Lots of fun and a little history ...

The Fearless Four got together recently and we decided to do a mixed media canvas of a bird of paradise.

We all used a 10 x 8 canvas (I used a canvas board), and we had a reference photo to work with.

After painting the background and drawing the outline, I used tissue paper, skeleton leaves and string for the bird and tree branch.

I've had skeleton leaves for more years than I care to remember, and I do use them occasionally, but the quantity never seems to diminish!

All was applied using a little ivory Powertex.











I did try to stick to the bird's actual colouring using various brands of acrylic paint, including some pearlescent.

Once home I added some texture paste and re-painted the background.

And the others? Lin used actual feathers on her bird, but then eventually decided to obliterate them with Powertex as she wasn't happy with it. It is not yet finished, so no photo.

Here is Monica's - I do like the background on this one. I think the blue she has used is closer to the actual colour than mine.

Linda also redid her background, using some crackle paste - I like that gnarled branch!





















Another good day! Next time I think we are all doing something different - should be interesting!

Recently had a trip to Eltham Palace, which is in Greenwich (London). For those who like a bit of history, Eltham Palace was once an important royal palace, and one of the few medieval palaces to survive with substantial remains intact. It was large enough to accommodate the entire Tudor court. Under Edward IV (1461-83) significant changes were made, including the addition of  the 1470 great hall which still stands today.

Eltham Palace then went into decline in the early 17th century. In the 1930s Stephen and Virginia Courtauld had a house built for them which adjoined the great hall. The Courtaulds left Eltham in 1944 and the site was occupied by Army educational units until 1992. English Heritage too over the site in 1995, repairing and restoring the 1930s house and gardens. It is now the finest art deco mansion open to the public.

Here are just a few photos to give a flavour ...

The main entrance; the great hall is to the right of the picture.

Inside the great hall, which was restored by the Courtaulds in the 1930s.

The entrance hall with marquetry panels.

The dining room

Virginia Courtauld's bedroom

and the adjoining bathroom - very opulent!

The gardens are very extensive but I loved this wisteria.
















Another fabulous day out, pity the sun didn't shine, but you can't have everything!

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

Mix it up!

Following the experimentation with textures in my art class (see here), we spent a couple of weeks on a project using textures and mixed media.

This project had many layers, and I luckily remembered to take stage photos!

Stage one was drawing the outline and laying down some tissue paper pieces with PVA glue and resin sand (a gel medium with sand).

When dry I then did a pale all over wash.

Light coloured oil pastels were used next in some of the foreground areas and over the resin sand on the tree and shrubby areas. This was followed by background watercolour washes. The oil pastels act as a resist.

Then I concentrated on the tree using watercolour.

Next I strengthened some areas of the watercolour background, and added some gouache (greens and purples).












Finally, I used more oil pastels in the foreground and on the tree, Neocolor II pastels in the background, and acrylic inks and watercolour pencils for the extra twiggy bits.

This combination of almost every media I own made me realise even more that anything and everything can work together.

This project has taught me so much, that I'll no longer be afraid to use something if I think it will give me the effect I'm after.

I encourage everyone to have a go with paint, pencils, inks - whatever you've got!

A pinch of salt and the sublime Monet

At the moment I am into a 3 week art class project using textures. In the past I have tried many texture techniques, but with acrylic paint; I have not considered using textures with watercolour.

Our first exercise was to try several different textures, and this is the result.

If you click on the picture you can enlarge it. Starting at top left and moving down the columns -

Pieces of tissue paper with starch based glue (e.g. wallpaper paste).

Pieces of tissue paper with PVA glue (acts as a bit of a resist compared with starch based glue).

PVA glue dribbled in a pattern and left to dry before covering with paint.

Resin sand - a gel medium with sand.

Glass beads - a gel medium with glass beads; a strong resist.

Salt sprinkled into wet paint, and let dry before brushing the salt away (rice will also work).

Clingfilm - in two layers. Let the first layer dry before removing the cling film, then apply more paint and cover with film again.

Using watercolour paint mixed with wallpaper paste, which enables patterns to be drawn into it whilst it is wet (also known as glue painting).

So now we are working on a painting using texture and watercolour with other media, but there are 2 more weeks to go before I finish it.

This year I have a National Art Pass which allows free entry to many museums, galleries, stately homes and castles, or a reduced price entry to special exhibitions.

Used it for the first time this week, when we visited The Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House (on The Strand in London). The Gallery has a fabulous collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, as well as from the Renaissance.

These are some of my favourites:

Frank Auerbach
Carreras Factory, Mornington Crescent 1961

Loved the very thick textured oil paint and monotone.

Paul Cezanne
The Lac d'Annecy 1896

Limited colour palette and the lines drew me to this. Very atmospheric.

Claude Monet
Antibes, 1898

Still my most favourite Impressionist! His work is instantly recognizable and they way he paints light is breathtaking.

There were some very small sketches by Georges Seurat, known for his development of pointillism. I was very struck by how good they looked grouped together.




So I'm going to collect some small ornate frames for my own (yet to create!) paintings, which I can hang on my wall.  Probably a very long term project!

We just had to visit the shop (well it would be rude not to!) - lots of lovely stuff; could have spent a fortune but restrained myself, and bought this fabulous book ...

well, it was on special offer!

I want the unobtainable. Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat, and that's the end. They are finished. I want to paint the air which surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat, the beauty of the air in which these objects are located, and that is nothing short of impossible.
Claude Monet

Another birthday - but still Little Sis!

You may recall the tissue papers I painted (see here), some of which I used to enter the Paper Artsy fragile papers challenge, but at the time I couldn't tell you the main reason for the papers.  Now I can!

Every year, for my sister's birthday, I try and come up with something to use as a card, which is not a card!

I was inspired by a project in the January issue of Craft Stamper - and it was all a case of trial and error for me ...

Making a wire figure was, on the face of it, easy, but the first one I made had separate legs, which I tried to attach, but of course it wouldn't stand up.  So I created the head, body and legs out of one length of wire.

I then attached the paper.  At this point I realised the tissue paper wouldn't be robust enough, so I used the crunchy wax paper, which still retained the translucency I wanted.

The paper was stuck to the wire with glossy accents, then the whole body area was filled with glossy accents with an embedded little wooden heart.

Once dry, I trimmed off the excess paper.

The balloons were done in the same way.









I then added the arms and hair, and attached the balloons.  I fixed the separate pieces of wire together with glossy accents.

I drilled a couple of holes in a piece of cut driftwood, and inserted the legs, again using glossy accents as the glue.

Happy Birthday Little Sis!

Feeling fragile .....

I so enjoyed doing my first challenge last year (with the Craft Barn), that I thought it would be good to do another one.  I've long been a fan of Paper Artsy stuff, and their first challenge of this year got me thinking, as I was about to start preparing materials for a special birthday project for next month.

I have always loved using different papers - book and magazine pages, sheet music, and creating my own collage papers - so .....

The first Paper Artsy challenge is to use fragile papers in a project - see here.

I started with a few pieces of paper, including some of the original Paper Artsy crackly tissue, PA Crunchy Waxed paper, and some of the rice paper I recently bought in Chinatown.

Brayered on some PA paint - Mermaid, Guacamole, Butternut and Dolly Mix, and stamped with Claret and Snowflake.  Used a couple of PA Minis for this, a JOFY one and the splatter one.










I knew I wouldn't need all of this paper for my special project - which I won't be able to share with you until after the birthday event!

So - what to do for the PA challenge ..... well - I added to the challenge and decided to make an ATC.  I've never made one before, as I seem to prefer larger projects.  I had to look up what size it should be (two and a half inches by three and a half inches), and cut some board to size.

Covered it with a piece of sheet music, used gesso to knock it back a little, then added a touch of gilding wax.

Die-cut some of the painted tissue and unpainted wax paper, found a little wooden heart and word stamp, and ..... here is my first ATC!

Working with such a small area really focuses the mind - and could probably become addictive!

PS:  Paper Artsy actually spurred me on to start writing this blog, see my first post here, and it is my blog's 2nd birthday this month!