Lace variations

I am a total butter head for things computer and photoshop. In fact i found the whole photoshop thing so daunting that I had steered clear of it until the need to negative an image ocurred( a function that Picasa doesn't have). We have photoshop because one of my children is really clever with creating cartoons. Anyway the last few days i have spent a little time playing around with it as I am really fascinated by the tensions created by positive negative balance- and really lace is to me a magical manifestation of that tension- I say magical because the transparency and softness are unique elements as well , making it for me very dimensional and of course tactile- you want to touch it instinctively and feel its delicacy. So I started out with a lace scan which I altered- then drew back into by hand and then played around with some more. This image reminded me very much of a woodcut- and that started me thinking of Raoul Dufy- his woodcuts are amongst my favourites- hence the reason I have posted one here. I love the balance of textures and the balance of the black against the white. What kind of colour balance does Dufy's work have to you? Is it 50/50 or more like 60/40?

And a lovely surprise yesterday. I ordered Palestinian Costume by Jehan Rajab last week along with the Hilary Spurling biography on Matisse. As I found it through Amazon as a secondhand book it was shipped seperately and they said it would take 4-6 weeks as it was being sent surface- it arrived yesterday - and I am still waiting for the Matisse biography which was being shipped airmail. And it looks as if the teaching in Ramallah may not happen- given that foreign passport holders are not being let through any of the checkpoints into the West Bank. I have to book my airfares to Europe soon.

I shall be going to European Patchwork Carrefour held at Val d'Argent- Ste Marie aux Mines- I will be with the Changing exhibition curated by Thelma Smith. I am hoping to sell some of my hand dyes and small works and lino cut prints- we will see what i can manage to make before then. So if you read my blog and are going to Val d'Argent please come by and say hello. Marion Barnett and Sandy Marcoux will be there as well. And has anyone been to the Textile Museum in Lyon?