craft fair, Digital Art, products from original artLeave a comment

New fridge magnets

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I have no shame! I had a batch made earlier using this image. [via Zazzle who do a pretty good job.] But sitting in my folders was similar image that needed brightening up a little so it stood out more from its background. Both are made with Flamepainter (an Escapemotions product), but for lifting the light I used Corel’s Paint Shop Pro which gives me more control over the brush. Here’s the result: It was originally called ‘Fuse’ because only the end of the tail was truly bright and who hasn’t been on the wrong end of a cat with that … Continue reading New fridge magnets

Digital ArtLeave a comment

Flamepainter

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is a digital painting programme made by Escapemotions who also make Rebelle. But unlike Rebelle which mimics the behaviour of actual paint on canvas (and if I can figure out how, I’ll make a short video to post here), Flamepainter is pure cat herding. With each iteration, I promise myself I’ll take some time to pin down the functions of the brushes and try to exercise some control over their output, and each time I give up at the point I’ve produced, by sheer serendipity, something that pleases me. This was yesterday’s effort, a composition achieved by selecting a couple … Continue reading Flamepainter

Assignments2 Comments

Assignment 1 submission critique

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

It’s hard to know what influences I brought to bear on this work; partly because whatever they are, they go back a long way and have probably become barely conscious and fleeting, likely unnamed, and definitely inconsistent in style. I hit adolescence/young adulthood in the 1960s, a tumultuous time for politics, social behaviour, art and music. I was gripped by Quant[1] – those clean efficient lines, and Aubrey Beardsley[2] – full of tiny detail, dots and curls, and Dali who made the ordinary fascinatingly unsettling. Then there was Millais’ Ophelia[3] – again the detail but also the light, the colour, … Continue reading Assignment 1 submission critique

MiscellanyLeave a comment

The deep space potato peeler

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Introducing Eric Geusz, a sci fi fanatic who finds interstellariness in everything. Looking at his work and the sources of his inspiration is a little like having a window created in a wall that didn’t have one before. Suddenly it’s possible to see what drawing can be if you both look very carefully at your model and also see what it could be if it weren’t a mundane thing from your kitchen drawer. It’s as if he’s found the alter egos of these implements, their secret lives, what they do when we’re not paying attention. It’s playful but not disrespectful … Continue reading The deep space potato peeler

MiscellanyLeave a comment

Post craft-fair analysis

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’m going to assume this is relevant as all of us will be looking at some point to be slapping a monetary value on our work and presenting it to the public and not all of us will be getting straight into a gallery or having any sort of longevity in one. I decided to try out our village Christmas fair for the experience, knowing what the layout is like, the crammed-in table arrangements, and the tendency of our locals to do a circuit, nod, and leave [yep, that’s been me]. You’ll see from the picture that I was covering … Continue reading Post craft-fair analysis

craft fair4 Comments

Doing craft fairs

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Up till now, I’ve only ever cruised round our village hall craft fairs, nodding at stall-holders and measuring their gaze in terms of potential engagement. If I look too long, will they think I want to buy and start demonstrating the quality of something I’m not interested in? Maybe they’re bored and fancy a natter? Sometimes they’re neighbours so there’s that unspoken contract whereby the value of our conversation will plummet should a punter with cash show up and appear interested in making a purchase. This year I was that stall holder; balancing the welcoming beam against the desperate appeal … Continue reading Doing craft fairs

craft fairLeave a comment

Beeding Christmas Craft Fair

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is looming fast and denial of the whole business of merchandising is no longer a viable option. If stuff is going to be sold, then stuff is going need costing and pricing, particularly as a friend has offered to come and help out and obviously needs to have an idea of what’s going for what price. Cue flat-out panic with only one resolution – a spreadsheet. Luckily, I quite like fiddling with spreadsheets so I already have one with entries for everything bought, made up (frames, mounts and the like), and re-purposed as items such as snow globes and … Continue reading Beeding Christmas Craft Fair

exercisesLeave a comment

Temporary patterns

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Somewhere back in recent history – at least a fortnight anyway – there was an exercise about temporary patterns. I was stumped and resorted to documenting my breakfast but if I’d only spilled some of it on my oven … … and got the Hob Brite out. At least one of these is not as abstract or formless as the exercise demanded but I can at least claim that they’re expressive reactions to prevailing national events. What’s interesting to me about this is the freedom of shoving fluid across that shiny black surface, something not easily (or at all) replicated … Continue reading Temporary patterns

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As the internal conflict ramps up …

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Today I’m simultaneously fretting over a still life on my OCA blog and sorting pieces for my first venture into commerce due to happen at the village hall on November 24th. Admittedly, the first involves an Alien sculpted out of scrap metal that behaves like an Escher when I try to draw it, a hatchling dragon still in its egg, and a pot cat with a cataract so, y’know. But it’s still the exposure of wildly differing assumptions of competence that makes for an interesting experience of what psychological integrity is all about. Nevertheless, fresh from the studio [and note … Continue reading As the internal conflict ramps up …

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Assignment 1 Still life

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

1st November 2018. I have innumerable dragons and other beasts in my house. This Alien sculpture is made of bolts and fuses and other bits of scrap metal. Each one is unique. This one seems to have too many limbs but who’s going to argue with it! The book is full of Giger’s extraordinary illustrations for the film, Alien; all of them architectural, Gothic and sculptural and full of menace. No wonder the film’s sets were so evocative of ancient echoes and hostile life. The cat survived. Everyone I know, including me, was less concerned about Sigourney Weaver than that … Continue reading Assignment 1 Still life