Away With the Mermaid Circus

It's been quiet on the blog again, and the reason is, as it usually is, that 24 hours a day hasn't been nearly enough for everything that I need and want to do. So here's just a quick update on the highlights in September:

I went on a trip to Ruka (a bit south of the Arctic Circle) with my parents for a few days of hiking on the fells. And I wasn't disappointed: I saw lots of reindeer. This one is most certainly Rudolph.

I've also taught a couple of mini workshops on stamp and stencil making at the local adult education centre. I'm not teaching much this year, as I'm currently mainly working as a freelance translator,  but I will be teaching one more mini workshop on fabric dyeing in the spring term. I have some experimentation to to before that, so there will be more posts on fabric design later this autumn.

But at the moment my main creative focus is the Mermaid Circus (see the badge at the top on the right side of this page). It's an online workshop that is a collaboration between Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore, and it's jam-packed with techniques and inspiration for drawing, painting and collage. I'd love to be able to devote myself to the Mermaid Circus full time, but alas, my day job has been encroaching on my mermaid time lately. Hopefully October will be Mermaid Month. Here are some of the mermaids I've been working on in a mermaid shaped art book:

Collage in Teesha Moore style

The cover with Teesha More style lettering

Collage in Jane Davenport style

The face on the mermaid above is a printout of a scan made

of this portrait, which is done in alcohol markers

This workshop is so much fun that it's positively addictive. I'm learning so much and discovering things that I know will cross-fertilize my textile work. I highly recommend running away with the Mermaid Circus!

Thanks for stopping by!