caroline pedler ...inspired

THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT 2012 WORLD TOUR

2012-01-31T19:04:00.001Z

I thought I was going to miss it but I made it! only just!....I packed up my sketchbook and sent it to New York. Here are a few pages from it. I wanted it to be a showcase for some of my new work but instead I used it as a portal to just go a little scruffy! It may have been that I knew I would never get it back so I put lots of throw away marks in it.. well covered it with them. Which was really nice after I got over the fact that some bits just look a little rubbish, but that was it for me. To create some throw away bits that I wasn't attached too. It has helped my work too. I'm currently working with Ruarri Joseph on his new album cover and I can post a couple that don't fit the brief, therefore not ruining the surprise. So doing the sketchbook and using loose marks had loosened the work I have done for him....I'll post them later but for now here are a few pages from the sketchbook...

Another from Bobo

2012-01-11T18:09:00.000Z

...just warming up, and Bobo was there!

Finished nearly!

2012-01-09T22:56:00.001Z

all three... now what to do for the binding?

FOLIO GOOO!

2012-01-09T21:12:00.001Z

..so the final one. It's not amazing but I like it generally...it's all I've had time to do sooo here they all are.. just the binding design to do now and get the files ready to send, oh and pay!

It's late, the dog is farting for England, as he's only had one walk today!...so we're off home. Until next time...

ANOTHER POST Yayeee!

2012-01-08T15:57:00.000Z

I'm in the studio. It's misty as, outside, and Bo and I are hanging out listening to all sorts of wonderous music on 6music for Bowies birthday! Loving it. My housemate left today, so although we're happy and chilled now, when we go home to an empty room I think we'll be a little sad, so work is keeping us cheery until that happens. I'm working on a project for Folio for the House of Illustration, which has a deadline of the 10th Jan! I haven't had any time over Christmas so this is the first chance I've had so here's one I've done for Company of Wolves.... two versions... the bottom one I prefer for the space but the darker one looks more like dusk and has more atmosphere, which is what I wanted. The other one is the finished, so one more to go..Puss in Boots and I'm there.

TWIN TOWN

2012-01-03T15:07:00.001Z

I did an illustration for Sam Gray at Fabric, for Rob Self-Pierson and here it is in situ on the Twin Town blog. The blog will hopefully be made into a book when Rob returns from his travels...and look something like this, Thanks to Sam.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-02T21:55:00.001Z

It's been a while and I've really not done any new work for a while now as I've had a part time job over the season break. My next book is back in the swing, so that's going to keep me busy for the next month or so. I went to Bristol over New Year, just for 24 hrs. We stayed with my friend Annie in Southville in her lovely festive house. We had a lovely evening in the Star and Dove in Totterdown and met up with a few more friends there.

I took this great picture of the cropped plain trees. We had to walk through Windmill park which was really rather spooky, even with three of us!

Also I walked round Truro doing my last minute Christmas shopping last month and came across this. It was a poster that I had done through Enjoy Truro. It is one of my illustrations with a rather comical edit!

So what now. I have to think long and hard where I want to head from here on in so I need to set myself a price list and stick to it. Also really work out where I'm heading with my work and make some serious income from it. I'm thinking of opening up an Etsy shop!? any ideas, tips let me know!

PYLON PRESS SUBMISSION

2011-12-10T14:54:00.001Z

In the studio on a cold and grey Saturday! Bo and I are just hanging out, listening to 6Music and painting my entry for the next Pylon publication. Plyon Press is a publication ran by the lovely guys and gals at Plymouth College of Art and Design. My first entry was the bear in a tea cup and it started a whole new body of work, which was great. This time I have revisited one of my childhood fears. The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang... which apparently was based on the book by Ian Flemming and the Child Catcher was added by Roald Dahl who was the script writer?

He was on an advert on TV years ago and both my brother and I jumped!.. powerful stuff! anyway the brief was anything to do with 'Followers' and for me the child catcher epitomises following, but in an evil sense. Although to follow is an attribute of humans and the animal kingdom, it's something that gets us into trouble and allows us to lose our heads sometimes, and lose touch of who we are without all the fuzz...! I guess the child-catcher for me stands for losing sense of what we do intrinsically, while the brightness of desire smothers our intuition and sense of reality. This is the actual entry... in black and white.

Conferences and deadlines

2011-11-28T21:12:00.001Z

Well it's been a weird month and a lot of time spent in my head, so I'm trying to take a step back and hoping to finding a way forward soon. When I get some time to myself I will start painting from life again and just try to illustrate the world around me in order to see from a new perspective.

Last week I attended a conference for the CUC, (combined Universities Cornwall) as a guest speaker.. or inspirational speaker as they described me. I was the only case study there in person and the conference was about higher education. I made some contacts and passed on some cards to do other seminars and lectures etc so that's great. My pic and a blurb was in the brochure too! here's the link to it and a pic.

I've been doing the next Christmas card for Lou at the Driftwood Spars, so watch this space, and also working with Sam and Rob at Fabric on an illustration for a Christmas project. one of the sketches here...

I've just had the deadline for the Pylon Press' next issue extended so that's great, so I'll add that image soon. I have to do the next Folio image too and also the sketchbook project sketchbook. Time is running out and Dec is here, so with a part time job now, I have to arrange my time a lot better than I have, which could be what I need to restructure everything!

DIARY DAY 13

2011-11-01T14:09:00.001Z

Another entry from last week. I've been away so haven't done anything this week. So here's the last one. everything was dark except Bobo's halo!..this one was really scrappily done, really quickly but it looks ok in the sketchbook. And one I made up a little of us running up towards the beacon.

LOOKING BACK CONT with images

2011-10-25T13:41:00.001+01:00

I'm meant to be doing a presentation today for a lecture I'm doing at the Maritime Museum for the Post Grad showcase next week but instead I've just had a mentor session with a RIO client and now painting myself!...I'm realistic about how I look so don't like painting myself for vain reasons but I guess it's a really good gauge of where you're at in life... I found a painting I did in 1999 when I was living in Bath and was having a great time. And one of the guy from Supergrass. I look so young in this image! and another I did last month, really scraggy and then another quick one today.. I'm losing interest in being precise but this I think captures something. All done really quickly too. I definitely look innocent in the first one and now I look older but also a bit scary! maybe determined? the Pedler frown possibly changes it slightly! anyway see what you think!

Looking back and realisations...

2011-10-22T15:01:00.002+01:00

It's been a weird old month or two...and I won't be at all offended if you can only read the first line before falling asleep as this may only be interesting to one or none!.... I've come out the other end of the MA and gone through a host of emotions from complete excitement and over enthusiastic antics, to slighting depressed and hopeless feelings of doubt. I've been looking back over what I've achieved in 2 years and feel proud but unsure if I can actually make it in the real world with the practice I have nurtured. The real world almost feels too fast and harsh for the work I want to continue with (the bears in erased landscapes etc). I have been trying to put the small amount I have, out there on blogs and in competitions and exhibitions etc and although it is getting some response it's not earning me any pennies and I'm not sure I want it to be out there yet or earning for the sake of paying my rent or bills etc?? I don't want this work to become a work horse like my mainstream work. I want it to mean more to me, and to an audience. I want people to really love it enough to save up for it. Not buy it because it has 20% off or fits their budget or colour scheme. If I love something enough I will find a budget. Having done over a decade of working hard, for work that isn't mine, I feel it is time to really take care of the work I create, for my sake.

For the final few months of the course and leading up the the show I was so driven to get everything right and working hard to achieve the best results, that I didn't realise that once the show was down and we were free to live in the real world again, that I would still have a huge amount of energy, and nowhere to aim it. So I made places like blogs, listings, exhibitions, competitions etc etc. I couldn't stop! Trying to connect to people and places that didn't want to be connected to. So I've stopped and taken some time off, taken a step back and I'm beginning to realise who I am again without the MA, and that need to make a living or to be connected or be successful. I have to have faith that in time it will happen, and give it the space it deserves. I have crafted my practice over the last year into something that can span a lifetime so I have to relax and enjoy watching it grow. To admit to myself that the commercial work is a must and in time it will be less about the client and more about me, but only with patience.

I have learnt a lot about patience this year and although it is so frustrating to wait for things you desire and want so badly, sometimes the journey is the most important and enjoyable part of the process. Desire is a powerful and debilitating energy that I am realising overpowers the natural spin of the world.

I have also learnt a lot about myself and the way I learn and take in the world around me and how I react to it. Finding out I had Dyslexia after the first essay was huge. Not because I thought I now had a disability, but the fact that I had gone through 16 years of continual education thinking I was Miss Average at everything apart from drawing, especially as I loved writing and could spell. So it was with help from the Dyslexia team that I received information about the way that Dyslexia affects me, and different people and finally putting reasons to why I had failed this, or found this difficult, etc etc in the past, and why I thought I was never as good as everyone else in my group, class etc. Which is something that I still do today, constantly comparing myself to others, and harshly so.

I have always been passionate about creating art but never thought of myself as an artist. I knew I had a higher level of artistic skill than some of my fellow pupils at school, and I guess this is why I'm an illustrator, but I could never place this in a context. The only context I knew was to sell it as pretty pictures to grace the walls of a lounge, a bedroom etc. I have never felt intelligent enough to be driven by theory or to be able to express the reason for the work I do, so it was always the easiest route to do work that looked nice but had no real meaning. On the MA I found my meaning and a certain level of theory that worked for me. I have learnt why I create, and that the work I do now is a reflection of who I am as a person more than ever. Enabling me to talk more honestly and directly about the development I have experienced in a more concise and hopefully poetic way.
The marks I received for the first projects on the course reflected the lack of knowledge I had about myself and the world I had stepped into. I had to learn a way of taking in information, holding it there, and then learning a way to relay that in written form in an academic, and previously alien, way to me. I feel like I have scraped my insides out and replaced them in a way that works for me, finally! So having received passes at first and slowly, as my knowledge and learning grew, I understood more and more about my own ways and only then, it began to make sense and I was making sense.

My marks got better and better until my final essay and my final unit, gathering a 2:1 for the final essay, and a distinction for the final years work. I got the distinction I had so desired! I received a 2:1 overall which I am really proud of because of the ragged and misunderstood start I had. So finally I had a level of learning that equated the amount of work I had put in. It felt amazing and now I know that I can work around the ways that have confused and muddled me in the past. I can continue forward with insight and focus.

Without the Dyslexia test I'm not sure the picture would be the same? Even when I was diagnosed I thought I was still borderline and didn't quite understand the extent of how it had disabled me. Now I realise how much it has clouded my academic intelligence through school and college, and how much easier and enjoyable life will be knowing that I am intelligent enough to write essays that have a message or discourse, and with a little extra work I can achieve as much as the next illustrator.

NEW PROJECT

2011-10-20T18:53:00.000+01:00

Well after another day off and I'm in the studio again!...just can't keep away.. I think it reiterates that creating is my first and foremost goal, passtime, passion etc.... and my computer still can't get online so I'm spinning between two macs! grrrr! anyway...here's a few bits, I'm doing a book idea I've had for a while, and I'm leaning towards a more fine art one, but still trying to add some cute so it sells.. I see them being two different books at the moment so one is publishable... here's a few images that would be covers?, title pages...something to introduce it.. It's all looking a bit somber at the moment so I have to decide what kind of audience this is for? and whether I can make it upbeat? the Duck, Death and the Tulip, by the amazingly brilliant Wolf Erlbruch, is in my head at the moment!...

NEW DIARY DAY

2011-10-19T17:48:00.001+01:00

A new day a new diary entry...I haven't been able to get an internet connection via my work computer so have had to wait until I can do it elsewhere! so here you go... I'm taking some time off from work and the fact that I need to crack on and bring some new work in and therefore income. For some reason that was paralysing me so I've stopped and I'm beginning to slowly come back to life and feeling a bit inspired again, and doing the diary isn't a task anymore but a nice thing to do again. I have some other commissions to do so hoping these will be next. So anyway it is important to take a break because I never give myself chance to, so although it isn't abroad or outside the village my head is having a holiday and that's as good as it gets at the moment! here they are... Bo was chased by two dogs today. One was thankfully muzzled as I'm not sure what damage he would have done without it! They should have been on leads! grrrrr....and some card ideas...everything copyright of Caroline Pedler 2011.

ART TAKES MIAMI...please vote

2011-10-12T20:40:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone,
I NEED YOUR HELP ....BY MIDNIGHT FRIDAY....

I know I post a lot, but I need your vote, for me, for my work...please? please can you pass it on too.
I'm participating in ART TAKES MIAMI....in Miami!
HERE'S THE LINK TO VOTE..and see the pics I've entered
http://CarolinePedler.see.me/atm2011
hope you can help thank you...x

MORE FAMOUS ARTISTS

2011-10-10T13:50:00.001+01:00

...and here's another really quick sketch..so I'm going for likability of quality of marks, rather than they are good likenesses or good portraits for example. I can draw photo-realistically, to a point, but this isn't what this is about, and although I don't particularly like these, or think they represent how well I can draw, they are more about being able to exercise my hands in capturing something. I have realised that my strength lies in the first marks I make so embracing this and working with this is what I am doing. Some subjects i choose don't work like this... Some bits of work you have to walk back from, ponder over and then rework into. In this instance, I'm looking for successes..... that happen one in 10!

I'm hoping to do more of these really quickly so I master a way of not caring about them so much so they become more loose and spontaneous. At the moment they are too considered and safe so I need to loosen up lots...here's one that made it, the other one wasn't so good.

DAILY DIARY DAY 8

2011-10-08T13:07:00.001+01:00

More diary action. Bo and I did our morning run today, and try to run over and around the beacon at least a couple of times in the week, and the other days just weaving in and around the beacon. Today we went around and through the village. It was nice and empty apart from a couple of friendly 'Morning!'s.

Don't forget all these are done only from memory.

AOI WEBSITE

2011-10-07T17:23:00.001+01:00

I have just added myself to the AOI portfolio website, and just happened to end up next to an old college friend Andy Potts. Here it is. I haven't got the most amazing body of work here, but its a start and hopefully a new portal to new work and new clients! Putting myself out there so to speak!

DAILY DOG WALKING DIARY is go!

2011-10-07T16:24:00.001+01:00

I've started my daily diary again. Hopefully I'll keep it going. It will give me ideas for my own book about Bobo and also give me a constant that I do every morning when I get to work and something to look forward to. So here's one from last night. We all went to the beach with four dogs and it was funny. They loved it...except Harvey!

Looking back over the last two years

2011-10-05T22:01:00.000+01:00

I was just looking back through my blog, I guess to see what other people see maybe, and the difference from when I started is fairly big! I have more of my own work on it, which makes sense as I now have a style that sits outside the commercial work that I do, which I never had before. So I've been updating my current work on my website too.

Feeling lost and incapable

2011-10-05T16:38:00.003+01:00

I've had a month of working to deadlines on my paid publishing work, and all that time I've been aching to do my own work. But of course when you think of the results and dream about what you will create, you only think of the best bits and not the bits that you have to go through to get to those best bits! I'm in that process now and finding it hard! It then compounds into every element of your life and you feel that the whole world also thinks you are incapable! not nice but necessary to move forward and through. Anyway I've started just doing, just painting from anything and putting it down into my sketchbooks really quickly, and although they seem insignificant right now they may evolve into something via the scanning process so here is a few pages put together. Also some paintings of Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg and Antoni Tapies, some of my favourite artists, that I fancied doing. My brother did some paintings of his favourite writers which were great, so I've completely ripped the idea off and again not brilliant but I do like the top one, his are actually much better...anyway, by doing many you always have one that works for you, so I'm going to do more...

The Bloody Chamber

2011-09-25T17:59:00.002+01:00

ok so it's Sunday, Everyone else is out having roasts and long walks and beach experiences on a warm Sept afternoon and I'm in the studio working on my own work because I want to! what better reason! I'm working on a competition and here are some sketches. I say sketches because I have to scan all the bits in at a higher res at some point. anyway here it is so far... all inspired by Angela Carter and the Bloody Chamber. I finally think I've cracked this one, so I've added the text, as if it would be a cover.

2011-09-19T17:55:00.000+01:00

This is great!...it's my paint palette.

false starts, happy endings

2011-09-18T16:54:00.000+01:00

It's Sunday and I'm in the studio, I'd love a Drifty roast but low on pennies and really needed to crack some work out for Scattered Art next week. So, after a false start and some rubbish bits of painting I finally concentrated on the images I really felt connected to, reference pics that is, and worked from there. Ones I didn't know would work, or why they would, but started from there and the first one had no legs but I liked the way I painted it, and saw that he looked like a conductor. I liked it, framed it and voila! it's all come together! Everything I was trying to achieve with my unit 3 at college had come to it's conclusion! a hint of some interaction rather than a description which is where mine for bordering on before. So a prop is used. I have painted three and I like them but I can make them better for the next ones, less contrived and considered as these still are a bit but they are definitely closer to what is in my mind now which is great. Very exciting. Anyway here they are, cheers for dropping in...x

2011-09-15T23:10:00.001+01:00

I have created a new blog called Number44. It is somewhere where you can find links and artists and eventually advice, but mainly those little bits and pieces that spice being a creative! Would be great for you to drop in and have a look and although it looks a little bare now I will be uploading new and exciting bits very soon. In the meantime go to it's sister blog on Facebook.

The name came from my childhood home and has always been a number that I have felt connected to, and was where all my influences were born.

letting go and spewing out!

2011-09-13T19:06:00.006+01:00

Just having some fun and making marks... Cy twombly influence on this one I think...not sure he'd be too pleased though.

It's nice just making and not considering! I now have the confidence to work without consideration and purely excreting the inside, out. I now know that this has to happen for me to focus, crop, analyse and make sense of it all. Before, this process of throwing up all the marks in my head through my fingers, was something I did only when I really had to, and felt I had the time to do. But now I realise this is part of my process. By posting them I make sense of them, discard or embellish them. they'd be great really large but these are from my sketchbook so maybe my next new project will be large! for now I will continue with the MA project and see where it ends...if at all.

Number44

2011-09-13T17:51:00.010+01:00

I've made a new Facebook page. It's easier on Facebook as I know so many people on there that can, and do, access it and the majority being arty friends, so can pass 'stuff' on easily! so here's the link to Number 44. Go see and 'like' if you can.

So what is it I hear you ask? Well, it's a meeting place for driving creativity in the community and basically sharing good creative links, events, artists etc! I want it to be a vessel for all the things I can't help but pass on. I have really enjoyed passing links on through the college email list and as I have finished, seems unfair to burden people still, so therefore the Facebook page where people can dip in and out when they want to.

I have also today rehung the MA work in the Museum cafe in Truro, with Truro Arts, and it looks great. Lovely cafe if you are passing, and Donna and Lucy have great plans for the shop and events etc that surround the cafe and shop, which opens in November with a big party, can't wait! so watch this space.

I am exhibiting with Alan Clarke, Rose Forshall and Amy Adele Seymour.

some new sketches!

2011-09-08T15:54:00.006+01:00

Here are some sketches I did really quickly at End of the Road festival at the weekend. I had such a great time and travelled up with the very funny and talented Shayne House and his two kids. They were ace and we all had lots of fun and not much sleep! I loved sketching and was teaching the kids how to draw by not looking and the sketches they did were ace! It was lovely too as some people we got chatting to recognised me because of my drawing in the crowd on a few occasions! ...we also met up with the Squire family too ( who are all very talented bunch!)

so anyway here are some!

MA SHOWS UCF

2011-09-07T17:49:00.003+01:00

If you fancy coming along, it's on til Sat 5pm I think? and here's a link to more info....cheers all x

It's up!...AND I'M FINALLY DONE....almost!

2011-08-31T07:52:00.007+01:00

...just the cards to cut and some small prints to get ready for sale and wrap up some originals to sell too.... The ones that didn't make it to frame. So here is the final final show with cup in place and book in place too!...I'm really excited now and one more day of work ( commission) and then I'm on my holiday until Monday. Great stuff! Hope everyone can make it to the show and see it all in the flesh. It's going to be a strong show with lots for everyone! and lots of books to buy.

It's up!

2011-08-29T18:16:00.003+01:00

the show is mostly up! I have to take the sketchbooks out to hand them in and add my finished book and cup and saucer at some point....but the majority is done and looking great.. really pleased. Not amazed but will be great when the other bits are added! will feel like a huge achievement! Everyone else's looks great too. so lovely to see it all up and doing its thang!

yet another post!

2011-08-28T19:50:00.002+01:00

I've been working on this show, for what seems an eternity. I was getting quite grumpy at the start as I couldn't get on and do anything because I didn't know what it was i was doing or why. Doing the essay has been a huge help and generally reflecting over all the successful marks and choices I have made. Preparing artwork for the show has been a real eye opener and how I did some work in enough time but at the last minute changed it all and created new work, and then deciding to frame the sketchbooks. So I really am working right up to hand in date and hanging tomorrow hopefully! My wall has a stain on it I have to rectify and yet to curate the wall. I'm enjoying doing it all and writing these notes really help to work out what I am doing and why. My worry is getting the shelves put up in time and getting the right ones too. I'm currently hand embellishing all my cards and extra small prints for sale. There will be all the originals that weren't quite right for framing for sale as unframed paintings too, so hopefully something for every pocket.

ceramics and decals...

2011-08-28T19:20:00.002+01:00

Today I've been in the studio all day again but I did take a trip down to Bec's studio in Hayle to sort out the ceramic tea cup, with a decal of mine to fire, to put in the show. The pots she made for me were over fired but they are fine for what I need, I just hope I do them justice. Here are some pics in progress. I'm really excited and hope the kiln works ok? we'll see.....I'll know tomorrow evening when they come out of the kiln. It has inspired me to do a small course in ceramics where I can do my own illustrations and create my own one off pots...

Binding!...

2011-08-27T16:11:00.004+01:00

...and then there was the book!...I went up to Tom's Studio, Little Egret Press and binded my book. Tom was amazing and so patient, it was great to do and so lovely to have such a lovely product at the end of it.. I could make it a whole lot different and better...as always but i loved doing it and love that I have made my own book!...here's a few bad pics in progress. I have now got to wait for the embossing plate to arrive and hope that it looks ok and then do the deed and drive back to the studio, add all the painted bits then hand in before 5pm! a busy and long day!

Seeing clearly again

2011-08-26T00:20:00.003+01:00

...Well after a month of not really feeling very positive about my work and tightening up, I've decided to frame my sketchbooks for the show. They are the marks that are fundamental for my practice, and for any movement forward. I constantly have to revisit the marks I make in them, so thought it essential to have them in the show. I am painting right up to the last minute with work to go up on the walls as I'm not 100% sure about the quality or message I am conveying with what I've done so far. I can do better but not sure I can in the time. So I have to step back and do the best I can and believe that my best work is yet to come, and this is only the start. I have a lifetime to create the work that is in my head! I have made a great start and now I can put the work out in the world slowly, on my terms and in my own time. Very exciting but hope I don't let myself down with a poor show. Less is more I guess! x

Books...

2011-08-18T10:25:00.005+01:00

aaaand the final, final book pages for the Royal Beasts! at last! including a link to my big bro's new book, under his own press, Speaking Volumes.

work for the MA show!

2011-08-13T20:43:00.008+01:00

I've been in the studio all week doing work for the show. Not amazing but framed up and on the walls I think they'll look ok but possibly a bit twee which is what I'm trying to avoid? These are sketches really but I'm really quite excited now! can't wait for it all to happen. I'm beginning to tighten up again which I need to watch. Especially if I compare this latest one with the first one I did ( without the bear?) It's just a better shape. One thing I am learning is that my first marks are the best!..... these have been touched up since scanning so may look a bit different.... I like these in the frames but because they're tighter they look like they should be more correct, ellipses etc which I don't want to spend time doing. So I think I need to loosen up again so they don't look so 'incorrect'? do them even more quickly. So I need to redo them all! I can maybe put these in as unframed originals... ok orff to work to continue the essay!

The Royal Beasts Of Bialoweiza

2011-07-26T21:59:00.007+01:00

I think finally I've finished it?? After a bad start to the day... a late night working again last night. All my appointments were cancelled and I had to sort out the cock up with my studio space! I woke up ratty and stressed! but after a break in the afternoon with a dog walk and a swim in great company I feel a whole lot better. First bikini swim of the year! I made up the time this evening and finally feel like I have some images that make a coherent book... ok here it is finally! finished...I think!.... some of the pages will have trees painted on them so they may look a little blank here.

more bears in cups!

2011-07-20T16:17:00.002+01:00

I think doing the ceramics made me think and look at the cups and teapots I have in the studio so I drew them.... I did them quickly so not really concentrating on ellipses etc which although distracts sometimes, I quite like the more naive feeling that this gives. So here's some more of them with a couple of bears. I'm struggling with how to show these as the images work better when O put them together in photoshop rather than painting the bears directly onto the object???...who knows!

ceramics!

2011-07-19T22:13:00.002+01:00

I've been meaning to try out my work on ceramics for years but never had the resources or work I felt appropriate enough for. Soo my amazing and very generous friend Rebecca Harvey let me take up her time, studio and pots so I could test out some ideas. here's a phone photo which shows a couple I did and are being fired now. I hadn't prepared anything so I used images I wouldn't necessarily use for the final. It was great to do something different and something that could open up a whole new line of work? Thanks Bec x

more staying late and book creation!

2011-07-18T18:59:00.004+01:00

I'm here late again and after having worked all weekend on a large commission I've spent all day on my college work, which has been great as I've really moved forward with the book. I'm working with Stephen Hicks, of AO Printworks in Illogan. He does work for the Tate and Kurt Jackson! So we've been sourcing some nice paper and the least expensive but most effective for the best results. All very exciting and slightly scary! here's the story that I think is nearly there... you'll have to come to the show to see the reasoning etc behind it etc. These are on white but the paper I am choosing is an off white, more vintage colour.

2011-06-29T17:46:00.005+01:00

Sooo I stayed late again this evening! I just want all the time in the world to get on and do more but I'm stealing moments around the paid work. I've started thinking about the elements I need to put together for the show to work. One is the book so I'm continuing to think about that and when I get the time working on new images for it... my friend suggested I pace one spread over a few pages so here it is.. this will carry over 2 spreads..x so these are some of the pages with contrasting pages to be added. They don't look particularly amazing here but hoping they'll look better in print!

EUREKA!

2011-06-29T13:14:00.009+01:00

I've finally found something I feel that can be a book!...it's taken a while and lots of images but I'm there I think!.. or at least closer than I have felt in a while... here's what I've done so far.. it's a sequence and too big to post in it's entirety so I'll attach ones for detail... adding some of the scruff and life I needed last week. So I will go forth and make them into double page spreads and make a book! I'm going to work into them so they are all original and the book will be a one off. After being really scared about it all and the fact that there are less than 6 weeks to hand in...I'm now very excited!.. bring it on!...x

freedom!

2011-06-24T11:13:00.007+01:00

I've been feeling really rather lethargic and unmotivated of late. Finding it really hard to do the things that make me work more effectively and more enjoyably too! Soo I've been staying later after work and doing my college work. It's been hanging over my head that I can't move forward and seem to be going over old stuff! so I stayed the other night and just scratched out some of my bears and retaliated a little and just flung some paint around. I really enjoyed it and felt like something lifted a little. This seems to have made an impact on my life too as I've started running with more energy again and drive. Almost as though my work feeds my mood and energy levels and the blockage that was there has gone. I've always known that my work has an impact on my happiness and general well being but never as much as now! soo anyway some of these are not aesthetically inspiring or even good in anyway, they are just sketchbook throw away pieces that are just part of the moving forward, but some are more and maybe the start of a new path that can intertwine with what I've been doing with the bears? Even if I can use one small element of the rougher more free stuff to inject some life into the more considered bears and chairs etc. I've started cropping and mucking around with one image and here are a few crops...

and some more!

2011-06-20T18:41:00.005+01:00

and some more bits

2011-06-15T12:47:00.004+01:00

i'm taking this morning to write some notes on how I want my show to look. At the same time I had a book delivered this morning and have done some work with the images in that too! ...so exciting!.. here's what I came up with! just for beginners!

some new bits

2011-06-12T18:22:00.005+01:00

I wanted to try some new animals.. they're beginning to get all a bit too tight again! so I tried painting really fast without much thought...they kind of work but i think i just need to really quicken up.. . and do a lot more. All of these take a few minutes but I think I need them to take seconds so will do an exercise in doing them really quickly and see how that goes. For now here's an Elly that I really like and a couple of tigers I don't! so I just need to paint again. I'm currently doing some work with Benjamin Winter again. A lovely singer songwriter from California. I've just done a little illustration for Julia Stone for some writing she did recently.

some new sketchbook work

2011-05-18T22:15:00.004+01:00

I've decided ...again!...that i need to draw more. So I've started another sketchbook here are some pages from it so far...just my immediate environment, so nothing amazing but interesting layers and bits n bobs. I've been stumbling on my MA work and the work for the Cheltenham Illustration Competition so I went to see a friend to chat over it all with fresh eyes, which was a great help!..thanks George! here's one image I've done. I now need to make sure it all makes sense and be a little more creative with it all. So onwards and upwards.

Working with a fuzzy head!

2011-05-12T13:40:00.000+01:00

I still have a cold that started in March but muddling on through! We did well in the Scilly Gig champs with a 28th out of about 130 boats. I've returned in good spirits, albeit fed up with being full of cold!, but I've been working on the Cheltenham illustration prize this week... I'm coming up with some interesting images but not sure any of it is really making sense enough to reach an audience yet? so I'm hoping by posting some of it that it may jolt something or let me see it in a different more detached way? so here are some images for Tree Time Tales. I won't go into my reasoning for them as I'm too close to make it sound solid enough yet. I've included a more editorial slant on a similar theme.

Finding the Groove!

2011-04-17T23:06:00.011+01:00

I've been off the boil with the college work of late, due to heavy work deadlines and other commitments and an important presentation for college so I took a day to work on my Unit 3today. It's Sunday, it was sunny and it took me a while to get into the thought of working so I started to prepare my next sketchbook to go sketching. I laid down some paint but because I've been looking at some great illustration books, I've been really inspired by a few ways of working, so I think it came out today a little! I've called the sketch book Throwing Up! as it feels like I'm throwing up all the influences I've had and although may not be directly what I want for my final show it's all part of the process of getting back into working. (Being that I work full time and need to give myself time to find the groove again! so here's a few that I've put together.

2011-04-16T21:47:00.006+01:00

Hung, Drawn and Authored was a huge success! we had a great night and could hardly see the art on the walls for bodies! It felt really buzzy all night and felt like people actually really enjoyed it! It was interesting showing my new work and seeing the reaction. Generally it was great and really positive. I rushed framing them all and was a little disappointed that I couldn't produce original art and had to do some prints. But I did use varnish on the image which really made a difference and sealed the image so hopefully wouldn't fade like some prints. This is something I needto address before the final show!... I hope everyone who came or took part, took something from it.

New news is that I am in talks with the lovely singer songwriter, Ruarri

Joseph about a video he has just screened for a song (Severed Dreams) from his new album, Shoulder to the Wheel. I was really rather inspired by the emotions that the video evoked and really felt like I want to draw it! So we're talking about doing a children's book together. So that's very exciting! My other lovely friend Shayne from the Tea Appreciation Society has some work lined up too, so some different little projects lined up, along with the work I'm currently contracted to do for LT Press. So hoping for some space and my weekends back soon! We're heading to the Isles of Scilly in two weeks time for the Gig rowing world champs! and then after that a slow burn to the final show...watch this space for some new work!

Late night dancin and creating!

2011-03-14T22:53:00.003Z

I've stayed late, very late tonight and keeping myself amused with some Blacc Jazz! Keeping me going! but also some new bits towards the exhibition, down there! here you go another one...

quality time!

2011-03-13T16:03:00.004Z

I've spent some quality time today painting.. working on work for the exhibition and have done my entry for Support Structure and hereit is...along with some others I did today...

Time for Tea

2011-03-12T17:25:00.003Z

I haven't had a chance to do any of my own work in what seems like an age! so today just before home time I did some painting in the style I hope to continue with and really like the results.. I get so excited when I paint like this, it's a real buzz! and reminds me that I'm creative and love painting and interpreting objects and what my creative eyes rest on!

I have to create some work for the exhibition, down there, so I'm beginning to think about what I want to do...and why? the why may come later so I'll just do what I fancy doing which is such a joy!! here they are anyway...

HUNG, DRAWN & AUTHORED at The Poly

2011-03-05T15:39:00.002Z

A show from 24 MA illustration students. A show not to be missed!

sketchbooks!

2011-02-21T21:53:00.004Z

I'm throwing round the idea of doing sketchbooks for my presentation at college and stumbled across this amazing idea and hope to enter this year for the next one... what a great idea and maybe proof that sketchbooks are possibly the most important part of an artists practice!...a bible of ideas, new techniques, compositions and trying out things our clients would never commission in a million years. A book of secrets!

bearscape

2011-02-04T16:41:00.002Z

I'm waiting for work to be okayed and edited etc, so I've been working on my college work and doing some of my own work alongside. I'm enjoying doing landscapes at the moment to place the objects and animals I'm doing for college, but it appears there are two different things going on here....on one side I have the more contrasted work that is maybe more conceptual and then the images that would fit nicely into a children's book which is what I am working towards. So all really positive. Here they are.

and more diary entries...

2011-01-19T19:58:00.004Z

I like these ones recently.. I didn't have time to do them so I've done them from memory...

more collography and moving the bears forward...

2011-01-17T18:55:00.003Z

These images are going somewhere with more of a narrative feel to them which is encouraging. They are becoming more substantial in there composition and content. I really like the way they are going and it makes me want to go out and sketch more. I did some more collographs of these today and will post them when they dry.

today I have been drawings bears!

2011-01-15T18:24:00.006Z

Today I was going to go to the zoo in Dartmoor but decided it was just too much on the budget and I thought I'd see how it turned out when I was drawing them from the iplayer. There was a program on black bears which was great so I decided to use that. It wasn't at exciting as being at the zoo but before spending money on travel etc i thought I'd see if bears were the way forward. Funnily enough I realised that using a program that someone else has choreographed meant that my choice of poses etc was limited. I did have to pause the images as they cut to trees or another scene all the time, which wasn't ideal. But after doing them and scanning them in I really liked the results still... I realised that it's shapes that the animal, object makes that I like. here's the results. I didn't like them so much immediately but now I've scanned them in and reduced them in size, I do and feel that there's something there to move forward with.

more diary entries

2011-01-12T23:27:00.006Z

here are some more diary entries...we had a couple of dogs attack Bobo so it was actually good to put something in that wasn't quite so sweet. I'm really getting a lot out of doing the diary but I don;t really know what yet. I'm enjoying the immediacy of this still and feel compelled to continue so watch this space. I am still putting off going to a zoo, so I really need to get that sorted.

I did some college work today

2011-01-03T21:11:00.002Z

I did some college work today. Writing up everything I've done so far, as back to it tomorrow! But after I did the cabinet I did some more furniture! just slowly building a library of images I can go back to and use later, when I have a whole host of ideas and images to chose from. Anyway here they are... and the last couple of diary entries.

and the last of a months worth of diary...

2010-12-30T14:36:00.002Z

2010-12-23T17:31:00.002Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS!....XXX

and more snow today!...

2010-12-22T12:37:00.004Z

I'm hoping to get back into doing my college work again soon... although I am constantly thinking about it, all I seem to be doing this week is the diary entries and tying up ends before Christmas.

Dear diary...

2010-12-21T14:27:00.005Z

and the last couple of days...I've realised that I have to let go of what I would like to draw and paint and draw how I naturally do without expectation. The more I do the more I will learn and improve!

daily diary

2010-12-17T12:22:00.003Z

here's some more entries... I've had Roko for a few days so we've been out walking with him too, which Bo loves.

and some new sketches from today

2010-12-13T19:56:00.004Z

Bobo and I headed to Falmouth to pick my collograph prints up and stopped at Pendennis Castle and did a wee walk around the moat and did these on the way. We say a family of red kites too which was amazing to see... and hear them calling to each other too!

new diary entry

2010-12-12T16:22:00.003Z

I've done this one separately as I really like the feel of it. It is similar to work out there now but I feel good as it came out naturally without a thought to how it would look, so I can now move on through this and see what else comes out... I'm hoping that the more of these I do, the more sophisticated they become. Without losing the innocence and immediacy of them. This one is a real step forward and I want to go out and sketch more landscapes...

Collagraph work shop...

2010-12-09T21:52:00.006Z

Georgina Hounsome came in and gave us a workshop on making a collagraph print , which was amazing!.. I'm hooked!.. every layer was fun to do and the results are great too. Mine are drying at college but one print I did I actually really like the template I made so here it is. I will post more up when I ge the prints back... I want to work into them more with detailing so I can't wait to get them back...x

I got them back and they're above!

Those Extraordinary events when walking the dog!

2010-11-26T19:29:00.016Z

I've decided to create a diary sketchbook. Everyday I walk Bo I see something that stands out from everything else. Whether it's a colourful leaf, dew dropped spiders webs or a rainbow on the horizon....soooo I've decided that I would do one illustration a day, and only one. From this hopefully after time, I will get some ideas for Bobo's book and the paintings can maybe inform my college work too...

I also like that they look a little vintage. I'm going to to try and retain this when I make a book from them.

My Finisterre Sastruga features in every one too!

moving forward...

2010-11-25T16:42:00.009Z

....and some more college work. I feel like I've leapt a huge leap in the last couple of days and here's what's come out.. really enjoying these and can see them moving forward even more... applying the paint strokes to different content and seeing how I deal with the images.. for these I have used reference from photographs in Oh Comely Magazine, because it was too wet and cold outside to draw from life, but I simply picked out shapes and colours that I like and small details. Using the space and composition to give the shapes and colour weight.

some new sketchbook work

2010-11-18T17:18:00.012Z

I've been out sketching from life a couple of times now and feel like I don't ever want to work from pictures again... It can be annoying when you get paint all over yourself and it's raining but the results are great. Even if you don't like what you've done immediately, bringing it back to the studio and scanning and messing around with them is fun! here are some of the results...bringing a few different sketches together is fun too!

also doing some work (in progress) with Bobo too...

V&A and a new Durge!

2010-11-11T17:00:00.007Z

Here's another version of Durge and the finished book cover we printed for Lauras book! I'm soo chuffed with it. Really tactile and Steve has entered it for the V&A book prize!... fingers crossed...x

some new paintings....and trying to do what comes naturally

2010-11-03T16:38:00.004Z

Well... I'm trying not to look around and just do what comes naturally for a week or so and see what comes out! I've enjoyed doing these and like the colours...I'm battling between two styles at the moment but maybe they'll come together or one will win the other over? or they could be two bodies of work showing the same thing but in two ways? they could alternate in a book format maybe? the one with the girl is the before I painted over it... the character was putting me off.. Now I look at it I quite like it? oh well! just felt a bit too twee and obvious? I like the ambiguity of the others for the moment!..

At the same time I'm working on my book for Bo...I like these images but not sure on the story yet.. and these would be sketches...

Phantom...the final stage of printing!...

2010-11-01T19:02:00.003Z

...and they're looking great! these photos aren't so great though as taken on my iphone. I hope Laura likes it as much as I do!

I went to see a couple of shows recently..

2010-10-31T23:00:00.009Z

I went to the Millenium Gallery in St Ives and saw Marcel Hansellar. It was a brief but great show. I am not so keen on the more explicit work, as it interferes with the pleasure of my eyes resting on the work. It makes my mind go on overdrive when I just want to sink into the painting. But anyway here's some of it and the beautiful colours!..A show I missed there back in July was Joy Wolfenden Brown. Her work is so intimate and soft but so strong. Very inspiring!. Thank you Millenium! I popped in to see my amazing friend Faye, who has a studio at Trewidden Studios in Penzance. It was lovely to see where she works as she's a hugely inspiring friend, artist and mother. Go see her work here.

some more inspiring work from Andrew Hem

2010-10-31T22:34:00.003Z

...beautiful, loaded and inspiring!

It's inspired me to paint from life so I'm heading out in the next two weeks to see what I come up with. It is time!

some more scrummy work that you could eat if you could!

2010-10-31T20:57:00.009Z

another great artist.... Olaf Hajek....I love this work ...

vibrant, delicious and scrummy!.....this makes me want to get in the studio and lay some paint down! He's got a nice apartment too and he's pretty cute!

julie Morstad

2010-10-31T20:42:00.005Z

I really love Julie Morstad's work and here's her site!.. hope you like it too! ...

...simple, beautiful and exquisite.

Phantom!

2010-10-22T20:20:00.006+01:00

Well... I've been at college all day printing!. Not for me, but for my placement. I've designed a book of illustrations by former MA student Laura Wady and screen printing the cover! It's looking good! I just hope it all fits together ok and I don't let everyone down!. I'm working hard on the small things so fingers crossed everything will be fine.. Here's work in progress with a dummy book I made to see how it may look...

The final count down...

2010-10-13T19:17:00.004+01:00

UNIT 3... I've decided to do what I love doing and then work out what it's all about along the way.. I love collage and I love drawing well. I love exquisite work and I would love to be able to produce work that is described in such a way... A long way to go and this is a new piece along the lines I would like to work. The thing is I've seen this kind of work and know I am influenced by what I have seen soo I need to work on the different levels in my own way so i make it my own.. I'm hoping to draw animals from life, so that means going to a farm, the zoo, the museum and others so I'm looking forward to pushing myself and seeing what comes out!... this is something I stayed behind after work to do.. I haven't done any of my own drawings so I used Kiki Smiths drawing of a deer to show as an example.

platinum award for A Book Like THis

2010-09-28T09:37:00.006+01:00

Well I had a surprise this morning when I was delivered a package that looked like a painting. Well it was framed but was a framed disk...a platinum disk! which is over a million sales.. how amazing.. It has my name on it!...why? because I did the artwork for it! Cathy and the guys had kindly added my name to the list of people to get one!. I am so stoked!.. finally I have won an award for my artwork!...one of my little goals in life. Now one for my children's books please! Although I think that may take a little longer! good news to ease a hard slog of work.

Julia Stone cd Artwork

2010-09-26T13:00:00.008+01:00

Julia Stone cd artwork... It took me just over two weeks of solid painting to do 10 illustrations for the 10 songs, and also the title lettering etc, but I got it all done in time for her to put the cd out a week or so later.. a very quick turn around and generally looking great!.. I love the cover! all inspired from vintage posters from the 50's.. All briefed and designed by Julia. She knew exactly what she wanted...as usual which is great and helps speed up the process. So here are some of them in the cd booklet.

Lovely ladies that do lunch!!

2010-09-21T21:43:00.008+01:00

Today I gave a lecture at Fowey Luncheonclub. I didn't know what to expect but I definitely didn't expect the Fowey Hall! it is a lovely building and the ladies were very welcoming . I took Anna up with me and we had a lovely lunch and talked to the ladies on our table who were just lovely! I really enjoyed it and will definitely be putting them on my mailing list for any future shows! Thank you ladies! xxx

and here's a letter from the ladies after the event...

2010-09-08T23:13:00.010+01:00

I've been inspired by a walk! every morning I walk my dog for nearly an hour up to beacon just a mile or two away from where I live. I've found a walk that takes me into my work but has a lovely field and some woodland to walk through. I love it! It really starts the day off really nicely! after a mornings work I am off on my only holiday in a couple of years.. I'm going to the End Of The Road Festival in Dorset on Thursday and can't wait.. I've really needed a break this year!... it's been constant! so hoping to come back tired but inspired!... I also stumbled across a great magazine when I went up to PCAD Plymouth College of Art and Design for an interview for a part time lecture post there. It's called Oh Comely and it's worth a look. A book to pause and drink coffee with! I went to the Lizard the other day and stayed at a friends Farm.. Beautiful place with a tipi and an amazing kitchen, chickens, sheep etc and we went for a misty walk along the coast and stumbled across a farmer and his cattle Bobo chased one and frigtened me to death, thinking he'd be trampled but all was fine. We camped there and had a great weekend! in the misty rain!

Today i went to see the final year MA show.. I only had time for the Illustration but was really inspired by how good it all looked! I bought a fe

w of the more affordable pieces I loved and would love to buy more so will hopefully

buy some books when my next cheque comes in!

2010-08-16T09:52:00.002+01:00

One of my children's books is gonna be on the telly again!... no details yet but a mainstream kids program with a chosen celebrity! for next year!. Very exciting!...more exciting than my current cold!...no news at the mo as college is quietening down a bit but getting ready for the next unit and essay!... and getting on wit the next book for Little Tiger!... enjoying the thumbs and looking forward to getting started on the colour. I'm hoping to do some more colour sketches for Bobo and his book idea soon. After a really long and hard period of working constantly I have finally got some slack to recouperate! it's been a slog but l when I see the work that has been done in situ it'll all be worth it!...I've been working with Julia Stone on the artwork for her new debut solo album....finally finished and onto a tshirt design artwork...

2010-07-22T18:21:00.005+01:00

Some more college work... tea-cards that have a 'singles' slant on them... maybe these could be sold as part of a Match.com package? when you sign on? free tea bags with cards inside...or a range of teabags that have these inside? or would that be rubbing it in slightly? maybe not such a good idea??? or simply a book idea that may sell in an artsist gift shop/gallery like Here and Now?... there could be all sorts of characters and animals etc so you would match them to each other however you liked?...anyway I wanted to start creating characters that I could possibly start writing narratives for but I think I'm more interested in the techniques and something simple and immediate...leaving the viewer to make up their own narratives and character assessment for example. I could easily make a book with these characters and it to be a book that would amuse.

some new work!

2010-07-14T22:10:00.003+01:00

Some new work from my Unit 2 for my MA... I'm not sure how these would be presented... I have a feeling they would simply be paintings with a title... the title being important, in that it would be their context? maybe the title contrasting heavily with the image? I'm presenting next week so need to do lots more!....wI'm hoping that seein them up on the web will help me see them differently... ie detaching them from my grasp so I can look at them objectively!...we'll see..

2010-06-23T18:46:00.003+01:00

I am dying to do a book about my dawg! and here's the first pic! not sure on story ideas yet??

www.carolinepedler.co.uk

2010-06-01T22:51:00.002+01:00

updating the website!

college work!, hi5 and being inspired!

2010-05-31T20:36:00.010+01:00

I've been doing some college work, briefly!...I have to prioritise it this time round as I love it when I get stuck in but never give myself the time to, as I have so much stuff to do before I can! if that makes any sense??? anyway here's some I have done in the last couple of weeks...these were used for the last Truro hi5 show and working on the idea of singles ads!... also a collaboration with my piers under the title recipe....buuut anyway, now the hi5 exhib is out of the way nearly... we take it down on Sat, I can start making more time.. It's Bank holiday Monday today so I took the day off and helped a little with the Victorian Fayre, for the gig club, and then took myself off to Penzance to The Trewidden Studios, where I wandered around and took all the great art in... I was really interested to meet Georgina Houndsome and Alex Higlett as I loved both of their work at the MA show last year!...they were on the MA course I am on now. I bought a book from Alex and wished I could afford a print of Georginas too! I had a look round everywhere and stumbled across Sam Bassetts studio and WOW!...I love his work and you should have a look...google Sam Bassett / artist...his website wasn't working when I tried. Anyway I left there and got back to my car and Because I had earnt some money from the film crew for a couple of paintings I went back to Sam's studio and treated myself to two little paintings of his.. Very chuffed. I love them ... here they are!

Wunderschon travel documentary filming in my studio!

2010-05-30T19:14:00.012+01:00

WDR TV from Germany have been filming me today for their Travel Documentary, Wunderschon. They found my website and loved my flower paintings so wanted to come and chat to me about them. They came and went in two and a half hours and they were soo lovely!. Was a real joy to have them there. Was funny in bits and they bought some work and some books from me too! a great day in great company!.. here are some and the show goes out in Germany on the 18th July...also the new show up in St Austell.. you can see more on the hi5 blog and the facebook page... here's some work I did for it and a pic of the upstairs room.

hi5 and Word M'art in the Market House

2010-05-17T23:05:00.006+01:00

Hey we're back on it!.. here's the poster and the press release and some the artists taking part!

We also have Ryan Jones (Hitchcock Rules) playing live with his band!! refreshments available so pop along for some live music, chat and lots of art.

Art Explosion in the Market House St Austell

Art collective ‘hi5’ and internationally acclaimed poet Sally Crabtree have collaborated to transform the Market House in St Austell for two weeks with poetic performances and exhibitions thanks to support from Feast, Restormel Arts, St Austell Town Council and Cornwall Council’s Creative Team.

‘hi5’ is a collective of five South West based professional artists with track record of using art to change spaces, especially empty shops. The collective include illustrator Caroline Pedler, painter Faye Dobinson, printmaker Paul Bawden, painter, Lucy Brown and designer, illustrator Andy Pedler. For this particular project the group have also invited three guest artists to join them including ceramicist Rebecca Harvey, St Austell based Tamsin Dearing and sculptor James Eddy who will be creating a site specific installation.

Word M’art is a performance based show from the prolific poet Sally Crabtree. “Poetry should be taken down from its ivory tower and given back to the people where it belongs. In Cuba, the factory workers have poems read to them while they work and for them poetry is celebrated. It is as natural a part of their lives as living and breathing and they are not afraid to show their emotions. Here, it is only when there is a marriage, death or a birth that most of us are brave enough to get poetry out! I want to change all that and show people that poetry doesn’t have to be boring, stuffy or elitist. It can be fun, exciting, engaging and uplifting. There’s a poetry revolution going on and I want to encourage people to sign up!” says Sally.

Word M'Art is an interactive supermarket themed poetry installation, which can be set up in empty shops, supermarkets, as a market stall for fetes, carnivals, festivals or as a museum or gallery installation. The week-long launch event in St Austell will see interactive performances such as the Trolley Waltz, Poems in a Tin, ‘I'll Eat My Words’ edible poetry cakes, Shopping List Lotto, poetic cures at the Word M'Art Pharmacy and live musical poetry from the Story Aisle Word M'arts in-store band – viva la poetry.

Caroline Pedler from ‘hi5’, “The Market House in St Austell is an amazing building that houses a number of eclectic shops under the largest wooden ceiling of its kind in the UK. The aim of the collaboration is to energise a space, to give people different reasons to visit St Austell, to bring the shops immediate environment alive and to make art and poetry accessible by taking it into everyday spaces.”

The ‘hi5’ exhibitions are free and will be open from Mon 24May until 5 June from 10am to 4pm daily, except Sundays and Banks Holiday. There is a private view on Thursday 27 May from 5 – 9 pm, this will be a great opportunity to meet and greet the artists in person and enjoy a night of art, poetry, music and creative collaboration. There will be live music and light refreshments will be available from the venue. Word M’Art will be open from 1 - 5 June, it is also free and open from 10.30 am – 4pm daily. There is a free art workshop from 2 – 4 pm, on the 2^nd June with Cosmic for children and young people, under 12’s will need to be accompanied. ‘hi5’ and Sally are closing the project on Saturday 4^,with tea and cake from 3pm.

Email: hi5artcollective.com

Blog: HYPERLINK "http://www.hi5artcollective.blogspot.com/" www.hi5artcollective.blogspot.com/

Or find us on HYPERLINK "http://www.facebook.com" www.facebook.com search hi5 art collective

Word M’art - Sally Crabtree m: 07971 687120 or www.thepoetree.net

To find out more visit www.hi5artcollective.blogspot.com

To find out more visit www.thepoetree.net

2010-04-07T23:32:00.001+01:00

hello! what I hear you ask? well your are invited to our private view....when? on THUR 8TH APRIL 6-10PM.. please come along for a glass of wine and some delicious nibbles.

where? the old Storm watch shop at the Boscawen st entrance to Hall fro Cornwall...poster attached...

Please pass the word on and look forward to seeing you there all the links for the last show are at the bottom of this email THanks ...hi5! xxx

The line up includes artists, Faye Dobinson, Paul Bawden, Lucy Brown and Caroline Pedler with guest artists James Eddy creating an installation onsite and Rebecca Harvey with her beautifully crafted ceramics, ,with a new edition, Andy Pedler.

hi5 Art Collective are back in Truro and changing spaces for the Art In The City festival in April. Using empty shops to exhibit their work, injecting life into an otherwise dead space.

After a roaring success in September last year, the artists will be showing their work at the other end of Truro. Currently working with Neil Scott from Totally Truro and Cornwall County Council in securing a shop in Boscawen St, for the duration of the art festival. Details yet to be confirmed.

“hi5 are all full time professional artists, so finding time to come together and even organise a meeting can be tricky but we’ve managed to find some time to do some new work and hopefully put on another great show! It’s going to be a lot smaller this year due to the size of the shop we have in mind. That’s not a problem though as we can adapt and that’s half the fun of using empty shops. We’re really excited about getting in there and making it ours, if only for a week or so. Having a new artist on board is exciting too although he’s my brother I’m excited about seeing what he brings to the table, and as siblings it’s also exciting and special about exhibiting in our home town.” hi5 founder Caroline Pedler

They are planning to have an open party with entertainment, along with Nigel from Experience Wine supplying us with some delicious Spanish wine. The Tea Appreciation Society will be hovering around with some tea paraphernalia and probably some home made treats from Mrs Pedlers kitchen and Archie Browns! The launch party will take place on Thur 8th April from 6pm til late.

hi5 will not only be exhibiting work in Truro but have also been asked to do a similar event in St Austell at the end of May for two weeks. Working with St Austell County Council they will be using empty shop spaces within the Old Market House. Encouraging people to come into the town, to use the Old Market building and experience something inspiring and different.

2010-02-13T15:57:00.012Z

I have a new studio buddy..... Anna moved in a few months ago and making the place look really creative!...great to have her on board. We have a lovely cosy studio now..except for it being a bit parky in the winter!.. New puppy addition coming soon too!...good things ahead! I'm 4 months into my MA and beginning to really enjoy it but underestimated the emotional strain it would put on me so making more room for it in my life and looking forward to getting my marks for my first essay so I can learn and move forward!...

I have started working with Julia Stone on the book we're doing together and we're very excited... it's gonna be an old school kids book and here are a couple of sketches... I'm thinking a more Tim Burton stylee boy and not so cute and not so kids book! but more edgy! ... similar kind of trees etc though....Also recently just done some more sketches for an article in Aus for Julia for some of her stories.

Also roughing out the my new book with Little Tiger work in progress on my drawing board!

Just okayed a talk at my bro's college in Swindon in March and a talk for the Truro Arts Society soonish I think. So enjoying life in the world of illustration... plus getting ready for the Scilly Champs in May. 3 hours of rowing this morn and it's cold out there!!!

2010-02-05T17:23:00.005Z

Wos on?

well what's new? after a couple of sleepness nights and late nights working I'm a wee bit tired but it's all beginning to make sense!.. I have an essay to write by next week so any spare time is spent on that.. I have been working on my first college project and have come up with a set of images that I will put in a book... I see shadows in my window and have rather torrid sleep patterns so I have been using this as the subject for my study...

I've been having meetings with Creative Unit and hi5 and we're on the move again. In St Austell and Truro..both around April and May time....news will be posted on the hi5 facebook page and the blog.

wos new?

2009-12-22T21:41:00.004Z

...Along with working on a new book for my publisher I've been tying up a few commission ends... these three for Lou Lou and a card for papyrus. I'm waiting to hear from Julia Stone and a book idea she has and I now have a whole week off... infact even more than that which is unheard of over Christmas normally...

college proposal

2009-12-11T14:10:00.008Z

...an idea I'm working on for my MA proposal... meanings and fuel behind it to follow later when I have time to add it on..but briefly exploring the way I natural practice art and illustration. Getting in touch with a more soulful practice that is intrinsically mine, exploring my unconscious mind/self...exciting stuff...

This is an image from the video (that I can't upload!). I want it to rotate and pulsate and sizzle to a soundtrack. Morphing from a character / shadow, that I see in my bedroom when I have nightmares, into this ball of detritus that pulses with life.

It is a very personal journey that I did not intend to follow but is very apparent in my life as I continue to deny my true potential and hide all the things, that are truly me, in my shadow! time to face the beast!..the video is also purely a sketch that represents a feeling or at least how I want the finished video to feel and look. The music is from a cd I play to calm and rebalance myself when I'm on my own... it's by Jonsi and Alex from Sigur Ros... Indian Summer from Rice Boy Sleeps.

Noodles is finished!!!

2009-10-29T16:51:00.009Z

well I bleedin gone and dunnit!!!.. Noodle is all finished and sent off in full!.. I've just finished the covers woohoo!!... It really has been a hard book to get into and finish...especially with all that purple and the fact that I was so busy!.. I've added the text I created but no doubt this will differ on the actual one...

The other book has also been finished and will be collected by UPS to fly to the US tomorrow!...Those I won't put up on here! x

So onwards with my MA. I must find some more work to tide me over Christmas but not until I've had a break from the commercial and I intend to take a whole week off and get up late and go running and leave work on time and be creative! I may even do a couple of workshops and use the print room at college if I can...It feels so good to be free!!! I've started my research journal for my first proposal. I have decided to concentrate on what makes me tick and has made me tick in the past in my sketch books... to get what is in my head and my heart onto the page and into my work... To find my own voice and language. Everything seems happy again!...xxx