Exhibition

Cooking quiche, making cake and meringues and packing up my cards. The joy of prepping for an exhibition when you don’t know if seven ore 70 are going to turn up.

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one more today

this is just a little test to see if i can share my blog on social media

Gold screen printed Ply gift tags
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My new floral prints

Here are the beginnings of my new floral prints. Floral always sounds rather dainty but these are anything but dainty with a bold use of colour and black over printing.

Beautiful Christmas workshop results

Here are a few images of the results from the Christmas workshop. It was a stormy day outside so we were cosy and warm in the studio looking out onto the grey and windy landscape below. Inside creating colourful and festive gift wrap, cards and tags.

Our processes involved screen printing, stamping, silver leaf and tin work.

Rubber stamping gift wrapping paper

Creative christmas workshop

For the first time ever, I am running two, one day workshops with a Christmas theme. Each day is excellent value at €95

SO Start the festive season with a day long course, screen printing a card, stamping your own wrapping paper and creating a tin tree decoration.

On the day you will learn how to

  • Make your own card, painting colour blocks followed by a top layer applying a screen print.

  • Print wrapping paper using stamps for an all over pattern.

  • Make a tin tree decoration mounted on a ply Christmas shape.

This course is limited to 6 places and includes a light lunch and refreshments during the day.

All materials are included.

Please wear something suitable, and/ or an apron if you are like me and get paint everywhere!

screen printed cards

Mark making workshop

Today we tackled mark making using black and white and a variety of media. Since everyone loved playing with image making techniques, we will extend this to our next session. Click on events for more info.

Screen printing on off cut fabric

Gelli printing workshop

Pictures from our session on a chilly Sunday morning, we had fun Gelli plate printing using leaves and grasses. Julia gave us a workshop on the process, and Karen provided the Gelli plates and rollers. Everyone produce a good body of prints to take home at the end of the session. The great thing about the gatherings is everyone pitches in, are generous and supportive and of course exchange ideas. A new process for most and Gelli plate manufacturers just got a few new customers!

Check the events page for the next session.

If you would like to join our group please subscribe if you haven’t already

Puymaurin Vide Grenier

If it’s not tipping it down, I will be at the Puymaurin 31230 Vide Grenier from 8 am on Sunday 5th May.

Selling my cards, bric a brac and brass decorative bits and bobs

Some of my stuff that will be at the vide grenier

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First meeting of the 'Creatives Club'

Today Eight of us became the founder members of the Creatives Club. I had chosen a bank holiday to meet up so because of prior plans a lot of people couldn’t make it. I have had over 40 expressions of interest in joining. As it turns out 8 was a great number for our initial meeting, everybody introduced themselves, with a strict brief to be brief. We had a quick overview of our varying interests and what we can achieve in future weeks. As we discovered, each one of us needs to carve out time and space to create, and in a supportive group it’s a lot easier. A bit of business networking went on too!

Some members brought in work, all of which was fab, and immediately we realised that everyone had some new skill, or technique to share. These skills easily lend themselves to future making meetings.

Last but not least everyone screen printed a mini membership card on pre prepared watercolour washed paper. A card to flash if they are ever stopped by anyone doubting their creativity.

Impromptu open studio

IMPROMPTU, What could possibly go wrong? I had planned an exhibition, but events conspired against me..don’t ask. So instead of procrastinating, I have decided to open the doors of Atelier Chouette. There will be some art, some gifts, some cards, some festive cheer, and hopefully chats with those of you who are interested in an art club and courses.

There is a fete on in the local village of Puymaurin on the same day so if it’s not tipping it down, it’s potentially nice day out.

Hope to see you then.

Christmas open studio

16th December 10-4

Dressing for Christmas

Here are a few shots of the studio and shopette space to give you an idea of what it looks like now.

Its ready to go

We have worked on the build up until the summer of 22 since my last post and now bar a few bits we are pretty much there.

Now I am thinking about marketing and what uses the space could be used for apart from a studio for me and Rob.

Screening from the road with more cladding

Robert ordered lots of larch, apparently with a cunning plan to screen us from the road. We are creating a trompe l’oeil series of openings to mimic our real windows. Not only that but the cladding will return into the barn to hide the extremely messy pile of fire wood created by the original cladding that was taken down. I just have to watch out for the huge rusty nails sticking out of the planks. I fear my tetanus jab is not up to date.

Cladding looking good

Brrrr, Its really turned autumnal out there. The cladding to the main space is complete and now the openings are sealed against what we call ‘The weather’, a catch all phrase for gales, storms, hail, snow and rain.

The industrial tin ceiling is in place bar a bit of trimming, and the windows and doors (gulp and take out a small mortgage) are on order with a 9-12 week lead time.

A Christmas market

It s been a while since I did any sort of market. The last one was at the end of Feb 2019, where we were all speculating about the likelihood of a lockdown in France. Now as we enter a supposed 5th wave, I am going to sell a few things (hopefully) at my friends house. She puts on a 4 day event in her delightful studio which is full of things she has been making all year. Astrid is a charming German lady, a clothes designer originally, who does Christmas decoration LARGE and sells off some of her family heirlooms too.

 

The studio so far

As we hurtle towards winter the studio is now a recognisable building, not just a huge layer of gravel concrete and block work.

Thanks to Covid and supply chain meltdowns, the gift that keeps on giving, we have seen raw materials rocket in price. Any budget that we might have imagined is just a distant memory.

We stand back and look at the build taking shape, and feel poor but chuffed.

Views to the valley we have never had before the build

Fitting the industrial metal roof

The larch cladding appears and so does a real feel of how the finished building will look

Building in the time of a pandemic

We first had the idea that we should build a studio, workshop, teeny shop about 6 months ago. The aim was to do as much as possible ourselves, except the electrics and plumbing. So here we are at the beginning of spring with foundations laid and the first blocks in place.

Being an architect, and not a builder has its own set of challenges. My husband (the architect) has gone from being in his own word ‘ana’l, to much more realistic about making things ‘good enough’. I am a very willing assistant and look forward to the time we start on the timber work. I fancy myself as a carpenter… we shall see.

Our project starts inside and existing barn with brilliant views that a long last we will be able to enjoy, be inspired by and share with other makers in post pandemic France.

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The willing apprentice gluing the insulation to the block work

The willing apprentice gluing the insulation to the block work