another shed

A short post today - a photo and a few words

I love the ramshackle appearance of this one.  It may be the subject of the next painting.  It was described as "hallyracket" by someone the other day.  Great words, both of them.

shed sketches

As promised, here are a couple of sketches I did the other day of some sheds at Footdee.

shed phase

I seem to have entered a shed phase.  Or maybe I am just acknowledging it now; I think I have probably been in it for quite some time.  Last week, as the last of the January afternoon light was disappearing (at about 3pm), I made my way to Footdee (or Fittie, as it is known locally in Aberdeen) to take some photographs. 

I had known it was cold outside, but was not prepared for the chill that seeped into my very bones as I walked slowly around taking photographs.  This is the nature of taking photographs, I have found - you can't walk briskly, stop and take a few snaps and then march on again.  It takes time.  One has to browse, to look, to peer, squint, looking upwards and downwards and sideways.  Especially sideways.  If you are wanting to capture any half-decent images, I mean.  I was collecting images to paint later; that was the aim.  The light was rather ethereal; there was a misty white glow about it, which I did not really see at the time, but is quite vivid in the photographs.  Not vivid, that is the wrong word. 

Since I have been very remiss about blogging in recent times (for the past three months!), I think I will share the photos I took for the next wee while.  Maybe with some comments.  I started a painting (watercolour) of one of the photo above today, at the lovely class I go to out at Udny Green.  I may share it once it's finished - who knows?

ceilidhs

Dancing is good for the soul.  I have come to believe this to be true.  It's very difficult, in fact I think it's probably impossible, to dance and remain sad, or in a bad mood.  Try it sometime.  Put on your favourite music, loud, and practise your expert moves around the kitchen.  It's quite hard to stay really cross while dancing a jig or a samba, or even having a wee waltz.

What brought this to mind was the experience I had last night in a village hall deep in the depths of distant Aberdeenshire.  In fact, it was so deep into the depths, that I was probably in some other county altogether.  Not that counties exist any more, of course.  But I deviate.  It was a wedding ceilidh.  I was there to "call" the dances.  Contrary to popular/common belief, this does not just involve announcing what the next dance will be, i.e. "Please take your partners for a Strip the Willow" and then swanning around the skirts of the dance floor, or propping up the bar until the start of the next dance.  Oh no.  There's a lot more to it than that.  Especially when half the guests are not from "these pairts" as they say around here.  The bride was from across the pond, so naturally about half the guests had flown in from there as well.  Dance calling in this case involves arranging folk into the right "sets" i.e. lines facing each other, or circles of six folk, or couples facing the right way round the room.  This involves knowing which way is anti-clockwise on a dance floor, and hoping that at least half the dancers (or potential dancers, at this stage) can figure this out as well.  Then there are instructions like "set to your partner" and "turn your partner" and technical terms like "the ballroom hold".

That's just to start with.  It is then necessary to walk everyone through the dance, counting steps all the way, for example "Forward, two, three and turn; back two, three and stop" (guessed what the dance is yet?).  Ideally the caller should be demonstrating these moves at the same time, in the middle of the dance floor where everyone can see.  Even better, they should be doing the dance with a partner (most ceilidh dances do involve a partner), rather than with a microphone clutched in one hand.  But that is not always possible.  It seemed to work, as they all got the hang of most of the dances and by the time the Orcadian Strip the Willow came along at the end, there was no stopping them. 

PS The photo is of one of the wedding guests who was getting a bit fed up waiting for a drink at the bar... no, really, this tiger head was in a glass case in one corner of the stage.  Various other animal heads adorned the walls of the hall.  As one would expect in a village hall out in the sticks.

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...