Planet Ruby Starrs

Bring on summer Summer has finally hit Northumberland and as it probably wont last long Dr Fred and I decided to make the most of it so we got Beryl the yellow peril loaded up  and headed of for a weekend adventure. We started with Alnmouth Arts Festival.  As always excellent standard and all the work was looking lovely with a back ground of full sun and a positively Mediterranean looking sea.  I'm always astounded at the quality of work on show, some of it may not be to my taste but the talent cannot be denied.  There were several pieces that caught my eye - one a dramatic painting of Dunstan borough Castle from Low Newton beach, deep and moody with lovely light.    http://www.giffordfarm.com . The other pieces were some watercolours of Walkworth and boats on the Tyne by an artist called Jeff Smith http://jeffsmith1955.wixsite.com/website   Lovely detailed ink and watercolour drawings really reasonably priced but still beyond me at the moment. I...

I have just spent over a week looking for my camera!!! It had some how climbed into the cutlery bag in Beryl the van!! how that happened is beyond me except I was convinced it was in the camper so obviously deep in my subconscious  I remembered I'd put there for some unknown reason!! These senior moments would be worrying if I could honestly attribute them to older years - but I can recall several different incidents throughout my life where things ended  up in strange places. Aged about 20 I once lost some shoes for months to find them in a seldom used casserole dish in the kitchen (could be attributed to over indulgence of alcohol).  Another time we found quite a lot of beer in the oven and once quite inexplicably (small wailing children I suspect) I cracked 3 eggs into a teapot before I realised I wanted a cup of tea 'with' rather than 'in' my omelette!! I blame a creative mind - a busy life - gin and children!!!   Nowadays what excuses I can come up with elu...

Suddenly I have time on my hands... and soil... and probably pigeon poo... summer is here, college is all but finished and I have been gardening and enjoying the sunshine.  Its quite an adjustment not having the next assignment to think about and I'm already trying to plan to finish all the UFO (unfinished objects) which are cluttering my studio (ha revert to spare bedroom) space.  I've a quilt to quilt and lots of cushion covers to make - not that I need more cushions but I filled some printing space up with pieces only large enough for cushions!! long prints of long scarves waiting to be hung  Talking of which I got my fabric printing back just in time for the show.  My original printed fabric at college was a bit of a mess as the printer didn't like the light material I choose so I opted to to have my designs printed externally and then had the usual battle with technology to get them up and transferred to Magic Textiles, the company I used.  The chap a...