I heart ART

Yeah, bit corny, but what do you expect from a Tart?
The last few weeks have not been a bundle of fun but the weekends have been great! I've had two Saturdays OUT in a row and I'm aiming for a third tomorrow!

The end of May saw a happy load of arty types driving across to Dumfries and Galloway to sample the delights of Spring Fling. We met some fantastic artists in lovely settings and thoroughly enjoyed a wet and unruly sort of day. We stumbled across a mini food festival in Castle Douglas and saw work by this artist (she looked familiar and lo, she was a contemporary at textile college, though I would say she is aging rather better than me!) and this one whose willow work is widely collected and this one whose work makes you smile a LOT! I made a modest but very pleasing pottery purchase which you can see here. I chose a jug from the range and it's been in use every day since

Last weekend Amanda and Fiona and I hit Northumberland to visit Art Tour participants - after a slight detour to RE which is a most dangerous place. We met painter Christina Mingard and her felter daughter Cat, amongst others while also taking in the delights of Katie's place at Allen Mill. Amanda, Katie and I did a quick pose in her beloved, and surprisingly comfortable bath, squinting into the sun. As it was a Woolly Day at MAKE, we were encouraged upstairs to a treasure trove of yarn bargains as well as a slightly more, ermm, unusual, collection of knitted soft toys. Gifted by the baker next door, each and every one was available to take home with you for a small donation to charity. Try as I might, I cannot fathom why anyone would want to knit an elf or a gnome or a dwarf, let alone seven and Snow White too.... ho hum, each to their own... Our homeward trip involved a brief stop at The Errington Arms just north of Corbridge for a drink in the sunshine. We'd have stayed longer and maybe enjoyed a bar meal if it were not for the ill-mannered barman. It briefly marred an otherwise excellent day out in the glorious Northumberland countryside.

The Art Trail continues every weekend in June so tomorrow I hope to meet Sarah Morpeth who makes delicious paperworks - you can see more here or wait for the next instalment of Tart's Tales!