Remember ...

I've neglected my blog recently due to trying to move house, which is taking up all my time and energy! I've got buyers for my house, but can't find one to move to! My reason for moving is that I want to have a dedicated studio space, which will probably mean a cabin in the garden, but there is not much on the market at the moment, so I'm finding it very frustrating. Anyway, if it is meant to happen it will!

Because the potential move is taking up all my headspace, I've not been very creative recently, but the Fearless Four did get together last month, and following my butterfly bling creation (see here), the concensus was to do something similar, again using old/broken jewellery, beads, and buttons.

I decided to do hearts this time, and I got a box frame to put them in - rather pleased with the outcome.  The hearts are MDF which I painted first. I've then used broken jewellery, buttons from my mother's button box, and beads. Try and spot the one common piece in each heart!

And what did the others do?

Lin did butterflies

Monica too

And Linda did a bling tree.






















Another good time had by all!

We are having another session next week, though I'm not particularly prepared with what I'm going to do!

Another group of friends - stitch people who love knitting, crocheting - have created 100 poppies which have recently gone on display in our local library.

In Flanders Fields, by John McRae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

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!

Another bluebell wood!

As I've spent most of the past couple of years in watercolour classes , I thought I would get the acrylics out and attempt my bluebell wood - again!

I did find it hard going to start with, and obviously the finish is totally different to a watercolour, but I did find it interesting that I used my brush in a different way to how I used to paint with acrylics, so it turned out to be a bit impressionistic. Also, I realise this is the first painting I've done with just acrylic paint, and not mixed it up with collage bits and pieces.

I used a canvas board which I found lurking at the back of my cupboard, and the acrylics were the heavy body Basics by Liquitex (the student quality ones).

Still waiting for summer to arrive so I can throw off the jumpers and coats, so ...

a little summer something from Emily Dickenson while we wait ...

A soft Sea washed around the House
A Sea of Summer Air
And rose and fell the magic Planks
That sailed without a care -
For Captain was the Butterfly
For Helmsman was the Bee
And an entire universe
For the delighted crew.

Hello Spring!

Another month has passed and its time for the Craft Barn challenge, using the third couplet in the poem by Sara Coleridge The Months of the Year.

March brings breezes, loud and shrill,
Stirs the dancing daffodil.

And the extras to include this time are daffodils and hares.

I'm finding my choice of a postcard format quite restricting, especially with the specific additions that need to be included. Anyway, this is supposed to be a challenge, so I press on  - I can only get better ...

I drew some daffs in pen before doing a quick background watercolour wash, then coloured the flowers with Inktense pencils.

Surprisingly I found a hare stamp!

I love this time of year, especially with the warm sunny days we are having. I just love to see the yellow daffodils with the pink cherry blossoms against a brilliant blue sky. Such a joyous sight!

Introducing Molly ...

You may recall I did a portrait of a friend's dog called Tia (see here).  I thought I would have a go at a cat, so this is Molly, sadly no longer with us.

I was asked to use pastel colours, so I did the background with very dilute acrylic inks, wet on wet, and just let them mingle.

I then used a photo as a reference. The outline is drawn in acrylic ink, and then I've used a combination of watercolour, Neocolor II crayons and coloured pencils. Quite tricky getting the fur colours and patterns!

This formed part of a birthday present to Molly's owner, who now has a black cat - which could be a little trickier to paint methinks!

Whiskers and tails

And thousands of frails

Lion-like nose

With an angelesque pose

Silky pattern'd fur

O'er heart-touching purr.

Terri Guillemets

Love reigns in my heart ...

The second part of the Craft Barn's twelve month challenge (based on Sara Coleridge's poem The Months) uses the next couplet -

February brings the rain

Thaws the frozen ponds again

and must also include a cherub and heart somewhere.

Sticking to my personal challenge of the postcard format, I used the last piece of the painted textured paper that formed the background of January's postcard (see here). I also found a small picture of a couple of delightful cherubs, which I must have had for many years in my 'maybe collage' box of treasures!

Finally, I cut out some clouds and added some heart-shaped raindrops ...

The postcard size is certainly making me think differently, but it also feeds a bit of my abstract soul too!

Cherubs fan our foolish fires, filling hearts with mad desires.
They prick our pride and haughtiness with quick, angelic naughtiness.
John Biccard

Not puss in boots ...

The Craft Barn have launched their year long challenge for 2017, which is based around a poem by Sara Coleridge - The Months.

I've decided to challenge myself too, as I much prefer to use as large a canvas as possible, and for past Craft Barn challenges I have always used a 10 x 8 inch format, which is the limit of smallness (for me!).

So, I considered doing ATCs - but no - a step too too far! I've compromised on the postcard format; time will tell if I struggle with it!

Anyway, the first couplet from the poem is -

January brings the snow,

Makes our feet and fingers glow.

There will always be an additional twist, and this one must include a bird in a wellington boot.

I've used all scraps from my paper box for this - one upside of the small format!

The background is acrylic roughly painted onto textured paper - this scrap is at least a couple of years old!

I've used acrylic sprayed scraps for the bird, stamping and die-cutting one of Tim Holtz's crazy ones. I then cut the legs off (ouch), but gave him a much better pair in boots which I hand cut from a really small scrap! Which just goes to show there is good reason to save even the tiniest piece of painted paper!

Also entering the current Craft Stamper Anything Goes challenge.

Happy Sunday!

My sister and me ...

My sister, Laura, is a wood turner, making all sorts of (mainly small) delicious things. Her lathe is in a 6 x 4 unheated shed, which can prove problematic in the winter months! She has recently set up an Etsy shop, so you can see her creations here.

Anyway, at the end of each session on her trusty lathe, there is this small disc of wood, which she polishes and puts into a little box.

Well - I couldn't pass up the challenge of doing something with them!

I've used a wooden box frame, with acrylic paint for the background, a bit of texture created with the gesso layer, and copper gilding wax. The tree truck is made from fabric dunked in fabric hardener (Powertex). I've also added a little airdry clay owl. We called this creation Watcher in the Wood ...

Since Laura has been wood turning, I've learned so much about wood, and the amazing array of colours you find beneath the bark.

Sticking with a tree theme, this from Emily Dickinson makes me smile -

Not at Home to Callers

Says the Naked Tree -

Bonnet due in April -

Wishing you Good Day -

The butterfly effect ...

The last time the Fearless Four got together I forgot my camera, so didn't record our efforts; this time I remembered my camera, but we were only three, as one of us was unwell; so this is about the temporary three!

We started with quite a large MDF butterfly shape, which we  covered with a multitude of smaller butterflies, mostly die-cut and embossed ones.

There are quite a few collective nouns for butterflies - swarm, flight, rabble, flutter, kaleidoscope, wing, rainbow, flock - take your pick!

The whole piece was painted with black gesso, then - time for lunch!

Next we used different metallic/iridescent paints and mediums, blending and highlighting the shapes and patterns.  At home I added some little pearly things and made some wire antennae.

And the other offerings ...

Here is Lin's frenzy of butterflies

(a collective noun I just made up!)

and this is Linda's creation, which also includes some wooden butterflies.















Great fun to do and something a bit different to hang on the wall. Always good to craft with friends! Next time I hope we are back to full strength.

A power of Butterfly must be -
The Aptitude to fly
Meadows of Majesty concedes
And easy Sweeps of Sky -

Emily Dickinson

A sweet life ...

H is the next letter in the Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary challenge, and there was only one option for me - haiku; the Japanese verse form.

I've been writing my own haiku for a little while now; traditionally, these verses are about the natural world.

Now, what to write about? Hummm - could it bee ...

I decided to get the Distress Inks out and made a background, using some stencils too. Then, my favourite bee stamps.

And from one of my favourite poets - Emily Dickinson

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Bee happy this Bank Holiday weekend.

Bluebells Take Two

Following on from the all day mixed media workshop I did last month, when we painted a bluebell wood (see here), I decided to paint another one; this time from a photograph I took in Margery Wood, which is quite near me.

I did it a little differently from how we did it in the workshop - my way - and added more watercolour strokes and splatter (including white gouache).  I still used coloured pencils and my Neocolor II crayons.

I've also now got some mounts, which really help to frame it.

In my other bluebell post I included the first verse of "The Bluebell" by Emily Bronte.

Now, here is part of the first verse of a poem by Anne Bronte, also entitled The Bluebell.

There is a silent eloquence
In every wild bluebell
That fills my softened heart with bliss
That words could never tell.

If you go down to the woods today ...

... sometimes I surprise myself - and when I look at this piece, I think - did I do that?

Recently I attended an all day workshop to paint a bluebell wood in mixed media. This is a large painting on half-imperial (22 inches x 15 inches), and we had to pre-draw the main tree outlines before the workshop to save time.

The painting was built up in layers; with a watercolour base, and the detail added using coloured pencils (I use Derwent Coloursoft), and wax crayons (I use Neocolor II).

I find all day workshops are quite demanding, when I have to be focused for so many hours, (my back and neck don't like it either!). I didn't finish completely on the day, and it took me a couple more hours to finish at home.

I have rather taken to using the pencils and crayons with watercolour - maybe I've found the mixed media selection to focus on? Time will tell!

Emily Bronte wrote a poem entitled "The Bluebell", here is the first verse -

The Bluebell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air:
Its blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care.

Flights of fancy ...

I seem to have started a few projects recently, but none are finished, as I'm flitting between them!

So, thought I would enter this card into the Craft Barn's other fortnightly challenge, which at the moment is all about "butterflies".

Butterflies are a perennial favourite, and this card uses magazine pages for collage.

The background is part of a text page, and a piece of handmade paper for texture. The butterflies are punched from magazine pages. My butterfly punch is pretty old and struggles with very thin pages, but I found if I punched through the page together with a piece of copy paper, the copy paper gives it something to bite into.

Finally summer seems to have arrived, so hope to see more butterflies!

A power of Butterfly must be -
The Aptitude to fly
Meadows of Majesty concedes
And easy Sweeps of Sky -
Emily Dickinson

The sunflower is mine, in a way ...

... that's a quote from Vincent van Gogh - so this is a sunny daisy!

I'm struggling with my painting at the moment, so nothing to show you, as one has already gone in the bin ...though I must admit I have been experimenting, so some disasters are probably inevitable!

The Craft Barn's other two-weekly challenge is about using different papers, so I thought I would feature a collage card I made, where I've cut flower petals from various papers, including book pages and magazine pages. Some of the book pages have been coloured with Distress Ink, as has the pale background.

Here is an appropriate poem from one of my favourite poets - Emily Dickinson.

The Daisy follows soft the Sun -
And when his golden walk is done -
Sits shyly at his feet -
He - waking - finds the flower there -
Wherefore - Marauder - art though here?
Because, Sir, love is sweet!

We are the Flower - Thou the Sun!
Forgive us, if as days decline -
We nearer steal to Thee!
Enamored of the parting West -
The peace - the flight - the Amethyst -
Night's possibility!

Happy Bank Holiday weekend - some of us may see a bit of sunshine!

Behind every door ...

The next exercise in my Line & Wash art course was about using line to show distance. This time I chose a reference photo of an abandoned house that looks like it is in the middle of nowhere. The windows are boarded up - wonder what is inside?

This time I used dip pens with diluted acrylic ink, fine line pens and a brush pen.

I think I'm getting a bit better at my watercolour washes ...

I found this poem by Dennis Go -

Abandoned buildings

Made to undress

In the wilderness

See forth a cue.

Another requiem

Passes through their walls

Stripped by dust.

Wandering spirits

Roam and stutter

Around echoing voices

Left by souls

Residing somewhere

In structures

Time forgotten

Years and years ago. 

Emily's naked tree ...

Since my beginners watercolour course finished I have been challenging myself  on various aspects I learned over the past few months.

Having used acrylic paint for many years, I have struggled with not overworking watercolour and creating a utter mess. I have discovered that if I make a mistake to just leave it - trying to rectify it only makes it much much worse!

So, this challenge was all about speed, and not pushing the paint around too much. It didn't matter how it turned out, because it could always go in the bin!

This is A3 size, so not so daunting as the larger half imperial size we used in class.

I'm reasonably satisfied with the result, and I did feel a sense of freedom with the washes, probably because the pressure was off!

Happy Easter to everyone. Storm Katie (no relation!) is on the way for Easter Monday, so I think I'll be holed up in my craft room.

Not at home to callers
Says the naked tree -
Bonnet due in April -
Wishing you good day.
Emily Dickinson

Pumpkin moon

The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge words for October are orange and pumpkin/fruit.

Thought I would stick with collage, so I found a pumpkin photo and printed several in different sizes.
I then printed out the moon photos I recently took (see here), and added a die-cut of my friendly raven! Then decided to use some black card as the base for dramatic effect!

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe is rather a long poem - so here is the final verse ...

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
                              Shall be lifted—nevermore!

Happy spookiness!

The owl and the ... bee?

The Ashtead Craft Club runs an annual challenge, and this year's is to create a collection of at least 10 cards, for different occasions, incorporating a common theme - and I decided to include a bee into every card. Initially I thought that would be quite easy to do ...

Additionally, as part of the annual challenge there are bi-monthly ones too, creating cards that can be included in the overall challenge - makes sense? Anyway, this card was part of the bi-monthly challenge - to create a male birthday card using collage.

All the pieces are cut from magazines, and I tried to give it a male feel - even with a bee! The bee stamp is by Stampotique and I love it - it comes on a square wood block and there are 2 different sized bees.

This week's Craft Barn challenge word is people, I think my two boxers qualify for that!

Also, this month's Craft Stamper Magazine challenge is to use one or more processes - ink, stitch, paint, collage, print, paper, and include some stamping somewhere.

It is National Poetry Day today, so here is one of my favourite poems -

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

BY EDWARD LEAR

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

   In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

   And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

    What a beautiful Pussy you are,

         You are,

         You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!

   How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

   But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

   To the land where the Bong-Tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

   With a ring at the end of his nose,

             His nose,

             His nose,

   With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

   Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."

So they took it away, and were married next day

   By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

   Which they ate with a runcible spoon;   

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

   They danced by the light of the moon,

             The moon,

             The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Buzzy as a bee!

I'm a couple of weeks into my drawing course, so have less time for other stuff at the moment, though I have several projects on the go, nothing is getting finished!  I'll be writing about my drawing course once it is over, but I'm finding it exhilarating - and mentally exhausting!

So I'm sticking to making cards - useful mini canvases that don't take a lot of time.

This week's Craft Barn challenge is to use background words.

Some of my favourite things are poetry - particularly Emily Dickinson, and bees.  I've had this stamp for some time -

The pedigree of honey
does not concern the bee
A clover, any time, to him,
is aristocracy.
Emily Dickinson

So I've used it for the background, created with Distress Inks.  I then stamped the clover onto a separate piece of card, again using Distress Inks, and heat embossed it.  Finally, my favourite bee stamp (by Stampotique).

Bee happy!

Little fish with plum blossom ...

... sounds like I've been busy in the kitchen, but fear not -

It was my turn to issue the challenge to the Fearless Four, and as I love poetry I provided two poems to provide inspiration.

The first is by D H Lawrence called Little Fish
The tiny fish enjoy themselves
in the sea.
Quick little splinters of life,
their little lives are fun to them
in the sea.

And the other is a Haiku by Matsuo Basho
Suddenly the sun rose,
To the scent of the plum-blossoms,
Along the mountain path.

I decided to use the first one as inspiration, and found a box canvas in my store cupboard (yes, I am trying to use up stuff before I buy more!).

I prepared the canvas before we met, to save drying time.  I used Ryn's Gingko stencil with modelling paste, and also used the paste to create some sea grass, with added tiny beads.

Several layers of paint later -

I don't have any fish stamps, so made my own with funky foam backed with pieces of acetate packaging.

You can see the stamps at the side here.

I also stamped the fish around the edge of the canvas - here is a close-up.

Next, I cut some fish from cardboard, and painted them separately.  These are very exotic fish, never seen before!







The end result ...

I'm entering this into the current Craft Stamper challenge, all about texture, but entries also have to include some stamping.  Hope my hand made stamps qualify!

The latest Paper Artsy challenge is all about stencils, so that one too!

And another entry for Ryn's monthly challenge!

Now, what did the other three get up to ...

Monica went for the Haiku about plum blossoms, and did two small canvases to be hung together -

Lin did a fishy one -

And Linda also went for fish -

A good time (and lunch!) was had by all ...