Posts Tagged ‘Orla’

Another school project which necessitated a days worth of frantic sewing on my part, Super Hero Day. Despite that, it was loads of fun, and she loved it to bits, and of course looked gorgeous.

Have you ever seen that ‘Grumpy Old Women‘ episode where they talk about the ‘letters from school’ and having to make things for school projects? Costumes,  cakes, makes etc, and the terror of looking in the school bag to find yet another letter from the school asking for this that and the other. Contributions for this, help to make that, donations for this, cartoons, carboard, this list is endless…

Well, a few weeks ago I was handed a blue piece of cloth, and a letter explaining that we needed to make a collage hand for a community project in which all finished hands would be put together to make one big collage. We had to use the blue square with which they had supplied us, and we could then use anything else we wanted. Fabric, paper, glitter, all sorts.

Being  a creative person, I had lots of good ideas, but then like most things in my life, I left it to the last minute.  So, realising the deadline was upon me, I pinned down my protesting daughter, drew around her hand (so I could at least with a clear conscience claim she had been involved), used the cutout as a stencil and used some pink felt for the hand shape.  I Got some PVA from her craft box,  and the day before the deadline start gluing on my stars and sequins, having used spray mount to affix the hand.  That worked quite well. I left it for 24 hours, which I thought would be ample time for it to dry. It did indeed dry, however, when I lifted my square, all the stars and sequins started to fall off. I then re glued again with craft glue. Left it for two hours, went back..again everything fell off.

By this time I was getting desperate as I had only an hour to go before I had to hand it over, the deadline having all ready been and gone. Frantically I rushed upstairs to my studio and got my very expensive (only to be used for serious art work) pot of Golden Matte Gel Medium. I got some more glue, and carefully stuck my stars (beginning to look a little worse for wear) and sequins down and painted the gel medium over the the top, then somewhat haphazardly and over enthusiastically covered it in glitter, it actually worked a treat.

I left it pinned to the line to dry and carefully carried it to the school and handed it over with nary a backwards glance, relieved to be rid of it.

It was a stressful day all told and am so looking forward to my next school project.

Last Friday I took my little girl up town to go to the park in Chichester and buy her a toy etc. We had a nice afternoon, played in the park, had a little picnic etc. I wore my new black wool/cashmere cap made by my friend Julie of Moaning Minnie fame (my second hat made by Julie, the first was a plum velvet Cloche hat).  It was cold and eventually started to rain.

I chivvied Orla out of the park, via ELC (toy shop for the uninitiated). We make a dash for the car park.  I managed to squeeze us back into the car, despite that the huge Saab next to me had left me literally inches to spare (do these people NEVER notice a child’s seat in the car and think ‘oh, they may need some room?’).

Anyway, having sorted out the urchin I start to drive out of the car park. It’s hectic, car parks in Chichester always are.  I drive down a row in the car park and remembered at the last minute that the old exit/entrance is now blocked and so had to turn around, in very tight section. I begin to do so, backwards and forwards, cursing myself for my lapse in memory, and notice eventually I  am being stared at by a man and a woman to my right, in a large silver Jaguar. His face, florid, hers horsey, and the signature hounds tooth alice band. I stop, as it would seem they want to turn around.  The man to my astonishment jabs his finger at the space he was backing out of and shouted ‘SPACE’. I wound my window down and started to explain that I was actually trying to leave, when he just turned the car and roared off while I was talking.

I was enraged, and was ranting at how rude the man was, when Orla pipes up and says, ‘He didn’t like you because you had the wrong hat on”. ‘Oh’, says I, ‘Which hat should I have had on then sweety?’.  “The red one Mamma”. ‘Aaaaaaah, of course littleun, you are quite right’.  My mood was immediately diffused and I drove away laughing.

So, it would seem to gain the appropriate respect, one must have the right hat on. Naturally!

It wasn’t an awful year, but it wasn’t that good either. Truth is, 2007 was infinitely worse, as that was the year that Orla had Pneumonia and had to be revived in A&E and also that my relationship with my parents broke down, irrevocably and finally.

But, it could have been better. Reviewing my years resolutions I can safely say that few of them I was able to accomplish.   I did not lose two stone, I didn’t get fit,  I didn’t spend less time on my laptop, I wasn’t significantly nicer to my husband. There are others, but these will suffice.

However, rather than being negative, let’s look at what I did achieve.

1. I built my own online  shop on Zen Cart. A LOT of work, not just coding but understanding how a pretty nifty ecommerce solution worked.

2. I bought a new camera and filters, and learnt a lot more about the technical process of photography.

3. I improved my artistic skills and got better (in my opini0on) at painting, and sold quite a bit of art, both online and privately.

4.  I entered two very big national competitions. One photography and one original art. I wasn’t placed in either, but it was a valuable learning experience from both, and I plan to re-enter this year.

5.  Went to South Africa and survived the horrendous flight. Also, actually drove there, first time I have driven a car in a foreign country.

6.  Bought the Gocco printer I wanted and worked out how NOT to make  a mess.

7. Played my flute more than I have done for a long time.

8.  Forged some new friendships and reinforced old ones. In particular, Nicola Humphries; a lovely warm and friendly human being. Also, Andrea Roberts; kind, patient and generous. Lastly, my oldest friend Felix Muckart. We ‘found’ each other and I was able to let go of ancient hurt and heal old scars.

9.  Rebuilt two of my websites from scratch, one using a CMS and another (this one) on WordPress.

10. Bought a very good printer and started selling my own prints for my artwork.

11. Coped better than expected with my little girl starting school, joined the committee and actually made things for the school fair.

So, not too shabby. Here is what I intend to achieve in 2010.

2010 Goals and Aspirations:

1.  Be a better friend to my husband, who deserves so much more.

2.  Be a better mother (always striving) to my Orla, and spend more quality time with her, and less time on my laptop etc.

3.  Remember to count my blessings and live every day to the fullest.

4.  Continue to improve my artistic skills both technically and spiritually,  and explore new mediums. Go back to my roots somewhat and undertake new work with traditional subject matter, e.g. life drawing. Also, work my way through my Photoshop and Painter manuals and utilise my Wacom Intuos a lot more.

5.  Find one or two good, friendly and trustworthy galleries to showcase my work.

6.  Put on my own art exhibition. Not as hard as it sounds, I did it before when I was younger, I can do it again.

7.  Enter three competitions this year, both photographic and art.

8.  Play my flute every day.

9.  Start singing again.

10.  Lose two stone and start training and cycling again.

11. Cut down on my chocolate consumption and eat a healthier diet.

12.  Build a fitted wardrobe in our bedroom and redecorate my studio/workspace.

13. Save up enough money for our trip to South Africa next Christmas.

14. Start hanging all the lovely art and photography I have collected in my own home.

So that’s it.  Here is to a better year for all of us.  Striving to be a better person, and more creative. On a positive note, a gallery owner recently told me that my art was ‘an antidote to the recession’. I take that as a compliment and to be very encouraging.

EDIT:

Jessica Doyle, my talented friend has just written her 2010 Goals and tagged me. So, later on today I will tag some friends also.

Were some FABULOUS things. Too many to list all, especially from my lovely hubby who tells me every year that ‘he didn’t get me much’  and then outdoes himself.  Bless him he bought me some great dvds; ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ collectors edition complete with ‘Death Eater’ mask, ‘Hello Dello’ and ‘Night at the Museum I & II’.  Here are a selection of the fantastic books he gave me, all about photography and as reference/inspiration for my art. He has also bought me a macro lens and a wide angle lens for my camera. Bless his heart. Can’t wait to get out and about with my camera in the new year…

And below were all carefully chosen by my lovely little girl, Orla. The green book in the middle is a lovely embroidered journal with indian Khaddi paper in, and the little pink square item on the right with a littlebutton in the middle is a tape measure, there is also a large slice of ‘cake soap’ and the bag behind is illustrated with Kokeshi dolls. The bag was bought by Luke, but everything else was chosen by her with some help and encouragement. She loved handing me my pressies and the ones she got her Daddy, and this is the first Christmas she has actively participated, and it was lovely to watcher her excitment, not only opening her own pressies, but in watching us open ours too. Hope all my friends had a wonderful Christmas. xxx