Been a busy month!

Nutmeg in Shouldham Wood

February has been a hectic but really fun month, packed with lots of activities. 

Hunstanton Beach

Alongside the usual family and work commitments, we have had the odd walk in the woods at 

Beautiful Shouldham Wood

Shouldham with Harry & Nutmeg, breathing in the lovely scent of the pines, and throwing sticks for Harry to fetch (his favourite thing of all is when we throw the stick in the river, so he can jump in and find it), and kicking pine cones for Nutmeg to chase. 

They each have their own little thing they like to do when we go to the woods, so it's fun for all.  

Somehow we've also managed to find the time to take a few trips to the coast - on some of those rare but beautiful sunny days. 

  

Beach spoils

I love breathing in the sea air ... but I particularly enjoy collecting shells and beachcombing. 

Study in Green

Last weekend I concentrated on     finding the tiniest but perfectly         formed shells. I found a lot, and       Simon even joined in! I'm           planning to sketch some of them   and use use them as inspiration for   my next silk painting.

Talking of which, it's been a busy time in the studio for both of us. We've recently added some new pieces to our Blended Monkey website. I've been concentrating a lot more on my silk painting too, as I've found that as soon as I finish one it's snapped up and I have nothing to put on the website.  

Silver Birch Egg Cups

The latest one can be found on our Etsy site. It's a green silk scarf inspired by nature, and called "Study in Green".  

Tilted Rippled Ash Salt Pot

Simon's made a fab pair of silver birch egg cups, which are also on our Etsy site. These would make a quirky Easter gift.




Our main Blended Monkey website has also been updated with some new items. Simon's Tilted Rippled Ash Salt Pot is both beautiful and functional. The grain of the rippled ash is truly pretty. 

Contorted

Some of our more sculptural pieces are being featured on www.saatchiart.com. 
I'm working on a collection of sculptural forms. The first piece is called "Contorted". I enjoyed making this piece, and I'm about to fire another piece for this collection.

We've sold a number of items this month, with a couple of pieces shipped to the United States!

With Mother's Day fast approaching, we're hoping to see more sales. All our pieces are one-offs & handmade, so they would make the perfect unique gift for anyone's mum.

We've received a number of enquiries about our Artist Inspiration Days. Word is getting around, so it'll be great to get some bookings for the summer. 

I've showcased some of our latest pieces at the bottom of this blog. We'd love to know what you think of them!

View across the dunes at Hunstanton Beach

Wooden Egg Cup & Ceramic Heart Plate

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Purple Heart Wooden Box with Ceramic Hearts

Celadon Green Pot

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Seascape Plate

Seascape Pot

Thanks again to all our customers and Twitterarti for their purchases, retweets and likes. If you fancy having a go at woodturning or you know someone who would, take a look at our woodturning tuition sessions. Simon offers a one-to-one beginner's woodturning course, with a lovely rustic lunch included.

A Great Start to 2018!

We have had a busy start to the new year.

The garden continues to provide us with yummy parsnips and winter lettuce. The leeks have been a little slow to take, but I'm hoping they will beef up a bit soon. 

The flooding affected us a little too. The boat you see in these pictures is usually on dry land. Funnily enough, it looks quite happy in the flooded garden! However, we were lucky to have only minor wind damage - so that's all good.

We have been working hard prepping for our 
Artist Inspiration Days, and ensuring that all the paperwork and the boring bits are in place. We are really looking forward to opening our garden to the public, and hopefully providing some inspiration for artwork and photography.

Simon has been working on various pieces over the last month or two. Here's a video of him doing some spindle turning. 

Fancy a go at woodturning? Fancy buying a one- or two-day woodturning tuition voucher as a gift? Then look no further - simply click on woodturning tuition for more information. 




I have also been rather busy, working on some new Valentine's Day ceramic pieces. 
Here are a few of them. Click on the caption to visit our site and find out more about the items. Some of them are featured on our Etsy site, and some on our blended monkey site.

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Etched Blue-Glazed Blossom Vase

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Heart Votive

Chinese-Style Bowl in Ash

Last, but not least, we would like to say a big thank you to all our customers and Twitterarti for their purchases, retweets and likes. 2017 was a very busy but enjoyable year, and we are looking forward to 2018 being just as interesting! 
We are hoping our Artist Inspiration Days will be popular, and Simon is keen to get more woodturning tuition sessions booked in too. 

Artist Inspiration Days

Our home & studios are located in a small village on the Norfolk/Cambs border. When we moved here 3 years ago, the house & outbuildings needed a lot of love and care, but we were wowed by the beautiful garden. We had no idea that such a large, gorgeous garden was hidden behind the cottage.

 

The garden is such a gem that we think it is a real shame to keep it concealed from the public eye. Originally created by the previous owner, who was a ceramicist and artist, the garden has a number of little quirks and interesting hidden areas that provide great inspiration – it's a really arty venue. With two ponds, a boat, a little wooded area, a willow tunnel, a knot garden and a number of separate little garden sections, it boasts numerous vistas and interesting angles. Although there are some formal, established beds, we've ensured that plenty of the garden is still wild and rustic. The butterflies and bees love it! And we've spent many an hour taking photographs of its ever-changing seasonal views.

The garden provides us with great inspiration. My husband, Simon, is a woodturner, and his workshop looks out over the garden. I am a ceramicist and silk painter, and my pottery studio looks out over the hot garden which is located right next to the house. The constantly changing seasons in the garden have given me some great design ideas too.

We think art groups, drawing clubs and photography clubs would really enjoy a setting like this which offers so much inspiration. So, we're offering a 5-hour package for groups of 10 or more people to come and enjoy, draw, paint and wander. The gardens are totally private, so they have not been, and are not, open to the general public.

The package includes access to the entire garden, a rustic lunch served in the marquee at the bottom of the garden, and refreshments available to purchase. There are also toilet facilities. The garden offers various seating areas and we've also got a number of picnic blankets which can be used to sit on anywhere in the garden. We recommended booking from 10 am – 3 pm, as this will ensure the best possible lighting too. We would aim to serve lunch at 12.30 pm.

If your art or photography club is interested, please take a look at our Artist Inspiration Days page on our website for more information and photographs of the garden. 

Email artistinspirations@blendedmonkey.co.uk or 

phone us so we can arrange a date that suits and discuss any requirements.

Wintery Scene

Well, we woke up this morning to a truly festive, winter wonderland. Harry & Nutmeg are really loving the snow! The garden is carpeted in about 2 inches of the stuff, and we´re planning on building a few snowmen after lunch.

Since our last blog, we´ve been busy in our studios, preparing more pieces for Christmas. 

Tealight Holders

Our Etsy shop is stocking most of our festive bits and bobs, including tealight holders, ceramic Christmas star decorations, wooden snowmen and large ceramic snowflakes.


Our blendedmonkey site has some new ceramic additions, my ceramic Spaces Between Dish, for example, (you´ll be seeing more of this design in the future). I´ve also added my Sea-Kissed Vessel and the Sea to Shore Bowl, which is part of the Seascape collection. 

3 Ceramic Star Decorations

Sea-Kissed Vessel

Sea to Shore Bowl

The Spaces Between Dish

Ceramic Snowflake

Last weekend we took a trip to Munich to take in the Christmas markets, warm ourselves on the odd mug or two of Glühwein and visit some old friends. 
I lived in Munich for a long time (my daughter was born there), so it was nice to catch up with people again and take in the atmosphere. 


Now really is the best time to visit Germany; oozing with lots of festive spirit. You can´t beat the Munich Marienplatz Weihnachtsmarkt for that quintessential Christmassy feeling. 

We also visited castle Neuschwanstein, which was breathtakingly beautiful, set in its snowy wonderland. 

A good time was had by all, but the visit was far too short.

I can´t imagine I´ll get the chance to blog again before Christmas, so myself and Simon (Blended Monkey) would like to wish you all a 

                   

    Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy & Happy New Year!

A Great Start to 2018

We have had a busy start to the new year.

The garden continues to provide us with yummy parsnips and winter lettuce. The leeks have been a little slow to take, but I'm hoping they will beef up a bit soon. 

The flooding affected us a little too. The boat you see in these pictures is usually on dry land. Funnily enough, it looks quite happy in the flooded garden! However, we were lucky to have only minor wind damage - so that's all good.

We have been working hard prepping for our 
Artist Inspiration Days, and ensuring that all the paperwork and the boring bits are in place. We are really looking forward to opening our garden to the public, and hopefully providing some inspiration for artwork and photography.

Simon has been working on various pieces over the last month or two. Here's a video of him doing some spindle turning. 


Fancy a go at woodturning? Fancy buying a one- or two-day woodturning tuition voucher as a gift? Then look no further - simply click on woodturning tuition for more information. 






I have also been rather busy, working on some new Valentine's Day ceramic pieces. 
Here are a few of them. Click on the caption to visit our site and find out more about the items. Some of them are featured on our Etsy site, and some on our blended monkey site.

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Etched Blue-Glazed Blossom Vase

Ceramic Lovers Bowl

Heart Votive

Chinese-Style Bowl in Ash

Last, but not least, we would like to say a big thank you to all our customers and Twitterarti for their purchases, retweets and likes. 2017 was a very busy but enjoyable year, and we are looking forward to 2018 being just as interesting! 
We are hoping our Artist Inspiration Days will be popular, and Simon is keen to get more woodturning tuition sessions booked in too.