Sorting, Tidying, Pies and Rats

Hello All,

This weekend was not a creative one! Most time was spent tidying, sorting, getting rid of rats (grim!) gardening and making pie (yum) When I got around to some art work it was mainly to tidy up the edges of my canvasses.

I did put together a parcel of ephemera as part of this months art swap, which fit in quite nicely with sorting and tidying! And I did manage to start a background for an art journal spread:

Whilst sorting I came across this journal which to be honest I had forgotten about. It is made of brown paper so it is quite different to work with and the fact that it is ring bound creates a different feel to the pages too. It feels a bit disjointed so its not my favorite to work with but I decided to not give in on it and therefore made a start on a background by adding modelling paste through a stencil and adding different stripes of colour over the top. Next I added circles and splats. It felt right to leave some of the brown showing and I have left it as it is now. Where it will take me next who knows but I quite like it so far.

I am in France next week (can't wait) and apart from drinking too much wine, and eating too much cheese I hope to take some art stuff with me and perhaps do some sketching or mini journaling or something....I'll see what I have time for.

I will post when I get back!

Bye for now xxx

Feeling bright

Hello All,

This last week has been full of troubles from broken down cars to rats under the sink. It really was enough to get anyone down in the dumps but it ended on a high with a lovely weekend with my sister and family.

So despite it all I decided to try and feel positive and when I did manage to do some journaling I kept it bright and cheerful:

So keep smiling everyone and try to see the positive in every situation (sometimes easier said than done!)

Bye for now! xx

New Gelli plate!

Hello all,

Just a very quick post today because I managed to have a play with my new round gelli plate that I got for my birthday and  I am feeling excited!

I forget how much fun gelli printing is! and I am loving the round one for all the fun overlapping patterns you can create. You may notice that I often put circles in my work, I am always fond of a good circle :) .... anyway here is my play!

I also used some new stamps to create the patterns. Hope you like it!

Bye for now xx

Sunshine is bliss

Hello All,

Well the sun came out this last weekend and it was glorious. I spent most of the time sitting in my garden, my kids playing around me, while I read my book or created. Absolutely bliss! I think the only time I left that spot was when we walked into the woods to look at the bluebells that have suddenly bloomed. Everything seems that much better with a bit of sunshine. The trees that had been sat in bud for weeks felt the sun and burst into glorious green. It got me thinking how much everyone loves the spring but only due the lack of it, only because of winter. The return of spring makes everyone breath a sigh of relief and everyone is suddenly all the more open and friendly because of it.

It prompted me to make these pieces. The first is a mixed media index card and as I sketched the bush in my garden all set to burst into colour I thought of the text. It is the idea that at this time of year everything is holding its breath before bursting with colour and new life. The second piece is in my art journal and it is done completely in inks. I was experimenting with the new ecoline inks and wanted to see what they would be like for drawing with. The text says "We have to experience the coldness of the winter to truly appreciate the return of the sun"

It was a fab weekend, really peaceful! That said as I write this it is raining cats and dogs.... hey ho that is the way it goes when you live in England!

Bye for now! xxx

Experiments

Hello all,

A weekend full of eating and dancing.... fab! I had a lovely birthday with friends and family and some lovely presents including several arty ones (which I always look forward to!) Plus a yummy raspberry cake from my lovely sister.

Nick got my a new round gelli plate which I can't wait to get my hands on but haven't yet had the time. My mate got me some ecoline inks which I have wanted for a while. I briefly got them out the other day to have a play:

I haven't had much of a go but so far I love that they are so vivid. Looking forward to experimenting more!

I also, since I had very little time for anything else, decided to experiment with some metallic paint and glass bead texture gel on an index card. I was curious if the glass would catch the shine of the metallic.

It did really well and so far I am loving it! The yellow and orangey colours are also ecoline inks which I added just to see if they were vivid enough to show up. The white is some metallic shimmer ink which I dripped on. I was expecting it to come out darker than it did but hey ho that it why experimenting is so fun, you never quite know how it will turn out.  Not sure what to do with it next though?!

While I was in a metallicly mood I worked a tiny bit on my commission, adding a touch of silver into it:

I really love the shine on it now and it goes really well with the pattern. The silver plays well with the pink especially but also brings out the hints of blue.

I will let you know how my experiments turn out next time!

Bye for now xxx