Breaking the silence.

I've been away too long.............. now I want to share  the exciting  news that my very talented  friend Laetitia Mieral has re-openened her Etsy shop and is filling it with winter magic :)

The Wolf Prince.

Art and photograph copyright Laetitia Miéral

Her creations are a true delight :))

Here last week the snow came overnight like a quiet spirit. Her visit was fleeting and she shared her beauty too briefly, slipping away as silently as she lay down. But she did give me one wonderous early  morning walk to work .

Just a Glimpse.

I'm sorry I've been so lax in updating. The beautiful weather pulls me away and the work I've been busy with has not been so interesting to share here.  But I thought I would give a little look at the masks that I am slowly creating for a solo exhibition which I will have next Spring if all works out as planned .

This is my autumn Oak moth..... more will follow as they will :)

Photo.Chris Dean

My masks in 'Kinky Nature' book :)

A few years ago photographer Emma Delves-Broughton used my masks 'Poison' & 'Bloodkiss' in a couple of photo shoots :) Two of the resulting photos were included in her ' Kinky Couture’ exhibition at La Galleria Pall Mall, London.

And now I'm very happy to say that a number of these pictures also appear in her recently published new book 'Kinky Nature'. I've not seen a copy yet but I'm looking forward to it :))

'Your Fantasy Costume' feature.

I want to say thank you so much to Priscilla Hernandez  for featuring my masks on 'Your Fantasy Costume'. A marvellous site for finding all you need to put together the fantasy costume of your dreams :))

Her enthusiasm and beautiful and generous words are so kind, it is a lovely review :)

Many thanks Pris and all the very best with all that you do, especially your music!

From Sea to Sky

Well it was rather nice to spend my Tuesday afternoon (18th) doing something a little different from what my job usually requires. I'd volunteered to help out on one of the many organised walks that are part of the annual Isle of Wight Walking Festival. Due to a number of unforseen circumstances I actually ended up leading the walk myself. Rather a new experience for me and a bit nerve-wracking......I mean it would be great if I'd  got everyone lost wouldn't it ;)

Anyway, thankfully it all went well and I really enjoyed myself! Very kind and patient people (who didn't even bat an eyelid when I got wee bit confused with the route ;)  A beautiful day,  perfect walking weather..... and I even got to finally see the wild goats which I've only ever seen from afar before :))

Just a few memories of a lovely afternoon.

Into the woods

The old oak

A view from the hill

Into the valley

Here be goats!

Book I am currently reading:  'A Place of Greater Safety' by Hilary Mantel

Flights of Fancy... I wish :(

Well tomorrow morning I should have been on my way to Paris to be at the opening of  Laetitia's  glorious new exhibition. And to then have the delight of spending a marvellous week with her. I've been looking forward to this for ages and still can't quite believe all our plans have fallen through.

Due to closure of the airports because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, my flight got cancelled along with many other peoples. And it  looks like no-one is going anywhere for some time, at least if you are South of Mancester in Britain :(

I wish so much I could be there I feel very sad.  Bon Chance dearest, I know it will be a wonderful exhibition and a great success.!! xxx

Purrs and Paper Enchantments :)

I'm still alive and kicking even though I've not been here for a while :) Life has been too busy and mostly not with mask stuff recently *sigh*. But I'm hopefully slowly getting back on track with things.


On a positive note, I'm just in the process of setting up an Etsy shop and hopefully this Eostre weekend will give me a little more time to finish this and get some pieces up for sale :)) I still have so much to finish as well, it can be so frustrating sometimes. Ah well... I hope in the end they are worth the wait ;)

Also wanted to share a piccie of the latest member of our family . His name is Spider and he's a chocolate point Siamese. He's very naughty, very noisy, an absolute pain in the bum.... and utterly irresistable :)) He came to us just before Yule  via  Rosemary Jelley who does an incredible job  running Pedigree Cat Rescue here on the Island.

He's happily fighting his favourite catnip rattie here. And I have to say that hours of running up and down stairs pulling bits of string does wonders for your thighs ;)

I also wanted to spread the marvellous news that my dear friend Laetitia is having an exhibition at La Maison du Roy in Paris!  It opens on the 17th April and runs through until the 20th June. If you get a chance then please do visit it. Her work is absolutely wonderful and a chance to see her gorgeous and magical creations in the flesh is not to be missed :)) I shall be going myself and I can hardly wait!!

Pedigree Cat Rescue

Please stop by and take a look at a new blog I've set up  for a very special lady who does the most wonderful work.
Pedigree Cat Rescue  is based on the Isle of Wight  but if anyone feels able to give it a mention on their blog I would be most grateful :)

Marchesa Casati (update)

In my post of 6th Nov 09. I wrote about the delight of Chris's photograph of my 'Medusa' mask appearing in the new book 'Portraits of a Muse' about the delicious Marchesa Casati!  Well I now have a copy of the book in my hot and trembling hand and am even more delighted :)

I am so thrilled that the picture has a full page all to itself ! I wasn't expecting that at all. I thought we might just be tucked away somewhere ;) There's a little bit of blurb about me and the Marchesa's influence on my masks and both Chris and I get a lovely mention in the special thank you section :)

The book itself is gorgeous. A large format art book lavishly illustrated with loads of amazing pictures,  paintings and photos. I shall go and run around excitedly a bit more now ..lol ;)

'Portrait Of  The Marchesa Casati With a Greyhound'  By Giovanni Boldini 1908

Edit: Oops... I thought I'd missed something out, trust me to forget ;) Thank you Laetitia :)))x

You can  get hold of a copy of  the book 'The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse' by Scott D Ryersson & Michael Yaccarino...here.  Or via  most other good book sellers :))

Tweet

The past in the present... Part 1

These winter months after Yule  always make me a little sad and a little nostalgic. I find myself turning to my creative equivalent of comfort food :) Delving into those artists and writers whose creations first captivated and inspired me many years ago and whose influence has remained always. They have become so dear to me. So I thought I would share just a small selection.

Going way back into the mists of time ;) I was given a copy of  'The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshoppers Feast' by Alan Aldridge as a Christmas present in 1973!

The illustrations are utterly gorgeous. If you search online you can find a fair few of them but here is a tiny taster just to tempt you:)

There were also two sequels, ' The Peacock's Party' and 'The Lion's Cavacade' All show off Alan Aldridge's  rich and astonishing illustrations perfectly. If you look around you can still pick up second-hand copies and to immerse yourself in these delicious pictures is definitely a serious winter pick me up :)

Moving forward in time a bit to the early 1980's...... I was lucky enough to discover a copy of  'Vali Myers Drawings 1949-1979', in one of those sort of discount bookshops (they used to sell end of print runs, seconds  etc) that seemed to be all over the pace in London. It cost me £2.50... still one of the best bargins I've ever had!! I'd never seen any of Vali's work before and it took my breath away with it's sheer beauty and power. I was hooked and began to try and find out all I could about this extraordinary woman.

Vali Myers

Sadly not much of her art is available to see online. And the book of her paintings is very scarce nowadays. But in 2007  'Vali Myers: A Memoir' by Gianni Menichetti was published and is well worth a read!

I can lose myself in these visions during those wonderful long winter evenings:)

There is more to come soon.............