I have done my fair share off going to work in an office and I have to say I'm happy to not be doing that anymore! I have worked in some awful places then again I have also worked in some of the best. You do get used to an environment though and occasionally something happens to remind you exactly what you've got.

Yesterday was one of those days. I teach for the Royal School of Needlework every Thursday at Hampton Court Palace. Yesterday when I arrived, all the car parks, lanes and tea rooms were filled with film crew. Not unusual, a lot of films shoot scenes there but I have never seen this many. It then turned out that it was for Pirates of the Carribean IV! And yes Johnny Depp was there much to the excitment of my class, and embroidery took second place for the day! Here are some naval officers taking a rest in Clock Court while filming went on behind:

There were also lots of cavalry outside the main entrance and the horses looked rather fine, but the picture didn't come out very well.

Lunchtime was no less interesting with a botanical exhibition on in the Clore Centre. The work was exceptional and makes me want to get my watercolour paints out and get painting.

I grumble about the long drive to work but it's not a bad place to spend the day really..

I was walking along the beach in San Francisco and passed this house:

Apparently they have a matching car! Elsewhere at the time of photo unfortunately...

That's a pretty bold way of personalising your house. Not that they are the only ones. Walk in the other direction from the ocean and you might come across the house with the bubbles...

Ok, so I went to the life drawing and here is the result! By the time the class to came to the end, I had just got into the swing of it.

These are in the order I worked them in, and are done with watersoluble crayons:

This was my last drawing of the night, a 20 minute pose. Decided not to add the water this time and I think it was more successful. Putting the vertical lines of the radiator in made a huge difference to the composition.

I enjoyed the evening (and the trip to the pub afterwards!) but I felt frustrated with my drawings, I am so out of practice...

OK, slightly out of sinc but here is a picture of me teaching a design class in San Francisco at the end of September! Last month was so busy....

We had a great day and I think everyone went away having learnt something new! (well I hope they did). There was certainly a lot of laughter when I had them drawing portraits of each other...

Talking of portraits, I'm going life drawing on Wednesday evening. Perhaps I will post some of my work. Then again I haven't done any since Cyprus so perhaps I won't....

It seems like so long ago when I first sent off my entry for this competition, but the judging finally took place this weekend. Congratulations to Sharen Kaur on her winning design (see the Bridging Arts Blog for more on the designs). Four designs were chosen to go forward to the final judging and the designs were sent to India to be made up into actual Sarees. I would love to be able to show you pictures of my finished Sari but alas we will all have to wait a little longer! The last 2 Sarees arrived from India on Wednesday, but UK customs decided to hang on to mine...where it still sits. So, let me show you my design drawings instead:

I also stitched some samples to show the embroidery detail:

My aim was to create a fusion of East and West, bringing together traditional and contemporary elements from each culture. The one thing British and Asian cultures both share in abundance is rain! From the cold dreary rain of Britain to the warm, heavy monsoon rains of Asia, my sari would reflect these extremes in the elements, my sari would be a celebration of rain.

The shaped petticoat shirt and corset, fashionable throughout British fashion for centuries, is given a modern twist in the colours of a wet pavement, shining slate grey. The skirt is covered with Asian inspired umbrellas in bright silks (interspersed with the odd black British brolly!) and embellished with goldwork and bead embroidery.

The sari itself is a sheer fabric, blue grey in colour to represent the cloudy sky and is adorned with crystal drops to represent the rain.

When the sari is draped, the umbrellas rest in layers over the petticoat skirt protecting the wearer from the rain drops landing on them from the sari itself.

I'll post pictures of the real one as soon as Customs release it so keep checking back.