Garden Visitor

One of my favourite garden birds, caught on camera by my husband.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New year.

Todays drive home from the workshop

I was driving home the only road there is and was greeted by a beautiful mist hanging over the trees. I jumped out of my car and quickly took some photos. Sadly, they didnt quite capture the atmosphere but will remind me of the moment.

Flare Christmas Markets 2009

Luckily Jackie Lunn took a few photos of our stand at "Flare" Christmas market a few weeks ago. Yet again I forgot my camera. I'm struggling to upload these in any sort of order to this blog, so what will be will be.

Its good to step back and see the overall view that visitors have at a fair. There is one more fair this Sunday and that's the last fair for this year. It will be at Ripley Town Hall from 11am till 4pm. Lets hope there is no rain this weekend!

I've really enjoyed the events, all have been in interesting buildings which makes for a good show. The homebaked cakes and coffee help too!

Rain didnt stop play...

The heavens opened and the roads ran like rivers as the drains spouted, reminding me of fountains. That was my journey to the Cemetery on Sunday for the second of the Flare craft markets. I did wonder if anyone would turn up, but, I was surprised to see a constant flow of visitors throughout the day. Had a really good fair, now I must spend the week replenishing stock for next Sunday at Ripley Hotel De Ville. Hope to see you there....

Hotel de Ville, Ripley
Sunday 6th December
11am to 4pm

Getting ready for the Cemetery!!!

Not literally, its the second York Flare Craft Market that is at the cemetery! Pop along on Sunday 11am-4pm if you get chance.

Stumbled on this...

This is a photo someone has kindly taken of a piece of my work I exhibited earlier in the year, they cropped and cut it for their website. I forgot to take pictures in situ, which is something I regularly do. But when I still have the piece on my wall its not a problem. I really enjoyed making this and have since developed the project further. The piece was actually hung on a white background and the shadows cast by the light worked well. Unfortunately there is no credit on their website, but the work is mine.

Spreading the word for a friend

East Coast Open Exhibition

I recently came across this article, thought it could be of interest to some of you in the area:

East Coast Open Applications

"You are cordially invited to submit up to 2 pieces of your art work to The East Coast Open at Scarborough Art Gallery. The Exhibition will run from 23rd January to 28th February 2010 and will be selected and curated by Yorkshire based artists Andy Black and Sue Timmins, Stuart Cameron the Director of Crescent Arts and Jan Bee Brown the new Curator of Exhibitions at Scarborough Museums Trust."

"Your work can be in any medium, paintings, photographs, sculpture, textiles (sadly we are unable to accept film). Work should be brought to the gallery between 14th -17th January 2010 10am - 4pm inclusive. Please call into the gallery or contact georgette.donoghue@smtrust.uk.com to ask for an application pack."

"Save the Rainforest" click on the screen shot.....

York Cemetery...... a day out

I have a Christmas Craft Fair booked at York Cemetery, not the first venue that springs to mind. I have never been before, I tend to cry when I visit a cemetery, usually an unhappy occasion attached. But, everytime I mention this place, I am surprised to find, people respond saying they enjoy visiting this cemetery. Apparently its well loved and cared for and regular events take place in the Chapel and grounds, such as art exhibitions, music and guided walks. I have found their website and after reading fully I am now quite excited about visiting at Christmas. What a refreshing approach to take, if only all cemeteries were so well tended and respected. They are special, tranquil, moving places, I will try not to cry at the Fair.

The fair organised by Flare, takes place on Sunday 29th November 11am to 4pm. Pop in and say hello if you are in the area. I think there's tea and cakes.

I rarely attend craft fairs, not for any reason other than I dont know of many and never get round to booking, but I really enjoyed the last one at Nether Poppleton, it was a really pleasant day out and I met lots of great people. In fact I am thinking I would like to find some more Craft Market type events next year, not just at Christmas. If there is anyone out there reading this, can you recommend any events, not just near York?

Sashiko exhibition

A really amazing exhibition I have just visited is at York Art Gallery until 24th January 2010.
It was truly inspirational and makes you come away wanting to stitch. A combination of old and new work, clothing and accessories with interesting history attached.Full details are here.

Christmas Market Sunday 8th November

Well Sunday is nearly here and the first of the markets takes place at Nether Poppleton near York. When I booked this, earlier this year, it felt so far off I would have lots of time to be totally prepared......where did all the time go?
I'm nearly ready, rushed as always, but looking forward to Sunday. This is a lovely venue, unique work for sale, with great home cooking and cakes and now has become an annual event to meet up with people.

If you get chance to come along, come and say hello. If you know anyone that might be interested in visiting, it would be great if you could pass on the details, more the merrier!

Learn a new craft, be creative, have fun in 2010 !

I have now listed my workshop dates planned for 2010. All of these take place on a Saturday at my local village hall. This is a beautiful hall in a peaceful village location.

The year starts with a Gloves and Neck Wrap workshop, take away some finished gloves and a wrap to keep warm! This takes place on Saturday 16th January. Full details of this and other workshops are on my website www.jennypepper.com

Glimpse

Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate

Looking forward to this months show. I will be demonstrating on the Friday morning on th IFA stand and then whizzing round the rest of the show in the afternoon. I always look forward to the new graduates showcase to see new and exciting work.

I take myself a limited amount of 'pocket money' and only spend that and not a penny more. When I first viited shows like this I was so amazed by everything on show and came home with bags of goodies. All very exciting but often quite random! I now have a more controlled approach, I look around once, anything that stays in my mind I go back for a second look and only then do I buy, keeping to a colour scheme. I then come home and play with my stash and somehow it all gels together better and gets used, unlike some of my early days purchases that seemed a good idea at the time!

I love the advert for this years show that I've seen in magazines, but couldn't find an online copy, but here is the link to the show:

http://www.twistedthread.com

Christmas is Coming

Card Art

Farfield Mill at Sedbergh in Cumbria is a great venue to visit. It is an old mill rescued and restored with exhibition space, studio space and a restaurant. Opening on Friday is "Card Art" . Artists donate work which is then sold anonymously and much needed funds raised for the Mill. The idea is to buy a piece you like and only then is the makers details revealed. I have donated one piece as I love visiting the Mill. I went on its opening weekend many years ago and just wished I lived closer so I could visit more often.

Christmas Markets 2009 in North Yorkshire

Flare Contemporary Art and Craft Markets

Flare are pleased to announce the dates for the Flare Arts and Craft Markets 2009

I will be selling a selection of Feltwork at all three events with Jackie Lunn

Sunday 8th November 11am-4pm

The Tithe Barn, Nether Poppleton York YO26 1AB

Sunday 29th November 11am-4pm

The Chapel, York Cemetery,

Cemetery Road, York YO10 5AJ

Sunday 6th December 11am-4pm

The Town Hall, Ripley HG3 3AX

Entrance is free at all events and refreshments are available.

ABOUT FLARE

Flare organise contemporary art and craft markets in North Yorkshire. For more details see www.flareartistsandmakers.blogspot.com

Weekends Felt Workshops

The first of my workshops taking place at my new studio have now taken place. The first was a Nuno introduction, followed by a Vessels for beginners and then this week a Handbag day. Each workshop had four felt makers, all eager to learn new skills. Each time I run a workshop its different, I always look forward to seeing the results which are different every time as each person selects their own favourite colour schemes and style. The end result reflecting their own creativity. More images of everyones results can be seen on my web site.

The next Dalby Workshop will be on Sunday 20th September, Vessels, this is suitable for beginners and improvers.

I would of liked to create a mosaic of the results to enter on my blog, but not sure how to create it. I have seen lovely mosaics on other blogs, can anyone point me in the right direction?

Holidays Over...

We decided to stay in the UK this year, for various reasons, and camp. It usually rains whenever we go camping, but I was proved wrong this year and we had glorious sunshine, I even have a tan.
First stop was Cambridge Folk Festival. We've been to festivals before, but this was a little more 'grown up'. We had a great time though, weather was good, bar a cloudburst one night but we were in a marquee so it passed us by. The food stands were the best yet, as a vegetarian I often struggle, but I was spoilt for choice, well done Cambridge. The music wasn't what you would typically call folk and we discovered some new favourites. The best live act for us had to be Jon Boden and Bellowhead, every now and then I get hooked by a new band, not often , but this is the band for now. I have the DVd, a nice surprise from my husband. Also a memorable moment was the spontaneity of campers and musicians on site, music was all around and one particular morning we woke to the above group of people from Steamchicken playing. Thats what music should be like.

We moved onto Suffolk, a county we hadn't visited before, we'll definitely revisit when we have more time. Had to visit Southwold to see the famous beach huts and pier. Then onto Aldeburgh and had chips on the beach. Art galleries abounded and antique shops, so had a lovely time mooching around. Also spotted friends work exhibited in various galleries.
Lavenham was beautiful, ironically preserved due to the decline of wool related businesses many centuries ago. The town went into disrepair due to unemployment and poverty and was rescued and preserved in later years. I cant recall the full story, but it was amazing to see so many timber framed buildings restored all in one village. Only sad point was the pavements were being replaced while we there......with tarmac!

Well back home now and back to work on orders. Christmas is coming!

Ryedale Open

I submitted a piece of felt work to this years Open Exhibition for the first time, today I received a letter to say it was accepted. I forgot to take a picture of it, I may have to go and take one when its hung, if I can.

Anyway, putting aside my happy event, this is an Exhibition I visit annually, Ryedale has so many talented creative people and the display always covers a wide spectrum of work.

I am stewarding next Tuesday and really looking forward to it. The print is a bit small on the image but the exhibition runs 25 Jul 2009 until 1 Aug 2009 at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Time: 10am - 4pm.

Interviewed

Last week I had a phone call and was interviewed on line. An unusual experience as the caller made me feel so at ease it was just like chatting to a friend. Next day the interview was on line, you can read it here

http://www.thetextiledirectory.com/newsarticle/Jenny-Pepper---an-interview/

The Textile Directory is a great on line resource and well worth a look, I think originally there used to be an annual paper directory of textile resources, which was great, but with the progress of the web, is now purely on line. I think the advantage there is that additions and amendments are instant so you almost have a real time resource.

I still find it surreal reading words I have spoken, I guess that's also my unease with blogs. One slightly misphrased sentence or tone and the reader may mis interpret the words, but you are not there to clarify. I think I'm from an earlier generation on the cusp of the Web, whereas my son has grown up with it and its a way of life.

Sunday at the workshop started as warm, but dull, followed by short bursts of rain, so no drying felt in the sunshine today.
I was working with three colours of dyed Norwegian batts. There was a natural carded, which was bits of light/dark brown and white. I used this as a base as it wasn't going to be visible. I then layered the red and then the black with resists between layers. I love the way this wool felts, it is so firm. The original colours changed as the felting process took place with fibres migrating through and giving a flecked effect. The brightnes of the red was subdued by the black.


I havn't finished the piece yet as I'm adding and embellishing and need to wait for it to dry, but here is a close up of the surface which shows the very "hairy" surface of this particular Norwegian. The surface is tight and firm. I'm still working on the ongoing theme started 3 years ago but the work is evolving and changing.

Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and I can finish working on this piece.

First day

Today was the first Saturday that I had my workshop open to view, its still a bit sparse but I'm working on filling it. I now have my name on the door, that's a strange feeling facing it each day as I unlock.

The sun was shining and the forest was busy. I met some lovely people and had two sales, so I felt encouraged. Its a big step moving into your own space.

There are lots of activities taking place at weekends and holidays. A lot centres around mountain biking, there are some new bike routes and challenges. There is also a "Go Ape" which my son loves, lots of zip wires and other daring rope things, I think I'm too old for this now.

The sun was just perfect to dry my felt work in. There was a little, but welcome breeze. We found this old clothes horse abandoned near where I live quite some time ago and I think its just perfect for the job. I laid out a really big piece of felt on my new worktable, just because I could. I used Norwegian and had a play with some pattern. I was pleased with the result and have a few ideas for adding more when it is dry. As always my colours are quite muted but there is a hint of lime just catch the eye.

It may be a wall hanging or possibly a runner, but either way I like the result and firmness of the Norwegian.

Last weeks workshop

Last weekend I held a Cobweb felt workshop in our village hall. It was a gloriously sunny day which helped dry our sample scarf in the breeze and go home with dry felt for a change. The day was spent sampling a variety of natural undyed wools. We assembled and joined them into a scarf to take home. I thought we all had enough sample pieces stored away and this time although sampling we could take away something finished whilst seeing the test results of the wools.
The wools sampled were, Norwegian, Jacob Humbug blend, Black Jacob, Wensleydale and Blue Faced Leicester Humbug blend. Wensleydale results were most popular for appearance but BFL for softness.

Moving in ...slowly

Today I woke up with a streaming cold, I think I caught it off my boy who had it last week. Share and share alike!
It was an effort to go and start packing and unpacking but I'm glad I did. I now have more out of the house and I can begin to see a room appearing where it was once drowning in wool. I have decided only to take what I actually have storage to put it in, that way I will start as I mean to go on. I'm not known for my tidyness, but I do try.

More furniture will arrive this week and some shelving will go up. I am ordering a new floor covering, but not sure of arrival date yet. I didn't get any felting done today but did manage some carding of a bag of wool I forgot I had.

Tomorrow I plan on making felt, lets hope the sun shines to dry it. One lovely thing is when I am in the workshop I can hear the sheep calling from a nearby field, seems rather appropriate.

Moving in and moving on....

This week I moved into the new workshop, it feels kind of unreal. I still have to move my materials and equipment in, but did manage to get the storage and table installed. Today I needed to make something, it feels like I have been doing everything but making felt for a few weeks.

After a whole day on my own I finished one vessel and one scarf, so felt quite satisfied with myself. I need a rest tonight but will carry on with the move tomorrow and hopefully fit in some more feltmaking.

No pictures, forgot the camera, but will post some soon. The next thing on the long list of things to do is arrange some dates for workshops. I had thought if I left it open people would tell me the dates they would like, but I am getting asked for dates, so dates it is.

2 Weeks and counting....

Lovely picnic tables for lunch and a view....
Just outside the workshop.

The view behind the workshop.

First Impressions...are lasting ones.

Walk from the car park, over the curvey wooden bridge.....

Past the coffee shop.....

To arrive at what could be my first studio!

Does it look tempting?