Despite the awful weather in the UK this summer, I've been taking some photos up close and personal in my garden. Click on the image to see photobunny1's (yes, that's me) stream at Flickr.com

Inspired today by Marney's article about how type can bring meaning to words - well how about Word Clouds!!!

I went onto a site called Wordle and found you can type or paste in words and you get a Word Cloud image - eh voila! Click on the image below to go to my Wordle gallery. I promise you - Wordle is addictive. Enjoy.

PS: All the words in this Cloud were copy & pasted from my Artella Cafe Blog - cooooooooooool!

Pom-Pom Mania has struck me recently. I've been making some pom-pom animals. It's so much fun turning fluffy balls of wool into a bird, fish or anything else that your imagination takes you to.

I love the blue bird below - it's based on the Blue Tit - an English garden bird that is very, very cute; I made one as a present for a friend. I think my friends are about to go Pom-Pom crazy, too!!

A friend sent me a URL to a video on You Tube today. It's so moving to see the love between man and an animal. I think the feelings & emotions of animals go much deeper than we realise. As the video says at the end: 'Go love someone today'.

Hope this Link works OK: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

I got up close and personal today in my English garden with some Crocosmia Lucifer. The beauty of Nature never fails to inspire me! Has anything inspired you outdoors today? 

I came across a beautiful article today on the Internet about Team Blogging:

 http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/writing/features/team.blogging.html

Heather Blakey and her team at Soul Food Cafe journey together in a virtual world that allows them to dream. What such projects have done for those who dream together is amazing. One Blogger wrote: ' I look normal enough; I haven't changed in any way. But inside the darkness has opened to reveal the sun. Words have spilled from the hidden depths and brought my own spirit to the surface.'

It made me think how working and sharing things with other creative spirirts is a way to keep your imagination alive. What darkness has opened for you today?

Dreaming on ...Black Cat 

I love this Stateside expression 'a mother load of gold'. With Artella not only do you get inspiration, you get an education, as well! By the way in the UK we remember the colours of the rainbow with the following nemonic: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.

I think harqu'n 2s idea of rainbow puppet people is awesome! I will definitely make some to put in my book, to go with the rainbow flowers.

Artist Kathy R. Jeffords created 'Little Miss Rainbowriffic' - a cute little lady who 'some days couldn't decide which colour to wear, so she wore them all...' http://thedreamygiraffe.homestead.com/littlemissrainbow.html

I felt so inspired today by harqu'n 2's Post on inspiration, that I thought the rainbow theme would make a nice idea for another workshop I'll be taking with children. So I found some Lantern paper with Indigo, Red, Violet etc. and it just turned into a rainbow book. Will it lead to apot of gold, i wonder?

I seem to be getting a bit behind on Blog posts - nearly a whole month has slipped by since my last one!

I've just completed a workshop with some special needs children and as you can see they made some lovely puppets of themselves. I just love the way children are soooo uninhibited:

I've just looked at Barb's Life and Art Blog and she has some awesome paper dolls at PictureTrail - sooooooo inspiring. Take a look at:

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=13820874&uid=1097005

I particularly loved her mermaid paper doll. I think I'll be a mermaid for the day! 

 Inspired by Aunt Bobby's 'Polly, the Articulated Paper Doll', I decided to make a paper puppet of myself and dance from side to side, toe to toe and even on my head. It really is maximum silly - but sometimes I feel the need to dance! What dance have you done today in your life? 

I watched a local BBC programme a few days ago which featured George Rodger, a man who was born in the county of Cheshire where I live, and who went on to become one of the founders of the world famous photographic agency, Magnum.

George came back to the UK from the US peniless in 1936 and by accident saw a newspaper advert for a photographer. He got the job and after several years working for the BBC he then went freelance working on big projects in World War II for amongst others, 'Life Magazine'. In 1947 he founded Magnum along with three other leading photographers.

In an interview for the BBC in the mid-1990s he said, "If I had to cope with all this digital stuff now, I think I'd have to give up!" Yet, I feel that it's not the camera or the process that makes a good photographer, it's the way that person sees things and I think the owrk of Magnum photographers is timeless in the same way as fine art or sculpture is.

There is a Podcast of the BBC programme above, available for the next 4 days at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b0094cyl.shtml

I was looking for a photograph to put on my Artella Cafe public profile when I came across a hand-made photo album put together by a friend of mine as part of her portfolio for her Masters Degree in Photography. Christine has always bucked the digital trend and keeps faithful to traditional ASA film instead - she says she likes the 'magic' of old style photography. In fact, the photo I chose came from a surplus film strip.

We had so much fun doing this mini 'photo shoot' and looking at this image now brings special memories. My friend is taking students to Tokyo next month and I can't wait to see her Japan photo album.

I did this collage for the month of March on my calendar - and it's gone into my Artella Shoppe. The chicks are just a bit of fun - I love their really spindly legs; why did I make them that way?

18 February 2008

Welcome to my first scribbles and my first Blog - ever. Still finding my feet a little with the technology, but I also like that feeling you get of going into the unknown. It really is good for the soul.

I began 2008 with a fun project, creating my own calendar designs. I found two blank calendars I had bought at an exhibition a few months previously and decided to make one for myself and one for a friend. I just went for it, with loads of paints, stamps, collage materials etc. etc. I worked quickly and although one or two images were disappointing, most were pleasing. In fact, I chose prints from March and April to go in my Artella Shoppe to give it a fresh new look for spring. I'm really ready for spring to burst into flower - all done with winter!