May 2015.

We've been very remiss with this poor neglected blog but the last few weeks have been remarkably busy, a great deal of time spent in the Studio with us both creating lots of new work. So this post will be crammed to overflowing with photo's showing just what we have been up to.

To catch up from the last posting here, we enjoyed our weekend at the Printmakers fair at the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield. It was great catching up with other printmakers plus meeting people we know from both this blog and Twitter followers. Think our feet have just about recovered from all that standing!

This weekend we are exhibiting at the Saltaire Inspired Art 'Open Houses' event, 23rd - 25th May. Held in the World Heritage village of Saltaire, just to the west of Leeds, residents open their homes as temporary gallery spaces and allow the public in to view the artwork hanging on their walls. We have some of our prints displayed at 15 William Henry Street, there will also be an opportunity to purchase our work from both within the house and also at the Maker's Fair in Victoria Hall. So if you are within travelling distance the event is well worth a visit for both browsing the artworks and having a peek into the houses!

Wintery Windermere appearing at Saltaire

Back here the garden is moving into it's early summer outfit. We have a battle with slugs and snails at present but have applied some nematoids in the hope they decrease the population. The veg garden is the worst affected with several attempts at growing saladings before they are consumed completely! The flower garden is looking pretty in pink presently but will soon be moving into a purple haze with lots of alliums about to pop.

Waiting in the wings...

The printing press has seen lots of activity, it has acquired an interesting squeak through all it's hard work.

Heather's Auriculas - 3 colours, all potted in terracotta

Dusky Orange Auricula - limited edition print

Gary's new black cat - Curiosity

Gary's Sussex Hens titled - The old man and his girls.

Heather's Sweet Violets

Gary's Blackbird titled - Hidden in the Crab Apples

Heather's Summer Dales a companion piece to the Winter Dales.

..Phew, told you we'd been busy!

Do enjoy your weekend.

'I'm creative - you can't expect me to be neat too'.

Anon

February 2015.

Have just checked and it's a month since last visiting this blog. It seems 2015 has been turbo charged to race on regardless of whether we can keep up with it's pace! The last month has been filled with long days spent in the Studio, both of us feverishly creating and putting our trusty press through it's paces.

All this means the garden has been left to it's own devices, thankfully it doesn't need us to help it wake up from it's winter slumbers. Signs of Spring are starting to show with fat furry buds decorating the Magnolia tree and the green speared tips of Narcissus planted last Autumn breaking through the soil. We must set aside a couple of days to tidy up out there. The greenhouse still hasn't been cleared and there are trays of young perennials bought last year as plug plants and potted up which are now bursting their pots and really need introducing to their permanent home in the flower beds.

Signs of Spring

Magnolia buds - Soft as a kitten's ear

In the kitchen, I have had renewed success with Sourdough bread. All last summer I tried with the same 'chef' starter, the bread it produced was very hit and miss and in the end I gave up on it. But missing the flavour of Sourdough I decided at the beginning of the year to make another starter. In the past I have managed to keep them going for years, the longest lasted 5 years and only ceased because we moved Countries! So far we've enjoyed 3 large loaves of bread from this new batch and it's flavour develops more with every new bake. It's especially good toasted and topped with a couple of poached eggs from our local farm shop.

Fresh from the oven

In the Studio I have been working on more floral ideas, taking inspiration from what grows in our garden. The latest addition should really come with a scent too!

Inking the plate

'Sweet Violets' - limited edition print

Gary has been working on a countryside piece which has taken up all his time. So far it has visited the press 6 times which means 6 different inks and there's still more to be added. He's using the reduction method so all these pressings are from just one linoplate which is slowly being carved away to almost just a couple of strands left on the plate. Hopefully it will be ready for it's big reveal in the next week.


We decided that this year we would get out and about more with our work and so we are over the moon to find we have been selected to show some of our prints at the Saltaire Inspired Art Trail and Makers Fair. We will be part of the Open Houses event where home owners in the World Heritage site village open up their own homes as temporary art galleries, showcasing various artists work. The event covers three days at the end of May so we are busy getting organised and need to start thinking about framing the chosen prints. Once we know where we will be appearing we'll let you know, it's all very exciting!

Yay, it's Friday, time to chase your tail!

Enjoy your weekend.


'With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy?'
Oscar Wilde.