trudie scrumptious

pretty things again

2011-07-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with post production again! One of my favourite things - shooting into the sun.

and some others... from walks with the dog. I use Instagram as well now so please follow me there! Trudie27.

A couple with just the natural light and no editing at all, I think they look like studio lighting.

I feel a little Monet coming on!

The Winner

2011-05-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

So from X300s to D300s in 20 years! I bought the Nikon, I think it will suit my style better - as high spec as the Canon is, I've been lusting after a Nikon for a couple of years and so I decided to stick with my dream and fulfil it; thank you Granny, hope your cloud's hovering over!

You may be thinking I'm slow to go digital now but being a little stubborn, I do think you can take a good photo

with any camera with half an idea of what you're doing, it's not all about the technology and having the best gear, even though that helps. I have clung on to analogue loving it's grainy softness until it came back into fashion, but the truth is I've never had the money to spend, I made the most of what I had and also this means that I've gone from 0 - 100 in one hit, this camera has to last me another 15 years now!

I am looking forward to entering a whole new world of creative possibilities with the new camera - having had a play with it and reading the quick start guide (not yet the 300 page beast that comes with it!) I've already taken a few snaps indoors in dreary low light on a cloudy wet day and have been able to hold it still with less than a 1/20th second exposure so that's going to give me so many more opportunities that I would have missed before. Once I've worked out how to download them I'll post a couple up!

So here's to enjoying the spend of a decade.

Canon 7D or Nikon D300s?

2011-05-29T03:48:00.000-07:00

It seems like a common question the more research I do - Canon or Nikon?

I'm about to finally go over to digital - apart from toying with a couple of compacts, I've not yet had a digital SLR and have been loving my old special edition Minolta Dynax 8000i in pearl white.

This camera has had some history. My Dad bought it probably about 15 years ago when it first came out and he did a few weddings with it. Then my parents were burgled and the camera went walkies - only to turn up again in the same camera shop in Brixham where it was originally bought! And so with the insurance money Dad bought it back again and continued with it for a while before passing it over to me as an upgrade for my more manual camera, a 16th Birthday present, a Minolta X300s.

I have never fully learnt how to use this camera due to my lack of patience and knowing that I can only get so much out of the film anyway, however it's done me really well and it takes the most flattering portraits, which I love. It was the first camera to start to go over to digital as it took special program cards to get special effects and sports shots. I never had any of those though so I probably only got about 20% out of it.

I will still use this camera with black and white film, but I'm increasingly wanting to take photos that are outside of the camera's exposure and lens range. So I'm about to embark on the biggest spend since I bought my car - Nikon or Canon?

I guess we will find out later today when we've been to Jessops - I have narrowed it down though - to fit my ability and budget it will either be the Canon 7D (seems to be the more sporty camera) or the Nikon D300s - sold as the more Arty camera - I think I know which I lean more towards - even though the Canon has a greater range.

I think the big nature of the spend might make me need a bank holiday drink afterwards!!

N - a Watch of Nightingales

2011-05-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

I love these prints, I recognise some of the sayings but I'm not totally sure if they are all true or not! On my wishlist for sure though.

N - a Watch of Nightingales

Photos from the exhibition

2011-04-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the exhibition at the LCB Depot in Leicester, many thanks to everyone who was able to come and have a look, the paintings are once again hiding in bubble wrap having a rest after their exciting fortnight!

Follow Me by email!

2011-03-19T16:32:00.001-07:00

I've added a new widget to the blog - Follow By email (right) so subscribe, put your feet up and my blog posts will come to you by email, how easy is that?

Private View

2011-03-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

You're invited to the private view of my new exhibition: Abstract and Process Paintings. Please come along and be treated to the opening of my 2 week long exhibition at the Leicester Creative Business Depot, supported by Leicester City Council and the LCB Depot. The Private View is from 6-8pm on Thursday 17th March 2011.

I'm offering 15% off any paintings bought on the evening and this will be a unique opportunity to see my paintings on display together with me there. For directions please visit lcbdepot.co.uk.

Got all week?

The gallery is open from 9am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday and entry is free. My exhibition runs from 16-30th March In the gallery to the rear of the LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester LE1 1RE.

if you're local why not go along on your lunch break?

Thank You!

2011-01-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to do some thank you cards by letterpress for Mr & Mrs Salter! After a fab and stylish wedding in September the happy couple sent me some artwork for the cards to match their invitations. I had a plate made by Metallic Elephant who were amazingly helpful and then I printed up the cards by hand on the Adana.

I can't say it was all smooth

running! Old and new mix beautifully but in the case of printing with an old fashioned machine and using modern artwork, designed on a computer there was bound to be some tweaking needed! And so I tweaked and tweaked and eventually we picked a card, achieved some indentation and mixed up the right colour (with a bit more tweaking). I think I'm the queen or colour matching having spent a few days receiving tuition by mistress of colour, Op Artist Bridget Riley as a student and we got quite a nice

and very hand-produced effect in the end, very Vintage to go with the theme of the wedding!

Painting Exhibition dates March 2011

2011-01-29T10:28:00.000-08:00

Great News! I've been given a 2 week long exhibition slot at the LCB Depot Exhibition Space on Rutland Street Leicester! The dates are 16th - 31st March so drop by and come and see my paintings on display! Further information on the PRIVATE VIEW dates is to follow, happy days!

Hola & Aloha Flickr!

2010-10-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

How exciting I have just set up a fabulous new Flickr photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudiescrumptious/) with which to exhibit my wares! Now I feel like I am just pimping myself out across the internet.

First there was the website for my paintings which was a little neglected for a while, it has to be said. My paintings website www.trudiemoore.co.uk was made by the wonderful Hype Digital and sat mostly dormant for a good part of around 4 years while I carried on my day job in which time the internet changed dramatically. I use the main website as a gallery and online portfolio and a place for people to discover me (but hopefully not with plagiarism in mind!) and to record my work, but it would never replace active marketing for my paintings - paintings are something that buyers need to see in the flesh to get an idea for the quality and feel of the work. Having said that, though, the internet is essential for artists because in this day and climate we need to harness the broadest audience.

It was earlier in the year this year that I decided that things had moved on and I'd better keep up or lose out. And so I decided to try to get back on some websites for artists - and so started Wotartist and Madeinleicestershire - perfect, a couple of online galleries, one very local and the other one international - and if I manage to get back onto Axis Arts then that will be the National gap filled. It was at this point I thought I would track all this activity using Google Analytics - to see who was visiting my site and from where. I got a little bit obsessed with this for a while as having googled Trudie Moore I wanted to see whether people were landing on my website having known they were looking for an artist or if they really thought they were going to get a hypnosis CD from an Aussie medium. I also wanted to assess what parts of the site they were looking at and what paintings were being looked at and for how long, whether or not they found me by searching for artists or something else.

And it didn't stop there, next stop was this blog - I felt that I wanted to talk about more than simply paintings, I wanted to talk about design, photography, my inspirations and the latest activity - printing. And then I thought - hell why not, Twitter - let's see what that's all about - any business that's serious does Twitter these days and that's what I'm trying to be - serious and businesslike and so my Twitter name is - oh - TTScrumptious...

Next stop a Facebook group - called, yes you've got it - Trudie Scrumptious. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner - I have been playing on Facebook and joining groups for ages - mostly ones that are a little irreverant and a bit un-PC - but then I started to use some that had a bit of meaning and more recently joining groups that are incubator businesses , like mine (a little bit of back scratching for creative kinds). So last on the list at the moment is Flickr - another outlet for the paintings and one that can focus on photography too - I thought that this could just be a huge library of my wares, photography and paintings but at the moment I've not made a decision on exactly what I will do with it, probably I will take new photos of my existing paintings in situ to give people an idea of how my paintings look in homes - or even bars who knows! All I know is that the more presence I have, the more hits.

If you are reading this then it's all working, don't be afraid to get in touch by any of my media options but really what I hope is that I will see you in a cafe or a gallery soon and we can be real contacts and not online ones. There is no substitute for a real painting seen on the wall before your very eyes making your retinas tingle - we can all have beautiful virtual lives but the real world one is far more exciting and inspiring!

Have you aianas?

2010-09-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm quite a lot into design furniture - or furniture design if you like. I spotted something on twitter that I just had to investigate - a chair commissioned by Havaianas (my most commonly worn footwear between April and September - longer if I can) and designed by Carlos Motta and so this is something that combines two of my favourite things.
Have a look - not only is is in the most tasty teal colour but it's also sustainably sourced. I feel a teal-coloured painting coming on.
I wonder if they will produce these or if they will stay an art piece? It's a shame we can't all drop along to New York and pick one up for £50 or so!

More Tea? Katy's Cake Stands

2010-09-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to have completed a job for the fabulous Katy's Cake Stands (facebook group - Katy's Cake Stands) Katy makes unique cake stands from individually-collected period plates and glasses and these have a vintage/shabby chic feel so the hand printed labels perfectly complement the stands. Every cake stand is different and so as I can print each item individually it's allowed for a range of individual tags to go with the plates. We think the eyeletted tag is particularly 40's against the pretty patterned porcelain!

My new Letterpress obsession

2010-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to produce some print for a while now and so after having done a one-to-one tutorial at the Leicester Print Workshop I caved in and spent some money on an Adana 8 x 5 letterpress. My first trials haven't been bad for a beginner and already I'm trying to combine print with design elements, the results of which I will post up shortly. Not having a workshop, however means that all of the paraphernalia, type trays, inks and papers are taking over the house and so as this grows I'm going to need more space - maybe a shed to help me to freeze my fingers off in the winter?! Well at least the press looks pretty in red and goes with my Scandi-chic decor!

Hip-stamatic

2010-07-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

It started with an Action Sampler I bought 12 years ago. A little camera that captures sequential photos on good old fashioned film. I'm a sucker for film, as an art student I learnt to process and print my own photos and I thought that one day I would become a photographer. However I never had the patience to swot up on the technicalities of studio photography and preferred taking photos that capture a great composition, feeling or moment. My Action Sampler was very hit and miss and like a lot of my photography a complete experiment, but it's fun - I love sending off a film, waiting (these days anything between a day and 10 days) and then opening the packet to a pile of prints that are all either hits or misses and I think I get a lot of photos that other people wouldn't even try taking. I like the complementary nature of film - digital can be quite hard and sometimes show to much detail for my liking and so the softness of film can go down a treat. I only really own film cameras (including a Fisheye one) and have spent 2 years lusting after a Lomo - I can't get the one I want cheaply enough for my budget. However, now I have something that's the best of both worlds, a new app for my iphone that cost less than £2! Hipstamatic gives me film, lens and flash choices. I have become obsessed with the 1969 film and it's Lomo-like vignette and slightly out-of-date film look. The other advantage of it is that it's totally instant - I could upload the photos direct to the internet if I wanted, however I thought I would layer up the effects and put some of them through iphoto as well. Hope that you like them!

Land Art

2010-07-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled upon the website of a land artist JimDenevan http://www.jimdenevan.com/news.htm and I was astounded by the scale and ambition this artist has. Not only is the scale of his work enormous and hugely ambitious but it's also perfectly executed. Who could imag

ine a piece of art 9 miles wide and visible on google maps. This man is creating beautiful patterns in nature but then utilising modern technology to document it. eventually the work is taken away by nature too and so Jim is using the technology of his time to create something that will only truly exist in his time - it's all temporary.

This reminded me of another artist that I found inspirational when I was younger - Andy Goldsworthy. http://www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/biography.html

Andy is a British land artist and sculptor. He is known for going for walks in nature and creating temporary pieces of art that over time would become a part of nature again too. From wrapping stones in rivers with leaves to sculpting ice and snow and building stone arches he makes the sculpture and photographs it before it disappears again. The end result is then not something that can be kept and owned and so the art is transient: it changes along with nature, it is a part of nature and it doesn't interfere with nature - it's harmonious.

Part of the idea behind Andy's art is the process of making it. I too am interested in the process of making my paintings. The end result is a product of the interaction the artist has with their materials and the manipulation that the artist gives to them in order to get to the end result. Whatever the materials they will perform as much as the artist wants them to but eventually whether the materials are man made or natural, they will still behave in a certain way. Andy has no control over the natural cycle - decomposition, rivers washing leaves away, sun melting ice and I like to play with the limits to which I control the materials that I use. Part of my enjoyment in it is to let the paint do unexpected things, I can control it to a degree but the paint for me is the main feature of the painting and so I like to let it wrap around the canvas in layers skins and textures of paint.

So please have a look at these two artists, I love nature and art and the two together I think are awe inspiring.

iphone photos

2010-07-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some iphone photos I took while out walking in the fields last week. I love the evening light and the plant patterns.

Wotart Listing

2010-07-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

More good news! I applied last week to get a Wotart listing and today found out that my application was successful. I have uploaded some new images to the online gallery there follow this link:

http://www.wotartist.com/art-portfolios.asp?profileid=5033

There are a few paintings on the portfolio there that aren't on my website and so this listing is a little different again.
Wotart is a free online directory for fine artists and fine art photographers they say the following:

WOTARTIST is a free art resource run by professional and practising artists and conceived to streamline the connection between artist and audience. Designed with ease-of-use foremost as a consideration, Wotartist's raison d'être is to bring the best artists currently exhibiting on the internet from search engine obscurity and hopefully to enjoy greater exposure. Wotartist's interface was born of the desire to democratise the exposure of artists' sites and to ensure that all the artists listed could be viewed in under 3 minutes

So here's to greater exposure!

2010-07-02T15:26:00.001-07:00

I am an artist who makes abstract paintings, I am aiming to use my blog to compliment my painting and as an outlet for a collection of things that I find inspiring and interesting and to show other artistic avenues such as photography and printmaking. I aim to make a distinction between the content of the blog and the website and to exhibit and post different items on each.

My website is www.trudiemoore.co.uk and this is my main painting site. This week I also applied and was accepted onto Made in Leicestershirehttp://www.madeinleicestershire.org.uk/artists/artist/556/0/trudie/ and in the past I have been on Axis arts and hope to re-start this membership. I am planning to link all of these websites together and to put links onto my main website.

Over the years I have sold many paintings and done a lot of personal commissions and also a couple of commercial projects. I have been involved with private and open exhibitions and art fairs. As an artist it's really hard to promote yourself and to find the right buyers and so everything I do I try to target what I think is the relevant audience for my work.\

I hope that you will enjoy the content of my blog and that you will link in to my website and have a look at the portfolio of work that I have on there, maybe even browse in the shop?