Having a lovely but tiring time in London. Did some pinning yesterday afternoon, which was quiet but delightful as the sun was pouring in through the pins above my head. Rachael took a photo of me that I really like, normally I don’t much like images of myself but I think this one has a very romantic and timeless quality.

Off to pin some more now while waiting for some internet friends from Ravelry to turn up. I feel a little sad to be taking the pins down today; they feel as if they belong here. Although I expect that the lovely people at Prick Your Finger will be finding little memorial pins in their floorboards for years to come!

Having a lovely but tiring time in London. Did some pinning yesterday afternoon, which was quiet but delightful as the sun was pouring in through the pins above my head....

Hey, what the hell happened to February? I know it’s a short month but how is it possible that I’m going back to London to take down the Pin show this week? It only seems like five minutes since I put it up.

I’ve been meaning to blog about the exhibition opening at Prick Your Finger since it happened but for some reason I was finding this blog post very difficult to complete. It’s only just occurred to me today that it’s because I’ve been having a CFS crash since London. I’ve been exhausted, unmotivated, dizzy, getting frequent headaches and crucially, having immense trouble concentrating on words. But because it’s not quite as dramatic as it used to be, it’s become far easier for me to miss when I’m crashing. Ah, the joys of having a chronic condition – it’s a constant education!

Anyway, the opening was pretty successful. Sadly Rachael from Prick Your Finger was ill and couldn’t be there but Louise and Rosemary from the shop were wonderfully supportive and we had a lovely afternoon tea party with cake, biscuits and fine company.

Lots of people came, including some people I knew well (thank you, Dave and Daniel for your support) and several people whom I knew online but hadn’t met before. I was particularly delighted to meet Felix from The Domestic Soundscape, whose work I greatly admire. I didn’t know she was going to be there, so that was an exciting surprise. It was also fantastic to meet Katherine from Making A Mark and Mornington, whom I know from the wonderful LSG group on Ravelry.

Isn’t this a fabulous drawing. It’s by Johanna, whom I know from the Cafe Kino knitting group. I hadn’t seen Johanna for a little while, so it was great to catch up and I was pleased to discover that she’d done a drawing of the event. I always love it when my work gets other people’s creative juices flowing and there was a fair bit going on during the opening – as you can see from the drawing, at one point I was surrounded by crocheters.

The show also got some write-ups:
Abi from Craftycrafty.tv is a friend of Dave’s. Dave is the best networker I know, his contact list is legendary and he’s very generous at introducing people. I met Abi and her friend, Clare at Dave’s book launch on the Thursday night and they were both kind enough to come along to the opening. Abi then wrote about the show.

Amelia’s Magazine also did a fantastic write-up about the show. And my friend Camilla was kind enough to blog about it even though she couldn’t come along. And Katherine mentioned the show in one of her weekly round-up posts.

If anyone else feels like passing on the word about the show, I’d be grateful because obviously I’d like as many people as possible to see it and it finishes this Saturday so it’s your last chance to get along to see it.

Hey, what the hell happened to February? I know it’s a short month but how is it possible that I’m going back to London to take down the Pin show...

The recent snow we had made some lovely ‘accidental drawings’…

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009

The recent snow we had made some lovely ‘accidental drawings’… Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009 Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009 Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009 If you...

Ah, the dreaded tax return… thankfully, the problem I mentioned with my password was not a permanent one and I got my taxes in on time. I managed to do it in the early hours of last Friday morning; it turns out that if you wait until after midnight then the Inland Revenue website works just fine. Apparently my password wasn’t a problem at all, the website had simply fallen down from exhaustion earlier that day. And really, who can blame it? I know from past experience that I am certainly not the only person who does my taxes right at the last minute.

According to the Inland Revenue’s own figures, they hit peak numbers on Friday 30th January with 390,000 of us filing our taxes only a day before the deadline. It’s a bad habit and I plan to be more organised about it next time around… but then I always say that and I bet those other 389,999 people do as well!

Seriously though, my current accounts are a bit of a shambles and I need to get my art assistant, The Wonderful Zoë, to sort me out. She’s been self-employed for years and rolls her eyes at the organised chaos of my accounting ‘system’.

I do keep all my receipts (ordered by month in small plastic folders) and all my bank statements (ordered by tax year) but I don’t do two things that I should – I don’t have a separate bank account for my art business (which makes doing my incomings an absolute nightmare) and I don’t keep an accounts book. Both those things have always seemed like just too much of a bother when I rarely make any money at my art but I have decided that this year, it’s time to tackle them for three reasons. Firstly, if I start making money in the future then it will be vital to have solid accounting practices already in place. Secondly, if I’m ever investigated by the Inland Revenue, my current practices might look suspicious when really it’s just incompetence! And thirdly, it will make doing my taxes a whole lot easier and anything that stops me having a nervous breakdown at tax time is obviously A Very Good Thing: I know that my long-suffering family would certainly be grateful!

The current plan is that Zoë is going to bring one of her account books over for me to have a look at and then talk me through it and then I’m going to open a new bank account, move everything to where it should be and buy and start using an accounts book. Simple, no? My deadline for this is April, so that I can start the next tax year properly with all my new systems in place.

What sort of state are your accounts in? Do you do everything you ‘should’? Finances can be a difficult and emotionally tense area for a lot of people and although I believe that artists are generally far more practical and grounded than most people give us credit for, we’re certainly not immune to Head-In-The-Sand Syndrome when it comes to our accounts.

Ah, the dreaded tax return… thankfully, the problem I mentioned with my password was not a permanent one and I got my taxes in on time. I managed to do...

I’m not ready to talk about these yet but here’s a sneak preview of my latest test pieces.

Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009

Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009

Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009

Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009

Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009

I’m not ready to talk about these yet but here’s a sneak preview of my latest test pieces. Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009 Kirsty Hall: Test Sequins, Feb 2009...

Like much of Britain, I had a snow day yesterday.

Kirsty Hall: Winter Bench, Feb 2009

In actual fact, I was already taking the day off because it was my partner’s birthday, so the snow was just a magical addition to an already special day rather than an excuse to bunk off.

Kirsty Hall: Winter Sky, Feb 2009

Having grown up in Yorkshire and Scotland I tend to scoff at the south of England’s propensity to fall into utter disarray when it snows but I am still like a child when confronted with the beauty of a sudden snowfall. Living somewhere that gets very little snow makes it even more special.

Although I wasn’t working yesterday, I couldn’t resist dancing gleefully around the garden taking snowy photos in the dark. Fortunately this made my partner laugh with delight at me (always try to find a partner who finds your artiness endearing rather than annoying!)

This shot is technically terrible but I feel it captures the magic, silent ‘otherness’ of the snow.

Kirsty Hall: Snow at Night, Feb 2009

Oh, and I will finish writing up my London reviews shortly but I have a belated birthday cake to make first. As you can see, I’m still working on that life/art balance…

Like much of Britain, I had a snow day yesterday. Kirsty Hall: Winter Bench, Feb 2009 In actual fact, I was already taking the day off because it was my...