Happy 2018!

I wanted to write a post on New Year's Eve, but I have a few projects on the go and not a lot finished! Nothing unusual there then ... Anyway, this little box canvas I did back in the summer, at an all day workshop where we did 2 canvases, but the other one went in the bin! It was a good day, as equal focus was on the food provided!

Today is a bit dark, rainy and dank, so this is a good reminder of summer!

If I remember rightly, this involved stamping onto tissue paper to create the background, and using inks and pens for colour. The dragonflies are stamped and hand cut (not my most favourite occupation), and there is a couple of die-cuts in there too.

Thank you to my readers and followers for all your comments this year, they are really appreciated.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy 2018, whatever you do - I seem to remember a quote about 365 blank pages, well I'm looking forward to 365 blank canvases!

No snow, but it is pouring!

Last weekend I did another Powertex workshop - 5 hours of getting messy and having fun, this time using Powertex in a pouring technique.

The box canvas used is 16 inches square. I started by creating the accumulation of flotsam by using shells, bits of wood, and other detritus. This was stuck to the canvas using ivory Powertex. When dry, I sprayed some Bister, followed by dry brushing with metallic colours.

While this was drying I mixed up my chosen colours - I used blue Powertex, purple acrylic paint and green Powertex (though the green completely disappeared). The colours were mixed (in separate cups) with Floetrol (this makes the Powertex/acrylic paint more fluid), and a few drops of silicone oil. I also had a cup of white Powertex also mixed with Floetrol (but no oil).

Using a clean cup, I poured in some white followed by the other colours in a random order.

Holding the full cup of paint, I placed the canvas on top and then flipped both cup and canvas over. When released the paint moves pretty fast, and I guided it where I wanted it by tilting the canvas. The addition of the oil creates the cells.

Finally I added some more white Powertex to give an impression of sea foam.

I had such fun with this, probably because it is unpredictable! Anyway, there is lots of info on You Tube about acrylic pouring.

It is Christmas Eve eve, and we won't be getting any snow, so ...

Happy Christmas everyone, and wishing you all a peaceful 2018.

Time to hibernate!

It's the last part of the Craft Barn's year long challenge using the poem The Months of the Year by Sara Coleridge.

The final couplet is

Chill December bring the sleet

Blazing fire and Christmas treat.

I have struggled with my chosen postcard size format, but I have had fun the past couple of entries using Photoshop. I found a photo of my friend's dog Tia in front a woodburner. A photo I took a year ago when I visited the wilds of Scotland! Regular readers may remember I did a portrait of Tia (see here).

Anyway, I've played around with it - and Tia is waiting for her Christmas treat!

I've done a montage of all my entries -

not sure what I'm going to do with them, but the obvious one is a calendar.

“It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

It's all about the (British) weather!

I started my Intermediate Acrylics course in September, and have only finished one project so far. There is quite a lot of homework with these classes, and given the time of year ...

The first project still needs quite a bit of work, and the current project has a couple more weeks to go. This is the second project, which I have managed to finish!

I'm using a canvas sheet, which comes in a pad, and means I can roll it up for storage!

The aim of this particular project was to paint reflections in water. I'm reasonably happy with the result, although the reflected colours could be a little more subdued as the water is on dark tarmac.

Recently went to Tate Britain for the Impressionists in London (French artists in exile 1870 - 1904) exhibition. Absolutely loved it - so many artworks on show.

In the 1870s, France was devastated by the Franco-Prussian war and insurrection in Paris, driving artists to seek refuge across the Channel. Their experiences in London and the friendships that developed not only influenced their own work, but also contributed to the British art scene.

Here are just some of my favourites.

Camille Pissarro
Charing Cross Bridge, London 1890

J A M Whistler
Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea 1871

James Tissot
The Gallery of HMS Calcutta (Portsmouth) 1876

I don't know much about this artist, but I loved his few paintings that are in the exhibition. Reminded me very much of Renoir (another favourite of mine).

Claude Monet
Houses of Parliament, Sunlight Effect 1903

There was a whole room dedicated to Monet's Houses of Parliament series - it gave me goosebumps!

Breathtaking!

Claude Monet
Houses of Parliament c. 1900-1

Had to include another one!
















The exhibition is on until 7 May 2018, and if you love Impressionism it is a must see!

Looks like a rather blustery day ...

The penultimate part of this year's Craft Barn challenge has arrived, and this month's couplet is -

Dull November brings the blast,

Then the leaves are falling fast.

I enjoyed doing last month's entry in Photoshop, so I reviewed all the autumnal photos I've taken over the years, and found one which I took at Wakehurst Place. It looks like an Acer with fabulous deep orange and red colouring.

I played around with it in Photoshop and eventually decided to use the Ink Outline in the brush strokes section. I then added the text.  I felt it needed something else, so dug out a small leaf punch.

Creating something on the computer has certainly helped me get round the restrictive postcard size!

Can't believe there is just one more month to go with this challenge. Pleased I didn't give up, which I have been close to a couple of times. Not going to do postcard size ever again!! (never say never)

Happy windy-day!

And then there were three ...

We recently arranged a Fearless Four get together to create a triptych using three cut down wood panelling boards. Unfortunately one of us could only make the lunch ... good decision on priorities there!

Anyway, my inspiration was "rainforest". Don't ask where that came from, I have no idea - maybe because it was on wood?!?

We had decided not to use Powertex this time, so I went for some texture paste through stencils, some skeleton leaves, hessian flower shapes, plastic frogs, wallpaper, string, and a wooden spider (courtesy of Lin).

I used quite a few layers of acrylic paint, and drybrushed with irridescent green and copper.

I then decided to fit all the panels together, as I thought it looked better. It was a bit of a struggle, but I managed it, though I don't think I'll be able to get them apart again!

Both Lin and Linda decided to start with all three panels together, but didn't get anywhere near finished, so no pics to show.

As I had somehow come up with the rainforest as inspiration, I did some research.

We all know about deforestation and the problems that can cause. Fifty percent of the world's plants and animals can be found in rainforests. They extend from as far as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa. They nurture thousands of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, besides providing food, water and air to the rest of the world. And temperate and tropical rainforests play a key role in climate change, helping to regulate the Earth's temperature and weather patterns.

New ideas are being proposed to save rainforests. For example, government and companies are finally starting to recognise the value of goods and services afforded by healthy forests, including carbon storage, buffering against flood and drought cycles, and safeguarding water supplies.

Another recent development has been the acknowledgement that local and indigenous communities are often some of the best stewards of forests. There is a growing movement to help these communities win the legal right to manage their traditional lands instead of letting the government hand out concessions to companies that clear forests for plantations.

Forests are being monitored far more effectively than just a few years ago, knowing what is happening to forests empowers us to do something about it.

Lost in space ...

I did another Powertex workshop last weekend, again on a large canvas. This one is all about the night sky. I do love all those photos that the Hubble telescope takes, so that is where the inspiration comes from.

Powertex is mixed with 3D Flex powder, which makes it stiffer so that it can hold whatever shape you create.

The colour comes from a combination of Bister sprays and acrylic paint, in several layers, finished with a bit of splatter and gold dry brushing. I did finish it off at home, but I love how it turned out!

One of my favourite programmes from 1980 is Cosmos with Carl Sagan - so here are a couple of quotes.

“We inhabit a universe where atoms are made in the centers of stars; where each second a thousand suns are born; where life is sparked by sunlight and lightning in the airs and waters of youthful planets; where the raw material for biological evolution is sometimes made by the explosion of a star halfway across the Milky Way; where a thing as beautiful as a galaxy is formed a hundred billion times - a Cosmos of quasars and quarks, snowflakes and fireflies, where there may be black holes and other universe and extraterrestrial civilizations whose radio messages are at this moment reaching the Earth. How pallid by comparison are the pretensions of superstition and pseudoscience; how important it is for us to pursue and understand science, that characteristically human endeavor. ” 
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos


“A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way” 
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

... from little acorns

At the weekend I went foraging for acorn caps with Laura, my wood-turner sister. Laura turns acorns from all different woods then puts them into the natural caps. The difficulty is turning them the right size so they fit into the caps (which are all different sizes!).

Last year there were hardly any acorns to be had, but this year there is a bumper crop, so we collected bagfuls!

With that excursion in mind, and this month's Craft Barn challenge couplet being ...

Fresh October brings the pheasant;

Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

It was obvious to me that I should use one of Laura's creations, so I resorted to Photoshop and played around with the images, settling on a couple of the artistic filters.

When the oak tree is fallen, the whole forest echoes with it;

but a hundred acorns are planted silently by some unnoticed breeze.

Thomas Carlyle

Feeling a little rusty!

Did a fabulous workshop recently, incorporating Powertex into a painting. This was all done in five hours - pretty intense at times trying to keep up!

The base is a 18 inch by 15 inch box canvas.We used corrugated cardboard with the Powertex, and when that was dry, we painted over it with something that contained iron filings (can't remember what it was called but it had a rather strong odour!). To create the rust we then sprayed copper sulphate (I think). It started going rusty within minutes.

The bottom corner is random detritus - bits of wood, hemp, sand and dust.

In between all those steps, and whilst the layers were drying, we painted the farmyard scene with acrylic paint.

It is difficult to convey what it feels like looking at this, as it is quite large, it really does seem like I'm inside a rusty old barn looking out!

My favourite colour is sunset ...

... I just love that pink and orange combination that spreads across the sky, and is always so fleeting.

This piece is pure experimentation!

I started with an 10 x 8 canvas board, and covered it in iridescent orange acrylic paint.

I've got these little boxes of wood shavings in various colours, courtesy of my sister. Regular readers of my blog will know that Laura is a woodturner, and some of the wood she uses comes in fantastic natural colours (see Laura's Etsy shop Treasures From the Tree here).

By the way, the link to my Etsy shop is on the sidebar!

One of the wood shavings is from a tree called Pink Ivory, and is also a stunning pinky-orange colour.

I took that and sprinkled it over lines of PVA glue, patted it down and then waited for it to dry.

Meanwhile, I added some blues to the sky.

When the wood shavings were dry, I took Pebeo Prisme paint in a couple of colours and poured it between the wood trails.  Note - when poured this paint spreads far and wide, so it soaked into a lot of the wood! Never mind ... my sandbanks are being inundated with the turning tide!

When everything was dry I took some metal leaf and created a setting sun. I also used metal foil for the wave tops.

So, a semi-abstract creation which has quite a few errors, but I had fun - which really is all that matters!

Clouds come floating into my life,

no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

but to add colour to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore

The current Paper Artsy challenge is all about metallics, follow the link to see some fabulous inspiration! I'm going to add my effort to all the other great entries!

All things being equal ...

Today is the Autumn equinox when the day and night are nearly equal in length, apparently there is about a 10 minute difference in the UK. The days on which the length of day and night are exactly equal is called the equilux, and occurs a few days after the autumn equinox. This date will vary depending on where on Earth you are, and indeed equiluxes do not occur at all close to the equator. Mr Google can give more info!

So, I've nearly run out of time on this month's Craft Barn challenge. The next couplet is -

Warm September brings the fruit,

Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

There is an abundance of blackberries around at the moment - blackberry and apple crumble - yum - proper comfort food!

Anyway, I have done a quick watercolour of some blackberries.

Happy equinox - and if you are reading this on Monday/Tuesday - Happy equilux!

Pals, Powertex and Pebeo

The Fearless Four recently got together, and we are still on that Powertex road! This time using a mirror as the base. As I had recently done a mirror with other friends (see here), I decided to turn mine into a picture.

Last year, I had a Pebeo play and used some Eco-board tiles, to create this ... using the Moon and I think a bit of the Prisme, not sure though, so long ago!

Since then they have sat in a box waiting for inspiration to strike. I found they fitted perfectly over the centre mirror ...









I first blocked the mirror aperture with cardboard, and covered the whole piece with a mixture of ivory and grey Powertex. I then used Stone Art all over, into which I embedded some loose woven hessian.

Once dry, I've used acrylic paint for the colour, and dry brushed gold paint, together with some copper gilding wax.

And what did the others get up to ...

Lin's mirror has some metal butterflies and flowers, with Bister. There's a bit of crackle going on there too.

Linda went for texture and flowers, with a bit of silver sparkle.

Monica used buttons - makes a change from shells!

I think we all have a button box, so a great way to use up those odd ones.












Another great day. We have already put the next one on the calendar, and we will not be using Powertex!

Bluebell the Third

Well, I've finally done it - opened an Etsy shop!

The house has become slightly crowded with all my artwork, so thought I would see if anyone else loves it enough to buy it!

Let me know what you think... I've put a link on my right side bar, or click through from here Art By Kaybee.

Just finished yet another bluebell painting! I've tried to analyse why I love bluebells so much, and I think it's because they are a sign of Spring, which always makes me happy.

This is semi abstract with a watercolour background and a touch of acrylic ink. The main bluebells are done in heavy body acrylic paint.

Starting to feel very autumnal, with chilly mornings, and lots of spiders' webs appearing!

I start another art course in a week's time - Intermediate Acrylics - should be fun.

Happy September!

Temporary loss of creative thought ...

Don't seem to have had much time recently to come up with something for this month's Craft Barn challenge.  The next couplet is -

August brings the sheaves of corn,

The the Harvest home is borne.

and we have to include a tractor.

Probably because I'm pushed for time my mind has been a blank on this one - no inspiration whatsoever! Anyway, I've found some clipart and created it on my computer (very unusual for me), and added some glitter to the corn, which you can't really see. The background (of which very little can be seen) was a scrap piece of painted paper I found.

So, all very boring really - I hope to get back on track for next month!

Power(tex) to the people ...

Had a session with a couple of other friends who wanted to try Powertex on a mirror frame. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of their pieces - sorry!

I've used t-shirt yarn, paper clay roses and dragonfly, and bits of wallpaper, together with ivory Powertex and Bister sprays. I've done a lot of acrylic paint dry brushing on this, particularly in gold, which doesn't really come out in the photos.

Having finished it I can see a touch of Art Nouveau and Mackintosh in it, which just goes to show how we can be influenced by other art, even subconsciously!

Last week I went to this year's Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. The usual eclectic mix, here are a few of my favourites.

Sanctuary by Barbara Rae

She does a lot of work with the collaged birds, and I love them all.

This year, the red one attracted me!

Golden Wasp Game #7 by Mike Chisholm

This is a digital print. I am drawn to the simple almost monotone image.

Watching by Wendy Freestone
(bronze)
Quite small, which is what caught my eye, and maybe a little disturbing too.











Another fabulous art-filled day!

Abstraction, Modernism and a pinch of Surrealism

I've just remember I haven't told you about the last 2 day workshop I did on encaustic collage.

This combined my love of collage with trying wax, so of course, I had to sign up!

I decided I would do an abstract using a beach sunset as inspiration. I also thought I would not use any paint (apart from a quick under painting), and all the collage pieces would be rectangular - I do like to challenge myself!

I used watercolour paper, which with hindsight is not really robust enough for adding a lot of wax. When I cut it off the support board it becomes quite difficult to handle. I need to think about what kind of frame to put it in.

The wax we used was a mix of beeswax and Damar resin, which strengthens the beeswax.

After doing a quick watercolour under painting, I started cutting up various bits and pieces, including speciality papers, cardboard, fabric, hessian, bookprint, and laid them out as my initial thoughts on construction.

As you can see, it is very rough at this stage, and I took a photo to remember placement, but I knew it wouldn't turn out like this!

Next, using wallpaper paste, I starting sticking everything down - quite tricky to get the order right!

I used the wax to stick the corrugated card and hessian, and started layering wax is a few places. I also spattered some wax for a bit of sea spray.












Finally, after several layers of wax, and a few more additions - including orange for the sunset reflection, and a rockpool (bottom left) using seed beads and abalone shell, I finished with some gold paint through a fossil fish stencil. You will have to enlarge the picture to see them properly.

I liked using the wax as it provides another dimension, but I need to get to grips with the technique a bit better!

This week I had a day trip to Charleston and Farley Farm - fabulous day!

Charleston, home from 1916 to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, was the country retreat for the group of artists, writers and thinkers known as the Bloomsbury group.

I loved this house, and wanted to move in immediately. Every room was decorated by the artists, with murals on all the furniture, fireplaces and walls. It had a beautiful atmosphere, and the studio was to die for!







Not allowed to take any photos inside so if you want to explore further I'm sure Google will help.

The gardens were stunning too.

















Then on to Farley Farm, which in 1949 became home to Roland Penrose, Surrealised artist, and Lee Miller, American model, photographer and WW2 correspondence.

Another stunning home, full of artworks ... many created by their friends and visitors, including Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, and Max Ernst.

You may recognise this one by Roger Penrose, of his first wife Valentine, entitled Winged Domino.

The gardens were extensive ...

... and full of  modern sculpture.

I was quite taken with this one - Sky Seed
by Mark and Rebecca Ford (2017).

I bought a couple of books and some postcards.













I was fascinated by the stories regarding the Bloomsbury Group, so I'm going to get some books from the Library and have a good read!

It's not about what it is ...

... but about what it can become!

Recently the Fearless Four got together for a Powertex play, using empty Horlicks containers.

We used bits of fabric, string, wood shapes, shells and other found stuff. Also included in our ingredients lists was Bister, acrylic paint and ink sprays. Because the Horlicks containers are plastic, we wrapped masking tape around them so the Powertex would stick.

So, here are the results ...apologies for the quality of most of the photos, but I forgot to take my camera, so used my phone.

Lin used ivory Powertex, with ric rac ribbon around cotton fabric, and embellished with some wood shapes. Bister and gold sprays used too.

Linda used bronze Powertex on cotton fabric, with some string, and a skull (Linda is a little bit Gothic too). She also used Bister and silver spray for colour.

Monica seems has a never ending supply of shells! Some have been incorporated into the cotton fabric, together with lace and string.

Bronze Powertex also used with  silver spray.

Every Halloween I'm on the lookout for likely stuff to use in projects, and I found a bag of plastic skulls one year and still have loads! I had to saw the backs off so they could be incorporated into this project.

I  have always been a little bit Gothic and fascinated by skulls, so I put three on my pot, but the other two are round the other side!

I've used some t-shirt fabric, with hessian, string and dishcloth material.

I also thought the plastic cross added to the look!

I used black Powertex, and dry brushed some blue paint, and also used Linda's fabulous silver spray (I've now bought some too!).

I'm using my pot for some of my (rather large) stash of paint brushes.



So, another fabulous day. We've already booked the next get togther, and guess what - yes - we will be using Powertex again!

Pieces of silver ...

I started this painting about 3 months ago, and then lost my way. I've gone back to it about half a dozen times, and finally finished it last week.

As usual, I was experimenting! I drew the outline of the trees then covered them with tissue paper, wrinkling it as I stuck it down. I then wondered if I could get away with covering the tissue with masking fluid while I did the background, and then get the masking fluid off successfully.

You don't know unless you try! So that is what I did, painting the background with a dark blue watercolour mix - I did about 4 watercolour washes.

The masking fluid had been on for about 48 hours, and now was the time to try and get it off without ruining the tissue paper. I rubbed it off very slowly and ... it worked!

The Autumn foliage is done with gouache, which was not intense enough for me, so I then resorted to heavy body acrylics - much better. I think there also may be a bit of oil pastel in there too!

I used texture paste for the grass area, and then watercolour,  also some gouache - oh and - heavy body acrylics!

Finally, added the dark patches on the trunks, using the tissue wrinkles as a guide.

Since I've been doing all those art courses (it has been 2 years now), I've learnt that most times when I begin something it looks awful, and I'm tempted to bin it, but it is only once I've been working on something for some time (like this one), that eventually it may come together (probably!). So not so much goes in the bin now. I'm also quite happy to use any combination of media to get the result I want.

I'm entering this for the current Paper Artsy challenge, which is all about dark to light (contrast).

Having finally finished the painting, I was inspired to write another Haiku ...

Gold red cloaks falling

Pale figures reaching skyward

Ere long silent ghosts

Seeing red ...

I'm still on a Powertex wave!

With a couple of friends, I took part in another workshop; a good way to try stuff before maybe buying - this time I tried the red Powertex. Now, I'm not usually a red girl, but, I fell in love with the richness of this colour.

On a 40cm x 40cm box canvas, the texture is created from bits of wallpaper, hessian, cotton strings, sand, and paste through a stencil.

Also, some plaster ammonites from a mould and a couple of metal embellishments.

I also used black Bister and gold mica powder.

Followed by a good lunch ... another perfect day!

Gilly what?

All this heat addles my brain so that I can't think about anything creative, but I did complete this month's Craft Barn's Twelve Month Challenge using the July couplet:

Hot July brings cooling showers,

Strawberries and gilly-flowers.

And we must include gillyflowers, which I had to look up -

Gillyflower, also spelled gilliflower, any of several scented flowering plants, especially the carnation, or clove pink (Dianthus caryophyllus), stock (Matthiola incana), and wallflower (Cheiranthus cheiri). However, the gillyflower of Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakespeare was the carnation. Other plants that are types of gillyflower are dame's gillyflower, also known as dame’s violet (Hesperis matronalis); mock gillyflower, also known as soapwort or bouncing bet (Saponaria officinalis); feathered gillyflower, also known as the grass or garden pink (Dianthus plumarius); and sea gillyflower, also known as the thrift or sea pink (Armeria maritima).

Hunted through some stamps, and found an old one by Paper Artsy which must be a wallflower (well, it certainly looks like one!).

Stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured with Windsor and Newton pens.

So far, so very boring ... 

...looking around I found a small piece of Bondaweb (a double sided adhesive usually used to bond two pieces of fabric). I had sprayed this particular piece with ink (probably Dylusions). So, I thought I would iron that over the top, for a bit of interest and texture.

Really enjoying Wimbledon this year - nothing like spending a lazy afternoon watching the tennis with an ice cream!

Postscript: just noticed the Sara Coeridge poem I downloaded has strawberries and not apricots. So I've just done another search, and found 3 different versions of this poem! 

So, I'll stick with strawberries - especially with cream - yum!

Wave power ...

I'm still playing with Powertex, and I found an offcut of MDF in my cupboard, which I thought I would use as a base. In preparation, I roughly cut some strips from an old T-shirt and some flower shapes from calico.

I coated the MDF with black gesso, and put some plasterboard tape down one side for texture.

I poured on ivory Powertex and spread it around before dunking the fabric bits into the ivory Powertex, and creating the flowers. I added  sand and small balls (also by Powertex) to add weight at the bottom.

I let it dry before using some bister sprays. I also added crushed glass to the centre of the flowers and a little gilding wax; although the photo doesn't really show the glimmery bits!

The measure of a man is what he does with power(tex)

With apologies to Plato

Took a trip to the British Museum last week and saw "Hokusai beyond the Great Wave" exhibition (on until 13 August). I love these kinds of exhibitions because they bring together artwork from around the world, which normally I wouldn't get to see.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is mostly know for his Great Wave (woodcut) - have you noticed the boats and the people?

I also love the way he did waterfalls ...

... and this one with carp.

In fact water features a lot in both his woodcuts and paintings, as well as Mount Fuji.

This is an ink painting I wouldn't mind hanging on my wall - The Dragon of Smoke Escaping from Mount Fuji.

I've always had a passion for dragons - probably because I was born in the year of the dragon!



















Usually our art trips start with a coffee and almond croissant, and this one was no different! Perfect day.