be inspiration 1, originally uploaded by gilfling.

To drive another day, or month, or six or longer (I hope).

I really can't thank you enough for all your well wishes regarding our car - it was a worrying time indeed.

After a 'nationally known car repair company who shall remain nameless' said that no garage would touch here, our local garage did the repairs and quickly too. A rather hefty bill which I am trying not to even think about, and we are just so grateful that we have a car atall.

So we get to drive through the beautiful dales of Derbyshire tomorrow where I promise to take photos. Usually I am just driving on my own so find it diffucult to stop, but with Mark at the wheel I can drive him to distraction by getting him to stop every five minutes to drink in the stunning views. We are off to drop my work off to this exhibition and then we shall have a flurry of cleaning and tidying in preparation for my father and step mum visiting.

Although I do have that craft fair this weekend so how clean the house will stay is another question!!

I really just want to say warm thank-you for all the comments and visits that come to my blog - I know I am far from the best blogger giving replies and thanks, but please know that I appreciate every little visit and word made on this, my own wee part of that world wide web. As one who works generally from home or studio in isolation I am so grateful for the contact and support.

Have a wonderful weekend!

PS photo above was taken on our summer holiday to cornwall last year, an occassion that is sadly not to be repeated this year but I am ever hopeful we will manage it in the next.

The mysterious case of the missing week......

Good-day to you! Well it is Monday, the last day of March, a lovely bright day.....but where I ask you has the last week gone??!!  It only seems a few hours ago that I was writing my easter blog post and yet I have been a busy busy bee.

Last Monday we set out on our couple of days away in the Peak District. We had a slight moment of grumpiness on both our parts before setting off as I had just been suffering a bad weekend of back pain and was feeling pretty miserable. Our destination of choice, Castleton is lovely, but unless you are there to do some walking there is not a whole lot else to keep you occupied apart from coffee shops and cake! Lovely of course but possibly not enough to fill 3 days.

All was well however. We did stop off for coffee and cake on the way before making the ever so slight detour to Eyam better known as the plague village. It really is a quaint, interesting place with many of the houses dating back to before 1665 which is the year the black death took over the village. The villagers chose to quarantine themselves from the rest of the world in order not to spread the contamination further afield. Only 83 villagers survived out of 350 and many families were completely wiped out, a very sad tale indeed. We did manage (or should I say struggle) to make the walk up to the 'boundary stone' (Mompessons Well, I think it is called) where the villagers left money in little holes carved into the stone filled with vinegar to prevent infection. Here  food and medicine was left for them to pick up from outsiders. Although only a couple of km's this was up a very steep hill, thank goodness for the way down!

The next day (after buying a walking stick) we decided to attempt a longer walk past Peveril Castle and down past the caverns. A modest 5 miles it was rather entertaining counting the numbers of walkers twice my age who passed us on the hike! However it only took us a little longer than the suggested amount of time even though we suffered snow and hailstones along the way (and a rather spectacular fall straight out of a comedy film which unfortunately did hurt a little more than my pride!) however it was a real sense of achievement as I used to do a fair amount of hillwalking before suffering with my back. Sometimes slow and steady is the way to go and it was worth it for the views, the fresh air and the visit to Treak Cliff Cavern on the way down.

Our 3 day I shall show you in my next post as I must move on! The rest of the week was taking up with teaching 3 classes - 2 involving the dance costumes which we are making steady progress on. A full day on Saturday working with the ladies enabled us to get alot done and I can now see light at the end of the tunnel. We have 21 panels finished and with 27 costumes to make this is wonderful. I am anticipating that some of the costumes will consist of one felted panel and some will have 2 but will have a clearer idea after I go to my first dance rehearsal this afternoon. With only 2 more 2hr sessions working with the group I am expecting to have some work to do on my own but certainly not as much as I initially thought.

The first panel here is one I made as an example to the group (based on planet earth as you can see by the inspiration image) and the others are panels the ladies have worked on. With the performance now less than 2 weeks away it will be interesting to see how it all pans out!

I do have to confess to feeling a little sad at the moment. With so much of my time going into these classes and these costumes, I miss my studio. No painting, no accessories, very little sketching, it all feels like a bit of a sacrifice. I have work to do for the gallery, ideas I am longing to develop, half finished accessories filling my loft space and no time. But after months of financial worries it is regular work that is saving my bacon. Hopefully after the dance performance I will be able to find some balance. I will have one class coming to an end and a new one starting, but after all the preparation and planning I worked on a few weeks ago I am hoping that this will carry me through future classes.  I really need to refocus on my own work and make that more of a priority after this time of neglect. I am ever so grateful for the teaching opportunites and I think that I am growing as an artist and as an individual but it was never my intention to work on them quite so much. As someone who is naturally and quite happily disorganised, it seem as if I have overcompensated with spending hours upon hours writing worksheets and instructions, making prototypes and examples and buying materials, not to mention organising and reorganising the bags and boxes of materials and equipment I have to take to each session. However I think I have to learn to relax a wee bit and trust that I have now done the hard part, each session should now almost take care of itself. My own work has to come first (or at least equal!)

..... Umm did I tell you I am spending the day at a Junior school teaching portraiture to 5 and 6 year olds tomorrow? Perhaps I will make it to the studio at the weekend! (Sorry for the novel!)

When things don't go to plan.............

but it all turns out lovelier than you could have imagined.

We decided to have a well deserved day out on Sunday. A drive out to a craft fair on Thoresby estate which I had seen posters for on my trip out to my Friday workshop. But, as is often the case -things don't go to plan as I had read the dates wrong. After a wee stop off at Rufford (Sherwood Forest - where Robin Hood's Great Oak is) we decided to drive onto Thoresby anyway as neither of us had been before.

What a revelation. It is just a beautiful place. The main house like so many of these great estates, is now a hotel but the grounds are incredible. Usually I find these places can be so busy at the weekends with everyman and his dog out to enjoy the weather, but here there was nothing but perfect peace. Wide open spaces, gorgeous old tree's, a delightful little church and a view of the deer across the lake. Of course I had forgotten my camera (again nothing goes according to plan) so we only had a mobile phone to make do with, however the photos have turned out quite well.

We were so grateful for the lack of craft fair as we could just enjoy the fresh air and the peace and quiet of this wonderful place.Just look at this building! I cannot wait to put some of these details into my work in some way. The first photo really shows off the wonderful aspects of the building, the architecture, the rows and rows of windows and the balustrades. But for me it is the second that describes the feeling of the place so much more. Of course you can go onto the hotel website and  wonder at the gorgeous bedrooms and hotel luxury. However for me this photograph describes my own vision and imagination of the atmosphere of the place. A warren of hidden rooms and dark corridors with tapestries and sheet covered furniture. A place for ghosts to play and mischievous laughter which comes from children not seen for generations. Perhaps a woman in white wandering the corridors  or dancing on the garden in the moonlight? An attic full of hidden treasures and memories stored away from times gone by. That is how I would imagine this building – I would love to know the stories of the families long since passed, the skeletons in the closets and the photographs and letters perhaps hidden away never to be seen again.

A long and winding walk around the estate after a lovely lunch and browse amongst the shops and gallery, which now grace the courtyard and former stables and we hardly, saw another soul on our walk to the lake. The end of day sun casting shadows around the water, just beautiful and heavenly.

You can see a few more photos on my flickr page and you might even catch a glimpse of a rather shy creature not often caught on camera (not that you would think it from this pose – I was clearly just delighted to be out for the day!) and here is another even more elusive character!

I have some very exciting news involving a project with a looming deadline and an incredible amount of work to be done – I just need to finalise a few details before revealing all on Thursday I hope! Lets just say that it actually involves ‘costume’ (an aspect of my work that has been much neglected lately!) I am fit to bursting as I want to tell you now!

My favourite place to be

Today I had a real realisation of how lucky I am - I am just hoping it can continue. I had a wonderful day at my painting studio today- yep that place down the road where I can shut myself off and write and sketch and paint to my hearts content. It is always a wonderful place to be. I haven't been able to make the most of it the last couple of weeks as I have been teaching 3 days and in between times having 'back' rest breaks (which really means working in my loft space) as the driving is proving a bit of a struggle. So yes I am really really lucky. This wonderful artspace with the huge windows, so much room and the ability to make a mess, spill paint and not have to worry about it and just lose myself in my thoughts and creativity. There is also the wonderful wall space  which I do not have with the sloping ceiling of the loft. I do so love to surround myself with inspiration. Incidentally - the easel was my fathers from the days when he used to paint when I was a child (which reminds me - I must drop some hints that he needs to take it up again! He used to do the most wonderful expressive oil paintings of horses)

But yes I also have the loft space - only a ladder climb up the stairs - plenty of room for sewing and making accessories, feltmaking (with only a wee additional difficulty of transporting the required water up the ladders one handed), my male and female mannequin and the addition of a much needed bookcase to replace the stacked cardboard boxes I had been using to store fabric, my music player and cd's and all my resource books to hand.

So very lucky indeed. In truth it is proving a bit of a struggle to maintain both spaces. Although the painting studio is so very little in comparison to many studio spaces I have seen, finances are so tight and many times I have thought I would have to give it up. But I am persevering and hoping the lean times will not last forever. It is a haven when I need to work somewhere that isn't also 'home', the walk does me good and the time there is always well spent and so very much appreciated. I am very spoiled. I also cannot wait to get back there tomorrow after a wonderful productive day today.

To prepare my accessories for a bit of a relaunch (next week I am hoping?) I am having a sale on all the remaining acceossories. All the prices have been reduced and if you purchase 3 items you will get the cheapest free. At this point I am thinking the only current items that will return will be the embellished crochet cuffs (none there at the moment as they are all in the gallery).

I will have some journal pages and works in progress to show you in my next post!