Gillian Lee Smith

2 Lessons

Portrait class 9, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Lesson number one..... when you have one free day in London to do as you please and you have been VERY excited about visiting the Letter of Van Gogh exhition at the Royal Academy.........

....... don't go to the Portrait Gallery and get so absorped in looking at every single portrait there....forget the time............and then have no time/tire yourself out so much that you then cannot go to the exhibiton that you really wanted to see.

Lesson number two........... when planning to spend the day in London sketching with a lovely pencil case full of favourite pencils and pens............. don't leave said pencil case in your suitcase so that the only writing implement you have in your bag turns out to be a leaky old green biro.

But having said all that... I had the best time losing myself in gazing at portraits centuries old, as well as some painted within my life-time, photographic portraits and portrait sculptures.... and somehow that leaky old biro made me forget about worrying about what I was drawing and just get on with it regardless!

All in all - a day well spent!

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.

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.

Just stopping by....

Lindisfarne castle, originally uploaded by gilfling.

There has been a distinct lack of blog writing and reading around here lately! What with my new job, craft fairs almost every weekend and then a trip up to scotland to visit the family and also a few days with the future in-laws in lincolnshire this week time has been slipping away.

I have a huge list of things to do - one of which is a much delayed blog post about an exciting group venture, also to update my up and coming events in the column here on the right and just to get back in touch with blog-land.

We had such a lovely trip up to scotland last week although there is never enough time for visiting - my nephews and neice are growing up so fast and I miss them so much but we had good times even though the hours went so quickly.

We went for a lovely day out on our way back to Holy Island - a place I remember going to as a child - a lovely island with a causeway which you can drive across only at certain times of the day. I would love to live on such a place as this although it would be a bit remote for Mark! The benefits of working from home I suppose.

We have also decided we are going to get married next october although as is typical of me and my lack of organisation - that is as far as our plans go at present - I am sure it will all come together at some point!

I do hope you are all well! More regular blog posts to come soon I hope!

Some catching up........

Warwick Castle, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Well what a whirlwind of a week! Really I can't remember half of what has happened although I have to confess that most of last week was blighted by on unfortunate event. Picture this image......

a casual step across the dining room..... my foot catches in my trouser turn-up...in an effort to steady myself and prevent myself falling, I try to do a dainty little hop, land my other foot on the vacuum cleaner sitting at the foot of the stairs (foot still caught up in trouser leg), completely lose my balance and end up with my entire weight falling onto the stairs with my knee landing on the wooden sharp edge of the step. Ouch. I will not be giving up the day job to be a stunt woman. So I spent most of the week in agony, contemplating an A+E (ER) visit, but just continuing to grit my teeth. It turns out to be just badly bruised with a bit of a gash, but oh my word!

No climbing the loft ladders, no visits to my studio, alot of frozen peas and plasters, alot of knitting and crocheting, a few films. However our outdoor theatre experience to see Henry V was delightful, our visit to friends with new baby even more so and I did make it to my teaching job although driving with gritted teeth.

Monday was just the most wonderful day. Marks birthday day out was a trip to Warwick Castle, with so much to do, gorgeous sunny weather, the most incredible birds of prey, a rather scary ghost experience, beautiful views and alot of fun.

The end result of an unexpected injury and a 'life of leisure' means that I am a bit behind with doll-making, creating, painting. My accessories shop is bereft after another delivery to this gallery where my accessories have been selling quite well! So this coming week I shall be head down, stitching, sewing, painting and immersing myself in the things that I love to do most.

After a wee while away from the studio, I am certainly feeling that pull to return and lose myself in paint and dreams and thoughts, characters and stories, texture and other worlds. It all awaits and I look forward to next week.

I do hope you are enjoying summer, play, dreams and delights whatever they may be!

Good to be back!!!!

Whew! Well after what seems like an age away (in a good sense) what with future in-law visits, holidays with and without my sweetheart to cornwall and then Scotland I am now back and raring to go!!! I have so much to catch up on I don't even know where to start and have lists and lists buzzing around my head.

But first - well I had a wonderful time in Scotland - as ever it was great to catch up with my family and friends who I do not get to see very often - the rain was continually torrential (for the UK anyway) but it made for some amazing sky photo's!! Okay so sky photos (at least the ones I take) are not that interesting - but they did make me remember one of the reason's I miss Scotland and specifically the country - East Lothian is very rural and quite flat in places and I miss all that open sky which is sadly missing in Nottingham. We have been thinking alot lately of where we would ultimately like to end up and for me it has to the country and wide open spaces - absolutely.

So amongst visiting with relatives and endless cups of tea and playing with my nephews and neice (who are growing up painfully fast for my liking) and girly chats with girlfriends I also managed to fit in a museum visit and a gallery exhibition. (More on those tomorrow)

But as lovely as it all was and as much as I miss my family - it is still a small relief to be back home as I have itchy feet and am now really needing to get on with work, work, work. There is also a small matter of an up and coming ........

Right that is that - Mark is home and I haven't seen him for a week so this will be continued tomorrow!!! Byeeeeee!

A brief holiday report

First of all - thank you so much to all of you my dears for your wonderful comments on my engagement to my sweetheart. As I may have mentioned, we did know we were going to do it before our holiday but I was yet to be officially asked! And would you like the story?

Well Mark 'officially' popped the question via the old fashioned method of ............ morse code!!! Which sounds terribly romantic but in actual reality was like a scene from a comedy soap opera. We were in a war museum at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth (looking like a couple of drownded rats after yet another downpour I might add!) with me on one side of a screen and Mark on the other - practicing the art of morse code as you do on the morse coder thingumy (is there an official name for it - I am not sure?) letters, attempts at words and even more ridiculous attempts at sentences with an alphabet in front of us when the question came - he had to start again about 5 times, I couldn't work out if that was a --.- or a -..- and which was an 'a' and which was an 'e' so it was tortous but very funny!

Well it did pour with rain for all but 2 days but we still had a wonderful time - our beach cabin ('Nestledown' - what a perfectly lovely name) was just wonderful and although we could not actually see the beach from our window as it was separated by a sand dune - it was literally a 10 second walk to a wonderful beach so we were very happy with that!

The photo on the right is St Michaels Mount which is an island with a castle which you can walk to at low tide. We didn't get over there but will go another time as it looks so magical.

Cornwall is steeped in such wonderful history, with prehistoric standing stones and stone circles, tales of shipwrecks and smuggling and of course the myth of King Arthur. Just a wonderful magical place with winding lanes, craggy rocks and many quaint harbour towns and villages.

We were staying only a few miles outside of the amazing harbour town of St Ives - a place I have literally wanted to visit for years and years and I was so glad to do that with Mark. It is a real haven for artists and has cobbled, steep, winding streets with artists studios and galleries literally at every corner. I had a very indulgent afternoon to myself just walking around them and being inspired - just wonderful!

  And so the rain didn't bother us even though there was no opportunity to look glamorous in anyway - it was rain macs on at all times! We still indulged in lots of romantic meals and walks along the beach and just made the most of the time.

More photos can be seen on my flickr account if you would like to see more (and you may just even sneek a peak and discover a photo or 2 of us looking more than a little bedraggled) - I have just added a link to my flickr account in my side bar today - lots of research photos of plants from the Eden Project and boat ropes and such like and I shall be adding more as I can spare the time.

Mmmm - so what else? Well today I was actually supposed to be on a train up to Edinburgh to see my folks but after 2 days in bed as a result of feeling suddenly and appallingly ill during teaching my workshop on Monday (I still have not worked out if it was a migraine or a bug - but I am still feeling rather peaky) my trip will now commence tomorrow - providing the train lines are open after the horrendous flooding that has been taking place over much of England over the last few days - so wish me luck!

Again blog posts will be a little limited for the next week till I return although I hopefully shall be able to continue catching up on all your goings on on my fathers laptop whilst breakfasting if I can possible get away with it!

So I am now off to pack (again!) and just do another check on my etsy shop before I get ready to go.

(OOh can you see the shipwrecked boat in the photo to the left here??!!)

Oh and I am on the front page - again!!! I got a shock when I logged in earlier - I still have not worked out how to do a screen shot - maybe some time I will get the hang of it!

Oh (no 2) and I will be getting a photo of the ring! It is very simple and not really an engagement ring- it will be my wedding ring ultimately - and as for dates - well I am not sure (maybe next year??) - all I do know is that we will be simply grabbing a couple of friends and most probably taking a run back to Cornwall for a weekend - I feel a little too old and shy to do the whole family thing and finances are so limited and our families are in 2 different places so it makes more sense to us - however I shall be making my own dress! Sweet and simple with no fuss - that is the way I want the wedding. I am thinking a 1950's style for the dress.

Okay I really am off now - but thank you again for all your sweet comments. I am hoping to have  a (badly needed) shop update when I return - it is looking very neglected what with illnesses and travels and teaching etc - I shall let you know in due course! Have a wonderful week whatever it may be that you are doing!

PS! I have just signed up for a myspace account today (in my efforts to expand my audience for my work LOL!) but am so myspace phobic, so if you have a profile then I would love to add  you as a friend!! You can find me  here!

Byeeee!

Return to reality!

Helloo my dears!! Well the holiday is over and now it is back to reality and work and tidying up the holiday laundry and all those other things that need to be done! I have missed the blogging world and creating, but this is just a quickie post as I am teaching this afternoon and have things to prepare.

We had such a wonderful time and I promise a longer update with lots of lovely holiday photos (maybe tonight but if not, tomorrow for sure) but here is a little teaser.

It rained pretty much constantly and was only sunny on the first and last day so we wrapped up in our waterproofs and just got on with it! So much to do and so much to see and the best thing about it - a week of quality time with Mark - we get so little of it in our day to day lives and we just loved our time together.

St Ives was beyond beautiful - but as I say there will be more photos to come.

Oh and I have to say a big thank you for all your birthday wishes!! It seems such an age since I last blogged and so much has happened - the biggest news..........

is that........

we are engaged!!!! We knew we were going to do it on holiday so there we have it. I promise more details in my next post.

Ok I really should go - but I shall be back soon!

I hope you are all well and have had a wonderful week and I shall be catching up on all your blogs this week (although it may take me a while!)