post NEOS

I am in recovery phase post NEOS (North East Open Studios).  I opened up my shed - sorry, The Cabin - to the public, as part of this non-profit-making collective of artists and makers etc. in the North East (of Scotland), from 10th - 18th September.  It's the first time I've done anything like it, so was a bit of an experiment.  In the end, just over 40 folk came through the door of the Cabin, quite a number were friends, but quite a few were not.  Everyone was warm and friendly and said nice things about my work; watercolour paintings, photographs and greetings cards.  Hubby and daughter also had photos on exhibit.  All in all, a positive experience.  Next year (?!) I will put up posters locally and try to increase my "footfall".  Sold a few things - photos, rather than paintings, and quite a few cards.  Oh, and got a couple of commissions! Onwards and upwards! 

the past

I cannot believe how useless the instructions are on dressmaking patterns... whole swathes are missed out (like how to lay things out and then cut out properly) and then the actual instructions are written in triple Dutch, requiring at least three readings before they make even the slightest bit of sense!

Here's a quoted bit.."To reinforce small dot on each back neck band and tie end facing, stitch along seam line for 1" (2.5cm) through small dot. Clip seam allowance to small dot, being careful not to clip into stitching." Who writes this stuff?!

Perhaps my brain has been fogged more than I thought by this blinking cold.  But no, I seem to recall battling with dressmaking patterns way back in the mists of time.  I generally thought I could miss a few steps out, sidestepping the tacking and replacing witha bit of nifty pinning instead.  It invariably ended in tears (rhyming with fears) and even the other kind (rhymes with fares) and a fair bit of unpicking.  This all came back to haunt me as I unpicked a hastily sewn seam this afternoon.  I was much more of a sellotape and sticky-backed plastic girl myself.  More glue and paint than glitter and posies.  More sticks and stones than satin and silk.  You get the idea.  Plus ca change...

In the meantime, I have still been trying to get ready for the Exhibition.  It will be ready. 

cold

Oops, I missed a day.  Sorry about that.  The title of this post refers to the fact that I have a cold, not to the weather, which is currently rather clammy and warm.  Not feeling 100% healthy is frustrating at the best of times, but I am particularly miffed with the timing, as there is only one week to go until NEOS starts.  Anyone who is reading this will soon be fed up (if you aren't already) of me mentioning NEOS.  I won't apologise, as it's the culmination of more than 6 months' work, so is a bit of a highlight in my year.  I've taken a wee break from wrapping mounted work in cellophane in order to write this.  Next task is to label everything and make a list...

to be continued...

chicken

I've no idea why I said I would report back on how I got on with handing out publicity yesterday.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I didn't do any, in the end. Well, apart from visiting a lovely, tiny, cosy bookshop which is only about a mile from my house, which I have never visited before.  I was delivering some copies of "Pushing Out the Boat", so I suppose that counts as publicity/PR/whatever.  It was a delightful little place, run by an equally delightful little lady.  We had a pleasant chat, then I had a browse and bought a beautiful book about Elizabeth Blackadder, at work in her studio.  I did do a bit of what I like to think of as research, looking in the windows of the local shops to see if they had copies of the NEOS catalogue on show.  Quite a few of them did, so I heaved a sigh of relief.  Hence the title of today's blog.

Today has been more productive - printing out and mounting photographs.  This all takes much longer than you might think.  It certainly takes me much longer than I thought it would.  It would help, of course, if I had all my photographs neatly catalogued....

These are some of the pictures I mounted today; quite small things