We are currently turning an old, spare bedroom into a super hero pad for our grandson. Or rather my son is decorating; I am just driving to and from B&Q and paying. Unfortunately the bedroom wasn't really spare - it was full of stuff, lots and lots of stuff. Including lots of my 'quilt / art' stuff that I hadn't looked at, let alone used, in years. And a large pile of finished quilts. My son, very helpfully, carried everything out to the studio. Oh boy do I have a lot of 'stuff'! There was some stuff that was easy to throw out. A big box of painted papers (mostly created during a couple of City and Guilds courses). Two boxes with scraps of commercial fabrics left over from long forgotten projects. Some tapestries and cross stitches that I did 25 - 30 years ago that have sat in a box ever since. There was some stuff that absolutely had to be kept. A letter press and 4 boxes of type (left behind when our daughter left home), lots of books, some unfinished projects that I will complete at some stage (assuming I live to 110!) and many of the quilts. But not all of them. I should probably throw away more but can only bring myself to get rid of 3. One was a Hoffmann Challenge piece (do they still exist?), one was hideous when I made it and still is, and one from the above mentioned C&G course. It feels a bit strange but quite liberating. Have I crossed a Rubicon?

In honour of this momentus occasion I thought I would share a couple of my older pieces. The first is the last 'tradional' quilt I made. At the time I was a still a member of a local quilt group and the piece was a result of one of their workshops. I called it Slapdash because my points don't all match (sorry quilt police!). I only actually finished this in 2012 - it felt important to finish it, a like closing a door on a previous life. It is just over a metre square and I'm looking for a loving home for it.

The second piece is called London, England and was completed for a Quilters Guild challenge at Festival of Quilts in 2010. I made this after finishing my City and Guilds Diploma. I had spent nearly four years immersed in Gothic Cathedrals as a design source and needed some light relief. So I made this without using a sketchbook or creating samples. Do you like the very professional photography! I'm not only going to keep this, I'm going to hang it in my grandsons new bedroom - I think Thor and The Hulk would appreciate giant ice creams!

Here's a sneak preview of Storm 2 (Dark). I didn't start with the intention of stitching lots and lots of black lines but that is where I ended up. It makes the piece darker than intended, hence the title, and reflects my mood as I stitched.

This is a topic that seems to come up quite regularly on social media / discussion groups. Some people like to use fairly descriptive titles, others prefer to use 'untitled'. I guess it depends on how much the artist wants to tell the audience about their inspiration for the piece. Working in series leads to other decisions - whether just to use Storm 1, Storm 2, Storm 3 etc or whether to add subtitles. In my Still series I am having my cake and eating it - Still 1 and Still 2 don't have have subtitles but Still 3 (Rest) and Still 4 (Flow) do.  The subtitles came into my mind when stitching these pieces. Still 3 was very restful to stitch, and the stitching on Still 4 flowed across the surface.

But what to do about the Storm pieces? I have struggled with this series - the colours are muddier than I usually work with and some of the printed fabrics are not very lovable. But it is important to me to express some of the darker periods of last year in my art. And, although I am not quite sure why, it is important to me that these pieces have subtitles. (Maybe it is about controlling my emotions??). So I have turned to a word map I drew when first thinking about this series. I think Jagged might work. Or maybe Distracted. I'll decide as I stitch.

After getting mightily distracted by PC problems last week I was really glad to get back to creating. Having finished off two 'Still' pieces I have now turned my attention to creating 'Storm' pieces. I'm trying to convey something that is the opposite of Still. A sense of stress, anxiety and mental distress that dissipated when I sat on Dunure beach. The fabrics I've used are mostly made using the darker colours in my Dunure colour family. Many of the fabrics border on the 'ugly' but when cut into strips and pieced together they really start to 'sing'.

Don't you just hate it when you have a whole bunch of stuff planned and that vital bit of equipment breaks down. In the case of my PC 'deader than a dodo' aptly describes it's current state. Very, very frustrating. Thankfully I also have an ipad so was able to research and order a replacement really quickly (John Lewis are life savers!). I back up all of my 'art' stuff  weekly so have only lost a few bits and bobs but I have lost hours of studio time setting things up again.  As I said very, very frustrating. I was photographing two pieces and getting ready to submit them to the SAQA call for entry 'Tranquility' when calamity struck. The call ends on January 31st so I still have plenty of time. One thing that I haven't had chance to decide is whether I should show full images of the pieces on this blog. I checked with the organiser and there is no rule that says you can't but I'm just not sure what is 'good' practice. So while I think here is a photo of the back of Still 4 (still needs a label and hanging sleeves). I really like the back. I like the front even more!

The next 'Transitions' exhibition by Etcetera will open at Ryedale Folk Museum and Art Gallery in Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire on Saturday 19th March. The gallery is a lovely space with a lot of wall space for us to fill. Today we meet in my studio to work out what pieces would go where. Now I am, in case you haven't already figured out, a bit of a control freak.  So no scraps of paper for me! Instead I made a 1/10th scale model from mount board. Where I had photos of our pieces I scaled them, printed in colour and laminated. Other pieces were represented by appropriately sized pieces of card. It took us a couple of hours to collectively curate the exhibition. Some pieces were excluded because they didn't work well and others were added. By using the model we were able to visualise the space and decide where plinths or cabinets would stand. And, of course, we sustained ourselves with coffee and cake! So here is a sneak preview - we think it is going to look fabulous and would love you to visit!

One of the big steps I made in my transformation from making quilts as a hobby to becoming a full on, somewhat obsessed, artist was deciding to let the work itself decide what size and format each finished piece would be. And to let the natural flow of work dictate what I worked on and when. No more shoe-horning of ill-thought out ideas to fit a theme or a challenge. No more self imposed pressure to have something new to show every year at Festival of Quilts or Malvern.

Which is great in principle but doesn't really work if I want to exhibit my work widely and, hopefully, gain recognition as an artist. Exhibiting as part of a group or on my own is the best way of having complete freedom but opportunities can be limited until people / gallery managers have heard of you. So the best place to start is to submit work to art quilt or textile calls for entry. In November I sat down and looked at what was coming up in 2016. And it could be a bumper year as my Still / Storm ideas work for several SAQA calls for entry. But - and here is the rant - why do so many calls limit the size of pieces? And why aren't there more non-themed calls? I get that restricting size may make it easier to fit into some venues and might make it easier to curate a nice looking collection. And I get that having a theme can make a collection of pieces less challenging for the viewer but isn't it frustrating?

Especially when you are an artist whose work wants to be BIG.

There are calls for entry which do not have size restrictions and, to their credit, SAQA have two in the latter part of 2016 but these are in the minority. Which means that sometimes we have to compromise. I'm just putting the finishing touches to two Still pieces that are 100 x 100cm. The ideas in them work and I am pleased with the results. But I know that it will be the next Still piece, the big panoramic one that is in my head right now, that will fill me with joy! And that the series will not move forward until I have 'scratched that itch'. So, compromise but with integrity!

Well it is that time of year! And it has been quite a year for me as an artist. Lots of 'firsts' and very few disappointments. So, here is my recap.

The biggest thrill of the year was having Ruins 1 shortlisted in Fine Art Quilt Masters. My first selection into a major exhibition and I still can't quite believe it. I had 3 other pieces selected into exhibitions in 2015. Sin City 2 was shown in 'Inspirations' at the Knitting and Stitching Show, Olympia. After Image was selected to show in CQ 'Elements' at Festival of Quilts and is still touring. And Ruins 4 was shown in 'Structures' at The Old Fire Station, Henley-on-Thames.

Another big first for me was my first exhibition as part of Etcetera. Transitions showed at The Platform Gallery in September. There was a steep learning curve but it was worth it! We've had great feedback and have already confirmed exhibitions at Ryedale Folk Museum and Gallery in March 2016, Stockport Art Gallery at a date to be confirmed in 2016 and Didsbury Parsonage in January 2017.

Although I have had this website for a couple of years I only started this blog at the end of December in 2014. This is my 54th post which I reckon is pretty good going. I don't think I will ever be a 'prolific' blogger but the comments I have received along the way have meant a lot to me - thank you all!

And finally this has been the year where I have found my voice. A horrible and much over used phrase but most people will know what I mean. Hidden Message was my first series and it taught me a lot about building from a strong idea or base. But it did not 'flow' from piece to piece. The Ruins series has and continues to flow through my mind, throwing up endless possibilities. I finished 4 Ruins pieces in 2015, have two more in production and lots of scribbled sketches to work from. Ruins felt so 'natural', so 'right' but very different from Hidden Message that I worried it might be a one-off. Thankfully in the second half of 2015 I found myself developing a new colour family, a new collection of fabrics and finally new pieces in a series I'm calling Still / Storm. The inspiration behind this new body of work is very different to that for Ruins and has been inevitably influenced by my home life. But when I look at the two I see something that is recognisably 'me'. And that feels pretty amazing.

I'd like to wish everybody who has taken the time to read my blog the very best for 2016. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Leah

Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of this blog. I began with a post called '15 years of blessings'  based on a story told by American singer songwriter Jim White. It goes something along the lines that you should count up your blessings, a minute here or an hour there, and put them in a jar. And if, at the end of your life those blessings add up to 15 years then you’ve had a pretty good life.

This time last year I counted having healthy and happy children as one of my blessings. The last six months have shown just how fragile the health and happiness of our oldest son was. But through some dark, dark days we were supported by a great family and wonderful friends. In particular I will be forever grateful for the support of the Etcetera ladies and my good friend Ruth Brown. And I was reminded just how fierce and powerful an emotion love is. So today, when I count my blessings I include my children. Full stop.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas. And don't forget to tell your loved ones that you love them!