I cannot tell a lie, beloveds, it has been a crappy month.

When I last wrote, I was just recovering from illness, and was ready to tackle Art Every Day Month with gusto.

Alas! the best laid plans, etc, etc.

Instead, I injured my back, and have spent the last three weeks pretty much incapacitated with sciatica. I’m taking strong painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and am waiting for some physiotherapy to start, but meanwhile I’m unable to sit up for more than a couple of minutes at a time. I stand to eat meals and walk around to keep mobile, but not being able to sit is so very, very boring, beloveds! (Not to mention pain, and numbness, but as I just said, we won’t mention that.)

Since I can’t sit in a chair and can only stand up for so long, activities for AEDM have been somewhat restricted.

Yes, we’re back to the big book of doodles and colouring in!

So for your delight and delectation, I now present my latest doodles in glorious Inktense-i-colour. Not all of them were done this month but I thought I’d include them anyway. Just because I can.

First off, one I really did draw in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep.

The seventh doodle

And this one was when it seemed to be taking forever for the weather to warm up.

The eighth doodle

Then the first one I drew on a long-haul flight to while away some of the tedious hours in cattle-car class.

The ninth doodle

By then I was on a roll, so I continued straight on and drew this one on the plane as well.

The tenth doodle

This is the first one for Art Every Day Month – and the first one in the book that has no text at all. (But apparently I still have the colour sense of a 12 year old girl!)

The 11th doodle

I’m trying to do doodles for all my favourite mottoes, and I lurve this one!

The 12th doodle

And finally, a vaguely op-art inspired doodle, still being coloured in.

The 13th doodle–still in progress

I think there is room for around 80 spreads in this sketchbook – how cool would it be if I could fill the whole thing?

—

Of course, since I can’t really sit, it’s pretty hard to type as well. So I am also introducing to you my latest Questing companion, Patsy the scribe. (Really serious Questors have to have someone to record their adventures, right?)

Patsy is my dictation software. As I can’t type for myself very easily, she is scribing for me instead. Unfortunately, just like Havi’s retired Stu, she doesn’t always get it right, which can be both hilarious and frustrating.

For example, instead of delectation, she’s now given me the following variants:

• the lactation
• dealer quotation
• dealing nation.

Which, in the place of “your delectation”, beloveds, did make me giggle.

Why is she called Patsy?

I have the lovely Wendy Cholbi to thank for this one. She was the one who reminded me that in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur’s squire (the one with the coconuts) on the quest was called Patsy. He wasn’t that bright either.

This post brought to you courtesy of Patsy, who has no opinion on the content whatsoever because she isn’t very bright and lives in a computer. But we love her anyway.

I’m sorry, beloveds.

I’ve been ill. Again.

Alas, this is a bit of a pattern, which I have not yet solved.

I work like a manic Jack Russell terrier so as to make a deadline, get something finished, get it out there, make an impact.

And I do – make the deadline, get it finished, get it out there, etc.

And then I get sick. 

Every. Damn. Time.

You’d think I’d have learned by now how to change this pattern, but sadly not. *adds item to To Do list*

So, in the grand tradition, after my insane rush to get ready for the Towcester Craft & Design Show, and then to put all my energy into it for two full days with my adoring public clamouring for more – what’s that you say? You can’t understand what I’m saying? That’ll be because my tongue is firmly in my cheek – I got sick.

Boo.

But at last I’m starting to feel a bit better again, so am taking time to catch up with you, and move forward with the Quest. Huzzah!

The show

First, some pictures from my first foray into the world of live events of the arty crafty kind. Unfortunately, my Brave-but-possibly-forgetful Companion on the Quest only remembered to take pictures before the doors were actually open to the public, so you don’t get to see me being mobbed by autograph seekers.

Here is my stand, ready for the arrival of the credit-card wielding hordes:

My stand ready for business at the Towcester Craft & Design Show, Oct 2011

Brave Companion did a lovely job of building it from scratch, don’t you think? And my hand-dyed fabric coverings look rather nice too, if I do say so myself.

And here is a closer view of the table at the front, where I was demonstrating with paints and my Beloved Bernina (which was recognised with affection by fellow enthusiasts).

Some of my new Treasure Boxes, with cards and a piece I was demonstrating on

You can also see a couple of the new products I’d been working so hard on – Mixed Media Treasure Boxes with both green men and mermaid designs. Yes! They will be in the shop, and yes! there will be other designs to come!

And here they are again, in the corner where people could come right into the stand area to see everything up close, as I’m all about the detail.

The open area where people could come in to see the works up close

And finally, a glimpse at the area above that, with some of the framed, stitched pieces were hanging. These included a variety of green men, and some mermaids as well, all combining my favourite techniques of dye/paint/layer/stitch (rinse/repeat if necessary).

The corner above the Treasure Boxes with part of We Must Not Look at Goblin Men

And yes! framed originals will be in the shop too!

As you can see, I also took We Must Not Look at Goblin Men to attract a bit of attention, as it can be hard to get people to stop and look at small pieces. It certainly got plenty, and a lot of lovely comments, which made me happy as I really rather like it myself.

I have plenty of other things to tell you about my first experience of selling my own work at at craft show, but if I try to fit them all in this post, it will be ridiculously long, so I’ll save them for later.

Meanwhile, in other news…

It’s Art Every Day Month again! Which, just to be clear, means you get to make art every day. I know! Revolutionary!

As I’m still in recovery mode, I’ve been restricting my input to the Big Book of Doodles again, but that’s all to the good. I have new ones to show you and new ones in progress. And, hopefully, a way you can also have fun with colouring in. More news on that when I figure out the technical part.

So, that’s it for catching up today, I think.

As for moving on, I have so many new ideas to pursue, and I also have a huge studio clear out and organisation task to do this month as well. You do NOT want to know what this place looks like after Fi the Manic Jack Russell Terrier has been working to a deadline!

Have I forgotten anything that I said I’d do or tell you about, best beloveds?

Please tell me if I have, as I think the cold and migraines have turned part of my brain to mush in the last ten days. So now I’m off to have some tea and biscuits. Custard creams are brain food, you know.

A quick weekend post, beloveds, because I am excited to share an interview I did recently with Liz Massey of Creative Liberty blog.

Liz’s tagline is Celebrating and exploring the creative process! which, as you know, is pretty much a lot of what I do right here, and the questions she asked me tied right in with my current questing.

So without further ado, I give you:

In the Studio with… Fi Bowman

Let me know what you think!

I know, I know.

You’ve been thinking I was run over by the herd of rampaging unicorns again, weren’t you, beloveds? Or was it the one-eyed troubadour this time?

Truth to tell, I’ve been very, very busy a-Questing for the last few weeks as I prepare for my very first, official Real-Artist-in-Public here-and-now Market Day.

I will be showing (and selling, I hope!) at the Towcester Craft & Design Show on 29 and 30 October at the conference centre at Towcester Racecourse. 

Full address: Towcester Racecourse Conference Centre, Easton Neston Park, London Road, Towcester, Northants NN12 6LB. Open 10.30 to 5.30 on Saturday and Sunday. Admission £4 adults, £3 seniors, accompanied children under 14 free.

The preparations for this first foray into the world of live events have been, um, a bit overwhelming, really.

As well as the art and products to be made (and decisions about how many of each type of thing), there are all the other details around them to sort out—the construction of a stand/backboards, working out layouts and display, niggly admin things like how to package things for customers and deciding how much change to have on hand… and every time I get one thing resolved, I think of another that has to be sorted as well.

I’m planning to have not just small framed textile works for sale, but also mixed media treasure boxes, book wraps and covered notebooks, along with cards made from my major works. Oh, and maybe some prints and other stuff too. Plus, I will be demonstrating with both the sewing machine and painting.

I’m busy and worried and excited and tired and hopeful and scared. Yes, all at the same time.

But… and it’s a big one… I am enjoying it.

Yes, you read it here first, beloveds.

I would love, love, love it, if you happen to be near enough to come to the show, if you were to pop by my stand to say hello. (If you’re definitely coming, let me know in the comments, because I still have a few complimentary tickets to give away!)

And if you can’t come (and I know many of my beloved readers are long distance friends) then, fear not—there will be photos!

And the new work will also be making its way  into my online shop as soon as the show is over.

That’s it for now. Got to get back to the Quest, see?

This little piggy went to market… .

O best beloveds, there is power in stories.

I’ve always believed this. (Which is why, despite having a degree that focused on the great literature of four languages*, I still prefer to read a genre novel with a rollocking good plotline and colourful characters over a contemporary exploration of virtuoso prose and modern angst.)

But it’s only in the last few years that I’ve come to recognise that stories have the power not just to transport us away from the mundane detail of our lives, but also to actually influence the way those lives play out.

We don’t have to just tell our story after the fact.

We have the power to make our own story.

When I told you last week that I was embarking on a Quest, I meant it as more than a metaphor for a blog post.

The Quest is a metaphor—a literary device, if you like—to guide me in the next part of my life story.

Why? Because although this is essentially a story about building a business as an artist, the whole idea of business is one that does not inspire me.

I’ve worked in business for twenty-one years, in companies as diverse as international aid consultancies, office equipment sales and service, new technology development, and corporate communications and change management. I’ve worked in sales and marketing departments, as assistants to managing directors and CEOs, and done bookkeeping and accounting.

I’ve prepared management accounts, written internal newsletters, done product launches and sales incentives, written business plans, given presentations, organised archives and set up administation systems. And I’ve attended far, far too many meetings.

I’ve done business, and alas, it doesn’t thrill me any more.

But I’ve never been on a Quest.

I’ve never had a gypsy caravan in which to set off an adventure, exploring the landscape, going to market days where I can display my wares from colourful window boxes. I’ve never kept a ledger of reckonings and detailed steward’s notes of provisions and requisitions. I’ve never used my practical magic to create my wares and to face the goblins that tease and confuse me.

And I’ve never told stories of my questing round the campfire; stories that aren’t just about the time I bearded that terrifying dragon in its den, but also about the darkest nights when I wondered if I would ever escape the tangled maze of the Wild Wood.

But I do—and will—now.

Nothing in this new story is what it was, because I’m looking at it all with new eyes, eyes freshened by the prospect of adventure, challenge and, yes, magic.

This is not a story about goals, missions, targets and strategies. It isn’t about increasing sales or manufacturing product or market research or order fulfilment or even getting gallery representation or solo exhibitions.

This is a story about my art. And about sharing my Quest with you, beloveds.

It’s a story about stories, especially the archetypical, deeply resonating ones like faery tales, folkore and myth. It’s about lost, esoteric and occult knowledge that the modern world dismisses, and how that connects us to the natural—and supernatural—world.

But it’s also about fun. It’s about fun and conversations with goblins and looking for treasure and not taking all this stuff too seriously, while allowing the possibilities of truths hidden within.

This is definitely not the story the experts would advise me to tell.

But it is my story and I get to write it. I’m so glad you’ll be part of  it with me.

*For those who care, these were English, French, Spanish and Italian. And yes, in the original language.