Speak Little Black Sheep!

Sometimes accidents or mistakes can result in positive outcomes.

 - Everything happens for a reason, (My mum would say) 

Even if it is very differcult to see or understand at that moment in time.

 This painting is spontaneous as pattern and shape come into play by little more than a doodle. There are no plans, it just happens. Now that it's done I like to look, to try and find what it is I can see, similar to how you  search for shapes in the clouds. The trees were there before from an old picture of Mimi in Itchycoo where she was sitting waiting for her rainbow seeds to grow and they do, when she cries and her tears nourish the soil. There is a hint of this in the acid bright colour but also from the shape of the zig zag red / pyramid which echoes the shape of the bend in from Mimi's legs, the red that was her dress and her tears that have now become a waterfall. In the right hand corner it looks like an eye - big brother is watching! Above this are figures of eight's that are entwined that look like music. A little higher up is the mistake. The paint seperated and started to drip, normally this would have been painted over but I decided it will stay because it reminded me of a lost little black sheep. Following the dark blue that almost arcs away from it there is a sharp blue zig zag. This reminds me of a side profile of  a beak belonging to Donald Duck- the ark becomes his voice as he speaks on behalf of the little sheep. I then came onto thinking how there is often a black sheep in the family and this is telling that person to be strong, stand up and believe in yourself. The sheep  is also hidden and insignificantly small. That's how I got my title.

Here are some details.

Here you can see the side profile of a beak that arcs up to little black sheep.

Big brother watching!

Starting Something New Onto Something Old.

In the photo below (Which is hard to see I know) are a couple of canvases that I had drawn a scene from a thought of a story from Itchycoo.  Mimi is sitting in the middle of a clearing singing, spreading her love, wishing for her rainbow seeds to grow - when she cries , they do blooming into giant flowers that morph into animals in Itchycoo. This was two years ago, where my final story has changed many a time - this is no longer relevant. I have kept the trees and the shape of the landscape and the idea of the rainbow colour, but Mimi, the animals and the flowers have long gone. Bottom layer base done, now for the top.

1 Metre Painting Pattern, Playing it Big!

A few rambling thoughts..

 It's no secret that I would love to design a pattern that would look great on fabric. In fact it has been over a year in the thinking! I have messed around with a many ideas and tried different techniques- some dreadful and some I quite like (black and white Itchycoo motif) What I have realised (even if it has taken me a year to do so) is the only thing that sets me apart from most of the rest ( the majority of which is perfectly generated by computer) is the irregularity and imperfection of my painting / dotty style. So as much as I try to simplify and change it - the complexity of it - is exactly what makes it. I have also realised that it isn't going to work if I think of it as pattern. It almost has to have the importance to stand alone as a painting. It is as if there is something inside me that thinks or feels that I am wasting time on a design or something if it can't not be sold or used as it is. This feeling is exaggerated in the thought of why use a flimsy bit of paper when you can use canvas. It's almost like I have a mental block, or just don't feel it - (be bothered unless it's for real) - or that it has a purpose for itself. Then there's the size - I work well when it's big - it just look more impressive. I'd like to say I have more space to play with, but I still need to learn to open it up. 

 After a day sketching I feel a little lost - it's hard to see what's what. The easiest way to get out of the mess is by starting to paint. The block / base colour separates the shapes and helps to see what's going on. So as you can see in this pencil work - one thing I will never learn is - less is more!!!! When will I stop cramming it all in. However just by starting to paint I can see a lot of the picture will be scrapped, maybe as much as a third of it as I almost quite like just what has been done already. Butterflies and birds? Maybe one or the other - inked? The pond will go on the left. The irises too - sorry Iris. It is different, odd and slightly awkward to be using white space, a blank background as usually this would always be painted in. It will be painted in but in white - although I may not be able to help myself and add a few dots! This is with the thought that is can be lifted and used within a repeat pattern. 

 And here are the A4 scribble sketches

enough - just get onto the real thing

Pattern in Paperchase

 Getting ready for Easter

My favourite notebook.

Doodling while on the Phone.

 Doesn't everyone?

Very messy but I'm sure there's a pattern in there somewhere.

Daydreaming of Itchycoo scarves at Liberty's.

Still hooked on Spoonflower, I thought I would have a go with my paintings. After doing so I thought they would work well on a Liberty scarf. It's good to dream, maybe one day.

50's fashion and My Daisies!

Back to painting, while thinking of working backwards. By that I mean to break up my paintings by looking at individual motifs to see how they might work on their own in a pattern. Almost like a study for a painting except the painting has already been done.  


I always find getting back into painting is hard after I have left it a while... Settling down to paint at the kitchen table I've got my green tea beside me (that usually gets dipped into instead of water, to clean my brush.) I have squeezed the paint onto my plate of colour stacks, (I add the same colour on top of dried up acrylic paint that have then become towers of paint.) and then.....  No Titanium White- the cap was off, the tube dried up, I am not happy! Great, any other colour I may have been able to get away without. So I had to go to the shop. 
Conveniently I am easily distracted, I can not walk past a book section without taking a quick look. Today,  I'm sure I heard a book whisper, 'Buy Me,' so of course I did. Its a fantastic book:

 Pepin,Fasion,Textile and patterns of the 1950'sAlthough I do like today's (generated computer perfect) pattern, there is something special and simply beautiful in hand drawn design. 

Goodbye!

Almost. As I'm looking at the 1950's  I had to just add a few images of one of my favourite textile designers back in the time, Lucienne Day.