May 2021
Where is the time going? This year seems to be spinning by! Nice to have some mojo back... its been missed...
Another busy few weeks, I am excited to have been embellishing some prints from my Forest Of Iron Lines series. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this body of work...
I have also been working on a project which moves forward the concepts I explored in my Unlock My Mind series. If you want to find out more I have written a blog about my thoughts and where I think I can take these ideas, its fascinating...
Please let me know what you think...
Lx
April 2021
I am really excited to have finished my new project and have launched a new blog setting out the RAW files and final panel.
Unlock My Mind focuses on how we can build barriers within ourselves which stop us from moving freely within our own consciousness and creativity.
Removing these barriers opens the doors for us to lead a more creative and happier life.
I would love to hear what you think so please leave a comment or drop me a quick note...
Take care Lx
March 2021
Very excited to have some mojo back, my creativity definitely took a wander for a few months but thankfully I feel excited to be back in some sort of groove and to be creating again.
I have published a new blog setting out the beginnings of a new project; working title is "Unlock My Mind" and I am exploring the use of the bars as a metaphor for the a loss of the ability to choose.
I am also enjoying working on a project looking at simple shapes and colour and how that can impact a narrative associated with an image. It's a fascinating little project, fun too.
Please take a few minutes to have a look and let me know what you think...
Take care Lx
February 2021
We might still be in February but the sun is shining and Spring is definitely within touching distance. I am marking this day with plenty of cake and (maybe) a glass or wine in celebration of it being exactly 1 year since leaving work. It hasn't been the year I had planned but there have been plenty of positives. I have learned to rest properly, to live life at a slower pace and have a much clearer appreciation of the importance of friends and family in my life. It will be important to hang on to these things as we emerge blinking in the sunlight from these dark times.
In my latest blog I talk a little about how easy it is to let 'stuff' (admin?) take over leaving little time to pursue our crafts. I also have a bit of mojo back thankfully and have started working on images again.. happy days indeed.
Please let me know what you think. Take care Lx
January 2021
The middle of Winter plus a raging Pandemic has stifled creativity somewhat here. A New Year Resolution to try and avoid the news lasted about a day!
I haven't been completely idle though and have spent more time playing with Acetate as a printing medium. It's proving to be such fun. The combination of Acetate, dried flowers and Gold Leaf is generating so many ideas and I am so excited to see where this takes me. To read more about these two images as well as finding out what else I've been up to take a look at my latest blog post. Please let me know what you think... Lx
December 2020
Time flies by at an alarming rate these days! Adding to this site at least ensures some accountability, I need to be able to write something interesting every few weeks so there is no time for slouching in this house...
I am really excited to have something to show for hours grappling with a huge roll of Acetate. As you will know by now I am a digital worker but having something physical to hold as part of the process is critical to me. As I work with Acetate I can see so many possibilities, I certainly feel that it's the start of a journey for me and I am excited to see where it takes me.
I have started working with 'Retrace' from my recent collection. To find out more about the process please take a quick look at a Blog Post on this topic. I would love to know what you think...
L xx
November 2020
A strange few weeks since my last update. Not quite so much to report due to some building work at home, thankfully now completed. In order for the works to take place I needed to pack up my studio/office into boxes and even though I initially tried to progress all of my projects it became really clear early on that this would be impossible. I finally gave in and accepted that all I was going to achieve was getting more and more frustrated and took a break from anything creative. Everything is finally out of its boxes again and I am trying to pick up the threads of where I left everything. Phew...!!
I haven't been completely idle though, I have been working on a new series of images which I have titled The Shadow Glows. This has ended up being 2 smaller set of images rather than one large set as more than one distinct style has emerged over time. Here is one image from each of the sets. Please let me know what you think. Take care... L xx
October 2020
I've been cracking on with loads of stuff over the last few weeks. My main obsession has been continuing to explore the embellishment of some of my prints. I love being 'hands-on' with all of this. I will happily spend time at the computer editing images but it's really nice to do something more tactile, particularly when it's raining! I have chosen to work on some images from the Forest Of Iron Lines series and my focus is to work on a series of images so that they form a separate body of embellished work.
I have been consistent in the embellishments that I've used across each of the images. All have plenty of 23.5 carat Yellow Gold Leaf, 22 carat Moon Gold and 13 carat White Gold. I have also made very good use of Oriental Calligraphy Inks throughout each print.
I wil be a writing blog post on this in the next few days showing the Embellished images next to the original prints so that you can compare. In the meantime, I would love to know what you think... L xx
September 2020
Where is the time going! The weeks are just spinning by... I am sitting at home in my very bare little study looking out the window at glorious sunshine, hopefully not the last rays before winter finally sets in but I definitely feel my own personal 'solar panels' recharging nicely. Lots going on as ever, my study is bare as I am clearing it out in readiness for some builders to knock a wall down between this room and the little room next to it so that I have have a bigger workspace for all my photography 'stuff'. It will be chaos for a few weeks but definitely worth it in the end.
I am so excited to have learnt how to use gilding as part of the photographic process. I have always loved things that shine and there's plenty of evidence of this arond my home so it's very exciting to have lots of new techniques to practice in terms of adding some very stylish 'bling' to my photographs. I thought I would start with one of my favourite images so here is a gilded 'Glow or Fade'. I have used 23.5 carat Gold Leaf, 22 carat Moon Gold Leaf and Platinum Leaf. Incredibly pleased with the results. I will be writing a much more detailed blog about this shortly (building work permitting!)...
I would love to hear what you think... Lxx
August 2020
It's still August (just!) but in my home in Buckinghamshire (UK) it feels very much like winter is just round the corner. It's raining and cold enough for my heating to come on... I miss the sunshine already...
Luckily I have plenty to keep me busy indoors! I am putting the finishing touches to a blog post which will talk about what I've been up to over the last few weeks. One topic which I will go into in some depth is the combination of the photographic print and the use of artists Pastels. This isn't a tangent that I had planned to hop onto but is something which came about as a result of a conversation with my father. Prior to posting the blog I thought I would add some images which are very much the result of just playing around. They are a long way from masterpieces but they were fun to do.
I would really love to hear what you think...
L xx
August 2020
Hi Everyone, I won't go on again about how fast time is flying by, let's just take that as a given from now on. How I ever found the time to hold down a proper day job though is a mystery to me!
I am really pleased to have finished my latest project titled "The Splintered". I am particularly pleased with this series of images mainly because I challenged myself to produce this series using a softer, more gentle colour palette. I am a great lover of colour but it doesn't always have to be 'full on' so this was my attempt at a more subtle approach.
July 2020
Hi Everyone, where has this month gone! Time is spinning by at an alarming rate... so many things I had hoped to finish by the end of this month but sadly... hey ho!
I have started working on another project whereby I take a single file and work that same file multiple times. This is early days so I don’t have that many images as yet but I am excited about the source file and it's potential so hopefully I will hit my target of 12 half decent images before too long. I wanted to make this collection of work more subtle than those I have produced recently, reigning in the vibrant colours a little and using colour as an accent rather than the main theme, not easy! A great challenge though and one which I think is stretching me in a good way.
I don't yet have names for each of the images but the series will be called "The Splintered".
Would love to hear what you think… xx
June 2020
Another busy month. The focus for me over the last few weeks has been to try and consolidate. The last few months have been really busy despite rarely leaving the house. Lots of courses and new challenges which was great but it's easy to just carry on signing up for new things without actually giving yourself time to absorb anothing properly.
In May I was very pleased with the results of a challenge to produce multiple images from a single file. A couple of projects resulted from this which I have written separately about here. The process of 'working' a file I have found really fascinating and is something I have decided to continue. What I have found is that the images I am most pleased with come towards the end of the process, maybe once I have exhausted the obvious and am pushing myself more. Here is a sample of the images, the full gallery can be found here.
Please let me know what you think... xx
June 2020
A busy month again. I have spent quite a bit of time this month trying to learn some more about book making. I have long believed that working with digital photographs is satisfying in many ways but seeing an image which is 'finished' on a screen is never the same as being able to hold that image in some form or other in your hand. Creating little handmade books is a lovely way to display your images as it presents an opportunity for a whole new layer of creativity. It also requires some 'hands on' activities such as measuring, cutting, gluing etc, all opportunities to create mess which is bizarrely satisfying.
I have written further on this project in my latest blog which can be found here. I would love to hear what you think. For more information on purchasing a copy please see here.
June 2020
I hope we are all staying safe and well. As the Lockdown in the UK starts to ease I am coming to the end of the courses I signed up to while confined to barracks. The very excellent online course run by BaileyChinnery focusing on Cultivating Creativity has finished now. While there were tasks to be completed each week we were also asked to design and complete a project to be delivered at the end of the course. This project needed to be complete in terms of the images themselves plus an accompanying project statement.
To read more about the project and the way I approached the challenge please visit my blog page on this topic.
The project statement accompanying this project encapsulates my approach to photography and how it makes me feel. Please take a look and let me know what you think. xx
May 2020
I can't believe it's still May! Time seems to be flying by and I am thoroughly enjoying spending much of my time in the Photography bubble that I seem to have created for myself.
This update again relates to the Cultivating Creativity course run by the very excellent BaileyChinnery. This week was all about colour and how it can add to and influence our work in so many different ways. The challenge this week was to find an object with a very limited colour palette and to photograph that object in as many different ways as you can with the emphasis on using colour to make the resulting images 'exciting'. Again, so much to learn from this exercise. I have written more about this exercise here if you are interested.
Please let me know what you think xx
May 2020
I seem to have been very busy in May! Definitely enjoying being able to spend more time on my photography.
As I said earlier in the month there have been lots of courses available that I have been making the most of. An advanced course in Cultivating Creativity run by BaileyChinnery I think will be the most influential over time. I thought my 'homework' days were long behind me but apparently not. The challenge for the first week was to identify a single image and to 'work' that image in as many ways as you can. The goal is to try to encourage a move beyond the obvious and hence to force you to think more creatively than you might otherwise. After some initial scepticism I am now firmly convinced that this was an incredibly useful exercise and I think one which will influence my photography extensively moving forward.
Here are just a couple of the images that I managed to create using a source image which probably would have ended up in the trash after a month or two. To read more about this exercise I have written a blog which can be found here. Please let me know what you think... xx
May 2020
I seem to have been very busy in May! Definitely enjoying being able to spend more time on my photography.
As I said earlier in the month there have been lots of courses available that I have been making the most of. An advanced course in Cultivating Creativity run by BaileyChinnery I think will be the most influential over time. I thought my 'homework' days were long behind me but apparently not. The challenge for the first week was to identify a single image and to 'work' that image in as many ways as you can. The goal is to try to encourage a move beyond the obvious and hence to force you to think more creatively than you might otherwise. After some initial scepticism I am now firmly convinced that this was an incredibly useful exercise and I think one which will influence my photography extensively moving forward.
Here are just a couple of the images that I managed to create using a source image which probably would have ended up in the trash after a month or two. To read more about this exercise I have written a blog which can be found here. Please let me know what you think... xx
May 2020
I have taken advantage of the fact that during this lockdown period there are lots of opportunities to participate in on-line courses. One which has interested me for a while is run by Paul Sanders of Still and explores the relationship between Photography and Mindfulness. One of the projects looked at the concept of 'Clear Seeing' and centred around the concept of looking around you at things you don't see anymore as they are always there (objects like the kettle or toaster) and to look at them differently as if they were new to you. Over a short period of time, keep looking at which ever object you select and then start to photograph it over a number of days. Gradually you begin to look past its function and really 'see' the object.
I selected a little red cast iron tea pot and produced a series of images from the strainer inside the teapot.
Read more....
May 2020
I've been spending lots of time in my garden recently working on my Garden Project. I made a decision to work entirely in Monochrome while making these images which I have loved. After a while though the need for a little bit of colour becomes difficult to resist. If Amy Winehouse can go 'Back to Black' then I can reinterpret and go 'Back to Colour'.
These images continue the theme of the Indian Windows that I started in April. Both started from a place where I didn't really see many possibilities but after a while I started to spot a glimmer of hope, a little excitement, enough to keep going and not abandon. I am hoping there is more to come, slowly, slowly... xx
April 2020
I was lucky enough to visit Rajastan for the first time in March of this year. India is such an amazing country and one which I will certainly visit many times looking forward if circumstances allow. I have a bit of an ongoing obsession with windows (or holes in walls…) which may be evident across some of my other galleries, nothing changed during my visit to India so no surprise that these images are the first to escape since returning home.
