Slowly getting back to normal

With my bloods having come back normal after being on a sugar-free and low carb diet for 6 weeks I am pretty pleased. Slowly getting my health back on track, but it's taken time and alas I haven't been painting as much because of it. I find myself being quite energy deficient after a day at work - too tired to paint. But I have been thinking... and the next batch of paintings have been planned!

Still plugging away at the Bare Necessities Project and was impressed when I spotted digital food labels in Marks and Spencer's yesterday. A sign of things to come I feel... mini LCD screens showing a short film of what to do with your asparagus. I felt like I had walked into a sci-fi film and had to pinch myself. Then it dawned on me that I really am alive in the 21st Century, in the 3rd millenium and this is that it's like - digital.

Been reading about Alighiero Boetti - will do a post about him next I think. I like his embroidery work and just the way he worked. Gutted I missed the exhibition at Tate Modern, but at the time I was knuckling down to completing the SBA course and that's probably why it escaped my radar.  

I did a bit on Monstera problema last night, just a couple of houses bit it all counts.

Monstera delicosa - a work in progess

 The Three Kings

Just a quick sketch this one... It is the view from Henry's mum's house in Riogordo, Spain. I love the Spanish landscape - the big blue skies and the contrast between the mountainous areas with the fields and groves. I surprise myself when I say I like it, as I usually go for luscious areas like Sideman in Bali, but I do find Spain appealing too. I like the openness. Whenever I am in Spain I feel like conquering the world. It's landscape fills me with boundless enthusiasm, energy and optimism.

Yogi Lion

A few more asanas have been sewn in - four to go!

Meine Mandlebrot #1

So I have managed to get a bit more completed... I guess you can see the pattern now and where my end point is. Finally there is some bilateral symmetry appearing! It's been a year and half since I started this piece, so even though I want to get this finished by Christmas, it might not really be complete until July next year looking at the rate of progress. Still, I am hopeful and still aiming for a Christmas deadline as I have other work to do.

With this piece I still have to decide on what I am doing around the edges... I wanted this one to be a rectangle, so I have spaces to fill in at the top and around the sides. I am not sure if it's been mentioned, but it will eventually be part of a set - my 'Mandlebrot Set'. There will be a circular one and a triangular one and if I can keep going, eventually a hexagonal, pentagonal and octagonal - all in their own colour schemes. This one will go in the middle as a long piece. Better get cracking!

'2011 Grapes' are now in a book

I have yet to get my hands on a copy (they haven't yet sent me one) so I am still not sure how well the colour reproduction is, but regardless of this I am very pleased that my watercolour work has been published. The book is called 'Exotic Botanical Illustration with the Eden Project' and is available from Amazon. I think that there is a delay in the release date for American readers, but I know it's definitely out in England.

If you are interested in obtaining a limited edition print of this painting please email me at mail@inkyleaves.com. The edition is a small run of 20 and they have been very popular so I only have a few left. They are all printed on heavy weight, acid-free paper. 

Cracking Almonds in the Spanish Sun

After a confusing drive through Malaga, where the new roads to airport didn't join up, Henry and I boarded a plane and flew back to England. As we left, the sun was setting over the mountains. It had been a marvellous holiday - catching up with both of our mums and step dads and having some time alone in the peace and quiet. 

I did get a bit of drawing done, and a lot of sewing (desperate to get it finished) and I will post pictures of these in a later post. Other from that we ate a lot and went out on a few exploratory visits in Andalucia. I also cracked quite a few Almonds! It was really satisfying to do - I got myself in a real rhythm and it felt like something I might have done many years ago, an ancestral me. Then I got a bit creative with them. I wanted to make lots of patterns on the floor and in the garden, but as I wanted to consume them I decided not to make them all dirty and stuck with the kitchen work surfaces!

Almond Spiral

I am really getting into looking at plants and how they are used by us. This holiday was a welcome break from 'The Bare Necessities' spreadsheet (I have tonnes of data to enter tonight) and I felt more free to ponder on our resources and our relationship with them.

Of course after all of this I have realised that my dry nut weights might be incorrect for the Bare Necessities Painting - do I count the outer shell of the nut, or not? I think I might not as I am only eating the middle bit and Brazil nuts don't come with their outer-outer casing and it would be a nightmare to get the wet weight measurement on those in their entirety. Still, these are the things I have to bare in mind...  

 Lots of sewing... might do some painting tonight

 
Meine Mandlebrot #1:

Yogi Lion (a present for Henry):

I may do some more work on my Swiss Cheese Plant tonight, but in the meantime I have been working on these two projects still. I want to get them finished and I find them easier to work on at the moment as I have been on quite a few train rides and not been at my desk much. Yogi Lion needs to be finished very soon so I am busily stitching away on this piece. So far I have downward dog and headstand almost completed. I am making them up as I go along - best way I think, but not for everyone I know!