Christmas!

Well thats the Christmas shows complete and its not even Decemeber. So folk are so organised. Met lots of lovely people - stall holders and customers - over the last two weeks in Harrogate and then Loseley Park, Guildford. Surprising number of people are in line for spiders webs in the stockings.

Christmas is coming

so get yourselves down to 'Crafts for Christmas' - the Harrogate event. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Canival of Monsters

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/close-personal/story-17124392-detail/story.html . Slice of Micra.

Harold Hillier Gardens - Art in the Garden

Just returned from four days south of Winchester. Lovely setting for the show, although the rain on Thursday gave us a damp start. However Sunday was bright and sunny. Surprised by the frozen windscreen on Sunday morning. Now to prepare for a couple of commissions and then to get ready for the Christmas show in Harrogate and then Loseley Park.

rEvive project

This project was brought about to bring some vacant shops back to life in Ilkeston and Long Eaton. The aim was simple - take a closed shop and bring the window back to life with some art. Of course anything simple on the surface requires much paddling underneath but success. The link takes you to a poem about the project, and I'm very proud of the robot dogs!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5CVOTZBkc8

 

rEvive Long Eaton

I have been luck enough to have been included within an 'art in empty project' that is using a couple of shops in Ilkeston and Long Eaton. Currently this is the few in the Long Eaton shop. Whilst my work has been in the shop poet Joel Stickley spent sometime there. I'm now very proud that my work features in one of his poems.  

Insy Winsy

Whilst at Burghley I noticed that one of the spiders webs had a visitor.

 

Remember me!

Guess what got pushed down the 'to do' list? Back from Burghley House and the Land Rover sponcered International Horse Trials. I am told there were lots of horses jumping and dancing around, but I failed to see a single one! Still some 100,000 people came.

 

Next up will be the Harold Hillier Gardens in October.

Art in the Pen

Coming soon...

Coming soon

Art in the Pen at Skipton Auction Mart on the 18th and 19th August 2012. Preview evening on Friday the 17th. Email me if you would like an invite.

Coxbench Hall

Open garden on Sunday 29 July, 2 - 5. Lots of Frailloop sculpture around the garden.

On the road

The lowrider bike on display outside the main entrance to Patchings Art Centre.

 

Next exhibition will start on Saturday at Harding House Gallery on Steep Hill, Lincoln.

Cromford craft fair

Spent the day in the courtyard at Cromford Mill. Only rained once, and not for long. But boy did it rain. At least water mills don't tend to flood - it would have slowed the work down! More talking than selling, but at least I paid for the fuel. Looking forward to spending a few days in the studio.

 

Cromford Mill

Next outing is a nice little craft fair with the wonderful setting of Cromford Mill on Sunday. Yes, I'm outside, but there are marquees for the wimps...

Steel tree

It turned out that the call to bring forward the planting of the tree was a very good one. I know I said it needed some rain to start the weathering process but I think I over-ordered.

Patching Festival of Art and Crafts

or just Patchings! Very busy event over the next four days with customers being bussed in! Lots of other exhibitors will be camping on site, but I'm lucky enough to live close enough to travel each day. Lucky because there is a good chance of some serious rain if the last couple of years are anything to go by. 

Patchings Art Festival...

... starts Thursday! Just trying to work out which pieces should make up my stand. This one is than new its still hot!

Work in progress

Enjoyable weekend for the DART Open Studio. Nice to have a chance to spend some work in the studio to move things around and tidy. Finally had a chance to put the pieces of the micra together for the first time. Still lots to do. the pieces need to be joined together, the edges brought in line and fixings made to hold the piece to the wall.

Like the look so far.

DART open studios

Clean and tidy studio! Open for another two days over the Bank Holiday weekend.

School workshop - finished

The hard work of me and 130+ infant pupils installed in the shelter. Right on the edge of the playground for all the parents to see. Now on to the next project which is the Open Studio - 2nd to 4th June at the frailoop studio in Ilkeston. (I'm number 175 in the DART Open Studios programme).

School workshops

Been busy recycling broken pallets into into art work with the help of 130 infant pupils over 2 days. Quite happy to be an artist, not a teacher! Some lovely kids, but after two days the piece and quiet of my studio...

Watch this space

The Gardeners Bothy will be having an 'insect' themed event in June. I've been busy creating bees, butterflies, dragonflies and some spiders (with and without webs) - over 50 pieces so far - that will be my part. Photo will be posted next week. (That's because I forgot to take a picture before leaving the studio today...)  

New bird

Its been a while again, but its nice and busy in the studio with lots of events coming up soon - starting with the DART open studio over the June Bank Holiday weekend. I am planing to get lots of birds made and out to shows this year including a new event at a Warner Hotel (more details to follow).

This bird has a broken d - lock for legs, broken shear blades for wings and worn out mole grips for the tail.

Cat and butterfly

Some pieces come together really quickly. Some pieces take years. I found the large sheet about three years ago. Put feet on it a good year ago. Finally added the cat yesterday. Finished at last.

The result of John's day in the studio.

Had a wonderful day in the studio with John. His day was a present from his wife, who kindly sent the picture of the finished piece. We created a large heron, with body made from an aircraft oxygen bottle - saved from John's days as an aircraft engineer.

Frailloop on show at Rufford Craft Gallery

(with support from some other talented folk). Runs from the 1st April to 7th May. Prices start at under £10, although I do have a very nice dog in the show that is just a bit more than that...

Flowers

Spring time!

 

Chicken inna bucket!

Just in case you were wondering why I cut a bucket in half... Garry Jones has created a chicken to go into the half bucket. At the moment the piece is drying out before firing. Now I was thinking - can I cut a watering can in half, or a mop bucket? Just need to find one in a skip somewhere.

 

Loading

Hi ho hi ho, its off to Canterbury we go!

 

These are now setting in to the Stark Gallery, Canterbury, along with a flock of birds.

All work and no play...

Had a day off. First plan was to take a walk along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, but it was raining and we didn't fancy getting soaked in the morning. So we took a drive up to Malham Cove. This is the view looking across the cove. We got back to the village and found a nice little cafe. The heavens opened - rain and hail. Drifts of hail on the cars and water pouring of the carpark. Lots of rainbows around today! Lots of pots of gold?

Explore the Scraptorzoic Era...

An artist friend of mine is a member of the Scraptors Sculpture Group who are working to create the Scraptorzoic Era, its fauna, flora and tribes of humanoids on an eco farm charity run by the Magdalen Project, near the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

There will be sculptures floating on the ponds, including a giant bird ten feet long guarding its nest. By the river will be monsters about ten feet high made with old car bits including the "face" of a 1960's Austin Mini. There will be a giant face about 20 feet high with the bonnet of a Volkswagen Beetle. A tribe with faces made from lawn mower hoppers will lurk in one wooded ravine. In another there will be a tribe with vacuum cleaner heads. There will be flocks of domestic animals made from cut down bicycles.

In order to create this wonderful project funding is required and they are using crowd funding - basicly lots of small donations - to achieve this goal. Please hit the link below. Have a look and consider adding a couple of pounds the pot.

 

  http://www.indiegogo.com/Scraptorzoic-Era

Collection

This large bird has been living at 'Wild at Heart' in Lincolnshire, but sadly Anne has decided to close the gallery, but to continue with her studio. Hopefully there will be some open weekends in the year. Lovely setting in middle of farmland. The Red Arrows are based close by so while I was collecting the pieces from the garden I was 'treated' to 5 arrows flying in a tight arrow head formation.

The answer is 'yes'!

Which is odder - the question "can you cut a bucket in half?" or the fact I can answer "yes!".

bit cold

Very cold  this week. -5 when I stopped the van outside. Still a busy week with lots of pieces appearing as I went along. This was just one of them.

winter at last

Although I was moaning at the cold at the end of last week - the van told me it was -5 - it has been a mild winter so far. Still its not stopping me working and the mirca project has been moving forward. Some of the excess parts are finding their way into new pieces, mainly birds, but this little dog was once a coil spring. Rear passenger side if you must know.

 

Think I may need to push some snow out of the way before I start work today.

All at sea

Amongst the tasks that got completed this week was to visit the cottage Gallery in Wedmore, Somerset. (Do visit if you are passing by - its a lovely little gallery holding a huge amount of wonderful, creative goodies). On the way home I took a little detour to see the donkey sculpture on the outside edge of Weston-Super-Mare and then visited the seaside. As the picture of my satnav shows I can drive over the sea!

It's a boy!

Need I say more?

;-)

Dear website builders. Please don't ask if the website needs promoting! You found it, but thank you for the email confirming its working. Love frailloop.

Yawn!

Quiet start to the year. Only a couple of short days in the studio as yet and very little to show for it. The car project made another mileston - The engine and gearbox are out. Just need breaking up into pieces for me to use. When I lifted the block out I noticed a patch of oil spreading on the floor. Then noticed the flow running across my trainer. So just taking the drain plug out of the engine leaves quite a lot of oil behind. Having struggled with progress I can recomend the use of a sledgehammer and scaff pipe to 'ease' the drive shaft out of the gear box. Just as well it ain't going back!