A Sense of Self

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I did sneak in the information that some of my work was going to be published some time ago but recently came the official notification that the book is in production and will be out early next year. You can see the cover above and 4 of my quilts (all journal quilts) are going to be in there. According to Amazon UK where it can be pre-ordered,  delivery will be on the 5th March 2015. Here is the link if you want to place an order. I'll post more about the book here and show pictures of my pieces once the book arrives.

It's always very pleasant to be included in such publications and it enhances the sense of self as an artist.

Self was also the subject for my photography class this week as it was all about taking self-portraits using different methods. The above picture was taken by photographing my reflection in a very old mirror (beginning 20th Century, the mirror that is, not me!). The old glass is what gives this portrait all the texture so no playing with Photoshop here. This is just as it came out of the camera.

For the other two photographs I used the timer on my camera set to 10 seconds which gave me just about enough time to put myself into position. I decided I wanted to take them in my studio as that is the place above all else that defines me best. Here I'm seating at my work desk where all the hand stitching takes place.

And here I am seated behind my trusty Bernina sewing machine. Like our tutor Susannah Conway I'm far from relaxed about taking selfies but with her encouragement I experimented away today learning much about my camera in the process too. Needless to say the fast majority of pictures taken were quickly deleted again but I'm pleased with the three I was left with,  and that I'm showing you here.