COFFEE LATTE AND DARK CHOCOLATE Skinny Scarf

I've ordered a mannequin doll for the USA and she's taking an age to arrive. I think she'd look really snug all gussied up in this Coffee and Chocolate skinny scarf. But it's nothing if not versatile and for now had to temporarily adorn some wrought iron on the staircase whilst I took this shot.

I love using free-form crochet and letting things happen organically. And at the moment I'm loving neutral shades, together with smooth and textured yarn worked together.

WARM & COOL!

At last I've got my wish for the weather to cool down. Daylight hours are just perfect now, with a little warmth from the sun... around 23C . In the evening however it really is a bit chilly ... not used to that at all. And definitely feel the need for something snug around the neck.

I made this choker neckwarmer for Bonnie Boon, and now making another one for myself. Also starting to incorporate vintage buttons from my collection into some pieces. I've been looking at them, stroking them and storing them for years ... so I guess it's time to share.

RIPPLES IN A POOL felt beads and crochet brooch.

This brooch is my Aqua entry for the Etsy European Street Team weekly Challenge.

It was inspired by the idea of ripples caused by throwing a pebble into a pool of water. Created using felt, cotton and woolen yarn, irridescent glass beads, mother of pearl and a turquoise bead. Using crochet and embroidery techniques.

This is my first attempt at a group challenge. It was fun. I shall try to find time to do others of the challenges as they occur.

Introducing BONNIE BOON Designs

Now here's a surprise! My secret it out .... atleast I've decided to 'come out'. And confess that I am a closet crafter. There .... I've said it! Phew! that wasn't as hard to say as I thought it would be. I feel better already.

Ok, to family and folks who know me well, it's not that big a surprise. When I was 5 years old, my Granny Boon taught me to crochet and knit. And when a little older Mum showed me simple embroidery stitches. In the 1970's I ran a tiny cottage industry, with homeworkers converting my designs into handmade sweaters. Then later I was a needlework project designer for craft magazines and eventually Amathusia Designs was born.

For some time now painting is all I've wanted to do, except for a blip last Autumn when the slipped disc put me on my back for a couple of months. To stave off boredom, verging on temporary insanity, I discovered that it's possible to crochet whilst horizontal. Since then I've been back to a painterly norm until Baby Max was expected and I set about making tiny garments for him.

To my surprise I've found that I still love to crochet and so I just kept on going. I love the fact you can do it practically anywhere with no pallaver or masses of equiment. I love the fact that you have just one stitch and it can just happen free-form without a pattern (similar to painting in that respect), adding bits and taking them away just as easily (the equivilent of a turpsy rag when painting with oils LOL)

OK .... so there's a limit to the need for hats and scarves in Cyprus. So what to do with the finished pieces all neatly and lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and increasing by the day? It was obvious really .... open another shop. My Granny Boon, who was 93 when she died, would be astonished to know there's such a thing as the internet. It just feels so appropriate to give the shop her name. So Bonnie Boon it is. She would have been tickled pink :)

I toyed with the idea of creating a separate blog for Bonnie Boon. Should I be precious and keep the 'art' separated, breathing purer air so as not to be contaminated by it's lowly cousin, I thought. Or should I push the shy new-borne forward and let her mix with the rest of the family. To heck with it, I decided. They're all my children LOL!

FAMILY 1008 abstract figurative painting

FAMILY 1008
38" x 28" (97 x 71 cm)
Acrylic & oil on canvas

I put the 'blue madonna' on temporary hold, whilst I concentrated on another new abstract figurative piece. Here are some 'work in progress' images together with the completed painting.



When starting, in my mind I had a young family I know and love very well. As with all my recent work I then just let the painting happen. I wanted it to have a similar mood to the recent 'Lean on Me' pastel painting, which unusually for me had softer colours than I normally use. I'm enjoying the muted colouring and will try to take this further when I develop the 'blue madonna'.


Checked my emails and discovered that interior design consultant, Cynthia Thomas, has featured some of my work on her superb blog Serenity in Design.

BACK SOON

Computer off for a while. Back to normal asap :)

FIGURATIVE ABSTRACT PAINTING work in progress 2

I tried to resist, but a Blue Madonna seems determined to get herself painted, so I've given in. I seem to have a fixation with the image of mother and child. It goes back a long way so I shouldn't be too surprised. More progress next time.


This got me thinking about other mother and child images I've made. And I remembered this needlecraft design that was probably my first, and designed many years ago. Whadayaknow .... it's BLUE!

Cross stitch kit available from Amathusia Designs.

FIGURATIVE ABSTRACT PAINTING work in progress 1

After a few days of making speedy small format drawings, today I began a large abstract painting on gallery wrapped canvas, which will take several days. It's good to be back to wet pigment and especially on such a large scale, 40x40 inches (100x100cm).

To me already it seems to be going in a particular figurative direction, which I'm doing my best to resist. We'll see. It will take as long as it takes, evolving as it goes.

If you want to follow progress, you can call in again as normal or subscribe to my blog.