Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day!

This year Belfast City Council pulled out all the stops and put on a four day festival for Saint Patrick's day and I was drafted in to do origami and papercraft workshops for three days.

 

We made shamrock badges, hairclips, necklaces and origami shamrocks and four-leaf clovers with kids from one to a hundred (more or less) and it was great craic, the only thing problem being that I was kept so busy that I hardly got a chance to take many photos or indeed to take part in some of the amazing other traditional crafts that were on offer.

 

I hope you all rose a glass for luck on Sunday, wherever you were in the world.

Today's finds: seascape paintings

I found these two little original paintings in a charity shop recently for only £5 each. They're fairly acomplished I think and I especially love the sailing picture below.

I've stuck to my vow in past weeks though and have resisted buying several pictures and other bits and bobs that I probably would have bought before. I'll only buy what is truly beautiful or useful from now on.

Lost & found exhibition opening.

And straight on to the opening! It was such a great night and really busy with lots of friends and family there as well as both of the late night art tours visiting the show. The room certainly felt cosy then!

There was even spontaneous dancing to Otis on the record player.

Thanks to everyone who came down. It's open all month and I'm planning a craft workshop and a couple of intimate get togethers down there. Stay tuned for details.

On the home stretch

It's been quite a day. We made great progress in the space today though there are still a couple of little bits and pieces to do before the clamouring hoards arrive tomorrow evening. It feels nice and cosy though.

BUT this morning I moved a ladder, forgetting that there was a hammer on top if it and it fell, pointy end down onto my head. And THEN I closed my finger in a car door and I now have a half blue nail. I'd show you photographic evidence but I'm concerned you may be eating at the moment.

One has to suffer for one's Art, doesn't one?

Lost & Found - the exhibition!

There's some very exciting news here at Lost & Found. I'm having an exhibition next week! It all happened very quickly. A few months back a man called Peter who runs the fantastic PS2 project space on Donegall Street in Belfast emailed me after coming across this very blog. He asked if I'd like to have a lost and found exhibition all about collecting, recycling and how we all have different ideas about the beauty and value of the objects we have around us.

Skip forward to last week when I was told that there was a spot open for my show in April - two weeks later! Luckily I work at the University so I have two weeks holidays for Easter. Isn't life wonderful. So it's all go and very busy and exciting but I wouldn't have it any other way. The next few days will be spent packing up most of the contents of my home to bring down to the space, then I'll spend a few days putting the collections all together.

I'd love people to add items to the project (you can have them back afterwards) - they might be old photographs you find in a second-hand book, a shopping list found on the street or your favourite vintage find or beach combing treasure.

There really is treasure everywhere!

There will be an opening night on Thursday 5th April which coincides with the fabulous late Night Art when all the galleries in Belfast open late and there's free wine to be had! It's always a good night, so please call by if you're free. The exhibition will be there until the 28th april. 

Click here for more information on the PS2 website.

Today's finds

I haven't done a post about my finds in ages but rest assured that my thrifting is unabated. Here are a couple of little beauties I've picked up recently - the Hornsea biscuit jar may horrify anyone who was around in the seventies but to me it's pure retro good ness.

The little Scottish watercolour is unsigned but really quite acomplished I think. I just did a quick count though and I now have 30 framed pictures in our living/dining room alone. Perhaps it's time to start rotating the collection, before I become one of those hoarders you see on TV who can't even get into some of the rooms in their home. 

And this little plant isn't found so much as made. I volunteer one morning a week with an organisation called the NOW project (http://www.nowproject.co.uk/)  and last week we planted these mini cacti and succulents like this one into old teacups that I collected. I just love how the design of this cup echoes the shape of the plant so this one came straight home with me.

If you happen to be from round these parts we'll be down at St George's market in Belfast next Friday morning selling all the goodies we've made over the past few months. We'd love it if you came down to support the charity.

New Art!

I picked up this painting in a charity shop today for £2. I'm trying to think of a way of describing my collection of these paintings other than 'amateur art' because I don't think it's my place to decide who is and isn't a 'real' artist.

Found art is something else entirely - Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' from 1917 is probably the most famous (and earliest) example.

I suppose some of my paintings could come under the category of 'naive' art like the painting 'Papa Gueye' below by an anonymous painting from Kharkov.

For now I'll call the collection found paintings rather than found art, but what do you think? How would you classify paintings done by artists who paint as a hobby?

Today's find - The Griffin kids

I do bring some strange things home sometimes and I wasn't sure about this picture when I first saw it, but now it's my absolute favourite thing.

It is signed R.Griffin. '76.