Back from the North

For the last week my family and I have been on an epic road trip to Scotland and back (believe me it is an epic trip when your kids are 2 and 5!) We had an amazing time, the weather was good, the kids behaved brilliantly and everyday was full  of artistic inspiration for me, so I thought I would share some of my photos with you and I am sure over the coming months the things I saw will start filtering into my glass work, we shall see!

The first place we stayed in Scotland was Lochmaben, I cannot recommend it enough as a place to stop for a day or two. The town has an interesting history with a trail around the historic buildings, the people were very friendly and there is a good range of cafes and shops to get some lunch. My kids were very excited as we were staying in a hotel, and my husband was very excited because our room opened onto the hotel beer garden, everyone was happy! The Crown Hotel made us so welcome and were really accommodating with the kids, which added to our relaxed mood. The town has an amazing sculpture trail showcasing the chain saw sculptures of Peter Balshaw around the Castle Loch, culminating in the ruins of Lochmaben Castle, great for clambering on!

We went on to stay with friends north of Glasgow in their amazing 17th century house in Muthall and then came back down to stay just outside Edinburgh in preparation for the wedding of my dear friends Ali and Olivia; we just had time to visit Linlithgow Palace. This ruined palace was the birth place of Mary Queen of Scots and is stunning and well worth a visit; as is the attached church of St Michaels which has stunning stained glass from the Victorian era and a wonderful modern window by Crear McCartney to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the church. The subtle combination of acid etching and painting were of especial interest to the skills I am working on presently and my thoughts will return to this window regularly!

Getting inspiration from the garden

My weekend at RHS Rosemoor Gardens Art Fair was slight torture, as I was in a marquee and all around me was fabulous, inspirational gardens! When I did get out of the tent for a short while my camera came with me and I got a few shots from the locality of my stall! You can expect some of these plants to make it into my future designs, though how to recreate that blossom in glass, mmmmmmmm, thinking cap on…

Getting Ready for RHS Rosemoor

I have spent today in the marque at RHS Rosemoor Gardens, situated in the heart of beautiful North Devon, setting up my stall for the Devon Artist Network Art Fair running from Friday 8th April to Sunday 10th 10 am to 5 pm daily.
My lovely friend Ruth helped me out and I made her late to pick the kids up from school, sorry! Anyway, after much hard work I have turned my 3m x 3m space into my own little shop. I am really inspired by the work of the other artists who have some amazing work for sale, so if you can come and enjoy the sunshine and see some artwork at the same time!
I have made 3 pieces specially for the exhibition and framed them, love to hear your thoughts on them

Ta Da, meet the Kiln!

I am really pleased to have taken delivery of my kiln, its quite a complicated beast and I must confess I am still a teeny bit scared of it! But it is installed in its cosy garage home and I have started experimenting with glass painting. I am desperate to get on with some warm glass techniques, but I have a big art fair to prepare for which has somewhat got in the way!
Kiln fired glass paints are notoriously difficult to master, so I am really surprized to have done 3 firings without any blistering or exploding, let me know what you think of my first results!