Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts

Friday, 23 May 2014

Swallow project research - Andalucia and the Alhambra

I thought I would share some images that I took on my recent research trip, following the swallows to Andalucia in southern Spain.

Even the manhole covers had interesting textures and shapes! I loved this one in Cadiz!

There were very interesting shapes and textures in the Catholic architecture.

Colours

Flooring in Puerto Santa Maria

Detail from a church door Puerto Santa Maria

Spanish tiles and ironwork

Traditional Spanish costume and lace

And of course - the highlight of the trip and a longtime ambition to see - the Alhambra in Granada




It is just incredible

Intricate Moorish plaster reliefs and ceramic tiles



And, incredibly, swallows actually nesting in the palace of the lions, swooping over my head whilst I looked around :)

Words cannot do justice to this incredible place


I hope my work can do justice to the research!
Travel is such a rich source of inspiration for me. I took hundreds of photos, and there will be more work based on this research coming over the coming months.

Saturday, 8 May 2010

Inspiring stuff....

This week I have been really inspired by some wonderful stained glass. I've had an odd run of noticing it everywhere lately, and have taken a few shots to share with you...

These first few were taken from inside a church. I'm not really a religious person, but seeing these reminded me of going to church as a child. I especially loved the next one, with the gorgeous blues and greens in the sky and scenery.

This next one had names in it, and the areas around the lettering had been blocked out so that the names themselves shone when the light caught them. Wonderful.


These ones are of the entrance to my friend's home. The porch itself is absolutely stunning, dark and moody. I'm guessing it's Victorian, just from the sombre feel it has, but feel free to correct me if you think otherwise!

Whilst the entrance looks dark from the outside, when you stand inside it and look out through the glass, it really comes alive. Beautiful!


I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.
On a more serious note, I have had a couple of odd comments on my etsy shop's feedback lately.... I have a feedback score of 100% positive. However, two people have complained recently that their packages smelled of smoke, despite still giving me positive feedback, and being otherwise happy with their purchases. I want to categorically state that there is no smoking at all in my studio or packaging area. I can't understand how on earth this could have happened. I recently complained to an etsy seller that I felt they were copying my work, and did have a little backlash (coincidence?) whereby a large number of orders were separately placed, but never paid for, and I wonder if this strange feedback is genuine at all. Of course, I have to take it seriously, and taking it to be true, I am absolutely gutted that the recipient were disappointed in that way; the last thing I would ever want is for people to be greeted by the aroma of stale tobacco smoke when they received their item. I feel sure that it has not happened at my end, and with thousands of miles between me and the recipients, it is, I suppose, possible that there was some kind of burning or smoking near to a batch of post that I sent, either at the post office, in the post van, or at the port somehow. But what I do want to say, categorically, to all my customers, is that neither myself nor anyone else would ever smoke here. Even if I wanted to smoke, smoking is illegal in any workplace in the UK, and my own workplace is not exempt from that law, and nor should it be.
I have checked everything I can think of. I did recently change suppliers of my packaging, and I even went sniffing around the boxes that I have in storage to see if they smelled... I'm happy to say that they don't!
Anyway, all I can think of is that there was some strange occurence with that batch between it leaving me and arriving with those two customers. You have my word - no item will ever leave here smelling of smoke.

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

I love...

these...I found these on the beach in Brazil - half an ocean-weathered coconut shell and a few sea urchin shells. I love the intricacy and simplicity of the forms. I keep them on a windowsill and hadn't looked at them for ages until the other day when I found myself transfixed.
The other thing I find interesting about the sea urchin shells is that before they lost their spines they would have been anything but tactile, but these skeletons really invite me to hold them somehow.
Anyway, there it is - the thing that inspired me most today.