Planet Ruby Starrs

Lazy Sunday afternoon and plans to move the compost bin turned into something a little more creative. I walk on the beach a lot and I am always surprised at how much it can change from one day to the next - the recent storms have left it battered and strewn with debris, - seaweed, driftwood, litter.  Some days the sand looks churned and as I stand at the top of the dunes and look down across the beach the colours change with the light and the sea throws up surf from a bluey grey swirl... I'm trying to capture this using the scrap bag and the sewing machine... Once I get some sea in I have some bits and bobs found on the beach to hand sew in - It might look nice - watch this space for the finished piece

roses in Bangkok market A lovely dusty pink standing out in a riot of colour in a Bangkok flower market.  Visual poetry I think.  I like the way they are wrapped in newspaper - foreign newspapers - non latin alphabet lending a touch of the exotic to the picture.  For me this picture evokes the scent of the market on that day, hot and sweet, perfumed air with the occasional blast of spice.  I take lots of pictures of flowers, I like to have fresh flowers in the house and really I don't mind where they come from as in shops ( I might draw the line at garage flowers but not really fussy..), the garden or wildflowers.  I even like weeds as I believe they are just much maligned flowers in the wrong place. I enjoy gardening and grow as much colour in the the garden as I can manage to cram in. At college this week we were using photographs and some of our flower drawings to experiment with Photoshop tools.  I am completely new to Photoshop and any digital tools - I can manage croppi

A lovely inspiring uplifting book - beautifully written - interesting stories and facts - this book documents Fienness' trip as he follows the migration journey the snow geese take, but it isn't just about the birds its more about the everyday but fascinating people William Fiennes meets on the trip and his thoughts about journeys in general - both physical and emotional - but little warning don't read the introduction until you've read the book - I personally think it has too many stories from the text and spoils the flavour of the book itself. This book and the story it tells has whetted my appetite for some adventurous travelling again maybe not to the 20 degrees blow freezing climes Fiennes finds himself in  - but I think this year the destination will be Ireland - impoverished art students will find adventure wherever.... have camper van will travel, bring on summer!!

''There is no blue without yellow and without orange'' Vincent Van Gogh Talking of galleries I went to Amsterdam last September for a birthday break... I've been to the city many times but my partner had never visited so alongside lots of pavement cafes and brown bars we did the usual interesting rounds of sights and galleries.  We caught the Van Gogh Museum just at the wrong time.  The day before they had celebrated opening a new wing with a walkway of sunflowers which were given away at the end of the day - an explanation why so many people had been walking about clutching bunches of glorious giant blooms as we staggered down cobbled streets looking for our hotel, and the next week they were opening an exhibition of Edvard Munch paintings which I would have loved to have seen.  However, the museum itself is still really pleasant - the famous painting of sunflowers being central to the exhibition and the space has a light airy feel allowing the paintings to glow

I enjoy art galleries.  It’s not just the collections and how they are curated I find interesting but they are often sited in interesting buildings which can add to the enjoyment of the visit.  I will always try and find the most interesting gallery when I visit a new town and I have been privileged to be able to visit lots of prestigeous places around the world but recently I stuck to nearer home.  A couple of weeks ago I went to the Leeds Art Gallery.  This has been a favourite haunt of mine for a long time and in spite of it having various visiting exhibitions I continue to be drawn to my old favourite the Atkinson Grimshaws.  I love the evident influence of the pre-Raphaelite painters but they don’t look quite so ethereal.  as a Victorian painting, Autumn Glory - The Old Mill is still one of the best paintings in the gallery I used to really like one of his more otherworldly paintings 'Iris', a fairy like creature with wonderfully painted iridescent wings but I th

Been down to Leeds this week, a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family all who seem to be thriving at varying rates.. As usual I was trying to pack too much in and I had wanted to go to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield but it wasnt to be this time which is a great shame as then I caught this article and it made me want to go even more... next time. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/12113725/Post-war-statues-to-be-listed-after-nation-finally-falls-in-love-with-them.html However we did pick up our newly painted campervan and I'm very pleased with it.  It looks like a new van but is now in need of a serious refurb inside so that will be my next project over the coming month. a little bit of sunshine where ever we go...

2 minute ink drawing Iris More drawings from class, I enjoy line drawing with a fine liner or at a push even a sharpie, I particularly like continuous line drawing. I like the way it can be a simple single line making an everyday object look graphic or alternately lots of lines transforming scribbles and doodles into a layered art image.  When you have looked at and drawn an object enough it is interesting to do a blind drawing and sometimes the abstract piece end result can be quite fascinating. Iris using fineliner, sharpie and graphite Its not a bad life spending two days drawing flowers....

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”  ―  Pablo Picasso As children we were encouraged to sew stick paint glue and just generally be creative... I did the same with my children, the result being considerable mess and imaginative individuals and a house full of individual objects of “art”. We are all quite colourful people and our homes are a riot of colour – exception being my son who is going through his rebellious period and his flat is very tasteful (and tidy!!) at the moment- but he’ll grow out of it…One of my driving forces is the idea of having something unique, handmade and not quite like anything else.. some ideas work better than others but it’s fun to experiment. charcoal and ink chrysanthemum Yesterday in class we were drawing, putting together some simple black and white images ready to scan to use to with photo shop. blind drawing chrysanthemum Our brief was floral so we had a selection of flowers to w

Some of my work from last term - I really enjoyed the "constructive" part, loved getting back into weaving, embroidery and knitting and combining the three and more was great fun.  Some of the techniques were completely new to me - others I hadn't done for years and combining them was something quite new... the possibilities were endless and I could (and in fact am still doing) carried on making samples for ever.  there are endless permutations and limitless possibilities for creating great patterns and designs.  I see much of this work as the beginning of new ideas which I can hardly wait to experiment with...... a flock of sheep skulls... bondawebbed applique on screenprinted calico reverse image machine embroidery using wool in the bobbin for texture (unfinished) patchwork applique on screen print with machine embroidery mounted on loose knit screen print on loose weave hessian with embroidery and beaded detail detail of fossilised wood prints

My work space is limited.. this week I'm going to take advantage of a quieter week at college to try and sort out my 'studio' - grand word for the spare room - my workroom which has recently got a bit out of control.  I'm trying to keep some sense of order but the last few weeks at college have allowed or rather encouraged me to dig deep into corners I have been pretending didn’t exist to find yet more balls of wool - more fabric - more bits.... basically the content of those corners - and the rest - seems to have spread and is in danger of escaping the actual room and taking over the house!!

Today its been snowing but in between snow flurries the sky is a brilliant blue. A walk in the woods behind the cottage was an icy but refreshing experience I collected a few samples of frosted lichen to draw and some nice photographs for future inspiration. lichen intense blue sky frosty ferns icy water  Now its packing the car and heading south back home to get ready to start the next busy week, On the way back we stopped to admire the Kelpies 30 meter high steel structures by Adam Scott - 8 years in the making and 16 weeks to construct on site. well worth a detour - there is an interesting time lapse video showing how they were constructed on site  - fairly mammoth job with a spectacular result

I just want to say I'm having difficulty editing my photos on windows 8 - there doesn't seem to be a decent easy edit option, the internet suggests I need to upload an app... anyway hopefully the quality of my pictures will improve especially as this semester module is all about CAD...  in the mean time if anyone has any ideas about easy to install and use app for simple editing please leave me a comment. Here is a lovely bit of weaving I found in the cottage we are staying in It just simple dried grass loosly woven and knotted - effective I've been filling my evenings drinking wine eating lovely food and sewing. I like the idea of traditional crafts and the last assignment awakened my enthusiasm for weaving, knitting, embroidery and all those lovely hands on activities. I visited a wonderful exhibition last November at the Fashion and Textiles Museum showing Liberty history and fabrics and there were some smocked dresses on display - smocking is really quite old

College work developed to include colour and slowly different pattern combinations evolved.  I found it difficult to select just one colour palette to work to but in the end settled for the lovely dirty blues and burnt oranges that a photograph of Cuban tiles suggested to me. Placing drawings and part drawings was very pleasing - I found it interesting the way the black and white lines of varying density worked with the colours   and I ended up quite pleased with the results – for a first attempt anyway.  One piece potentially was for wrapping paper and the other with some further development would make a nice fabric or wallpaper design.  Using these drawings as a starting point and a similar colour palate I moved into the world of constructive textiles    This was my first real introduction to screen print, and while it was fun I really enjoyed working up the different screen prints using wool, embroidery, adding layers of paint and inks and appliqu

I'm sat in a beautiful place to work today - the view is magnificent  we are in a cottage on top of a hill near Newtonmore in the middle of Scotland... there is lots of snow and its quite chilly.  The rest of the party are out doing sking, walking and I suspect coffee drinking and I'm happy to stay here enjoying the view getting on with my E learning (aagghh) but it is a good place to be . Quick overview - continued history…..we started the course with lots of drawing - choosing to draw objects which were meaningful to ourselves... as I am a traveller with quite a lot of accumulated junk from across the world I found it quite easy to select a few bits and pieces which I liked.  I like organic objects most - real things i have picked up along the way, often one off finds,. Loads of drawings later, 1 minute, 2 minute, blind drawings, continuous line which I love- etc.  –  I changed objects regulary for variation, skulls, fossilised wood pepper grinders a very

''I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.'' David bowie if you were 15years old in 1973 ths man had a huge influence on your life especially if you harboured any creativity..... he gave me permission to wear silver boots and have pink hair - thats all for today folks normal blogging resumes tomorrow ...

I’m a bit like a traditional fair isle jumper, complicated, colourful, multi stranded, intricately woven, warm, fun and often quite practical!  These are my best qualities – I’m also massively untidy, like things done my way, hog the bed clothes and I rarely put the milk back in the fridge – I believe these traits to be the sign of a creative mind, but above all I’m adventurous and curious and like new challenges and meeting new people. fairisle knit I share my life with my partner Fred and my children, grandchildren and many friends.  Every day is a day off and I read, garden, cook, wander aimlessly, look at the stars and of course, draw, paint, sew and make lots of different things for myself and friends.  The most important bit of kit in my house is my sewing machine - although since starting my course I have rediscovered the joys of hand sewing, weaving and knitting. continuous line drawing - my sewing machine I love to travel – while the UK has much to offer I