MADELEINE'S HEP HERD

New Studio with stuff in it! Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . Well, the move went extremely smoothly thanks to Mike and to Intransit driver Craig. I'd allowed 2 hours for all the faffing around and they had all the stuff in the building in just over 1 hour. A little communication failure over the key meant that it wasn't in the actual studio but that was sorted quickly and meant that we could arrange the layout more easily. This picture was taken from roughly the same place as the one two posts ago but there's a low book case that stops me from standing further to my left. I'm not set up to start work yet and won't be for a couple of weeks. The Open Studios Weekend is only a few days away so I'll be making it more of a display area first. Work will start in earnest around mid-December and so I might have something worth photographing in the new year.

Coburg House Open Studios Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . It's all getting very exciting. The van is booked, I'm packing up stuff in the old studio and planning what goes where in the new one. Also looking forward to making lots of new friends and seeing a bit more of an old friend. If it all goes to plan I'll have moved in enough of my tools, materials and finished work to be participating in the Open Studios weekend so if you're in Edinburgh over the first weekend of December come down and see me - and everyone else. If you're planning to buy art or craft as presents it's a great weekend for shopping. As well as this event, there's an Arts Market at The Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street on the Saturday and another couple of smaller events in the city but I can't remember the details right now.

New Studio Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . Oh well, never did get round to posting more about the projects inspired by my trip to Greece. That's partly because my very small studio has not be condusive to developing ideas. It's also because I keep having new ones - and one of those looks like taking off (almost literally!). Its collaboration with a group of writers on a piece of fictional photojournalism. I'll say no more about that until it is more substantial. Anyway the workspace issue should go away shortly because I've just agreed to take a space at Coburg House Studios . Once I'm fully installed the work will start flowing again. For now I'm just really chuffed that I have decent sized place to work that is in a community of artists.

Sunset over Athens Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . Well, the holiday has been and gone and it seems like I've never been away - but I had a great time visiting harbours and beaches as well as ancient monuments and Attika Parko zoo and mooching around Athens. Lots of fodder for new projects as well. At Porto Rafti, I collected some beautiful flat pebbles to incorporate in nuno felt work. Around Napflion and Athens, I took masses of photographs that should work up to a portfolio of cyanotypes. They'll have to wait till the sun comes out again next spring though. Will post some more specific stuff over the next week or so.

Well it's been a while. I've been rattling around doing far too much - as usual! Alien Surfaces has been and gone, although some prints are still on display at Transreal . The images are still online at madeleineshepherd.co.uk - and and the digital ones are still for sale at ImageKind (see panel on the right). Lots of positive feedback gained and interesting contacts made. There were even a couple of blogs with posts about it. Fantasy author Brian Ruckley came to see it and liked it enough to mention it on his blog . What was slightly odd was that his post also covers another exhibition, on the history of printing in Scotland, and my uncle has been involved in some of the work in that show. Brian thought it was spooky but I reckon it's just another manifestation of the fact that Edinburgh's the optimum size for networks to interconnect. It probably also shows why he writes fantasy and I read hard science fiction (when I make the time). The knitted sculpture (a...

felt pots for rm art gallery Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . Just delivered a further set of pots and bowls and Mobius baskets to rm art at 51 St Stephen's Street, including some that have a felted hyperbolic crochet frill around the neck. Rosie is getting ready to show a new set of paintings during the Edinburgh Festival 2008 and it's well worth a visit. Also in stock are some very sleek steel bowls, Catherine Aitken's handbags and lots of jewellery including my felt brooches and four cyberjewel brooches .

Alien Surfaces 1 Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . Hurrah! the show is open daily for the month of August! I'm completely puggled as my grandmother used to say - i.e. worn out. As well as setting up the exhibition, I've now up dated my website with the images and have created a print on demand account at Imagekind where you can buy copies of the purely digital work. You can read more about the background to the exhibition on both sites but nothing beats a visit to the show in real life. Come along to Transreal Fiction, 7 Cowgatehead, by the Grassmarket, Edinburgh and see the knitted model of the planet in Christopher Priest's Inverted World. I'm really grateful to Mike at Transreal for accommodating this piece as it's much bigger than orignially planned and has had to go in the window. Many thanks also to Hugh Griffiths of Geeks with Pointy Sticks for his help in writing the pattern at the beginning of this project and to Fawns Reid at Fabhatrix for s...