Adventures of Jemima

Hoppy New Year to one and all - a time for reminiscing ... so here goes:

When I was a little girl I had a rag doll who was life size - actually she was bigger than me for a time with hair made out of wool and a big wide open expressionless face. One of the things I did while I was off the radar for a bit was to make a mini version of her for my desk to cheer me up when I was feeling demotivated or dispondant. I ended up giving her to my Mum for the top of the Christmas Tree in the end, but this is a pic I found of her not long after I made her - which is why she's only in her undies! I have just uploaded 3 prints I did of her in some hand-drawn settings to Etsy: here ... as if she was off on some wild adventures ...particularly liked the idea of a brocolli forest or beaches with giant pine cones instead of shells. The magic flying skipping rope also seemed like a good idea at the time...! I'm going to revisit this again this year and make a set for her and do an animation maybe - be good for me to get back into animation anyway!

Get your applications in to World Book Night - Deadline Tues 4th Jan!

Thought I'd post some of what I wrote in my application to become a book-giver on World Book Night (Sat 5th March 2011) I chose Beloved without hesitation:-

If ever anyone could harbour any illusions as to the impact of slavery, then this book will blow them cleanly and effortlessly out of the water. A beautifully eloquent book with imagery so vivid it positively burns the retina of your imagination. The song 'Strange Fruit''s immediately conjured in my mind when I think of this book and its endless pathos... I believe this book both deserves and must be read by all those wanting to feel they have experienced (if only vicariously) something of the horrors of the slave trade.

I'm back!

Ok, so I know this may appear two years and 4 months in the pipeline...I suppose it is! Many of you probably gave up hope a long time ago, but I'm finally back on the blogging bandwagon. The break was much needed to get my career on the road ...and now I'm back refreshed and raring to go with even more energy than before! Uh oh!

Sure my ridiculous new smart (note-HTC!) phone should help me keep it going this time and I shall try and give you some catch-up posts so that you can see that I haven't been idling my time away these past two years...

Actually, it's been crazy-hectic, but also lots of fun along the way...promise to be back with a bit of a picture diary of my doings...!!!

Ohh... such a great book!

I really did like this book and just thought I'd share the love - read it if you are feeling philantropic but feel like directing some of the man-love towards the green stuff as well, as it's man doing good by man - through nature. Spurred me to get planting some apple trees on the allotment ...

When it rains it pours

... on the allotment. I have to report a hiccup more the scale of a big bellowing belch. All is not too well in the good life of Gardnerville ... we've been attacked! We feel a bit like this owl I drew since we discovered that all our sturdy little seedlings have fallen to the jaws of ... what we are pretty sure be wabbits. Manu has decided we must've gone wrong not warning them about Manu's Frenchness. I'm sure they wouldn't have been so foolish had they known about his nationality's carnivorous tendencies: "Si'l bouge, on le mange." My mock (fish eating) vegetarianism clearly stops me condoning such behaviour, but I can't say vengeful thoughts have evaded me! So our befallen carrots, greens , oh and our tomatoes have succumbed to an unidentifiable sickness that might well be down to too much bloomin rain!!!! Dash these wet summers ...

Did have a real hoot at my parents though over the weekend. I met my little sister Libby (as previously seen sporting my wellies below ...!) in London and we went to see Taking Back Sunday who we're brill! I managed to arrive earlier that morning to trawl a few museums and galleries and still had the energy for some moshy pogoing! Saturday found Libby and I hama beading it up in bed before a brunchy garlic mushroom and veggie sos breakfast... (will stick on here for the pisces and swan I made later..!) and then we ate melon in the sun while they harvested the fields in the distance. Yes - the sun came out just long enough on sunday - was quite lovely weather in the end between the showers. Anyway. it's midnight so I'm going to take my elf off to bed now. More to come...

Rain rain go away!

Face painting fun!

Today was my forth week on the face painting circuit! Here's some pics of the face fun I persuaded my lovely fellow face painters to adorn me with ... and one of Grace in a Hawaiian style get up I bugged her into letting me do!

Latest bird drawings

As a continuation from previous bird installments - here's the latest doodles of feathered ones.


The diagrammatic style appeals to me but in fact it's for a purpose - these drawings are to inform my next brooch/necklaces.

The stuff of memories

Memories Chest in progress ...

The finished piece...

I've been to London again since my last post to celebrate Lovely Lioness Juliet's BIG (30th) birthday (it's actually today - Happy Birthday Missy!!) ... and boy did we find plenty of ways to make it a roaringly good and certainly memorable birthday weekend...more of that shortly!

As it was such a monumentus birthday for Juliet, I really wanted to give her something she could keep and use as an 'aide memoir' of all the happy times we've had together as friends since we met (nearly 20 years ago!!!) and so I decided to fashion a memories chest for all the photos an mementos of fun times past.

I actually got rather carried away by the process which was almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle...I went back over all the old letters and stuff we had from college and gallery trips etc and created a collage on a lovely old chest, of which only the back remained free for me to write a little personal message!

So what of this memorable weekend, anyway?! Well it all started with a customary fancy meal at a great choice of restaurant: Moros in Exmouth Market and was followed by experiencing some pretty impressive belly dancing - at very close quarters!

Exotic (in the best possible taste ;-)) dancing!

Juliet laughing at my attempt at exotic dancing!

"She's my friend, she is!!"

As you can see everyone (well, Juliet and I especially!) got into the Moorish spirit at Darbucka (world music club) in Clerkenwell afterwards. We waited till the lights came on before ambling (slowly after all the hip wiggling!) to the Queen Boudicea and then topped the night off (actually it was well into the morning by then) with a rickshaw ride across Waterloo bridge. I have a vague recollection of saying: "awww - isn't this romantic?!" as I sat squeezed alongside Juliet and Henry and we all giggled at the notion that we were taking the noble way back to get on a night bus!

The next day we braved it out (worse for wear) to visit take in a bit of aquamarine life and some (not so lively) taxidermy at the Horniman museum in Forest Hill - which was actually a nice stroll from Juliet's pad in Gypsy Hill. There was also an amazing temporary exhibition about Chinese symbolism in silk which I got rather excited about - check out the amazingly radical head wear...!

Fetching Chinese day head wear - is it based on a pig I wonder?

I even got to get up close and personal with one of my favourite mammals - a real life goat - who got up on his hind legs to munch leaves from some seemingly unreachable branches and must also make mention of a dodo which was all smiley and charming - just a shame he wasn't as animated as the goat!

Like the friendly dodo, this kingfisher
looked so real I had to stand and
stare for a bit just in case!