The Magnificence of Mosaics

Bracelet in Blue

Marmite

Pink Fish - Mosaic Jewel

Green Fish - Mosaic Jewel

Poppy Petal

Cartoon TV

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The Wonders of Creating Pictures using Paper

Caribbean Bus

 

Turban Lady

Bead Lady

Angel '9 Women'- See the other ladies HERE

Cat Mirror

Lion Water Fountain (Spilli, Crete, Greece)

Waterspout (Spilli, Crete, Greece)

Decorative Bowl

Chameleon Box

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9 Women - A Series of Nine Portraits, Created Entirely from 'Trash'

 

Angel - Beautiful, Empathetic 9 Women was a personal project, highlighting womankind, recycling and the number 9. I refer to these artworks as 'papiermache-mosaics', which refers to the materials and process of their creation. Made from papiermache, the pictures are in relief and are decorated in a repetitive fashion, rather like mosaics, with recycled 'trash.      My choice of women as the central theme, stems from my interest in the adaptability of womankind.  In my opinion, unequalled in their creativity, multi-faceted and possessing an inherent chameleon-like diversity.  Why 9? The number 9 has magical, meditative and religious qualiities and is seen as a symbol of harmony, inspiration and perfection. In many cultures it is considered sacred, with a reference to eternity. 9 Women was exhibited at The Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, in the Netherlands, 01/05/11 - 31/07/11 Beatrice - Adaptable, Versatile  Candice - Crazy, Loving Lulu - Creative, Role-model Hannah - Nurturer, Supporter Medusa - Formidable, Wild Cleo - Diverse, Multi-tasker Scarlet - Colourful, Stylish Josephine - Adventurous, Funny Website: ©️Alison Day Designs Instagram

Nature's Cordial

A little later than last year, but it's that time again... 

Time to make elderflower cordial. A simple and satisfying process, from picking the blooms to bottling and makes a lovely gift for sharing.

INGREDIENTS 

1 kg white sugar, either granulated or caster

1 lemon

13 fresh elderflower heads trimmed

42g (10 tsp) citric acid

800 ml water 

Put the sugar and 800 ml water into a large saucepan. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Pare the zest from the lemon using a potato peeler, then slice the lemon into rounds.

Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the pan of syrup to the boil, then turn off the heat. 

In a bowl of cold water, swish the flowers around to loosen any dirt or bugs. Gently shake off excess water before transferring to the syrup, along with the lemon slices zest and citric acid, then stir well. 

Cover the pan and infuse for 24 hrs.

Strain through a tea towel over a large bowl or pan. Discard the bits left in the towel. Use a funnel and a ladle to fill sterilised bottles that have been rinsed and dried in a low oven. 

The cordial is ready to drink straight away and will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. 

Recipe makes 1400ml, approx 2 x 75cl bottles.

Website: Alison Day Designs

   

Stepping in to an Adventure

 

A quote by the Cheshire Cat, from Alice in Wonderland, added to an illustrative floral border of fuchsias, sourced from my garden 🌸

An assignment from Immersion, a Surface Pattern Design Course I’m taking. 

The quote was hand written, then stylised and digitised in Adobe Illustrator and the final colour choice reached by using playing with the recolour tool in Illustrator. 

Alice and the Cheshire Cat

Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel

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Fuchsia Frolic

First pattern: Fuchsia Frolic - using the flower of a favourite garden plant for inspiration and one that I grow each year in my garden. 

Created as a result of following a 5-day pattern challenge, using Adobe Illustrator.

Quite a learning curve and it still needs tweaking, but that's all part of the fun. 

I love a challenge - the start of many more! 🌸

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Immersion: Diving into the World of Surface Pattern Design

My collection of dried, pressed flowers and leaves, grown last summer and picked from my garden or collected en route somewhere are a great source for sketching. I’ve even created floral sheets for inspiration.

Below is first attempt pattern: Fuchsia Frolic - using a favourite plant that I grow each year in my garden for inspiration. This was created after taking part in free a 5-day pattern challenge, generously offered by Bonnie Christine.

Although I’ve used Adobe Illustrator before for publications, it was a learning curve on what else Illustrator can be used for. The pattern still needs a little tweaking, but was a lot of fun to make - I love a challenge!

The prospect of what learning surface pattern design could add to a my business long term, in terms of creativity and passive income is exciting. So, I’ve signed up for Immersion, an 8-week course (offered by Bonnie), to add this skill to my repertoire. 

And , the stunning course book and goodies have already arrived in time for the start on Monday !

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The Ivy, Oxford: Falling Far Short of the Grandeur (& Price Tag)

 

Having planned to to spend the festive season abroad, visiting my son in the Netherlands, I suggested to my sister that we have pre Christmas celebration dinner together. The Ivy in Oxford was on my list of restaurants to try, so after we had both taken a look at the menu, I booked a table.

Founded in 1917, the original Ivy restaurant was in the West End and was popular with both celebrities and theatre-goers. Since then, The Ivy Collection has grown to a chain across the UK and Ireland.

Researching the menu online, it looked promising and offered a variety of choices. As an artist, I was also intrigued by the sumptuous interior photos. Both my sister and I were excited by the prospect of our festive meal.

Arriving earlier than our booking, we sat at the bar and ordered cocktails while waiting for our table. In the interim, I enjoyed the interior decor and botanical illustration reprints on the walls.

The cocktails came. I had ordered The Lost Paloma, tequila based with lime and grapefruit soda and my sister a Foxhound, brandy based with cranberry and lime juice. The barman introduced my cocktail as he presented it to me, in a manner befitting a cocktail. However, in the interval between serving the first and second cocktail, like the gust of an incoming storm, the barman's attitude changed and with a face like thunder, he literally hurled the second cocktail in my sister’s direction, without an introduction. We were astonished at the change, although I had observed his manager admonishing him during the making of our order. 

Back to the cocktails, both were pinkish, tasted almost identical and were watery. The usual cocktail promise, of flavour infusion coupled with expert mixology, was totally absent!

Our table ready, we moved from the bar, disappointing cocktails in hand, to a table for two, close to a serving station. This proved to be too close, because shortly after sitting down I was unceremoniously elbowed in the head by a member of the serving staff.

The ambient lighting of the restaurant was too dark and the fact that I had forgotten my reading glasses, meant I was unable to read the tiny font of the menu. We requested candles, which our table was lacking and although pretty they didn’t improve the twilight. To read the menu, I used the torch on my mobile, as did the rest of my fellow diners.

First we ordered wine and water from our waitress. Opting for something new, we chose a Greek wine: Assyrtiko White Ash (Santorini, Greece) and Elra, a still water.

I’ve never experienced such a fiasco, surrounding a bottle of wine. As the waiter, who spoke little English, opened the wine, we asked if the wine could be chilled in the ice bucket, which at the time was situated behind my sister’s chair. No reaction. He labelled the bottle with our table number, hid the bottle out of reach at the service station and disappeared. 

In anticipation, we drank the water, but the wine didn’t return. Eventually, we managed to catch the attention of our waitress, who said the wine was coming. When it finally reappeared, after about 10 minutes, it was dumped unceremoniously in the ice bucket - without ice.

The request to pour our own wine, so as not to be hurried through an £80.00 bottle of what turned out to be a poorly chilled and uninteresting Greek wine, was met with surprise and the various attempts to fill our glasses were quickly nipped in the bud. Requests for the ice bucket to be filled with ice, to cool the tasteless, now warm wine, caused confusion. It took several requests before ice was finally brought by the manager, with apologies for the delay.

Making the staff aware of our dietary requirements - my sister is Vegan and I have an allergy to gluten went smoothly, but greatly reduced our menu choices. My bugbear was that a lot of food items had been cooked in the same oil as food containing gluten. Chips as a side had to ruled out for this reason and additionally because they had been (unnecessarily) coated in an ingredient containing gluten, to make them more crispy. My sister’s choices were reduced dramatically as well, to salads and the cliché go to option of sweet potato curry, favoured by many a restaurant.

Onward and upward, the food arrived…

My starter, a lobster and prawn cocktail was served in a bowl held by a striking crab holder and was delicious. This was followed by duck curry, kept warm by a tea-light lamp, rice and green beans with almonds. It was tasty, but not particularly special. Not being in the mood for the sweet potato curry, my sister opted for a salad starter and salad main, which were so-so and uninspiring.

A trip to the ladies loos, was the most fun I had all evening. On the way, the walls are covered with pictures and replicas of exotic botanical prints at every turn. The toilets are a fantasy in pink in a variety of shades and tones. The loo is pink and the floor tiles a pale pink. Climbing roses and beautifully detailed birds adorn golden walls, with statuesque Greek gods posing in between.

Not wanting to be subjected to another course, we opted for the simplicity of an after dinner digestive. A Sambuca for me and a 6-year old Calvados Camut, for my sister. To avoid further artistic license, I stipulated that my Sambuca be flaming and have one coffee bean in it. This arrived as ordered.

We requested the bill, which came to an interesting: £239.29 (including a 12.5% service charge !!). 

In summary, the over all experience of The Ivy, Oxford can only be described as having a patchwork service of: initially helpful, embarrassingly servile, not always there when needed and total incompetence à la Fawlty Towers. Added to this, the food and drink is average. Needless to say, there won’t be a second visit.

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