Hello 2013!!

So here we are at the start of yet another year. I'm not really one for New Years resolutions, probably because I don't remember the last time I managed to keep one! But it is a good time to reflect and set realistic goals so that is what I have done over the past few days... 2012 was a time for many changes and setting the ball rolling for me. I met the man I know I want to be with forever and moved in with him, which on its own would have provided a huge change but in a whole new place with a big old commute there have been a lot of adjustments to make!!! I also decided that after thinking about it for so many years that this was the year to apply to do teacher training, and once I had made up my mind and set the ball rolling was met with 'about time too' from most people that I know! So I am currently waiting with baited breath to see if my application was successful and have my fingers crossed that I will be offered an interview. I am very lucky to have a fantastic network of people around me who have offered me endless support and encouragement and have found support in places I never thought I would find it, thank you to everyone who has helped me in ways small and large... You know who you are. 2012 saw me having a fairly productive year creatively, you can see what i have been doing here: www.facebook.com/lucymakes I have set myself a number of small challenges this year and I am hoping to be much more productive and use my time more wisely, starting with setting a monthly craft challenge amongst a group of friends based on a theme. I hope that a monthly challenge will encourage me to get creative, perhaps experiment more and have somewhere to share my makes, doing it with a group of friends provides a forum for ideas and support and i can't wait to get started with this months challenge which is to make a frog! I will post the results when it is complete. The other challenges I have set and will reflect upon at the end of the year are all very achievable.... Send more cards, write more letters, make every present I give, make a cover for my diary, move back to Bristol by mid-February, make a case for the iPad, organise my computer and have a cleanup, make a skirt and a dress, mend things and repurpose things that I don't use, finish the pages in my sketchbook, do paintings from the drawings in there, try some appliqué, sell things I don't use on eBay and do a car boot sale, knit a bear for my mans little girl for her birthday, volunteer in a school, do more cooking, fix my bike and cycle to places, show appreciation to people, learn to crochet and make a blanket, make new things to show at the arts trail, write a blog at least once a month and post more regularly on my Lucy Makes page, listen to more music and watch more films, make more time for quality time, go for long walks and swim again! That should keep me busy, so on that note, I am going for a walk. Happy new year, hello 2013!!!

Crochet and knitting

I have recently discovered crochet and re-learnt how to knit (albeit in a very basic form at the moment!!)

Anyway, I thought that i would share with you my first attempt at actually finishing a crochet creature.... below is the cat that I made for my good friend Kirsten's lovely little boy William.... introducing 'Jess the cat' :)

Here he is in his raw form...




And here he is in all his finished glory...



Not a bad first attempt if i do say so myself!!

Etsy

I decided to take the plunge and make an Etsy Shop, after all, what is the point in making lots of lovely things if they can't be shared with anyone??

Creative Every Day Update

So, I'm sorry to say that I have already fallen off of the creative every day wagon!! Overall I have been much more creative (and generally more productive) over the past few weeks which was one of my new years resolutions, so I'm not feeling so bad about not making something every day as when I haven't been physically making something I have been searching out inspiration and finding things to aid my creativity. I have decided that as part of being creative every day, trying new recipes and looking at other artists work counts towards this as it all feeds my creativity, as it were!! I have joined the Pay it Forward campaign on Facebook to motivate me to make things, so have pledged to make something for 5 friends during 2011. Since the new year I have done the following things........ baked a banana loaf for a friend, made a vegan potato bake, invented a scrummy fat and sugar free flapjack alternative, started to draw my Christmas presents, bought a stripy trunk to hold all of my sewing things (on Keri Smith list - buy something that represents your creativity and use it everyday), bought some nice fabric, amazing ribbon and lovely buttons, learnt how to make a rosette, went on a spontaneous trip to see the Gauguin exhibition at the Tate and also visited the National Gallery and started to read 'The Yellow House' by Martin Gayford, which I plan to review on finishing it. I am also hoping to write a small piece on my thoughts about the Gauguin exhibition... watch this space...

Walkies

So after much procrastination I finally rounded up my wee bro for a walk to Ashton Court.... these are some pictures I took along the way.....

Creativity and inspiration

I have been spending the whole morning procrastinating (again!!) but I've been looking for inspiration (which is better than just doing nothing i suppose!!) and i have decided that i am going to have a go at Art Journalling in the new year

http://daisyyellow.squarespace.com/abstract/art-journaling-101.html

I'm also keen to try to create something every single day..... I have attempted this (and failed at it!!) before, but my previous attempt was to do a drawing a day, this time i am hoping to think of my creativity in a much broader sense, in terms of sewing, drawing, painting, baking, photographing, etc, etc, you get it!!

Anyway, I have been looking to this site as a starting point.

http://creativeeveryday.com/

I am going to stop procrastinating and get out of here, off for a walk... which I am planning to document in photographs which I might even bring together into a drawing or story.... here goes....... watch this space!! :)

Inspiration

Feeling a recent lack of inspiration I set myself on a mission and looked for projects to set myself and rediscovered Keri Smiths blog on route...

http://www.kerismith.com/popular-posts/100-ideas/

I'm going to make it my mission to do ALL of these things in 2011, I hope to put my progress on here along with other thing that i find inspirational and any ideas of things for me to do are welcomes :)

In 2011 I plan to use my blog as a tool for inspiration and feedback, so all coments and suggestions welcome!

Anyone in Bristol who might be interested in joining me for a group crit over tea and cakes give me a shout!!

US of A

Arrived after a long journey in Hollywood and went straight to bed!! Woke early the next day refreshed and ready to explore... wandered around the vast streets of Hollywood, saw the Chinese theatre on Hollywood Boulevard - walked the walk of fame and a little of Sunset Boulevard. Saw our first glimpse of the Hollywood sign. Decided that it was all a bit chaotic with the cars (4 lanes of relentless traffic!) and headed up to the Observatory in Griffith Park. (It took 2 buses to get there and was a bit of a mission but we were overwhelmed by everyones friendliness!) Got an amazing view of the city (smog and all) and the Hollywood Hills. The next day we got on the free hostel bus to Santa Monica and had a paddle in the North Pacific. We walked along the board walk to Venice beach which was a major contrast to the peaceful upmarket Santa Monica Beach - almost like Camden by the sea!! Loved the beaches but have decided in general that L.A. is really overrated!! Day 3 we spent 8 hours on the Greyhound bus stopping only once at Coalinga Junction... in the middle of nowhere, it smelt like shit!! The 8 hour journey was worth it though when we drove over Bay Bridge to see the stunning nightscape of San Franciso. Today we set off on foot walking past Grace Cathedral and through Nob Hill (I'm not joking, this is a real place, hehe!!) From there we wandered into China Town which was colouful and lively, around the corner we found the Italian part of town (North beach i think), so bizaar to step out of China, into Italy!! We carried on up telegraph hill and i went up Coit Tower where there were absolutely spectacular views across the city, beautiful! We walked down the hill to Fishermans wharf and watched hundreds of sealions on Pier 39 and saw Alkatraz (didn't really fancy paying $25 to go over to it although i've read a little about it). We carried on along the wharf to the Maritime Historical Park and into Fort Mason Park when we decided it was time to head back uo Russian Hill and back to the hostel for a pitstop before checking out Union Square. I think we must've walked 10 miles but it was worth it and i've fallen head over heels for San Francisco already, I absolutely love it!!

I'm on countdown...

No, not the TV program, though that would be entertaining!! I'm counting down the days until I jet off around the world... 2 weeks and 6 days until i hop on a plane to Los Angeles baby!!! And only 9 days of work left (not that i'm counting or anything...)

It seems like only yesterday that it was a month until I moved out of my house, now that's passed and all of my worldy possessions are boxed up in my folks loft in Leicester and now i'm actually counting down the days until my trip!!! It's a bit daunting but i'm more excited than anything else. I'm so excited in fact, I've pretty much packed my backpack!!!

Bring it on!

Keep checking my blog as i'll be writing tales from my trip up here every now and then :)

Torsten Lauschmann

Since i work next door and still haven't got around to seeing the latest exhibition i thought it was high time i stopped in at the Arnolfini Gallery so in my hugely tired and hungover state i bimbled on in this morning and was pleasantly surprised!

I read the details on the website about the lastest 2 artists showing and must admit i wasn't impressed and was going to give it a miss, but i thought it would be rude as i pass by twice a day and should give everything a fair trial (especially since it's free!)!

I was super impressed by Lauschmann's work in the downstairs gallery. I didn't really understand it, but to be fair i don't generally understand art despite studying it for 4 years, and i don't think that it really matters if you find something aesthetically pleasing! I spent far too much time during my degree worrying and asking the question 'what does it mean?' only to realise that i'm not too bothered as long as i can react and take something away from the experience of seeing the work. I think i was most intrigued trying to work out how the work was made.

Saskia Holmkvists work was even more of a mystery to me but it was interesting to see an interview with the artist. Although it was interesting in its own right, i find it hard to enjoy art when the artist feels the need to back up the work with an explanation about the piece as i think a piece of work should be able to be viewed and conclusions made by the viewer. I think i need to pay another visit when i'm less tired to watch all of her videos all the way through giving my full attention!

It is a nice show overall as both artists work are displayed in a lovely, unusual way, definately worth a visit.

I've currently got some work on show as part of a group exhibition at the Grainhouse Cafe in the YHA on Narrow Quay on Bristol's harbourside. It is on show until the end of the month along with the work of ChloeBullock, James Clark and Kirsten Powell.

It's been a while!

My Mac won't let me on here for some reason so when i do feel inspired to write something i can't! Rah, frustrating!

It's been a busy past few weeks with the Southbank Bristol Arts Trail and it's aftermath! The Trail itself was a glorious weekend weatherwise but perhaps put people off? We can't win really, we complain if it rains, we complain if it's sunny!

It was rounded off nicely with a party at the Southbank Club where we all had a boogie to the Blue Mangoes who did us proud.

Although it's been enjoyable I'm quite relieved that it's all over for another year and i think i ended on a high note before i hanging up my promotions hat to go on my travels!

Check out what Southbank Bristol Arts are up to:

http://www.sbaweb.co.uk

Rather Good...

http://www.rathergood.com/

The best thing about TV at the moment i believe is the advert for Crusha and these guys are the makers... AMAZING!!! I loves it. I think that Cake has to be my favourite... a cat singing about how much it loves cake. Brilliant! It makes me want to go out and learn how to make animations :)

Possibly the best chocolate shop i have ever seen!!!!! They even had a box for chocolates made out of chocolate... what are the chances??? mmmmmmmm...........

Newbie!!!

So, I'm new to this blogging business but thought what better way to get out all these random ramblings I have?! I'm hoping that this is going to be a space for art, inspiration and total randomness!!! And when I head off on my travels i guess it can be a journal of my big adventure too! :)