Waiting and watching

 Little hare waits and watches in the long grass
collaged onto a wood panel....

A close up reveals his fur is made up of small pieces of bookpapers.....

I painted the surrounding frame red and gold to compliment the textured surface....
All ready for a new home.

Summer Stag

Another of my small wooden panels.
A couple of months back I posted another stag painting and I enjoyed making it so much I thought I would try a similar one.

Easter stag

I forgot to take WIP shots, so I only have one! You can see beside it my new wondertool... a hand held rechargeable sander. It makes sanding the wooden panels so much easier.  ( saves my nail varnish from chipping) :)

Gone shopping

This week I am finally linking up to Artsyvilles Glue it Tuesday!

I have been meaning to do so for ages, after all I do go through buckets of modpodge glue in all it's varieties. Matte, gloss, sparkle, in fact the only variety I haven't tried is the glow in the dark variety, but there is time yet!
Many people seem a bit confused about which glue to use for collage. The most important thing to consider is using a glue that is acid free if you want your work to remain colour stable and not fall to pieces after a few years. Acid free glues usually state the fact on the label and most also act as a sealant encasing more unstable papers like newsprint and found papers and protecting them from deterioration. Modpodge is my favourite although it is a little thin for some more delicate papers. I also use golden gel medium which is harder to get in the UK and more recently a great modpodge like glue called Decoupatch, made especially for decoupage and collage.

'Gone shopping' is mixed media piece on a wooden off cut. It uses collaged paper, felt, lace and acrylic paint.
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It started off as a more serious 'Hare and the Horsetail'

 I didn't like the hare much at this point, and thought she was missing something....

Clothes!!! That is what she needed! And a shopping bag!! 

Much better! I know what you're thinking...

I need more ventilation when working with Modpodge, the fumes had gone to my head!

well I think she looks far better in her little checked dress.

The shopping bag was made from a piece of antique crochet table mat and the trees were cut from felt circles.

It has a gloss glaze which is unfortunately very reflective so I had some problems getting a good photograph.

Linking to Glue it Tuesday

And Paint party friday

Le Chat Noir ( The black cat)

This is a little study of one of my dear cats Matilda. She was named after the character in the Roald Dahl story, in other words she is a smart cookie of a cat, and if only I spoke her language I'm sure she would have many words of wisdom to share with me. She is a sun worshipper and moves around the house from chair to chair catching what sun she can find if it breaks through the clouds and through the windows. On this particular day she had found a patch of sunlight on a little bentwood chair I have in my bathroom. The whole image of the bentwood chair and her slender black form reminds me of the French posters advertising the Le Chat Noir. It was thought to be the first modern cabaret: a nightclub where the patrons sat at tables and drank alcoholic beverages while being entertained by a variety show on stage, introduced by a master of ceremonies who interacted with people he knew at the tables. I am sure its just the sort of place she would like to hang out!

Le Chat Noir

Posing for the camera

I used citrosolv paper as a background to the painting. I found a piece that looked a little like a window looking out onto a parisienne street!

Then I used gesso to draw the cat outline.

Linking this post to Inspiration avenue. Click Here to see what great animal other artists have come up with.
Also linked to A cat like curiosity ( Lots of feline fun )
also Linked to Artists in Blogland
And for the first time Paper Saturdays

Hare and the tortoise

Collage obsession

There is a lot to be said for perseverance, the ability to keep going even if things don't look too rosy was drummed into me from a very early age. I remember sitting at the kitchen table, maths homework in front of me with a sulky look on my face and being told by my father ' No one likes a quitter'. That's always stayed with me, and perseverance and determination are qualities which I greatly admire, not the standing on top of people to get where you want to be, but the quiet determination of the tortoise.
Collage obsessions challenge was to portray our favourite piece of children's literature and I have many!. The lion, witch and wardrobe, Anne of green gables, all of the Enid Blyton books ( I LOVed the famous five) although she seems to be unpolitical correct these days, but decided to illustrate the Hare and Tortoise in my Journal. It is mixed media and I experimented  using metal polish on some of the paper I collaged with to give it a distressed look. I'll write a post on my metal polish experiments soon, I'm still trying out different products and papers.