I began working on drawings in Procreate this week, based on and inspired by my collection of gypsy purses. I must have started the collection in or around 1995, when I used to go camping in the Cotswolds to get out of London, and discovered a wonderful shop called Cargo in Cirencester. It was filled polished wooden floor to white ceiling with Indian artefacts and textiles, with a special basket of colourful embroidered, woven and appliqué purses. I had developed an obsession with Indian artefacts years before as a student in Edinburgh, combing Cockburn Street Market for Mysore soap, embroidered cushion covers, cheesecloth blouses and batik printed maxi skirts (I can still smell the fragrances now) - so this wonder of a shop in Cirencester became a treasure trove for me.
I have a very deep affection for my little purses which I hope to convey in the drawings, with attention to details such as tiny stitches and unexpected decorative motifs.

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Left: an umbel drawing which I have been working on for the children's book this week.

Above: I particularly love the wild romantic treatment I gave it, using a couple of filters - it's kind of Granny's attic and old books. It puts me in mind of cyanotype photography.

It won't be long until the illustrations are finished and I will be able to share full pics with the author's blessing. I am so looking forward to that, the book has been years in planning and now it's becoming real!

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Another pattern this week for my Redbubble Store - birds and potted plants gardening, inspired by the fact that I have been doing a lot of gardening recently. I was delighted to launch this one on the full range of 'kids' clothing' as well as home décor, adult apparel, accessories - and of course, socks! I do love the socks.

Warm, sunshine-filled days must have gone to my head last week because I totally forgot to post this! I back-dated it while I was posting next week's, if that makes sense (beginning to feel a bit Time Lord)
Anyway, I took a bit of time out to tidy up my Redbubble Store and design a new pattern - birds and berries, all ready for Autumn. I am loving the way the pattern works on the products and I have discovered I definitely have a thing about socks. Here is last week's pattern on some products, too.

I have been working on a pattern this week, based on a watercolour I made in a sketchbook a couple of years ago. I remade all the flower motifs from scratch and assembled them into a motif for experiments. Left here shows the first play around with a tile, just seeing what looks good and getting a feel for how it might look in repeat. It is in a more advanced stage in the image below, in fact nearly finished following a few more experiments and alterations. I want to make a grid pattern, then a half drop version.
There is a deliberate nod to the 1970s in the shapes and warm palette. The first play around had been put to one side while I continued work, but when I looked back at it It really reminded me of the '70s - of something in particular which I can't quite put my finger on. It's something like a cookery book, or a Clothkits design, or a kitchen mat; whatever it is, I am definitely going to have a go at recreating the look when I have finished this version of it.

My birthday, with the full Blossom Super-Moon occurring at the same time. That, together with some super weather and B cooking his superb tikka chicken thighs on the barbecue meant one thing only - pop-up tent in the garden!

The apple trees, after what appeared to be a holiday last year with virtually no blossoms or fruits, are going crazy this year, and this one is right in front of my tent door. This view, a glass (hem-hem bottle) of Prosecco, B's heavenly thighs (so to speak) on the BBQ, the radio playing quietly, birds singing in the warm evening sun ... living the dream.
I did actually do some work in the tent during the week, as well!

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It's March! To my mind, that mean it's now officially Spring, and March is coming in like a lion today with a big old blustery wind. I worked on my HEW website this week, and completed two more illustrations for the children's book before relaxing with this pattern put together from flowers which I made for one of them. I thought it had an appealing 1930s vintage look. I was particularly interested in the panel which resulted when I turned the original drawing 'inside out' to create the pattern fill - perhaps a nice scarf design to think about?
Happy Spring!

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When I was at art school still life was my favourite genre, I loved going to the college wardrobes and cupboards to select objects for my paintings. Now, for the last few weeks I have been organised enough to collect elements as I work into a scrap-book file so that at the end of the week I can make a still life with them. Although this work is digital, I have noticed that the process of composing and problem solving is the same as painting and in fact the end result resembles my paintings.

Still collecting ideas based on coastal flora to use in illustrations, I found Sea Stock this week, and on Thursday I discovered that Sea Bindweed and Beach Morning Glory are actually the same plant - I have yet to identify the little yellow flowers which I originally thought were Beach Morning Glory. I would never have known there existed such a wide variety of plants which grow on sand dunes in the UK; now I'm looking forward to visiting the beach in summertime for a good old poke around to see what I can find.

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We had a flurry of snow which lay for a few hours this week. Apart from that it has been unseasonably mild and very windy, and more weather warnings of high winds have been issued by the Met Office, which makes it feel more like March than the beginning of February.
By contrast, sea bindweed and beach marigolds are still providing delightful settings for summery seaside illustrations, as well as spin-off patterns - so pretty, and a nice way to welcome in February with its promise of spring and longer days.

I do like to fiddle about with filters, especially on patterns where you usually wouldn't expect to find them, and I found this fuzzy filter quite enchanting on the flowery themes.

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Working with the gouache paintings I made last week, I made some butterflies to go with the poppies (top right) and created a new pattern. I am loving this work! Next week I intend to work on the poppies pictured top left. I am uploading them to my Redbubble account, it's always exciting to see them on the products and tweak around with them until they look just perfect.

This week I developed two of the experimental patterns I made previously from my Easter sketchbook. I was delighted with both, but particularly liked the image above for the clarity of its jewel colours offset by the black background. I love how they look on Redbubble's products; for some reason I am usually most interested in the framed prints, pillows and mugs - I guess home decor is my thing!

My shop on Redbubble is growing, there is still a lot to do but I am finding my way around the platform nicely nowadays and I love it. I feel more confident about it now, so here is a collage of four of my designs on pillows. I finally feel brave enough to link the image to my account, so please click if you are interested in taking a look - and you can also explore some of the truly amazing artists producing very cool designs on Redbubble.

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It’s a Wednesday mid-weekly today, because I got out of the studio over the Easter weekend.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday presented the most beautiful, hot sunny weather. I caught up with laundry and gardening in the mornings, but I also set myself an art challenge for the afternoons to work in a completely different way from usual. I was not to make habitual line drawings coloured in with watercolour, but instead to paint with gouache directly onto the paper.

The garden is sprouting, blossoming and budding all over and I wanted to get outside in the sun and paint what fascinates me. I pictured having a lovely collection of about 30 observational sketches by the end of the weekend; in reality I ended up with just these 10. It was slower than I anticipated because I spent a lot more time gardening and hanging washing on the line than I expected, but when I did start work in the afternoon there was a bit of a breeze, strong at times, which would suddenly blow my sun hat off and I had to chase it around the garden. The wind also kept turning the pages in my sketchbook while I was trying to work. I haven’t worked en plein air for many years, and I noticed a big change: nowadays I have to wear spectacles for close work, meaning my object was of focus when I looked up, which became a nuisance.

The main delay, however, lay in the materials and work method I had set myself. I hated it at first. Working without drawing went so against the grain I felt way out of my comfort zone and unhappy. I was using a sketchbook I made from Fabriano Rosaspina (a thick print-making paper) and Arches watercolour paper, instead of the tissues and smooth papers I am used to, and it felt rough and messy. The work I was producing was hideous and I wanted to give up, but I felt the exercise was a good idea and it does one good to get uncomfortable at times, so I forced myself to persevere.

The reason I challenged myself was to shake things up with my work. I felt I had been relying too heavily on linear work, marks, automatic actions and default shapes; I also have a habit of getting fiddly and over-detailed, which I wanted to break. Besides, the way I sit to make detailed drawing is bad for my back, and I get wobbly legs when I stand up which in turn makes my hands shake, and then I can’t draw because my line goes shivery. I don’t want to stop making detailed line drawings (my work as Heather Eliza Walker relies on it) but I thought it would be a good idea to take a break and try something completely different for a few days, and see what possibilities might come of it.

So, I did persevere. I got through the initial hate stage by allowing myself a compromise: I could use line and marks on top of the paint. That was satisfying, and I began to enjoy the colours and freedom of working this way. Then I found I could introduce painted elements such as stripes, introducing a satisfying linear quality which firmed the work up. The result was not the observational work I had anticipated, but being outdoors amongst the plants and flowers certainly informed it. I had no idea until this weekend what actually went on inside a quince blossom, or how things sprouted out of other things in different colours and shapes. I definitely responded to the interaction of what grows from the ground with sky and earth, and got out of myself.

Yesterday I scanned the work and found I really liked it, to my surprise. I feel I achieved something, and enjoyed being out in the fresh air. In spite of not producing the 30 beautifully observed Diary of a Country Lady works I had hoped for, I am happy with my 10 a bit weird and wonderful creations, which were observational in their own way and taught me a lot. My back and legs are better, and I feel healthier for it, too; so in future, I shall get half moon specs, tie my hat on with a scarf and get outside more.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!