New Thistles

Finally finished.. ( I think ;) ) this canvas has been on my easel for a couple of weeks.
Regular visitors will know how much I love thistles. I paint and collage them often.

 I have been photographing and drawing the young plants. They are late flowering this year  because of the cold spring but I loved the shape of the stocky plant spiky plants as they stood soldier like in rows. The fact they weren't flowering made their shape even stronger.

I painted the canvas roughly with acrylics before I added the paper layers. I don't always do this but in this case I wanted to get rid of the expanse of white and I also wanted to leave some of the painted areas.

I initially had some rocks in the foreground but I didn't like them so they were covered in paper.

Added paper layers and black gesso.

The thistles were given a blue and silver makeover.

New Thistles

Linking to paint party friday

Wild sewn cards

One of the the things about working in collage is that you end up with a lot of 'bits'
'Bits' of paper, 'bits' of papercloth, 'bits of organza..... 'bits in general!
I don't like waste and kept all my bits in a box, the box was getting fuller so I decided to make some cards with some of the scrap pieces.

Wild sewn cards...
All different, all unique...

Iv'e been on a mission and made loads!!

Branching out

Two new poppy pieces this week to share. I enjoyed making my last wild poppy canvas so much I have just finished two more!
I have had several requests recently about where my work is available to buy. The main body of my work can be seen at Skyeworks gallery in Portree on the Isle of Skye.
 It is a beautiful natural light gallery and is wonderfully bright and spacious.

poppy croft mixed media on canvas at skyeworks gallery

Detail of the poppy croft

Recently the Owner Liza has opened another, smaller gallery in the south of the Island in Broadford.
 The Old pier Gallery  may be smaller but it is set in a beautiful situation looking out onto the Old pier.

Broadford old pier

 The wild shoreline is a haven for many wading birds  and the little fishing boats bob quietly in the clear water.

Wild greylag geese on the shoreline at Broadford

 If you can't visit the gallery in person my wild sewing pieces can be viewed on their facebook page . I think they look lovely grouped together.


New opportunities have arrived this week too as I have decided to branch out south of the border in England.
 For some time now I have been a regular traveller up and down between Scotland and the north of England,car crammed with art and art materials, so it seemed only fair that I should find a place to show south of the border.  I discovered a lovely little gallery in Lytham St Annes on the Fylde coast called Drift

 They already have a interesting workshop programme and workshop teaching is something which I have been considering for some time. Details have yet to be published but my workshops will begin all being well at the start of September. If you are interested contact Drift for further details. In the meantime my second poppy canvas is available from the gallery.

wild poppies

In and out the dusky bluebells

Today is the the first day of 'Summer of Color' on-line yearly challenge.

It is my favourite on-line art challenge as each week of June a colour prompt opens the door to all sorts of colour exploration.

This weeks prompt is very fortunate for me!

Blue+ Blue+Green.

Fortunate in that over the last few weeks I have been our searching for bluebells as a reference for a bluebell collage/ painting

I was reminded of the childhood song ...

In and out the dusky bluebells
In and out the dusky bluebells
In and out the dusky bluebells
Who will be my partner?

Tippy tippy tap tap on your shoulder
Tippy tippy tap tap on your shoulder
Tippy tippy tap tap on your shoulder
You will be my partner

we called them dusky bluebells although I think some versions of the song use the word dusty. We also used the phrase 'won't you be my master?' not too politically correct these days so this is the friendly version ;)
  I thought creating a bluebell wood at dusk would be beautiful,So for the past few weeks I have been photographing bluebells while on my travels.

Bluebells are so  beautiful and fit perfectly with the 'Summer of color challenge'

In and out the dusky bluebells. mixed media on canvas

Sewing-scapes

Busy sewing...

Three more wild sewing-scapes to add to the collection. I'm not sure 'sewing-scape' is a word, but it fits, so I'm using it!

detail

Wild sewing is more than a little addictive, watching the machine needle whiz around the papercloth fills me with happiness!

I had a query  about how the reverse of the panel was finished,
So .....

Backed with felt and neatly blanket stitched. The embroidered papercloth is stretched over pre-cut MDF panels.

Just need to add a picture hook so it's ready to hang.

Linking to  paint party friday

Watercolour workshop

 I had a wonderful day yesterday in the Scottish borders at a painting workshop run by Amanda Phillips.
It was at the wonderful Abbotsford House, former home of the writer 'Sir Walter Scott'. Many of you may not have read or perhaps heard of Scott, however if you have been to Edinburgh by train you will have arrived at Waverley station named after his novel written in 1814, the only Station in the world named after a novel! He also wrote iconic works such as Rob Roy and Ivanhoe.

My daughter works as Heritage manager there and I'm not sure she realises how lucky she is working in such a beautiful, magical place!
Of all the historic houses I have visited this is definitely my favourite. It breathes romance with its fairytale turrets and quirky angles. All I should add, a nightmare for me, an artist who hates drawing straight lines!!

The weather was unbelievably sunny... these photos aren't digitally fiddled, honest!!!

 The gardens are beautiful and I took loads of flower photos which I will post soon. I intend to use them for some reference for future work.

I love this dog sculpture of Scott's faithful hound. Scott loved his dog so much that when he died a statute was commissioned to mark it's final resting place.

 There are so many fascinating details. Little gargoyles pop up around each corner.

 I found it hard to find just one area to focus on. I was drawn to the garden but my dislike of painting buildings made me decide to challenge myself and paint an architectural detail. I liked to view through the arches. ( I am sure there is a architectural name for these! )

So that is where I set up my easel. We were a small group of 8 and Amanda let us get on with things. I'm a bit of a loner when it comes to painting, liking to get into my own headspace, however she was always at hand for assistance. I am by no means a watercolourist and really can't remember when I just used watercolour as a single medium. I mix it with other mediums such as collage and inks. So this workshop really took me far out my comfort zone.
 Amanda also gave me some excellent advice on setting up workshops and a few Gallery names to contact . Also giving me the encouragement to 'get out there!' Thank you Amanda. ;)

I actually don't like my finished watercolour, but that for me wasn't the object of the workshop. For me it was about trying something different. Stepping into the unknown and seeing what could happen.
Even after the workshop ended I continued drawing on the grass...the weather was too beautiful to stop!
I came well prepared with my trusty flask of earl grey ;)

If you want to find out more about Abbotsford you can check out their new blog
abbotsfordcollections.blogspot.com

The Buttercup Hare

The 'Buttercup Hare' is my newest collage painting, made as a special request for Liza at Skyeworks Gallery where most of my recent pieces are heading. Liza the gallery owner told me my previous Hares and wild Buttercup pieces had been very well received and could I make some more.

Previous pieces,'Counting Buttercups and Moonlight and hares'

I thought it would be fun to combine the two... a Buttercup Hare!

He started out like this, collaged onto a MDF panel. You can see I blocked in his shape with black gesso. I use a lot of black gesso, I prefer it to white. It makes the colours I use on top more vibrant and the metallic foils seem much brighter.

Laying down lots of layers of paper, paint and ink.

I used crackle glaze for Mr Buttercup...
It means some of the collaged book-papers peep through.

The Buttercups are torn mulberry paper, I rarely cut paper preferring the random shapes tearing
creates.

The Buttercup Hare

Linking up to paint party Friday