Crossing the sea

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.

Rabindranath Tagore

This weeks collage obsession team have asked for a quote inspired piece, so here is my mixed media canvas. It is made up of paint, textured bead gel and torn citrosolve papers.

The sea looks deceptively calm, the crossing will not be easy, but that is the challenge, to give it a go....

WIP

As you can see I intensified the colour to fit in with the Artists Playroom very interesting challenge to look at complimentary colours.
 I really should plan my work beforehand. I should study the colour wheel and work out what colour goes with what, but in reality things just evolve. This piece uses mainly golden orange and blue tones which if you look at the wheel are complimentary.I have written before of my dislike of orange, yet when it is teamed with blue I love it!



                                                                                           

The complimentary colours lie opposite to each other on the wheel. Purple green, orange blue, lilac and yellow for example.
Earlier in the year I worked on a Blue/orange piece

                                                                                        

It is the view from the Uffitzi Gallery roof terrace in Florence of the famous Cathedral. It made me realise that colours I didn't usually use really worked well when used in the right combinations.

Linking to collage obsession and the Artists playroom

And of course Paint party Friday!!

'The path to the sea'

 After a month of faces I longed to post a landscape and this weeks Collage Obsession prompt is ' what view we would like out our window'

I did ponder for a while about collaging a Greek sunset or a tropical beach but with Summer on it's way out instead settled on what I know and love best the familiar view over to the Scottish mainland from the north coast of the Island. The view is often obscured by cloud but on a clear day you can see for miles all the way to the mountains of Sutherland.

 ...and really there are few nicer views, especially in late Summer when the heather and horsetails carpet the ground all the way to the sea. I took lots of photographs over the Summer to use as Inspiration over the darker months.
I also thought I would link up to The Artists Playroom as this week the subject is Landscapes. I have missed linking up with the weekly challenges as the past month I have been busy with the 29 faces and before that had a very busy Summer.

 I used masking tape to section off stripes on the canvas after collaging on some horsetail type stems.

Then I splattered acrylic paint using the masking tape to make stripes. I collaged in some paper with little circles.

I decided to make the foliage more abstract and removed some of the pieces I had applied earlier and sanded the canvas back with sandpaper, adding gesso then sticking squares of paper and little strips of sheet music. I often re-work areas I don't like using gesso and sandpaper. Nothing is finished until the final varnish!

Used lots of paper fragments. I really love Japanese washi papers as the colours are so beautiful. I love the gold ones which catch the light.

Finally I added some modelling paste stencilled through sequin waste to make the textured sky. Not entirely sure the canvas is finished, it is in my 'wait and see' pile of work which I go back to at a later date and view again with fresh eyes.

Linking up to Collage obsession this week
and also The artists playroom
as well as Paint party friday!

Ps To those who took part in my postcard draw last week the winner is Fuzzy Fingers! so I will be posting my little card off to her as soon as possible! Thank you to all who took part!

Doodling a dress for all seasons.

Detail

The theme for Inspiration Avenue this week is an' Outfit for all seasons'. My dear blog friend Jez from Butterfly mind is hosting the challenge, she is a wonderfully talented and eloquent lady so although I have been busy working on a large project  for a forthcoming exhibition thought I would most definitely enter something!
This is a collage/ mixed media piece I made for my daughter who is a 2nd year fashion management student with a passion for dresses. I designed it for a blog header for a fashion blog she set up as part of her course. Although I made it a little while ago I haven't posted it on my blog before, and I kind of like it so thought it deserved a showing.

A dress for all seasons

 In 'The Artists playroom' this week the theme is 'doodling' ; Quite a hard topic for me as the more I thought about it I realised that I don't really doodle, except perhaps while on the phone, and then I just doodle spirals. I always seem to set out with some sort of purpose when I have a pen or pencil in my hand, I think I probably doodled as a child ( Probably in Maths lessons while looking out the window) That's when I thought of the idea of making a scraperboard to scratch doodle on. As a child I used to make homemade scraperboards all the time. The bought variety were rather expensive and ate up my pocket money!

So I found some old wax crayons, coloured in some block shapes.

Mixed some black poster paint with washing up liquid and painted over the surface, let it dry and then scratched  through.

 

This is as close to doodling as I could get !

Links to Inspiration Avenue
and also the Doodle challenge at The artists Playroom

Time flies

The Artists Playroom this week prompt is 'what drives you mad'? Well first of all it is not this clock which I dislike. I actually like the clock very much. I bought it over twenty years ago or so in a little Antique shop, for no other reason than that I liked it, and that is a very good reason.

It actually doesn't tick anymore, for that I am sad. That isn't why I painted it though, the fact it doesn't tick is not that maddening. The reason I painted it was more to represent 'time' or rather lack of it!
Time seems so abundant in our more youthful days, yet so stretched as we grow older. There is never enough of it to do the things I  love, and it is that what frustrates me.

 

 I began by stencilling a background using sequin offcuts and cosmic shimmer mist in a deep violet colour.
Then I drew out the clock and used my favourite neocolor crayons to add colour. I love my neocrayons, they colour over most things and had no problem covering the shimmer mist.

 

The butterflies were from my napkin collection. I glued them to the watercolour board and crayoned round them when dry.

 I think the butterflies represent all the things I want to do..
If only there was time...

Links to the

Artists Playroom

Lost Daisy

Mixed up and lost Daisy; collage,/acrylic on re-cycled floorboard

mix it monthly

                                                                    
Sometimes things don't turn out to plan..
The path you were going to take gets confused...
you go off in a totally different direction!

This week I  have joined up to a new challenge called Mix it monthly. We were given two images and a theme of Picasso to get us going. Well as you can see I went a bit off track on the Picasso bit :)  I do like Picasso, but his style is so different to fine I found it very difficult to get motivated.

a bit of inspiration from Connie

http://babydee.erichdesign.com/

  I did start of with good intentions to go down the Picasso route, but I went to see the Great Gatsby last week, which was amazzzing!I Loved the glamorous costumes and vivid colours and  thought I would go for a 1930s style lady making the most of the hat and gloves  and all things stylish. I reworked her face in Acrylics and used heavy modelling paste to make the folds in her dark dress. I also used an Iridescent medium over the dress to make it sparkle. I kept the colours muted and cool so the sleeves and accessories would pop out.

I used he pattern from Connie's Picasso lady for the sleeves

And gave her some lemon yellow gloves

          

Work in progress, the dress was layered in lots of  black gesso and modelling paste

The piece is collaged and painted on a piece of old wooden floorboard, it gives a lovely solid substrate. I know Sandra over at Doris's daughter uses floorboard panels to great effect and I have quite a bit of re-cycled timber to hand so thought I would give it a go! I must say I loved working on wood so much, it has inspired me to try again!

I am not sure why this glamorous lady is lost and alone on the Scottish hills. She definitely doesn't look dressed for the wild outdoors! That's where I thought I would link to the APR this week where the theme is the Bizarre. I guess she has a long and very complicated story to tell :)



And just to show I haven't forgotten completely about dear old Picasso here's another little piece on watercolour board, a bit more in tune with the theme.

Mix it monthly

                      

I'm also linking my' little lost Daisy' in to this week Take a word for the first time. The theme is Cool colours!
As I said it may be June but the Scottish hillside still can be a bit chilly, bet Daisy wishes she had brought a jumper!

and finally
Linked to Paint party Friday!!!! a happy place where like minded souls share their love of all things arty.

Teapots and Teacups

There is most definitely something about drinking tea out of bone china cups, it tastes nicer, much nicer. Perhaps as I have just had a mini holiday, or perhaps because of the weather I am very much in love with the idea of afternoon tea. As a child I lived far away from my Grandma, so visiting her was a treat and the part I remember most about the visits was four o'clock afternoon tea. These days afternoon tea seems to be all about salmon sandwiches and luxury hotels but back then it was a bit more basic.

Sliced white bread, homemade jams, scones and homemade cake. The tea was served from china cups and from a teapot with a built in tea strainer ( very posh! ) and here it is, grandmas tea set...

Grandmothers tea set. On heavy watercolour board

As you can see I used Neocolor crayons, I love how quickly you can get an intense textured background. I also used the same method for this piece.
                                    

Another favourite teapot of mine, Art Deco 1930s

                   
And to finish a little teacup, missing its saucer , painted and collaged on a Jelli plate background of hearts which I stencilled.

Collage/ acrylics on jelli plate paper

I rather like this vintage version.

Or this Pop Art version! very 1960s

 Links this week to the The Artists playroom  and it's teacup based theme. It is to promote Tracey Fletcher Kings cuppa with friends project, which sounds wonderful!!!

and also Paint party friday
and Inspiration Avenue and their retro theme this week

Creatures of Fey

 Hoped to do a Little more this week but time has been short so here is my newest journal page. I find I am often drawn to painting and drawing mermaids. I found a gorgeous poem called  'I am a creature of the fey' (an old term for the Faerie world) by Heather Alexander  
Its first line reads,' I am a creature of the fey, prepare to give your soul away,' wonderfully spooky!
Up to now I have only painted friendly mermaids, perhaps It is time to give my next one a bit of menace.
As I mentioned in my earlier post on Sunday I have been looking  for inspiration from the mermaids of  Teesha Moore  

 It is a year since I did my last big mermaid canvas. I have started another but it is going to take a little time to finish so  just a journal page for now.

Last year I was commissioned to complete a large mermaid canvas.
I was asked to incorporate two mermaids and a cat! So my mermaids are diving down to look at the cat who is protected by a bubble of air. I didn't want him to be harmed!!  ( I am a huge friend of furry felines) It was strange, and frankly rather disturbing to put a cat at the bottom of the sea and at first I wasn't at all sure, but the lady I made it for seemed very happy. In the end I rather liked the cat in the bubble!

                                                      

This is a little WIP shot, sorry for fuzzy photo, I didn't seem to take any good photographs of my two mermaids!

WIP

And finally my little Summer mermaid

 She hangs in my bathroom. Cerulean blue is one of my favourite colours and the Aqua shimmers in the sun.
It has a very textured surface with embroidery and pearls,beads and shells around the collage.

The shells were fixed and set in Polyfilla, which is a product normally used to fill holes in walls.  It seemed to work fine and I varnished it. It seems to have stood up to a year in my bathroom so I guess the plaster is watertight!

                                                       

Links to the The Artists Playroom

 and Paint party Friday 
and Artists in Blogland

Fairy Godmother

Birthdays

The APR challenge this week is birthdays, and at first I was a little stumped! Should I paint a birthday cake?
Should I paint a bunch of balloons?
Birthdays are really all about wishes,
Wishing to be younger,
Wishing to be older,
Wishing for a happy year.

When my children were small they always had birthday parties at home. I love baking and it was a great excuse to make loads of tasty cakes and biscuits; It didn't matter that the house was trashed by hoards of rampaging five year olds, it was fun! My youngest daughter loved dressing up, especially as a princess and one year we had a Cinderella party and  I made a Pink castle cake complete with turrets; She still talks about the day over fifteen years later so it must have made an impact!
That memory gave me the idea for the wish fairy.

So here is my Fairy Godmother, when you blow out the candles she makes birthday wishes come true!

It is a mixed media piece done on heavy weight watercolour paper. Using collage ,Gesso and Caran Dache Neocolor crayons.

I started with a background of old encyclopedia pages and Gelli printed paper.
Added some Gesso...

Added some line and colour. I like to blend the crayons with baby wipes rather than water.

 I like her raised eyebrow, it is like she is slightly surprised by the wish request!

This is pink castle cake number two made ( At her own request) for my daughters eighteenth birthday a couple of years ago, not as good as the original,but it tasted nicer :)

 Links this week to Artists Playroom   Where it is Jenns Birthday , Happy Birthday Jenn!

and the most fabulous Paint party friday!!!

Starry night over Gairloch

looking for inspiration

 There are many Artists whom I love and have influenced me over the years. My little' Starry Night over Gairloch' collage is a little bit of fun in celebration of Van Goghs famous painting.

Starry Night, Van Gogh

 Van Gogh was a master of colour, I just love the swirling sky!

My collage used citrasolve paper for the sea and gelli printed paper for the sky. I use Golden Gel medium to stick the citrasolve paper down as it creates less wrinkles than pva glue types.

I have so many favourite paintings this weeks Artists Playroom challenge to choose one seemed a bit tough!
I visited Aberdeen over last weeks long holiday weekend and spent Sunday afternoon in the city Art gallery, I LOve Art Galleries! They are such peaceful contemplative spaces. Aberdeen although the third largest city in Scotland is not particularly large and the gallery is not full of Van Goghs, but it does have some interesting works.

Aberdeen Art Gallery

 The beautiful weekend weather meant Union Terrace gardens finally looked quite springlike!

Union Terrace gardens

 My trip to the gallery reminded me that much of my inspiration comes from less famous artists; the gallery has a beautiful watercolour by contemporary Scottish artist Elizabeth Blackadder. I have admired her deceptively simple still life watercolours since I was a student in Edinburgh ( many years ago :)! )

Elizabeth Blackadder Flowers on an Indian cloth

                                                           
So I did a little watercolour still life tribute to her fantastic work.

Still life with Goss china and little shoes