By Stephie, on Monday 1st November, 2010 at 02:32 am
 Towards Falmouth - and the clouds drift by... Oh me oh my. It’s been almost three weeks. Three very long weeks without a computer. I felt like I’d lost my right arm…
I don’t know where to begin today, except to say hello and that I’ve missed you all very much. My beloved Macbook had a funny turn and needed a new hard-drive. The third one in its relatively short life. Unusual for a Mac, but despite the traumas I still wouldn’t go back to a PC. No, instead I’m going to spend what for me is a small fortune on an upgrade to the latest OS, iWork and iLife, and at a later date another gig of RAM. I just hope this new hard-drive can keep it together until then…
I wonder what you’ve been up to over the last few weeks? I can barely remember what I’ve been doing, though I recollect a lot of ruminating and soul searching. And depression. Depression that isn’t Mac related I have to point out. It’s the other sort that’s been dragging me down. Again. Walking in treacle they say. More like drowning in it if you ask me. I’ve been trying to do things, keep moving, keep getting out of bed, but I look back and I can’t see anything that I’ve actually done, achieved, completed. The house is a tip, the garden is overgrown, the allotment is undug, onions not planted, gloves knitted and unknitted, a quilt unfinished, ignoring the pain in my knees and ankles just to keep running, keep going, keep alive. Look for the beauty I tell myself, stay in the moment. But moments pass, fleeting and misty. But I still look. Hoping.
I think I’ll try and get back into the blogging groove by showing you some of the things I’ve looked at over the last couple of weeks. They’re significant to me, but generally it’s not the looking that’s kept me going, it’s the people; the close and supportive friends, the ones that give you a hug for no reason, other than they seem to know you need one, and the new friends from afar that you feel you know already 
 Out for a run. Looking at the textures.  And contrasts.  Remembering the sheep in the snow.
 Grateful for the escape. And knowing they're loved.  A lot.  Seeing the change.  Watching the squirrels.  Thinking of blood.  And veins.  Hoping for inspiration
 And colour through the grey.
Continue reading Looking. And missing.
By Stephie, on Saturday 7th August, 2010 at 10:05 am
Fancy a train journey? Do what we did last week and ride up to Lanhydrock House, when you get to Bodmin Parkway station (you can take a steam train journey from here) there’s the most beautiful level walk up to an old and quirky looking house. You can imagine yourself in a grand carriage rolling sedately up the long drive, or you can do what Kim does and nag to go in the modern day equivalent: the golf buggy! The lazy toad didn’t get his way and I forced him to walk! He had to walk yesterday too when we went to Trelissick Garden, which is only a few miles from home. To spare you from my rabbiting on, here’s a few photos from Trelissick.
 Panoramic views of the River Fal  A quick watercolour sketch of the River Fal. Kim would probably disagree with the word 'quick'!  Spot the strange flower in the grass!  A standing stone to mark the turning of the millennium  Colour in the flower borders. I enjoyed taking my watercolours out with me, must remember to take them next time. You never know I might even get better at it! I used to be really good with watercolours (get me!), but I’m a bit out of practice. It’s still my favourite painting medium though
Right, I’m off now – got some things to list for From the Loft, my Etsy shop! May have a bowl of porridge first though.
See you later
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Monday 3rd May, 2010 at 23:28 pm
I was out for a walk with a friend recently and came across 4 dead rooks. Poisoned I suspect. I mean, how often would you find that many in one place without a mark on them? They nest high up in a group of pine trees along the edge of a recreation ground; I love the sound of their chattering. Why anyone would want to poison them I can’t imagine, although another walker suggested maybe strychnine had been put down for moles, which she assuredly told us were destroying lawns all over the village (yawn). Strychnine poisoning is a hideous way to die, but she didn’t seem at all bothered and said that there were “too many crows anyway”. I was speechless. Still, one rook’s demise is another woman’s opportunity, and obviously I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pick one up on my way back from our walk. I left the poor thing in a carrier bag in the garden and forgot about it for almost a week. I came across it again today hidden away outside the kitchen door.
It’s still looking pretty good even if it is a bit rank now. The sun was shining so I sat outside and did a couple of sketches; I wasn’t that pleased with my efforts, but I did keep this one. He’s now safely back in the bag until next time. I’m going to keep him for a while and hope that he’ll decay enough that I can keep the skeleton. Sorry, am I putting you off your dinner?! Next time I do some drawings I’ll just show you them without all the rabbiting on!
 Rook
By Stephie, on Saturday 1st May, 2010 at 09:25 am
I took my robins out of the freezer last night and made a few sketches, so thought I’d show you. Simple studies, nothing more.
 Pencil and watercolour, approximately A5  Pencil and watercolour, approximately A5 I’ve added these to the #draw365 Flickr group this morning too. There are so many great drawings in the group now, thousands!
By Stephie, on Thursday 14th May, 2009 at 11:29 am
Is it really a whole week since I last gave you a peek into my creative tip? I can hardly believe it. There’s only one post between this one and the last one: very slack indeed. Probably because this week, as ever, has seen a whirl of health appointments, including a particularly early visit to the dentist this morning…nothing alarming to report, although I did discover that at the grand old age of xx (please insert nice number here!) I still have a ‘baby’ tooth! I thought I’d lost my last one in my mid twenties. Sadly, when it does eventually fall out (they all do eventually I’m told) it will leave a rather large gap, as the tooth behind is missing. Won’t be possible for a bridge, so it’s likely I’ll have to have IMPLANTS!!! Well, not quite the implants I’d hoped for, but hey, I’d rather have a full set of teeth than a large set of ….
Anyway, as usual I digress. Here’s what’s been going on at the kitchen table this week.
 A friend gave me some beautiful, heavily scented lillies and I felt compelled to paint them before they died. Trouble is, I haven’t painted flowers for god knows how long (not a favourite painting subject), so eventually the ‘painting’ ended up in the bin. Still, it was fun while I was doing it! I love my watercolours and have a very sentimental attachment to my watercolour tin: it was the first birthday present Kim’s daddy ever gave to me. Watercolour used to be ‘my’ medium, and I was good at it! Now, I’m not so sure and feel I need to get back into the swing of it again.
 Lily the cat When my table isn’t covered in Kim’s Lego models, my cat seems to think it’s her sleeping quarters. And, if you happen to be sitting at the table and she wants your attention (as she frequently does) she will have no qualms about walking across your watercolours or your quilts to get it. This is not good: generally, she’s just wandered in from the cow sheds outside! I thought this was a fitting photo of her though, her name is Lily, so maybe she thought she had a right to walk across my Lily painting!
I really don’t know why, but something seems happen when I optimise and load images onto this blog that makes them out of focus, however, if you take the time to click on the images it will enlarge them, and low and behold they become clear again. Ours is not to reason why. (Ours is obviously to keep clicking!)
Pop in to some other creative spaces this week over at Kirsty’s blog Kootoyoo.
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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