BBC Wiltshire has been to Aldbourne to meet a textile artist who for the last year has been keeping a very unusual record of her day-to-day life. While most people choose to write in their diaries, Alison Edmonds likes to paint, draw, stitch hers. Alison, from Aldbourne, was inspired by a magazine article that talked about a group of women who produced a drawing a day to improve their observational skills. Alison recalls: "As soon as my friend had read the article over the phone I said we should go for it and that we should start now! "I love diaries and I'm fascinated by journals and I suddenly saw this as a way of keeping a journal for myself. It just gripped my imagination: not knowing what each day would bring and what inspiration I would get each day," she says. So gathering her materials together, which include handmade paper, plastic, copper thread and gauze, Alison embarked on her journal, capturing a moment of her day on a piece of 5" X 7" card. Alison's love of art was inspired by her grandfather - an artist and photographer who taught her photography when she was only five and Alison says she's drawn, torn and stitched ever since! "I love the feel of materials and combining textures and I'm fascinated by the way you can alter something by adding depth - you get a different mood or feeling," she says. "Looking at these images brings back how I was feeling that particular day. "Although I love photography it doesn't capture how you feel because you compose for the lens and then, once you take the picture, everything's done." Alison art-journal has given her a certain freedom to experiment with images, textures and composition. She admits that, while she doesn't draw classically, her diary has helped her gain confidence in what she really enjoys doing. Click here to see: how Alison creates her pages |