Winter's on the way.

'November Beech Trees'

I have been living in the summer over the past couple of months, working on summer inspired pieces using photographs I took during the warmer months as my inspiration. This week  however I thought I would take a more seasonal approach and use some Gelli printed mulberry paper I made while the fallen leaves were still dry and crisp.

Autumn leaves

                             
 I collected  Autumn leaves and used acrylic paint to print them onto the paper with my Gelli plate.  I then used the paper to make an abstract woodland.
 The trees were splatter painted with an old toothbrush after I blocked off the surrounding areas with masking tape. The copper red reminds me of the shiny glistening bark of the Beech tree. It seems to stand out so prominently when there is not much colour around, The background of collaged bookpaper text was going to be covered more heavily in gesso, but I like the way the text contrasts with the bark so I left it. I often feel I overwork things and my new challenge is to know when to leave things alone!

Gelli printed mulberry paper

Collage obsession have a Haiku Theme this week so here is my woodland abstract with a little 5/7/5 Haiku.

Still,quiet,sharp frost.
Sweet smell of Autumn Decay
winter's on her way.

Time to light the fire and wrap up warm!

linking to Collage Obsession  and Paint party Friday.

Rowan berries

Rowan berries ( torn paper collage)

Autumn is here and this collaged canvas is inspired by this lovely view of Eilean Donan castle I took last week.

 Rowan trees are so beautiful at this time of the year. The scarlet berries plump and bright against the cold pale sun. Rowan is a small deciduous tree found all over the highlands of Scotland it is sometimes called ‘The Lady of the Mountain’ as its other name is Mountain ash.

The Rowan tree is one of the most sacred trees in Scottish folk tradition. Rowan is one of the trees associated with Saint Brighid, the Celtic patroness of the arts, healing, spinning and weaving. Spindles and spinning wheels were traditionally made of Rowan in Scotland and Ireland.

 Rowan twigs were placed above doorways and barns to protect the inhabitants against misfortune and evil spirits.

 Rowan trees planted near stone circles in Scotland were especially powerful. Scottish Fairies were said to hold their celebrations within stone circles protected by Rowan trees.

I like to think the fairies are preparing to hold a celebration around my lochside trees soon.... ;)

Collage obsession have chosen the theme of black and white plus one other colour. I thought it would be fun to change the colour digitally adding just the red berries to make a strong contrast.

rowan trees ( Collage obsession )

Linking up to collage obsession this week.

Also linked to Paint party friday

The sound of Raasay

 This week The Inspiration Avenue are hosting a show and tell week! I do so love show and tell as it gives me a chance to show what I have been working on outside the constraints of the themed challenges. This mixed media collage is just finished. I have been squirrelling away for the past month on it, It is a large canvas for me, the picture below on my easel gives you an idea of size. It is made up of fragments of found, printed and handmade papers along with acrylics and textured pastes.

As you can see some elements are lost along the way one being the Celtic knot which I decided wasn't working. The subject is the 'sound of Rasaay' as seen from the coastline of the Isle of Skye. Skye is an Island which is part of a group of Islands called the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. Skye is a relatively large Island being over 50 miles long Raasay is much smaller with a very small population.

Raasay sound

                        

a

.I have taken a few detailed photos of progress and finished work. As you can see I was a little frightened of doing the seagulls so kept putting off starting them!

 But I began by blocking them in in book pages.

The fish are collaged with metallic papers which shimmer, this doesn't show up on camera.

 And finally finished! This is one of the pieces I am submitting for the Skye annual summer exhibition. which runs throughout August.

Linking to Inspiration Avenue

And also Glue it Tuesday! ( this canvas used buckets of glue :) )

And also paint party Friday.

Also a last minute entry to Mix it Monthly and it's seaside theme. Have a look Here at all the other great seaside art!

I am away for a few days so may not be able to reply to your comments straight away but will get back to visit you as soon as possible ;)

Return to the tulips

What I have been up to this week.

Tulips( take two)

Last week I struggled and wrestled with The artists playroom challenge of choosing a colour combination. I realised after I had finished that perhaps I had been too hard on tulips, perhaps it was me that had the problem, about yellow and tulips! They sat there looking at me on the dining room table every time I went to the kitchen, they are such long lasting flowers!
Right! I give in in! I will try again.....

Last weeks tulip study

So a different approach this time, collage.... collage made me work quickly and intuitively, no time for complaining or worrying about tone and form.

A background of encyclopedia pages and beautiful mulberry handmade paper with bits of grass embedded in it.

I added some Gelli printed paper to make the leaves. The finished picture shows some paper I made using ferns. I was really pleased with the way the fern prints were absorbed into the tulip leaf shape making a lovely lively texture.

Inktense tulips

I enjoyed the whole tulip experience I even had time to do a colour exercise with my new inktense pencils! They arrived in the post this week, I am in LOve! They are fabulous, the colours are so vibrant, never tried them before, no idea why but now they are a definite must.

So Tulips? Perhaps still not a favourite flower, but certainly not one to be feared :)

Links to Paint party friday

Dragonfly

I always find January a dark month, the sparkle and fizzle of Christmas and new year is gone and in the UK  we are left with rather dull, dark skies. I decided to defy the weather and have a trip to the lake district thinking that the wind whistling down the hills and across lake windermere might clear the cobwebs. Hmmmmmm...

The photo doesn't show how low the cloud was and how damp the wind felt! Even the swans looked depressed....sought solace looking around the little shops In Bowness, Red Gecko had loads of lovely things, most lovely thing? Shop door covered  in small pieces of Newspaper! maybe I need to do that to my front door, there's an idea..... :)

 The sign on the door said ' dogs and cats allowed' must remember to bring my cat next time I visit..... it made me smile on a dark day....
decided to follow the newspaper theme and started to stick down newspaper into my sketchbook....

Then I used bubblewrap and acrylic paint printing to build up a textured background..........

 

 Finally I added my Dragonfly in collaged paper and paint.

 I read somewhere that dragonflies use 80% of their brain to process information from their eyes.. to see the world through a dragonflies eyes must be an amazing thing.

Solstice

 Solstice, Collage obsessions.

Just time before the new year arrives to post my first collage obsession piece, link to blogpage on blogs I follow. It's a weekly challenge so thought I'd start the new year off with a bright winter sun.

Linking in to mandarin orange monday