Visits and Vexations - June Work in Progress

Planting them in November has really paid off -

not only flowering much earlier but longer stems as well!

June is usually one of my favourite months. 

View from my back bedroom window!

It's the time when my garden is at its best with climbing roses, lavender, mock orange, sweet peas and honeysuckle all giving off heady fragrances! And usually the summer is just beginning so it's not too swelteringly hot yet, just how I like it.








But of course, one of the best things for me is that my birthday is in June and that means being in touch with friends and family and, the highlight, my son coming down from York for a few days.

As well as helping me with some chores in the garden that would have been practically impossible for me to do by myself - yes, the Dog Rose hung down over the road at the front again, like a floral curtain! - when that was all tidied up, we went out for our usual walk. For once we remembered to pack a picnic lunch and we ate it in a beautiful, quiet spot in the Linda Vista gardens:

Wonderful Californian Poppies in Linda Vista Gardens

Then we set off across Castle Meadows, right up the lane that passes under the Heads of the Valleys road and comes out in Llanfoist, across the road that leads up to the Big Pit, and onwards and upwards to the Brecon and Monmouth Canal at Llanfoist Wharf! 

I was surprised I was able to walk that far because of the problem I've been having with nerve pain in one of my legs. But we had bought some Nordic Walking Poles as we came through town, as recommended by the physio who's been treating my back - and so on we went, up the steep, slippery, rocky path up through the wood on the side of the Blorenge!

The path ran alongside this little stream
so you can see that it was fairly steep!

This year I've been particularly lucky - my younger daughter has been over from Sweden for a few days, bringing two of her children, her eldest boy and my one and only granddaughter. As I haven't seen any of them for more than four years, that has been a special treat! 

They were only able to stay for a few days because her husband had bravely volunteered to look after the other four boys - aged from two to fifteen! And unfortunately the day we picked to go for a walk and to visit a few local 'sights' was the one and only wet and drizzly day we've had for weeks. 

The River Usk at Abergavenny, from the Castle Meadows

Looking towards the Brecon Beacons from Abergavenny Castle

And the historic Tithe Barn and Abergavenny Castle were both closed! 

But the two grandchildren had fun skimming stones in the River Usk and we visited the Tithe Barn the following day.

But sadly, this year, Zazzle have cast a shadow over my favourite month. They have decided to withhold 30% tax from any 'non-resident alien' designer - that's us! - who doesn't get an International Tax Identification Number from the IRS. And, quite apart from this being a lengthy, tedious and quite expensive process, the IRS has told us that we don't actually need this number to qualify for the Tax Treaties between our countries that would mean that we only pay taxes in our own countries. So that's an ongoing, time-consuming, stressful bone of contention.

On a more productive note, I had an interesting request from a physiotherapist who specialises in Mind-Body 'treatments', Georgie Oldfield. I've never met Georgie except online but I've been receiving her newsletters for about five years and she was kind enough to order some of my greeting cards back when I was printing my own. Georgie has decided to create an Adult Colouring Book to raise money for her 'Hardship Fund' and she wondered whether I could contribute some pages to colour. 

Of course I was glad to contribute and started to trace some of my designs - but had to send the scans to Georgie in their rather raw state to give myself time to prepare for my daughter's visit, which I didn't know about when I said 'yes' to Georgie! But she has assured me that she knows someone who will 'clean them up' and I'm looking forward to seeing the book when it is finally published!

Here are a couple of them with contrasting amounts of detail!

I actually wouldn't find trying to colour neatly inside the lines in the least bit relaxing - quite the opposite! I'm more of a 'broad brush', splosh-the-paint-about kind of person. But it's surprising what Photoshop can do with a messy, untidy scribble! 

So this month I'm going to show you how totally absent-minded, half-watching-television doodles can morph into a whole collection of patterns!

This is how it all started!

And with some help from Photoshop, these pencil-drawn motifs became the basis of this set of related patterns:

- which then enabled me to make a faux patchwork:

Nostalgic Indigo Faux Patchwork Pillow or Cushion by poshandpainterly
 

I've also been experimenting with adding scanned Broderie Anglaise - which I've always loved and often used when I made little dresses for my toddler daughters, many years ago:

Custom Indigo Floral Faux Lace Pillow or Cushion by poshandpainterly
 

Custom Indigo Floral Faux Lace Pillow or Cushion by poshandpainterly

The next thing I worked on was creating a border pattern from the original motifs - I've noticed to my delight that our local dress shops are full of border patterns, reminding me of a nightie I had in the Seventies that I wore as a dress to our house-warming party!

First the usual square border: 

Nostalgic Indigo Floral Border Pillow or Cushion by poshandpainterly 

 - and then just a single side to leave space for some text. 

Custom Indigo Blue Floral Border Lumbar Pillow by poshandpainterly

Next I challenged myself to create something that I've wanted to try for ages - a circular border!

Monogram Indigo Floral Border Round Pendant by poshandpainterly

With or without the monogram!

Custom Indigo Blue Floral Border Drawer Knob Ceramic Knob by poshandpainterly
  

Finally I had plenty of choice when it came to make 'Indigo' greeting cards!

Indigo Blue on White Floral 101st Birthday Card by poshandpainterly
 

Custom Floral Faux Lace Get Well Card by poshandpainterly
 

Custom Blue and White Floral Mother's Day Card by poshandpainterly
Find more Floral Cards at Zazzle

500+ gifts and cards from the
'Indigo' Collection
HERE

Yesterday, the final whole day before my daughter and her children started back home to Sweden, the weather started to really hot up. 

So we were able to relax in my little garden - after my tall, handsome grandson had helped with dead-heading the Alchemist rose, always a huge job and difficult for me to reach. 

And today the temperatures are soaring - quite unusual for June and much too hot for my liking. But it's perfect for drying the mound of towels, sheets, duvet covers etc in the open air that always result from having people to stay. I think the fourth load is in the machine at the moment and at least a couple more loads to go!

Once all the laundry's done and the house tidied, I should have a chance to get back into my work routine and hopefully make some inroads into my long list of ideas for designs and patterns  . . . maybe! (Much depends on Zazzle.)

Poppies by the roadside near Abergavenny Bus Station!

A Spring Landscape Colour Palette

I've never been drawn to the colours of the typical spring landscape.

Years ago - probably nearly half a century ago! - I'd paint little water colours of the countryside in winter with fingers almost too cold to hold my paintbrush. And the landscape colours of late summer holidays driving down through France have been know to get my creative juices flowing. 

But springtime? No - the colours of fresh green sprouting buds are just too acidic for my liking, strangely cold and harsh compared even to the winter colour palettes. However, here's an interesting spring colour palette - yes there are a couple of sharp, bright colours - the lemon yellow and the neon green.

So why do I quite like this photo of the park that I cross every time I go shopping, in spite of those bright greens and yellows? 

It's probably because those brilliant colours are offset by some wonderfully mellow tones, especially the colours of the copper beech trees that are more reminiscent of autumn. So that harsh, bright green and 'aggressive' yellow are just accent colours balanced by the more muted, subtle tones all around them. And that way, I find them less aggressive!

But even so, if I were using this palette for an interior or for an outfit or a pattern, I think I'd choose just one of the bright accent colours and it would probably be the green. In fact the six colours on the right-hand side could make a good combination, as could the whole of the top row . . .

Which ones would you choose?

A Snowy Colour Palette for January

Even a light dusting of snow was enough to make the Smiley
face that overlooks Bailey Park, perfectly clear to see!

Some people insist that snow is white.

I suppose that's true - technically! But when an artist paints a snow-scape, all sorts of colours other than white somehow seem to appear, almost as if by magic!

For example, here is one of my pastel paintings of snow from quite a few years ago. I always try to put down exactly what I see and here I must have seen pinks, blues and purples in the shadows and warm, 'creamy' whites where the low winter sunshine streams through the trees. 

Snowy track at Whitecastle - soft pastel painting from a photograph

(Click here  for a blog post from way back, that includes some snow paintings by famous painters, such as Monet.)

We've had very little of 'the white stuff' down here in Abergavenny, so far this winter; though at times the peak of Sugarloaf has been gleaming brightly in the sunshine, aspiring to outshine the Matterhorn, no doubt.

But a few winters ago, we did have a significant snowfall, enough to make venturing forth with a camera worthwhile. And this photo is still one of my favourites, because of all the different colours the low winter sun revealed as it did its best to penetrate the trees in the park.

And, interestingly, I think there are as many 'warm' colours in this snowy palette as 'cool' ones!

I've sometimes heard people say that the first thing an artist must do is 'learn how to see'. 

I'm not sure about that. I can't ever remember 'learning to see' or anything like that. But I do think it makes life more interesting, not just for artists, if we can sometimes take the time to notice the shapes and the colours all around us, even in things we see so often that we take them for granted. 

Taking photos is easy nowadays: most of us have a digital camera or a smartphone. So why not make a point of noticing the surprising colours  - and shapes  - in your everyday surroundings. And if you can, take a photo and post it on the social media with the hashtag: 

#CelebrateTheEveryday

(you may even discover, as I have, that your everyday surroundings are so fascinating, that expensive holidays/vacations lose some of their attraction!)

Water Lilies in Wales!

The first time I went up to the top of the Blorenge Mountain, I was very surprised to find a large pond up there, on top of the mountain!

The little market town of Abergavenny lies down below, in between
the Blorenge and Sugarloaf Mountain that you can see in the distance.

And I was even more surprised to find water lilies on the pond.

The Water Lily, a relative of the Lotus flower, is a rather exotic flower, isn't it? Something you associate with tropical countries - or at least somewhere with plenty of sunshine? 

Certainly the last thing you'd expect to find on top of a mountain in Wet and Wild Wales. 

This photograph of Water Lilies on the Keeper's Pond
has become one of my best-selling Sympathy Cards

But there they were, blooming on the Keeper's Pond!

So I did a bit of internet 'digging' and discovered, here, that there are a great many different varieties of Water Lilies, some of them hardy enough to grow in temperate climates. 

The giant, tropical water lilies were first introduced into the UK in 1849 and grown in a specially built greenhouse at Chatsworth House. But there are others that seem to thrive in wild or semi-wild habitats - on top of the Blorenge, for instance!

In many cultures and religions, the Water Lily is regarded as sacred. Maybe it's the symbolism associated with the fact that they grow up through the mud in the dark at the bottom of the pond?

Wherever they grow, whether in the tropics or not, Water Lilies are always exquisitely beautiful. Monet certainly thought so!

One of Monet's many 'Water Lily' paintings
- probably my favourite.

And the Water Lily is the July Birth Month flower.

I was quite nervous about attempting to make a collage Water Lily for this month's repeating pattern. All those petals made from painted tissue paper could easily end up as a soggy mess. But I had already painted some for a July Birthday Card and I wanted to do something a bit different this time.

I began with a border - 

July Birthday Card to Personalize, Water Lilies by poshandpainterly
 

It didn't turn out too badly and, combined with another pond inhabitant, the dragonfly, it resulted in some interesting patterns -

Water Lilies, Dragonflies, Stripes Spiral Notebook by poshandpainterly

Water Lilies, Dragonflies Lumbar Pillow, Cushion by poshandpainterly

Pink Water Lilies on Deep Blue Square Wall Clock by poshandpainterly
 

So, here's this month's Birth Month Flower message:

Be like the Water Lily -

Please feel free to 'pin' this or
 download and print it.

Autumn Trends in Abergavenny -

Time for an update on Abergavenny and how this small town in Monmouthshire is keeping up with the latest fashion trends.

Fortunately, in our modern culture, owls are not the symbol of doom that they were in the past and still are elsewhere. If they were, a shopping trip in Abergavenny would be very depressing indeed - owls seem to be taking up residence everywhere!

But the owls that are filling the shelves of our local stores and our window displays are decidedly friendly-looking, cute creatures - most of them not even looking particularly 'wise'!

And owls are also not the only woodland creatures to be popular this autumn - it wasn't always possible to photograph some of the lovely little animals - including squirrels and hedgehogs - that I spotted. But here are a few that were accessible to my camera -

My personal favourites are the Toadstools and I love them so much that I'm working on a new toadstool pattern when I get time.

I suppose it's a natural progression from the forests of the Northern climes to the unmistakable Scandinavian style of Christmas. 

And there's plenty of that in evidence in the Abergavenny shops, as well as the year-long trends, Black and White, Emerald Green and Chevrons, sometimes all three combined!

Strangely, though, I didn't notice these colours carried over to the High Street dress shops, though the styles were in evidence in Fair Isle jumpers, Chevron pattern knitteds and the ever-popular black and white. 

But the overriding colours are vibrant pinks and magentas continuing along the purple spectrum, right down to a really deep, dark aubergine:

This beautifully nostalgic lavender lace particularly caught my eye!

What will 2015 bring to tempt us to throw out the old and rush out to buy the new?

That remains to be seen. But this year's look at the way Abergavenny shopkeepers have responded to global fashion trends encourages me to believe that, small though the town may be, 'out in the sticks' doesn't mean we have to be 'out of fashion'!

Spring 2013 - What's Trending Where You Live?

One thing I learnt as a result of the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course is to keep my eyes open and my camera at the ready, even when I go shopping!

I live in Abergavenny, a small market town in South-east Wales, not far from the border with England. Abergavenny is known for its 'Markets, Mountains and More . . .' and if I walk into town on a Wednesday morning, I hear the sounds of sheep and cattle from the livestock market on my way. And from the park I cross on my way to the shops, I can see Sugarloaf, Skirrid and the Blorenge, the three mountains surrounding the town.

Not exactly the kind of place you would expect to find high fashion in the shops. But in fact, Abergavenny has far more shops than you might expect in a town of fewer than 15,000 inhabitants. And there's a good variety, ranging from quite a classy little department store and independent boutiques to small branches of most of the national chains.

I've been too busy to venture outside of Abergavenny for a while so I don't know how its shops compare with other places, but my impression is that most of the shopkeepers have at least some awareness of what is currently trending.

So here are some Trend Boards I've made from photos I took in town this week and you can decide whether or not Abergavenny's style is up-to-the-minute or lagging sadly behind!

My first impression was that there was 'Nautical' or 'Coastal' everywhere. There is certainly a lot of denim, canvas shoes, boater shoes, more denim, blue and white, even more denim - and 'deckchair' and 'matelot' stripes. But I also found some butterflies - on mens' clothing, unfortunately too small to show up here.

There are also a lot of 'Conversational Prints', which anyone who read Part One of Repeating Patterns for Painters, will know are patterns with everyday objects as motifs. Today I saw sailing boats, bicycles and paper aeroplanes on men's clothing! And I was pleased to find mini-prints that could have been Laura Ashley's in the Sixties and Seventies.

There is almost as much 'Tribal' - mostly in black and white and again, lots of stripes.

These were the shop windows that initially caught my eye. Not all of the green is Pantone's Tender Shoots Green and I think the yellow may be more influenced by Wales' national symbol, the daffodil, than by Pantone's Lemon Zest. But it all looks lovely and spring-like. There are bright green trousers for men and even the charity shop's window sported various shades of green, teamed with check shirts.

I finally spotted some Tangerine Tango in Abergavenny - better late than never! It was almost always teamed  with bright pink, one of my own favourite colour combinations.

Reds ranged from Pantone's Poppy Red in the department store window, through rusts and Burgundy to Aubergine. And there are still plenty of large florals, polka dots and lace.

Turquoise abounds in Abergavenny, often in combination with pink and white - checks, polkas, florals, and some with a definitely 'oriental' feel about them! If the green and yellow feel springlike and the orange and pink combination reminds us of roasting high temperature, this turquoise, pink and blue palette is somewhere in between.

In fact, I've got my eye on that check shirt - it's just the sort of thing that I'd be likely to wear a lot when the weather gets warmer. But after last year's wash-out of a summer, I feel it would be tempting fate to buy something so summery while it's still snowing outside!

So what's your verdict?

Are Abergavenny shops keeping up-to-date?

And what's on offer where you shop?

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Tree paintings #14

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I don't actually much like this pastel painting of the avenue of trees that lines my path across the park to the shops. I think the 'green' is too predominant for my liking.  

But as I've often mentioned my route to the town and posted photos of the trees in Autumn and in Winter, I thought I might as well include a Summer view.

Somehow, I'm much happier with this one - the view of Sugarloaf from that path on a Summer evening - and the greeting cards I made from it have been very popular locally.

Tree paintings #7 - Pen-y-fal

 

Just a few minutes walk from my home is a winding and overgrown path along the bank of the little Gavenny (Y fenni) River, which flows into the River Usk in Castle Meadows, giving the town its name (Aber = mouth of, Gavenny = the name of the river). Soon after I took the photo for this painting, someone came and cut back the greenery and spread grey chippings on the path so I was glad I'd grabbed the opportunity before that happened!

There's a picturesque wooden bridge over the river which leads to ......a huge estate of houses about ten years old! They are built on land that belonged to an old hospital, known as Pen-y-fal, and parts of the old buildings have been made into apartments.

But just before the houses begin, there's a very small area that's been left untouched because it was a graveyard for the hospital. And that's where these two trees caught my eye and begged me to paint them! 

They remind me of a couple of young ballet dancers, arms outstretched and their feet in 5th position - what do you think?