festive opening hours...

A wee reminder of our opening hours over the next few weeks. We are open every day up until 5pm on Christmas eve. 

(hurrah! - finally got blogger working for me again)

new hilke macintyre artwork - part 2

Feeding
 ceramic relief (13cm x 27cm) - £90

Cutting Lettuce
ceramic relief (10cm x 25cm) - £80

Looking for the Cat
ceramic relief (13cm x 13cm) - £65

Bird in the Sky
ceramic relief (5.5cm x 25cm) - £70

The Visit & Small Harbour
ceramic reliefs (both approx 9cm x 9cm) - £40 each

Beer
ceramic relief (5.5cm x 10.5cm) - £30



Apologies for lack of posts recently. Blogger doesn't seem to be working properly for me anymore (as in not allowing words except for in captions and other equally frustrating things) - hopefully will work out problem soon.

new hilke macintyre artwork - part 1

 

Fox in The Woods
mixed media on paper, paper size 20cm x 20cm (in limewashed wooden frame 38cm x 38cm) - £220

 

St. Andrews
original linocut, print size 50cm x 50cm (paper size 60cm x 60cm) - £100



Steam Train - Holiday Line
original linocut, print size 30cm x 30cm (paper size 40cm x 40cm) - £80



Walk in The Blue
original linocut, print size 20cm x 30cm (paper size 30cm x 40cm) - £60



Landscape With Rainbow
original linocut, print size 21cm x 40cm (paper size 30cm x 40cm) - £80

looking for a new home...

 

....that is, for my hoardings of knobs & handles.

It's been about 6 years since I stopped working on furniture in the shop but although I've (mostly) rid myself of my collection of 'useful pieces of wood'  I still have 14 years worth of knobs, handles & miscellaneous removed from various pieces of furniture pre-revamp. I've just unearthed 2 boxes of these from under the seating at the back of shop and I've finally had to admit their time is most definately up.

Rather than throwing them out I'd LOVE to give them to somebody out there that could make use of them. Somebody that didn't just think they were junk. I'm not definite about the exact number but there must be hundreds of them, of all sorts. 

If you think you could do something interesting with them, or know that person who could, AND can pick them up from the shop in Perth, then drop me (Arlene) an email at mail@boovake.co.uk . 

I'm ever hopeful.

UPDATE: They've gone! And to someone who thought they were 'treasure'! Who'd have thought I'd get a teeny bit emotional on parting with them (I suppose they represent quite a part of the shop's history) - but on the other hand, it's great to get a bit more space back!


a week in cornwall...

 

overlooking Kynance Cove

Last week I was down in Cornwall for the very first time. My mother-in-law was celebrating her 80th birthday and thought it would be nice for all her family to congregate close to where her daughter now lives - which gave us a great excuse to enjoy the sun, sea & lovely scenery of south west Cornwall for the week.

 

along the south west Cornwall coastal path

 

Porthleven

 

The Ship Inn, Porthleven



Church Cove

 

cycling through a field of ponies

 

heading towards Kynance Cove

 

cafe at Kynance Cove.

Nothing quite beats the white sandy beaches of the north west of Scotland for me (where you most likely will have the whole beach to yourself) BUT a cafe right by the beach at a craggy cove in Cornwall comes a very close second (especially when you've just lugged your bike down from the coastal path above).



 

looking out to sea at the Halzephron Inn

  

our bunkhouse

 

the nearest beach to our residence

  

If you look closely you might make out some of the menagerie from the next door farm (as depicted by the young artists in our company)....including Pogo & Poppy the dogs, Godfrey the turkey, Boris the very large pig (although he's looking a little under-sized here) and Tweety the emu.

 


Pogo

Pogo really deserves a blog of his own. He lives on the farm next to the bunkhouse but really he's a dog of the world. It seemed like Pogo was around every corner, along every hedgerow, under every table. When we were at my in-laws he was there, in the bunkhouse or in the garden he was there, nestling on our feet. He was there to send us off on our walks, and there to greet us home (well, in his own style). During our week he had an adventure (subsequently known as 'Pogo's Day Out') when he took himself off along the coastal path to a neighbouring town where he endeared himself to some unsuspecting tourists who (rather bizarrely) bought him fish & chips and hung out with him before driving him the few miles home. I suspect that was not the first time, such are his enigmatic powers over lesser beings.

We had intended to visit St Ives, and loads of other places that would have required borrowing a car, but in the end we were perfectly happy walking and cycling closer to home (still managed 5 pubs & a music festival). It felt much more relaxing than our normal holidays. Our last day was just spent in the garden of the bunkhouse reading and drinking G&Ts (such a novelty when you don't have a garden of your own), before walking through the hedgerows to the local pub. Bliss.   

Big thanks to all K's family for making it such a pleasure (I now know he's not the ONLY performer in the family), especially Olive for getting us down there & Fiona for working her magic.   



our (best dressed?) window...

As part of Perth Independents' Week this week shops in town were asked to make a display that would promote some aspect of summer in Perth. So with the help of my wooden husband (explanation below) we chose to go with the Perth Kilt Run (Perth, Scotland's attempt to snatch the world record for the largest number of kilted runners from our twinnies Perth, Ontario). 

Due to 'administrative errors' there was a bit of a 'breakdown in communications' with the council team who have been promoting this event so we're really late to the game and are just up on their Facebook page today, waiting to be judged (all lonely and looking for likes). If you are perhaps on Facebook and would like to give us a wee boost you can vote for our window on their FB page here .

       

ps. you can still vote for us as your favourite Perth shop here

*puppet was a wedding present from our Czech friends Johny & Sima and is a minature version of my other half Ken. Johny carved the marionette & Sima made the clothes. It is rather heavy and usually sits on a chair at home.

perhaps...um...maybe you'd like to vote for us

This week we are taking part in Perth Independents' Week (a council promoted event hinged around the nationally run Independents' Day on the 4th of July), the aim being to promote the varied & interesting shops we have in our locality.

Boo Vake is taking part in two 'competitions', one of which is Perth's Independent Retailer of the Year. If you would like to vote for us then you will find the link here . So far I think I've persuaded my mum to vote (although she did say she'd have a browse first to see who the other contenders were) so any others would be most gratefully received.

As you can see we're also entered into the Best Dressed Window comp but, as I write, we've not yet made it onto the council's chosen voting arena (perhaps this will happen before the end of the week).  

Hey, let the most brazen win!

Later this week I shall be taking a few days off so here are this week's revised opening hours....

Tues 14th /Wed 15th OPEN 10-5.30

Thurs 16th /Fri 17th  CLOSED

Sat 18th OPEN 12-4

20th birthday prize draw

As a thank you to our lovely customers we're entering everybody who makes a purchase this week (until Saturday evening) into our Birthday Prize Draw!

Prizes include a wild boar lampshade, a Roddy & Ginger birchwood tray, a Donna Wilson rubber stamp set & a geometric tablemat set by Fun Makes Good (all of which I'd love myself truth be told!). Oh and a there's a Boo Vake giftvoucher too. You also get to choose which prize you'd prefer - no purchase too small!

And if you happen to be in town this Saturday (4th May) pop in for a wee drink & some nibbles in the shop after 4pm!

UPDATE: Well done our prize draw winners!....Anne, Emma, Robert, Lindsey & Laura. All our prizes have now gone to their new homes. Thanks to all who helped me celebrate :)

twenty years young

I was really chuffed to find this in last Saturday's Herald, not least because it was the result of a genuine trip to Boo Vake, and a bit of research from the author, and not just a press release filler (as I always somehow imagined these items to be).

And as it happens it couldn't really be better timed as, as you can see, Boo Vake is now 20 years old!!  

The plan at the moment is to have a wee celebration in the shop on the 4th of May. I'll keep you posted :)  

springtime at boo vake

   

It's been a while since I shared a look around the shop & some of different work that's been arriving (I'd like to blame Facebook for that) so here is a wee glimpse... 

From the top: Fun Makes Good - leather bow brooches, geometric tablemats, Reiko Kaneko - fine bone china, Robin & Mould - cat & fox cushions, Tatty Devine - necklaces, rings, brooches & earrings.

Boo Vake has a big birthday coming! A bit about that very soon.....

risograph lions & crocs

 'jungle lion'  - A3 risograph print (£12.50 unframed)

'crocodile' - A3 risograph print (£12.50 unframed)

We've just taken delivery of these rather lovely risograph animal prints from Lisa & Edward at the Lisa Jones Studio. You might remember we had matching bone china mugs last year (if you were in the shop).

I have to admit I wasn't entirely sure what a risograph was until a few weeks ago (or rather I was sort of familiar with the outcome but a bit woolly with the process & the name for it). 

After a little bit of searching it would appear it works something like this: a thermographic master is created for each colour before the master is wrapped around a drum which is filled with ink. Whilst the paper remains flat the drum rotates at high speed, forcing the ink through the stencil (or master) and onto the paper. 

It's an attractive choice for artists & designers wanting a more affordable option to screen-printing as it achieves similiar spot colours (each colour is printed seperately) but with very fast duplication. 

And from Lisa & Edward themselves...."The paper needs to pass through the machine to receive each colour, which makes a mockery of precise registration, while the colours themselves are limited and can't be mixed (although, in truth, subtleties could be achieved through overlays or halftones). Despite these clunky limitations and inbuilt imperfections, they have a wonderful quality that's utterly matte and simultaneously somehow luminescent."

     

close-up of croc print

Whilst looking for imformation I came across this print studio in Glasgow that specialises in risograph printing. Worth taking a look at if you are interested.

back in the swing... and discovering the joy of weekends

above: 'neep' by donna wilson *

We may be more than halfway through January but I'm going to say 'Happy New Year' anyway! After a good break away from shop duties (mostly on the Black Isle & home in Perth) it was back to it last week with a head full of the cold & tax return to do (both thankfully now out the way). 

One of the joys of my break was the final weekend here in Perth. Having worked for myself for almost 20 years I can't remember a time when I had a Saturday & Sunday off in succession in Perth. My days off are Sunday/Monday (except the last five weeks before Christmas when it's zero time off). Of course I've had Saturdays/Sundays off when I've gone away on holiday (or to the odd trade fair or when getting married) but rarely (can't actually think of any instance) when I've just been mooching about at home in Perth. In all the time I've known my husband (12 years now I believe) he's put up with us only having Sundays off together. Usually this means that the pressure is on to get out & 'do something' or the day somehow feels wasted. Then comes Monday and although I'm physically not in the shop invariably I'm thinking about it or running errands for it.

So, the delight of waking up on a Saturday morning, in my own bed, and not having any plans, and knowing the next day it would be the same was something else. As it happened we did actually feel a pressure not to waste the Saturday but when Sunday came along all that was out the way and it was guilt-free pottering central at home (even with feeling a bit ropey with colds). It's amazing how much you can pack in when you don't have any expectations. I really could get quite used to this weekend thing. Just as well I do a job that I love as it will be another year before it happens again :) 

* tenuous link to January (when neeps (turnips to Scots/swedes to the English) get a good old outing with haggis & tatties in celebration of Mr R. Burns) .