Studio Notes no. 142

new embroidery & small stories

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have had a good week.

Recent sketchbook pages - you may recognise a few of the elements (quiet chaos now put in place) in the pages here. I am looking forward to putting more pages together soon. I love this book so far. As you can see I am working on my squirrel skills! I would like to paint some tiny squirrel portraits but I need to be more confident, so will keep at it.

This week has been another busy one with a few days off to spend time with family and catch my breath a bit. It has been a work-heavy summer and I know the autumn will feel very full-on. So in an attempt to pace myself I am taking days off here and there. Some days I make a point of going out, even if its just a bus ride to the next town. Other days I catch up with chores and get on with personal projects. And other days I go on planned trips to places. This all sounds very reasonable but if you are self employed you will be, quite possibly, in agreement with me when I say how hard it can be to just find a bit of time for life. There is always something to be done.

**

Today is the first day in September and we are heading into autumn’s golden beam of enchantment, or something like that (always hopeful). This is the time of year that I enjoy because on a good day the weather is just warm enough and there is a honey tinge to the light. It can be subtle and it can be stormy, but autumn weather appeals to me. And so here I am with autumn on my mind and thankfully I get to paint it too.

photo: Autumn tiny landscapes - lucky dips.

Here above are four tiny autumn landscapes I have painted as examples of my autumn lucky dips. They are available from today until the end of November. You are welcome to order at any time and to order multiple paintings, should you decide to build a collection. I am sometimes asked if they are all different and the answer is YES. I may paint similar but I do not paint exactly the same over and over, I simply cannot do that. So it is NOT like collecting printed cards - each painting is an original artwork.

A reminder of how my lucky dips work - Original gouache painting. Each one is an individual landscape scene. You will receive a painting picked at random from my tiny collection. The painting will be wrapped in tissue paper so I can't see which one I am sending to you!

Paintings are on a handmade support of mount board with linen scraps and gesso - painted in gouache.

Signed on reverse.

Each measures approximately 88mm x 56mm - about the size of a bridge playing card.

The paintings seen in the photographs are examples of what you might receive. Your painting may or may not feature figures, for example. You will receive ONE painting - you can order multiple of course.

Please allow me 7-10 days to send your order - I often send sooner and always will send asap.

Thank you to everyone who has ordered a summer lucky dip in the past week. Your order will be going out asap.

**

New Embroidery

photo: a close up look at an embroidery in progress

photo: here is the completed portrait - many, many stitches later. I am particularly happy with the background figures and her skirt - I like the contrasts in this piece. It is of course inspired by autumn and titled: autumnal angelic figure. This piece measures 12.5cm x 9cm

And another special piece - for this week the stitches have just danced ahead of me it feels (I wish every week could be like that but alas, it does not always work that way).

An angel for all seasons - embroidery portrait. I am sharing here two photos in slightly different lights. I stitched this piece on a little deeper dyed fabric (I tea dye my linen fabric), as I wanted to aim for a richer look for a few pieces. I like how the colour cotton threads work on this linen. She wears a medieval inspired gown and yes the wing shapes contain many tiny figures/memories/ideas. This is quite a densely stitched piece and so curves ever so slightly, but would be fine in a deeper frame or displayed in a cabinet, for example. The piece measures approx 11.5cm x 9cm

And a third, smaller piece to show you:

photo: a miniature embroidery portrait - lady in gold and pewter - measures approx 8.5cm x 6.5cm - of course I will forever stitch (and paint/draw) people holding birds. There is something about such a fleeting, fragile moment in time that suggests, for me, both magic/empathy and protection.

Shop News

These three embroidery pieces will be in my shop later - 7pm UK time. With a preview from about 4pm.

Thank you for all your interest in my new series of book page artworks - I am so encouraged by all your positive comments and emails. Yes, there will be more in the weeks ahead.

You are invited to order autumn lucky dips from 7pm today. Please note: I am keeping the price at £32 - only until October. I am reluctant to increase prices but must cover costs. I hope you may agree £35 (from October) will still be a reasonable price for an original artwork.

My next update after today will be next Sunday, 8th September at 7pm - expect to see a mix of new artworks.

Thanks always for your support it is always so very much appreciated.

**

A few Small Stories

Wedding Photos

On the train, no hope of getting the wifi to work. Across from me, a family is travelling home from a wedding. The mother, a very well spoken older woman wearing purple dungarees, is staring critically at photos on her phone and her daughter’s phone. She leans across to her partner: we were told we are not allowed to share any photos on social media, so don’t? He looks bemused. What is it with all these rules about photos, he says, staring at a photo of a bridesmaid dressed in the brightest pink. He shakes his head. If I take a photo it belongs to me, he says, even if the people are all baffling. The woman sits back in her seat and scowls. I don’t like myself in any of these. You never do, her pale adult daughter says, and I inherited the same damn attitude. Well, it’s not my fault, the woman in the purple dungarees says, pushing her reading glasses on to the top of her head. At least that’s the last wedding for a good while. What, the man says, did Josie cancel her wedding again? The woman slowly nods her head and lowers her reading glasses. Phew, a young man says. The family sighs. 

*

A Gateway

Just beside Winchester cathedral is the Dean Garnier garden. It is just my kind of garden, with a feeling of cloister and expectation, nothing too crowded or fussy. Sleep often brings me dreams of gardens just like this one. They too have curious, overgrown gateways, dark archways to other spaces. Here is an old gate marked private and beyond it secret gardens where only the most privileged ghosts may gather rose petals. We walk on, into another garden room filled with the darkest dahlias. I photograph a spiky favourite, thinking I must look up the name.  I may paint a still life with a jug of these dark beauties, for this is what I can do: remember, borrow. My daughter and I sit on a stone bench and watch the bees. Ah the bees, loving penstemon and hardy geraniums. I have seen so few bees this summer, but here they are. As we exit the garden, we cannot help but notice a dark bird splayed across gravel. It flits, and tries to fly. It seems to be a wounded swift. There are people concerned but what can you do? Maybe hit by a car, or simply exhausted, the bird has found its way to a peaceful resting spot. 

*

Home Again

On the train we rattle by bleached fields. Many fields have had recent severe haircuts. A bird of prey circles above a lonely single storey hut. Weathered trees have been glimpsed and dreamt of a trillion times. With my mind’s eye I draw in the people of long ago, walking along pencil thin paths, carrying bundles of sticks, or children. Then the sun blinks and as quick as a bird they are gone.

As we get closer to modern town life, the buildings crowd up. There are tall apartment blocks that want to look like cruise ships. There are blocks with window arrangements like a jenga game. My nephew lives in one of these blocks, but I am not sure which. I know he can look from his office to his apartment. It is a different world and one I have never lived in or desire to live within, but neither would I survive well in that lonely hut. 

Back in familiar streets, walking across the busy road and through the old brick and cobbles, I look at all the hidden little apartments above shops, the gates and doorways. I notice them so much more these days. Our own home is certainly tucked away and before we lived here we did not know it existed. It is almost as if I drew a sketch of this old town and added an alleyway, a courtyard, and a nondescript door in a very old building. The stairs up to the attic are familiar, easier, and I have got used to the feeling that someone is always just behind me. I am pretty certain she is my own ghost, following me up, always for the first time.

**

photo: sketchbook pages from way back in September 2008 - feels like a life cycle ago. That vintage photo bottom left - I used a printed copy for these pages. The original photo is hanging in our bathroom here in the attic. Yes, I have many old photos around the place.

**

Thanks always for reading here, for your kind comments and emails. As always it is good to hear from you and I try to reply asap. If you have any questions or queries please do get in touch (my email is ccullis at gmail dot com).

If you would like to support my writing and sharing here you are very welcome to become a paid subscriber. There will be future perks such as videos of my studio and more coming in the months ahead. Alternatively, you may like to buy me a coffee. Both ways of supporting me are very much appreciated and help me give more time to writing.

Shop