Catching up with blogging after a loooong break.

I can hardly believe that it is 10 months since I blogged.....time seems to go faster each year, and this one seems to have beaten all the others.
It has been a busy one. When I last added a post, my Etsy shop was very new, but now it has been open for a year and is one of the reasons that the Blog suffered I think, as making and creating things always comes first, and once people started to like what I was making, then of course you keep going....I also find it a relaxing contrast to the deeper textile work I make for our E.A.S.T ( East Anglian Stitch Textiles) which is either very personal, or much deeper in meaning.....for Etsy I can just make beautiful things which I hope will bring some joy to others.....here is a photo of the detail of one of my favourites, which is off to a new home tomorrow. It was made from a piece of an antique handmade quilt, which I use for much of both my art, and craft work, with the addition of hand embroidery and antique lace.

Once we got into Spring, then the garden work took over, as I have a wildlife garden which is very labour intensive......so trying to keep up with both areas of creating, plus the garden, and all the normal household work....and a new role of responsibility in my textile are group, just put the Blog right at the back of the queue, and it seemed easier and quicker to use my Facebook art page: https://www.facebook.com/Fragments.by.EllenDevall/ but I would like to start writing again....especially now that many of us are going into winter, and have the dark long evenings, and writing on a more personal level....not as a platform for the shop ( ive spoken about that here, as it's one of the reasons for my blogging absence), but as one to share both life, art and creativity.....I shall try to keep it up.....especially as I seem to have kept many of my followers.....thank you.
( Looking at my blog now, after so long, I can see that I really need to change the layout too, so please bear with me!  )

Antique Sweetheart Swallow brooch with little hanging gem.

The complete panel....a grey, wet old day makes it look rather dull though.

Little Oofs and the Rats....and a New Year

Good morning...on the first day of the New Year....we know not what lies ahead of good or not so good, but at this time of the year I think most of us are full of hope and plans for the future, and it is a good time to reflect.....I have a headache from a lovely and very noisy family gathering last night....and I dont even drink....I can only image how many poor folk are nursing hangovers this morning....I feel like I have one, and I only had coffee and fruit juices all evening!
Here is a totally unrelated photograph from a corner of my workroom....well two actually....they make me smile, and they may make some one else here smile too.

"Mischief" ( a doll found broken in a charity shop) playing with the rats from my WW1 art work last year.

 

Where did the rats go?..."Little Oofs", my 14-15 year old rescue cat that I've had for just over a year now.

Happy New Year everyone, and thank you for staying with me!

A thank you to everyone who has read my blog...and stayed with me after such a long break.
I wish you all a Happy New Year that will be full of hope for the future.....and joy just in living one day at a time, Ellen x

Happy New Year from my house to yours.

 

Getting Back to Making, opening an Etsy shop and being creative again

After the illness it took a surprisingly long time for my creativity to return properly, and at one point I thought it never would. The thing that helped me the most was just getting back into the garden throughout the summer; even though our summer was a poor one, it was just wonderful to be strong enough....and to have the motivation to clear certain things, dig new beds.....make another herb garden and grow some vegetables.....there is nothing like nature to put us right again, mentally.
I had so missed doing these things and have been able this year to really bring the garden on and see such great changes......I think that being creative and almost childlike in my enjoyment of gardening triggered my creativity again by giving me the desire to stitch and make.
I still struggled a bit with the more serious art work that I would need to do, as I am a member of EAST ( East Anglian Stitch Textiles), and we exhibit seriously, as with the WW1 exhibition that I think I put on here last year, my suitcase with the rats......so I decided to make small things just for the pleasure of making....both decorative and or useful, and decide what to do wih them afterwards!

My dream for next year is to be able to clear out and get rid of an old metal shed and replace it with a greenhouse.....for this I will need physical help and finance and this is one of the reasons  why I recently decided to open an Etsy shop.....it is a small beginning for me with fabric pictures, cards and needlebooks at the moment, but I have lots more ideas which I shall aim for soon, all being well.

I also want to re-do my Blog page and try to make it more interesting, so please bear with me if strange things happen as I'm not very experienced in this.
I also started a Facebook page specifically for my art and craftwork, and I shall now endeavour to add those links here....one way or another

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EllenDevallArtwork?ref=hdr_shop_menu

https://www.facebook.com/Fragments.by.EllenDevall/?ref=hl

I think I did it :)...now for some photos.

Some textile Pictures/Collages...now all mounted but unframed, Needlebooks and Cards 

Some Cards...which can be framed as mini artworks.

More Cards....the one on the left is made from 19th century Toile de Jouy & has been embroidered with the words " Love is all"

More cards and a Needlebook.....these are not in the shop until later this week as they're bot quite finished.

Work in progress.....a tiny Victorian wool crepe petticoat to be worked on.

 

Joyeux Noel, Blessings and Merry Christmas faithful followers.

I have been away from my blog for such a long time, and have been busy with many things......however, it is too late tonight to catch up as it's nearly bedtime....but....I shall be catching up properly over the next few days as now I have a peaceful and relaxed time to do so.

Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me.....I'm sorry, but not surprised to have lost three followers....I can hardly believe that it is 9 months since I wrote last......but I had such a lot to catch up with in both in the garden and my home after the "lost chemo year" of 2014.......and then there  was the artwork to try to get back into, and I've actuall managed to get an Etsy shop up and running at last.....but that is enough for tonight.....I would like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas time of peace, joy and hope for 2016 x

A Christmas corner of my workroom....the weather has been unusually mild for winter, with some plants getting confused and starting to blooom! I'm sure the cold will eventually arrive and those poor plants will then go into shock.

Evening Corners of my home.....

Every now and then I take random photos indoors as I always find that looking at these images is somehow different to how I see things when I just look around my home....if you know what I mean....it's like seeing through new eyes I guess. Here are two corners of my work room, taken in the evening with one small electric light.

Evening

Hickory - Dickory....

A tidy worktable and an antique dolls bed...

After two overly busy weeks the worktable was a mess, and it really did feel as if my mind was going in the same direction.....only a little while back it was all neat...and I photographed it then, but how quickly order desolves into chaos! I find it very hard to work unless things are organised, so this blitz should now lead to productivity....Missy likes it too.....and I am admiring the new addition of the antique  Italian  dolls bed which may become part of a set for photography shortly.....Mehitable ( from the "Nine Lives" exhibition) is sitting on it....I just love the original mattresses.

Missy T has inspected and is pleased with the orderlieness.

Our Exhibition moves to Cirencester.

After showing at the Knitting & Stitching Show in Alexander Palace, then Harrogate and until yesterday at Braintree Museum, we have now taken our exhibition down and repacked it for the next opening at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.
As you will know, if you have followed my blog, I am part of EAST ( East anglian Stitch Textiles...a textiles and mixed media group of 15) who have a major exhibition every two years. This one is to commemorate WW1 and is called 'Between the Lines'.

 I posted photographs and the story behind my work last year....the medical case with the rats around October, but we were recently asked to make a 'mini art' ...a postcard size piece referencing  our main work which will be for sale at the show, as while we still have other venues to show at this year, our main pieces are not yet for sale. 

The exhibition has been very well received in every venue and we have been almost overwhelmed with the wonderful comments and feedback. It is amazing really how 15 people can approach a serious subject like this from very different angles and with great sensitivity....some had a family link, others looked at the effects on the natural world, then there was the issue of the men, their diaries, weapons and the changing role of women and the environment. 
Here is my 'mini art'.

The panel is made from a fragment of a 19th century quilt which had holes in it from wear. 
tree bark has been sewn on, and  vintage bird to represent the Larks which featured in my theme. hand stitching in crosses and poppies, and beads to show the song of the Lark which " ....rained down on the soldiers faces like golden rain." ( From a WW1 soldiers diary.)

Tidying my work table, and playing a little.

Friends who follow my facebook art page will have seen two of these images recently.....I couldn't resist playing a little with the things on my work table whilst trying to tidy it.
The correct name for this of course is procrastination......putting off addressing a larger project as the deadline moves closer!

Fishy Heaven

Tidy for a while.

Fragment Details, Charity Shop Finds & a check-up.

Just back from the hospital, and my check- up is all clear again....thank you Lord! The next one is in August and I hope the time doesn't pass too quickly otherwise it will mean we are coming to the end of the summer which has not yet begun....and time does seem to go so fast at the moment....also my recent problem with uploading images has now been resolved by using another browser, so that's great.
I seem to have had a few weeks of being out quite a lot ......and yesterday I found some really good & beautiful antique lace in a charity shop....this has never happened in all the years I have been going into them, so it was a lovely surprise.
Because of all my away days there has not been very much time for creativitiy which means I am running behind with certain deadlines and starting to get just a little panicky....however, I'm getting nearer to opening the Etsy shop but "needs must" have driven me to ebay over the last few weeks which takes up a lot of time....here is a little detail from two nearly finished antique fabric panels.....and i'm going to try to get a little stitching done this afternoon.

Victorian quilt and lining scraps, and fragments of vintage embroidery & lace.

 

Little Collages from Ancient Fabrics

It's been one of those times when I haven't been able to concentrate on making, and have also done very little artwork.....life often takes over and much as I would love to spend most of the day creating, but some of life took over in a good way with unexpected outings and visits from friends, a small commission to be done very quickly and a lot of written work, organising and family affairs....and eBay, which as anyone who has worked on it will know is very time consuming.....but needs must if I want to finance my ideas for the garden this year, and I do have lots of bits and pieces that I no longer need. My intention is to concentrate at the moment on selling my unwanted items before Spring and early summer set in, so that I can then work more in the garden and realise part of the vision I have for it and Open Studios.....and continue with this little collection of fabric collages intended for the new Etsy shop.

Plating with some Victorian shells.

Hand embroidered antique Ayrshire Work panel on the lining of a Victorian jacket.

Antique quilt fragment, and the Ayrshire work.

Another detail from the quilt panel & unfinished detail from another.

Has anyone else had a problem with not being able to up load images.....I have been unable to upload any for the last few days.....very frustrating as I'm getting ready to launch my etsy shop and none of the suggested hints in the help system seem to work.

A little work in progress

Well, we had some snow and it got really dark so it was comforting to draw some curtains....leaving one open to watch the snow, and do some stitching.

This is another piece of the ancient Durham quilt...a work in progress.
I have added a small panel of Victorian print cotton and quilted it, and have exposed more of the much older pink and cream printed fabric that would have been the original...very pretty quilt before it was covered on the red and white striped fabric, quilted and made useful again.
These layers of history are intriguing, and I love to uncover them and show fabric that probably hasn't been seen since it was covered and worked upon 100 years ago.

Antique fabric and lace, a work in progress for the proposed Etsy shop.

More Fragments...small details from some antique fabric collaged panels.

It's a very wet, grey old day here, but that isn't stopping the birds from singing...but the poor lighting is preventing me from taking as many photographs as I would like.
Here are a few snapshots of details from the antique fabric panels I am making at the moment. Stitching whilst it is so grey and cold .....and now snowing....outside is very comforting.


Blue striped fabric is the lining from a shattered silk Victorian jacket.




19th century Durham quilt fragment with antique tape lace motif and beads.

Fragments of two different antique Durham quilts.

 

 

New year, New Direction and New Work

Like many artists, I do use a sketchbook for each new major project, but unlike many, I very rarely draw in it, preferring to play with and arrange textiles and use photography and my written feelings about the work in hand to direct my sample making.

Along the journey I gather quite a lot of samples, and many do end up living in the current sketch book; however....as I really enjoy making these small pieces, and folk who have seen them seem to like them, I have decided to work on a collection with the intention of opening an Etsy shop in the next few weeks where I will have panels or collages of antique fabrics mounted and ready for framing by the new owners, and also cards with similar, but much smaller panels....these can be framed, or just used as cards...or the samples can even be incorporated into someone else's work, where it would gather more stories and memories.

I only use antique or very old fabrics, as most of my regular followers will know, and for new followers....please go back in time and look at very old posts where you will see the work which has always inspired the use of fragments of very old cloth.
I so enjoy using pieces of cloth and quilts which already may be 100 years old and into their second repurposing, so when I once again reuse them it may be a third or even fourth life for them, and all my stitching is worked by hand.
Cloth and handwork was valued so much in previous centuries, and indeed by other cultures like the Boro textiles of Japan which really started me on my journey 10 years or so as I loved the patching, mending and the over patching and repair of the garments.

My favourite textiles to use will show wear, and I often emphasize the wear, making a feature of it, as it is the untold life and story of other people, places and time.... I will add my work, and other pieces aiming for them all to blend into a new and beautiful whole where it may be difficult to tell which is the original wear and which is the new work.

From November 2013-September 2014 I was on my journey of surgery and chemotherapy, and this gave me much time for thought and from that has come this new work which I do purely for pleasure, which will run alongside, and maybe direct the more serious and research based art works.....here is just a little look...much more will follow soon.

I have also opened a Facebook page purely for my textile art; on it I am registered as Ellen Devall Textile Artist, and my Facebook page web address is:
 https://www.facebook.com/Fragments.by.EllenDevall?ref=aymt_homepage_panel





Some Fragment Panels in the making.

Different styles of work for different tastes.....getting ready for Etsy.

 

E.A.S.Ts New Exhibition "Between the Lines" is now At Braintree Museum, Essex.

I can hardly believe that the last time I wrote here was on October...such a lot has happened since then, and I had already shown images of my work "The Solace of Larks" back then, so I wont repost the photographs....however, I will post the advertisement for the ( East Anglian Stitch Textiles) latest venue for the show at Braintree Museum as they have very cleverly inserted the title of the exhibition into the lid of my suitcase.

Details of the exhibition, cleverly placed into the lid of my "Solace of Larks" piece.

Natures Own Art ...and collecting driftwood

 

I got my scan results....and they are clear! now I can forget all about it until the next check up in February. I've had a bit of a break from making my own art, and gone down to the beach on a rather grey day to look at natures own....it is always the best... taken some photos to use in my  future work ( so I would be grateful if you don't use or pintrest them please ).... here are some of the lovely things I saw:

 

Sea Holly and Seaweed.



Fit for a gallery I think.

Ghost of Sea Holly

 

Seawick in Essex....where nature made her art.

 



More New Work for WW1 Progect @The Solace of Larks'

It was a great feeling of achievement yesterday to have caught up with my blog after 8 hard months, so I will try to keep up with it now. Sometimes I may not have much to write, but " in honour of the faithful few" who have styed with me, I shall keep at it.
When our EAST exhibition ( currently at Ally Pally & Harrogate) travels in 2015, I will have two more pieces of work to go with the suitcase. The first is a wall piece which I haven't yet decided whether it will be framed, hung or mounted....that is always a bit of an issue I think with textile pieces as they are so tactile....to put them under glass is to render them untouchable, but dust free and protected , whereas unframed they can be touched...I don't find the decision easy. Here are some images then of work which will only be seen in 2015...if you share it, I believe you will respect it and add my name to the piece,thank you.

 

 

The panel once again shows the shattered landscape, the crosses for the soldiers but there are now pearls for them too in some of the craters. The Skylark is now represented by two small feathers and there are some red French Knots for the poppies that will grow and blow on the years to come.

The faded red fabric is the right side of the 100 year old quilt which I have used in the lid of the case....it has not gone into holes as has the reverse, but would have been bright red when first made....it was a hand quilted "stripy" Durham Quilt which had been severely damaged.

 

 

The heart is in memory of all the broken hearts of WW1 and was inspired by the pincushions earlier soldiers were either making or purchasing from cottage industries for the wives and sweethearts..

The mother of pearl pendant is Victorian and is a token of both our human love for each other, the natural world and that of our father God for us.

 

 

 



 

 

Chemo Finished & Work @ The Knitting & Stitching Show.

I can hardly believe that it is now 8 months since I wrote about what had happened to me; it has been a very rough ride, the 6 months of chemotherapy were very difficult with some nasty side effects, and a 6 day stay in hospital when it made me very ill....however, that has passed.....I can hardly believe it, and even though I haven't had the results of the scan yet, I am feeling very well and have been getting back to " normality"...if there is such a thing....again, re joining my art group EAST ( East Anglian Stitch Textiles), and going out properly.
For the first few months of the treatment I lost all creativity, only managing to start feeling any inspiration at all, once I had started to do a little bit of gardening and a little bit of garden art by way of making a woven nest for a large stone because my sister said that a certain bush looked as if it should have a nest in it.
Thank goodness I did, because I was committed to finishing a piece of work for our " Between the Lines" WW1 inspired EAST exhibition at the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexander Palace and Harrogate in October......and I did finish it...in fact, I am certain that having it as a goal really helped me to stay positive and focus on things other than feeling ill! I have always known that for me art...especially stitching also works as a therapy and I have often talked about stitching myself better.
I wasn't able to steward our exhibition but went up on the coach with friends last Sunday and thought that our ladies, who work so hard to hang all the work well had done a wonderful job....and everyone's work shown to its best.
"Between the Lines" goes 'on tour' in 2015 by which time I will have three pieces ready....I was just happy to have finished the major piece in time.
So, I thought it was time to start my blog again....I think it helps me in that it is another goal and point of focus which will hopefully drive the practical work forward as I have a lot of ideas buzzing about in my head for new work, but no clear direction yet....I know that I want to make a visual journey of my last 11 months of surgery and chemo, but in what form I have not yet decided....I may start with some lino cuts first of little drawings I did in hospital and see where that leads, but for now, here is my work for the exhibition, it is called "The Solace of Larks:


"The Solace of Larks"

 

I needed to relate personally somehow to what I was going to make, and started with my love of nature and birds....Skylarks especially as hearing them every day through Spring and Summer was such a joy and blessing. I started studying the soldiers diaries with specific reference to this subject and discovered that nature and wildlife were of great importance to so many of them....especially the Skylarks as they could sometimes be heard even over the bombardments.....on quote was " as long as the Skylarks sang, we felt we had hope", and the other, which formed the basis of my work was " the song poured down over our upturned faces like golden rain"
At the other end of the wildlife theme were the rats, who were responsible for a huge amount of deaths through disease, but they also provided a great deal of sport as the soldiers would be killing as many as they could in their quiet times and proudly displaying rows of them strung like bunting, so I knew they had to be a part of the piece.
Finding an old First Aid kit, built into a suitcase was the starting point too; it still had very old medical items, and the wooden splints and tourniquets could even be from that era..
I decided to make a textile panel to fit in the lid of the case, which would show the shattered landscape by using tree bark. The piece of antique quilt that I used was already full of holes....like craters, so I filled them all with tiny stitched crosses to represent the soldiers.
The mother of pearl Dove was a very old brooch, and seemed perfect to represent the purity of her and the song in contrast to the devastation and horror below, and gold beads 'rained down from her' over the crosses.

There were three empty compartments in the suitcase,  and I knew that I wanted to make rats to put into these. In fact, the part I found most difficult was the making of the rats....first in finding a fabric that I was happy with and felt I could mould well, and secondly....I had never made animals before and I didn't want them to look like toys....they needed to be a little sinister, but not ugly. After many trials with unsuccessful fabrics I sacrificed a very old black cashmere cardigan which was almost beyond repair, and this worked really well.

Plotting.

 Secrets

 

 





 

 



 

 

Hospital, a shock and a long absence .......

Such a long time since I was on blogger.....in November a malignant tumour was discovered in my bowel......what a shock, as I had been feeling so well and getting on with my artwork, church group, drumming and looking forward to a summer holiday in Switzerland again with my son and daughter in law.
As I write this I am recovering from a third operation in less than 3 months and have 6 months of chemotherapy ahead of me, starting in March.
I have been through some difficult times in my life, and most of my previous artwork has stemmed from those experiences, but I have to say that this has been the most difficult and challenging situation that I have had to face.
Thanks to my faith in God, and the support of family and wonderful friends I have been loved, looked after and have come through the worst part of this journey into a different season in my life, and even though I expect the road ahead to be rough at times, I am facing it with faith, hope and peace....and expectancy that all will be well in the end.
There have been times of great fear, doubt and tears, which I have had to work my way through, and even now there is of course trepidation.....nothing prepares you for this, and the initial disbelief that it can actually be happening to you, and all the questions you ask yourself; however, it is a mountain that you have to climb...there is only one way, and that is forward and up.....with hope I believe I am now on the way down the other side.
I'm not sure how often I will appear on blogger as creativity is only just starting to return to me....but it is returning....the birds are singing and there are signs of Spring and new life...and that is what I am believing for me and this new season....expectancy, trust and peace.