after what feels like a very hectic Christmas, shown by lack of blogs, I now have some peace and quiet. Especially as Eloise has started playschool for 15 whole hours a week, which feels amazing to finally have some more time on my hands!!
So things I didn't get a chance to share with you last year:
From the Family Learning festival at Havering Adult College one lovely mum left me some great feedback here (scroll down to Marbling madness and Fairies and Witches!): http://www.kidsactivityexpo.com/news/
I also took part in a creative team building day. I had never done one of these before and we all had a lot of fun. I divided the group into two teams and gave them a blown up Matisse image cut into 8 A4 pages. Working as a group they had to print each A4 image using the string and cardboard technique and assemble into the final Matisse Sorrow of the King image. I chose Matisse as he used simple, bold shapes which I felt catered for all levels so even if people felt they had little creative ability they would all be able to tackle this.
It was really interesting to see how people take different angles to look at things and the different approaches used but the results were brilliant.
I love the background texture made when the ink slightly hits the printing plate. Though the groups had the same image it was really interesting to see how creatively different they were....
I thoroughly enjoyed the session and had some great feedback so I'd love to do some more.
We've both been a little quiet at the moment, my mum is still on her holiday and i've just come back from a last minute get away to Vence in France to stay with friends. As you can imagine, it was lovely and this was the view from our bedroom window, which was my friends childhood bedroom. I still can't believe she woke up to this everyday but I can understand why she's dying to move back. 
Going away with lots of friends gave little time to chill out and explore the sights but I was given some spare time, hours before we were due to fly back, to explore Vence.A really nice surprise was learning that Matisse's chapel is in Vence so that was our first tour which was lovely and we timed it just right as the tour guide just started as we walked in. Luckily my friend translated everything for me, otherwise you'll have to brush up on your French to understand anything like his influences from Morocco. Matisse designed everything in there from the furniture to the floors and even the priests robes! Unfortunately you're not allowed to take pics inside but a really nice little old lady let us sneak out the side entrance to take a few pics, this was all I could manage before the groundsman caught us and threw us out!!
Next stop was Vence itself which is a typically quaint French town set around an historic old quarters complete with maze like narrow streets, where you can easily get lost and little glimpses and views to the mountains. There are a few artworks dotted around from an artist, I can't remember his name sorry, who makes the work look like they've been lying in the bottom of the sea for years, here's one with the mountains in the background.....
When we were wondering the back street of the historic centre we came across this graffiti work from French artist C125. I was so shocked as i've known him for a while and am always using his work as inspiration so it was great to see a piece in real life and when you least expect it!!
So although I was only allowed a few hours to catch up on some culture it was jam packed with brilliant finds. To top it off we ended up in an antique market where I got my first holiday souvenir of old factory cotton reels. So a quick dash back to the house to grab our bags and we made it to the airport just in time for our flight.
