Just before Christmas, is an exciting time for the artist/teacher and a messy one!

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Making christmas decorations with Sunday school children at my local Church. Before Christmas I am working on a series of 'Christmas art workshops' with the children exploring different types of media and recycling materials to make new Christmas decorations. This week we made hanging decorations. The children are aged 5 -12 and these are made from laying PVA and paper on small balloons.

The end result ...a decorated bauble for the church Christmas tree.Next week we are making salt dough decorations.

Its interesting to see what other people think of your work without them knowing about you or your work. In participating in  the Artist Teacher Scheme at BCU once a month for a whole year, (see another blog for that). We are able to come together (hey guys) to discuss our work. This Month (Novemeber) was an quick critique - an exploration of each others work through writing our thoughts about each others work on paper around the image/art work. Here's what people though of 'Electric flowers'. The arrows into are mine the arrows out are the other students.

And for good measure another recent drawing/collage-

This is me...

Hi all, this blog is about  me.. I am an artist /teacher. This blog is about my life and  work as I search for work as an artist and teacher. Ive chosen to write this blog in a sort of diary type way charting my life as an artist/ teacher starting from this year and will gradually include other works from the past. I hope you enjoy looking at my work. Any comment or positive thoughts or ideas will be gratefully received.  So from the start of this year I completed ...my ten year old painting.

          .                                     'Electric flowers' 2001Acrylic on canvas 4ftx4ft

My artists journey since leaving university has been a hectic one, finding time to draw and having the energy has been a difficult one.But at the moment I am on a roll.  I find it very difficult to talk about my work so I might say little about a piece, but ultimatley I want to make beautiful painting that draw the viewer into my world.This is the first paining I completed since college. I get excited about viruses, fungi and germs that are in society (especially having kids you notice them more). Strange, but under the microscope they actually ARE very beautiful and look amazingly like flowers. The painting above is my 'baby', after ten years of working on it I've finally given into it and cannot do anymore. It is a painting of a combination of  fungi and virus I examined under the microscope at a hospital.

                                                'Nan's garden' 2011 Acrylic on canvas

This a painting I completed earlier this year. Its all about my Nan, her family and superstition. I could call it the 'Four lilies' but I decided as it was about my Nan to call it what it is, after all my work is about telling a story of my life, my obsessions and interests.

                                                     'Tangled' charcoal on paper A1 2011

I love working in charcoal and is probally apart from oil paint my favourite media. I love how I can smooth it across the surface and  produce new lines and textures which almost 'rise' out of the surface of the paper.

                                               'study No.1' Pen and acetate on paper 2011

My most recent drawing, I will add the older ones later. This is about 55cm x 40 cm on paper with pen. I did this over two nights. I like the intricate details and the ability to use a pen without knowing which way it will go next. This is fungi which I have exagerated, abstracted and exposed to create a new juxtaposition of something beautiful out of something quite horrible.