6th December 2021

Hi Everybody. Firstly, I want to apologise - It didn't actually occur to me how long I have actually been in-active on my blog. And I was so shocked to see its been a good few years. Christmas and New Years is slowly approaching - I guess I will be making some new resolutions! A lot has changed over the space of 2 years! And some positive ones to say the least! Unfortunately, I had to say good-bye to my little studio space I was renting - at the time I wasn't finding the time or the motivation to head down there work on something creative. However, I have managed to find the spark I was looking for (more to follow in this post).

I have had a couple of job changes, going from a Bar Maid to a Support worker for adults with Autism and Learning Disabilities. I stayed with this residential home for around 18 months or so, and with Covid-19 hitting the world pretty hard, I fear the change of lifestyle hit these adults harder. However, all throughout the lockdown's we all faced here in the UK, I was still able to work and provide the support that these adults needed.

I left this position in June this year, and am very proud to say that I am working full-time for the Fire and Rescue Service as a Control Room Operator. (Oooh, whats that you say? Let me tell you) So... My main responsibility is to maintain an accurate disposition of all Fire and Rescue Resources, answer any emergency 999 calls and mobilise appropriate resources to any emergency received... sounds fancy doesn't it? I am still currently in my training development, building up my confidence with my Watch and building my professional relationship with employees across my service... It's an AMAZING career!

So whilst working full time with the Fire and Rescue Service and answering an array of calls (Before you ask, yes, I have answered a call to a Cat stuck up a tree... yes we will attend if it hits certain criterias! haha!) and working through my development coursework, in my down time I have rediscovered my love for photography... and Cross Stitching believe it or not.. I have recently purchased a UV light from CyanotypeUK online and today I set this up and carried out some test prints!

A big thank you to CyanotypeUK for your quick and speedy delivery on this! And I have to say the UV light was so easy to set up, it only took 5 minutes and the instructions were very clear and easy to read. Needless to say, I have had a very productive day. I set out doing a test strip (online Cyanotype UK said it should take around 15 minutes exposure time, and y'know what, it took 15 minutes!) and I carried out some experiments on some Watercolour Paper I had left over from when I started this project in 2019. Today I have found that thin (cheap bought) watercolour paper wasn't ideal for this style of process. The thicker paper I had stashed away from Faber Castell 190GSM did indeed work better, and I managed to get a successful print!

I was very impressed with the quality on this paper I had left over, and I have just purchased some thicker paper to experiment with, which should be here tomorrow! I did find the thinner watercolour paper I had purchased today did not have the same quality of detail and it was quickly turning the lovely shade of blue before I even got round to exposing which was a little worrying for me!

I am focusing my project around feathers for the time being. I am a spiritual person, and a big believer in "When white feathers appear, loved ones are near". I have purchased feathers from ethically sourced shops online and picked plenty up on my walks around the park I live near. I'm looking forward to getting some more prints under my belt. I feel very focused on feathers being the main feature of my cyanotype prints for the time being, however... with this style of processing there is no limitation on your imagination! I hope to keep you up-to-date with my project and please feel free to contact me with any questions, or just to say hi! L

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