New Stuff

Once again I have been remiss in updating my page!  I don't know how that happens, but it does.  In any case here is what I have done since the last time I posted!



Words to live by.  A little fairy living in a stump flys her butterfly and kicks up her heels.

 

Santa Keys for the grandkiddos.  Hope that they like them.  Lots of fun to do.



Your heart and my heart.   Love this one.   A return to my copic markers.



A missionary piece.  Love how it turned out.  He's wearing the mantle of the Holy Ghost.
Love our missionaries.

 

A Pencil Crayon study in friends.   I did it on the rough side of the paper which gave it some texture.

Called Stay.



Another one I call Ordinary Life.  Pencil crayon again.  Quite liking it . . .

and I have been making Christmas Gifts for the grands . . .

 

Sock Monkey hats.



and bunny dolls with removable hats, scarves, coats and carrots.

It's all good.

A few bits and bobs . . .

I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted on here.  It's not that I haven't been doing anything creatively. I've been doing lots.  I have had some card orders to fulfill, and a few commissions to create, which have kept me busy in between all of my food blogging.  I did a newsletter for that, been working on an Illustrated cookery book as well as a couple of children's stories, which I have written and illustrated myself.   Now begins the hard work of finding agents for those.  Wish me luck!

In the meantime here is what else I have been creating.



Joy . . . I love the feeling of this one.   I just sat down one day and it came out.  Joy like a River

 

A Modigliani inspired chalk drawing.   I quite like this one.  She dreamed of Orchards.



Another Modigliani inspiration in chalk crayons. This one is called Sisters.



A commission I did for one of the Missionary Sisters of her nieces.  She liked it very much.

 

A little kite flyer.   Love the polka dot dress.  Water colour and inks.   Soar.



Another flight of fancy in ink and watercolour, Wings of the Morning.





Inspiration from last weeks conference at church.  Oak of Understanding.

Plus . . .


I made a little felt doll for my granddaughter for Christmas as well as . . .



Not one but . . .



Two additional outfits.  So  I guess I have been rather busy.

Have a great weekend!  Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family!

Paint Party Friday and a few bits and pieces . . .

This week seems to have gotten away from me.  I've been doing a lot of nothing and nothing of a lot . . . but I did get these few things done, plus another which isn't scanned yet and another which is sketched and waiting to be painted.   That's how I roll.   It's feast or famine around here!



First a little piece based once again on the art of Modigliani.   It is different and yet it is similar to what I already do.   I believe in this life truth.  You cannot hang onto the past.  It will drag you down like an anchor.  Best to put it all behind you and let go.  Only then can you begin to move forward . . .



A Winter page for a project I am working on.   It says, when the bold branches bid farewell to rainbow leaves, welcome wool sweaters . . .   Not sure about my writing, but it's too late now!  It's done!



Then Summer . . . Among the joys of summer were picnics in the park.  Again with the writing.   There will be a narrative place in the middle of each of these.

And that's what I have been up to.  What about you?

Sharing this week on Paint Party Friday.  Hop on over to The Stamping Ground to see what everyone else has been up to!

Paint Party Friday and Modigliani . . .

So, I've been taking this painting class with Tascha of Time With Tascha.   This is the third class I have taken with her and I have to tell you I have learned a lot from her with each class I have taken.  She gives us beautiful notes and does really great videos that make learning new skills easy and fun.  I highly recommend any of her classes.

So this latest class is based and inspired on the work of the artist Modigliani.  One characteristic of Modigliani is long necks and faces . . . long noses, etc.    Here is an example of his work:



It is of his wife.   I find his work fascinating and am really excited about this class.   I haven't done a canvas yet . . . but I have done a few with ink and watercolors . . .



So this is the first one I did.  I called this Sisters.  They are, from left to right . . .  Clothilde, Bernice and Simone.   As you can see Clothilde is not very happy.  That is because Bernice gets all of the attention due to her raven locks and blue eyes.  She thinks it is hard to have dull brown hair and brown eyes.  Simone is long suffering . . . she tells Clothilde . . . "Do you not know you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?  Great beauty comes from within.  A cheerful countenance chases away the dark."

I quite liked how it turned out and then I tried to think of actual real people I could do a portrait of . . .

 

Yes, this is Queen Elizabeth when she was a lot younger . . . I like to think I have managed to capture her "essence."  I quite like the Queen.  My mother and she looked a lot like each other when my mother was a young woman.  In fact the resemblance was so uncanny, that we actually thought that it was our mother's photo on our money.  (She did nothing to dissuade us from thinking that either! lol)



Anyways . . . I was trying to think about what Elizabeth would have been thinking about when I was doing her portrait . . . I think she was thinking, "I can't wait for this portrait to be done so Phillip and I can go for some Fish and Chips.  Maybe he'll even spring for a side of mushy peas!"

So, anyways, that's what is on my project desk for this Paint Party Friday.   Do hop on over to the Stamping Ground to see what's on everyone else's!

Thanks so much for looking!!

Princess's, Peas and Paint Party Friday . . .

I was contacted earlier this week and asked if I could do my Princess and the Pea painting with a little blonde girl instead of the brown haired one I have on it.  This is a very old picture of mine . . . been kicking around for a few years now actually.



It was a painting I did back when I was just beginning to get back into painting.  I liked it, but if I was going to redo a painting, I wanted to do it a lot differently than the first one.   That's just me.  You may ask why would I have to redo it?   Couldn't I just change the hair colour??  Well maybe someone who is competent with Photo shop could . . . I am not competent with any sort of technology. I do everything by hand . . . me.  So I had to completely redo it from scratch.



And so I did.  This one is in water colors.   Her bed is a tree bed. I like that.  I would love a tree bed, wouldn't you?

  

I put a lot more detail with this one, not only with the tree bed . . . but there's a nest in the tree with a singing robin . . . and a very comfortable looking cat fast asleep on the bed.

I'm sure that she is envious of his ability to sleep through anything.  I would be.

And that's what on my desk this Paint Party Friday.   Do hop on over to The Stamping Ground to see what everyone else is doing!

Thanks for looking!

Paint Party Friday and a few pieces

I am a bit behind in my posting artwork lately.  I get a bit down sometimes and discouraged because my artwork doesn't seem to get anywhere.  It doesn't stop me from creating.  I can't help creating.  It is as much a part of me as breathing is a part of me.  These things just fall out of my mind and fingertips . . . it does keep me from sharing though . . .

I need to be better about that.   Here's what I've done since the last time I posted.



I was practicing my watercolor and ink painting.   SO I came up with a fairy in a teacup.  I quite like how it turned out actually . . .



Then, I have a friend who is acting in this summer's British Pageant at the Preston Temple.  She wanted a special card to share with the other's she has been working with.  This is what I came up with for her.  The title of the Pageant is "Truth Will Prevail," and it's about the church's beginnings in the UK.  (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)   I made a border of covered wagons, hand cards and sailing ships, then in the centre a family praying before they make the journey West.   All the early saints from the UK made the hazardous journey to Zion.



I've been working on an Illustrated Cookbook, so I did this . . . it's an AGA in the winter . . . cat resting on the mat in front of it . . .

 

A study watercolor of tomatoes.  I quite like it.



A tin of beans . . . can't say any more about this. It is what it is, lol.

 

Another Ink and Water color study.   I quite like this as well.   It makes a nice card for a friend.



Finally . . . she fell out of my head yesterday and landed on my paper.  I think those bunnies are quite enraptured by her story, don't you?

So that's my offering for Paint Party Friday this week.  Do hop on over to The Stamping Ground to see all the others.  There's some amazing talent there!

Thanks for looking!

Paint Party Friday, Angels and other things . . .

I've been quite into painting these little angels lately.  I do enjoy the feeling they inspire in me.  Part playful, part soulful . . . joy and sweetness and everything in between.

"Cherish what makes you YOU!"

 

I firmly believe this.   I think it is what doesn't kill us that makes us stronger, and I am grateful for all my broken bits that have been strengthened through experience.

"Courage to Grow Strong"



A little play on the words of Elizabeth Barret Browning.  No, I do not have them backwards . . . I mean to say what I say . . .

"How I do love thee!"

For all the sweetie pies in your life.



More angels.  I can't get the colours to scan right on this for some reason.  I kind of like the brightness in this . . .

"Awesome just like me!"

But then again . . . more muted and with different words . . .

  

It's not so bad either.   For all the kindred spirit friends out there . . .

(Kindred Spirits.) 

Do pop over to Paint Party Friday to see what everyone else has gotten up to!

WOYWW and a lot to show . . .

 

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks!  I have gotten so slack.  I think it's probably taken me a bit longer than I thought to get back to the swing of things since my return to the UK.  Nevermind . . . I am getting there now and I have lots to show you this week!

 

I've been taking a watercolor course from Tascha which has been a lot of fun.  It's moving me out of my comfort zone for sure.  

This was card I made.  We were supposed to employ a few different techniques with this, using crayons, inks, pencil crayons, gel pens, washes.   Not sure that I like it, but . . .



Then I was supposed to do something which employed the skill of using a masking liquid.  So I did words on this cat, a cat is a cat . . . and that is that!   I think the cat turned out great, but I am not loving the Beret.



Then we were supposed to use a whole big letter in a painting.  So I did this.  I think this is getting better, but not happy with the colours . . .
 I know . . . nit-picking . . .

But I've not just been working on course work.  I've also been working on hand-painted post cards, which are for sale by the way.  I might become famous one day, so they could be an investment, who knows!  (dreaming here!)



I put words on this one . . .



No words on this one . . . not yet anyways.  Still trying to find the right ones . . .

 

and I've been working on illustrations for a new cookbook project I am working on.  This one's not finished yet.  I still have to paint in the shelves above the AGA and the cat laying on the mat in front of it . . .



A warm cup of grog . . .



Pears and peppercorns . . . I know . . . lose the peppercorns . . .



Sunflower and words . . .

And then just a little something to make you smile . . .



Hope you're having a great Wednesday!  





Do hop on over to The Stamping Ground to see all the other entries for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!