Art Art & more Art!

Hello All!

Well I am now a few months into running my new art workshops and I have to say I am absolutely loving them and they are going so well. I have met some fantastic people and it feels wonderful to inspire others to try new things!

The courses I have run so far are 'An introduction to Art Journaling' and I am in the middle of a 5 week 'Expressive Drawing' course. I have also been tutoring one lady one to one in abstract art and getting set for some lovely Christmassy one off workshops over the next few weeks.

While all this means is I have less time than usual I have found myself totally inspired and keep sneaking off whenever I have a minute to work on my own stuff and to come up with new ideas for workshops.

Here are a few shots from the recent workshops:

It is lovely to see how different everyone's work is. I am particularly proud of the drawing course. Some of the participants were nervous and unsure of their abilities to start with however two of them were so proud of their drawings they have since framed and put up their work at home.

As well as the workshops I have been very busy with a new abstract canvas, here's how it looks so far:

At the moment I seem to be attracted to yellows which is unusual because it is not a colour I normally use. That said I am loving how this one is turning out!

More to come some! Bye for now xxx

New Expressive Drawing Course!

Hello All!

Some exciting news! My new 'Expressive Drawing' course is now up and running! Please see the following link for further details and how to book:

https://www.straightcurves.co.uk/class/expressive-drawing-course

Come and take a look!

Mixed Media Tags

Hello All,

What a busy bee I have been these last few weeks! It has been a bit mad whilst I have been setting up my new workshops and planning the next ones as well as taking on some Aerial hoop classes teaching people to be acrobats (which if you weren't aware is another passion of mine!)

The Art journaling workshops are going really well and I am now 2 weeks in to a 5 week course. The group I have is lovely and the feedback I have been getting so far is good. I love teaching, it is fab to get to know my group and watch their different styles develop. Here are a few snaps of the lovely work they have been producing so far:

One lovely lady has also asked me for a few one on one sessions in abstract art which I will be starting next week. Really looking forward to that, it should be loads of fun.

I have also been busy planning some other workshops, one of which is mixed media tags and I have been really enjoying making these in preparation. Take a look:

These are made from recycled bits and bobs and I adore the results! That workshop should be appearing very soon!

I'll keep you posted!

Bye for now! xxx

Summer Sketches

Hello All,

So the Kids have gone back to school today marking the end of another summer. It always seems to go so fast. We have had a good one, very busy as usual going here there and everywhere and shipping the kids off to various family members to cover the days we had to work. Despite this we did manage to get a long weekend away just the four of us. A few days camping near Scarborough which was lovely. You can't beat fish and chips by the sea.

Here are a few quick sketches I managed of the girls whilst they were playing on the beach.

Done in pen and watercolour I think they work really well to capture the moments perfectly. Lovely memories to treasure. 

I hope you like them too! Back to the routine of school and work now and my workshops are starting very soon so time to get organised!

Bye for now xxx

New Art Journaling Course!

Hello All!

Some exciting news! My new Introduction to Art Journaling course is now up and running! Please see the following link for further details and how to book:

https://www.straightcurves.co.uk/class/introduction-art-journaling

Sessions are available in both the afternoon and evening and a separate afternoon session is also available for ages 10-16. If you fancy coming along please take a look!

There are also some one off workshops as well as an expressive drawing course coming soon. I will keep you posted!

The art journaling course is full of fun techniques to try and includes your own handmade journal to work in! Hope to see you there!

Bye for now! xxx

Exciting News!

Hello all!

Well the last few weeks have been both frantic and exciting! Firstly I went to deliver a trial workshop to a group called StraightCurves in Chesterfield with the hope that they would hire me to start delivering some art workshops. I did a two hour introduction to art journaling and I am happy to say that they loved it! I start work there very soon!
I am really excited about this opportunity. It is lovely to see a group enjoying themselves and trying out the new ideas that I teach and I love to watch how everyone progresses over time. I feel this is a really good step for me to start seriously doing this as a career which is so exciting!

To top this off I got through to an audition for 'The Big Painting Challenge' on the BBC which takes place this Sunday. I am both giddy and terrified in equal measures. I doubt I will get on the actual programme but it is a huge compliment to get this far. If I do get through I will have the opportunity to learn so much and work with some fantastic artists which will be amazing!

All this means that I have been frantically painting and planning and journaling in preparation! here is a little of what I have been getting up to....

The above is a selection of some recent journal pages that I have been creating either as samples for the Chesterfield studio or as ideas for workshops using a variety of mediums and techniques.

These last three are experiments, practicing painting things that I normally don't paint and to a time limit. The first is a watercolour, I usually avoid buildings like the plague! The second is a selection of plants from my garden which I have attempted to do in my usual mixed media style. The third is a timed 2 hour still life challenge. These three came out well but there were several that didn't! Painting in a time limit is hard cause I don't have my usual time to stand back and reflect on it for a few days and work on it bit by bit. I have been well out of my comfort zone but its been worth doing I think.

Fingers crossed it goes well on Sunday!

Bye for now xxx

Experiments

Hello!

Well I realise it's been a while so first let me apologise for that. It has been a busy few weeks! I have been feeling very inspired lately to experiment and play with new things and go back and try my hand again at old things that I haven't done for years!

One reason for this is that recently I applied to go on 'The Big Painting Challenge' on the TV (this is a series that has a different challenge every week and one artist gets knocked out each week) Don't get too excited, it doesn't look like I have got through but by just applying got me experimenting with different types of paintings and with different mediums that I haven't reached for in ages.

Here are a few of the experiments!

This is my cat Biscuit! This was done on watercolour paper with brushos. I use brushos all the time, love them for adding colour to my paintings and mixed media projects but I have never tried to paint an image with them alone. I was really pleased with how this came out!

This one I did in only 10 minutes and with pen and brushos again. I wanted to it to be a bit freer and more expressive. It's simple but effective I think.

This one (again on watercolour paper) is done with brushos, pen and watercolours. I love how this one came out, it is definitely my favorite of the three. I really enjoyed using watercolours, they are not usually my 'go to' paint but this has led me into a bit of a watercolour phase at the mo. I am doing loads of experiments with them. I have never been taught to use them and never had the inclination to try until now. I will keep you posted with my progress!

I have many other projects on the go at the mo, including a new mixed media canvas and an art journaling workshop that I am running this week with a new group, which fingers crossed will lead to lots of workshops in the future! 

I will try and post again this week to show you more recent work. Until then bye for now! xxx