Tilly James Arts and Crafts

25/07/2018

Justa quick reminder- got a small exhibition on at For the love of the North in Whitley Bay right now. Having a 'meet the artist' get together tomorrow night (26th July) from 5-7 with a few drinks etc. Be great if you are able to pop in!
Please share this with your friends so we can get the message to as many people as possible!!!
Thanks xx

22/07/2017

Been trying different technique. Can you tell what local landmark this is? Or does it need more detail?

21/07/2017

Got a small exhibition at Washington Arts Centre. It will be in till the end of the month. If you are around, please call in and have a look!!😀

18/07/2017

Next part of the Angel picture - I drew out the image of the Angel on dress- making paper and used this as a pattern for the material. I drew in the ouline of the struts using fabic paint. Then I used a thin layer of wadding behind the figure before I sewed it onto the background. Had to take it out though - as the material was dragging to the left as I sewed it!! Bit of a pain, but worth the extra work...
Once the figure was in place I sewed the struts to create the 3D effect. I also sewed more lines into the 'hill' to give a more sculptured look. Finally, I used fabric paints for a little more emphasis....

12/07/2017

Next part of the Angel...
Choosing fabrics, attaching the base fabric to the tapestry and sewing in the wadding. The wadding gives the 3D effect.

25/06/2017

Had lots of queries about how I do my textile pictures so thought I'd do a running commentary as I go through the stages...
Background tapestry for picture I'm doing - which hopefully will be The Angel of the North.
Will post more piccies as I complete each stage.

25/06/2017

Sorry!!! First mistake!! Did you spot the deliberate error???
I didn't give you the web address😀😀😀😀
It's
Www.tillyjames.com
Cheers!!!

June Cramman: artist mainly working in textile/mixed media art inspired by landscapes and animals of Arran, and sometimes the North East of England. Each piece is unique, highly colourful with a quirky sense of humour.

25/06/2017

Hi everyone
Just to let you know, I 've just launched my new website!!! Very exciting- though I hope I master that better than I have Facebook so far!!!😀😀
Go have a look, an let me know what you think!!!

05/06/2017

Golf baaas

The Golf Baaas came about as a bit of serendipity – I found out that there were many, many lost golf balls handed in to the Arran charity shop. I then started speculating about how the local sheep might react to them....after all, there were a lot of them invading their territory!! The Golf Baaa was born! And I imagined a whole mythology around them... coming to life as little mischievous creatures through the magic of the Standing Stones...

05/06/2017

Highland cows

I love animals and find them endlessly amusing. I was brought up in the world of Johnny Morris and “Animal magic” (you have to be a certain age to get that reference – but you can google it!!)
So, while I am making images of them, I also imagine what they are saying/thinking. The Highland cows are a case in point: I think they are sooooo handsome and at the same time so comical – when I did portraits of them I couldn’t help but put words into their heads – hence the titles of the pictures!
Wee Brian is a bit slow and very, sweet but always forgets to look after his teeth. Ginger is a bit vain and image conscious, tossing her hair in the wind like in a shampoo commercial. Dougie blunders through life and doesn’t really think too much of how things happen around him – like bumping into a snow laden branch...

05/06/2017

Sheep

Arran was my main inspiration to seriously take up art again. I’ll be honest, I’m not a golfer, so the thought of seven golf courses on a fairly compact island was intriguing – and as you travel around the island you see not only golf clubs, but many, many sheep. I got to thinking: what do the sheep make of golf ? What do they think of people? They seem pretty chilled with it all but what’s really going though their minds?

02/06/2017

Standing Stones

One of my first attempts at representing the incredible landscapes of Arran. The first time I went to see the Stones, with my friend Elaine and my German shepherd Ellie, like everyone who goes there I was totally fascinated! And the mystique was even more enhanced by witnessing some sort of Pagan ceremony that was coincidentally happening at the same time as we got there. Incredible!! I could really see the sunrise behind the Stones and how magical they would be with light streaming through them. So I used Florentine tapestry in blues running through to reds and oranges to simulate the sunset, applique and quilting for the landscape and embroidery to represent the sun’s rays. I also used some fabric paints to get more shadowing effects.