Hearty Arty Inspiration

Life Book 2013 with Tamara Laporte is my favourite place to be at the moment.  I'm getting so much inspiration watching all the videos and 'having a go' using all kinds of mixed media.  This piece was inspired by Effy Wild's tutorial in Life Book 2013.

But there's more, Joanne Sharpe of Whimspirations is amazing and her art work inspires me just as much and it's such a great way to unwind after a tough day or two.

I've taken several of Joanne's on-line classes last year and recently I came across these wonderful prints which Joanne created and here's my spin on her work.  I just love using Nicholson's Peerless Transparent Watercolors ~ Joanne Palette.  I discovered these when taking a class with Joanne.  I'm also enrolled in a class which Joanne is featuring in with Strathmore Art which starts next week.  Looking forward to getting heaps more inspiration from Joanne Sharpe and of course the Life Book 2013 is a whole year course with lots of great artists showcasing their many skills.  

H is for Handmade - A to Z Challenge

Today is about my involvement with handmade crafts.

I'm always short on words because I know anyone who may visit and take the time to read this doesn't have time for a lengthy post, therefore this will be short and sweet.

I've been making handmade items for years, since I was fourteen ~ make that many, many years I've been making handmade items! 

Handmade by me

I give all my work away, I've never sold anything. Too scared mostly and everything I do has been done before, so who would want to buy my stuff.  I love giving my stuff away and I would never give anything that I wasn't truly happy with.

 

Sewing is a breeze for me and not much of a challenge, so I find I'm moving more towards drawing and painting (Oil) and I know that the only way I'm going to improve is to practice and one day I hope my paintings will be as much a breeze for me as my sewing is now.

Like I said in my post yesterday, I am very grateful to have found so many clever internet people. I have paid for and mostly enjoyed hours of tutorials on painting and drawing and I've enjoyed sharing my efforts ~ however humble they may be.



Handpainted by me

 

So for today, my point is all things handmade make me happy, especially if I'm the maker.

 

Source: soimarriedacraftblogger.com via FaveCrafts on Pinterest

Beachcombing and a Dragon

 Last week when I was out walking along this peaceful stretch of beach I came across this dragon. 

Isn't she a beauty?

She sleeps in a gorgeous coastal bay in Victoria, Australia.  She's my new BF.  I can sit beside her and take in the beauty of the ocean, the cliffs and amazing bird life and feel at peace with my life.  She let's me talk with interrupting, keeps me warm and asks no questions.

This is her long and awesome body. See her short legs at the front?  Her beautiful snoozy face is hidden and she just lies there protecting the ocean and yes, letting every living soul walk all over her!!



Such is life - she is my beauty.

Do you see what I see?  Or do you think I've been in the sun too long?

By The Seaside With Pride

Finally I'm able to indulge my love of art by taking some wonderful on-line oil painting lessons with Rod Moore from Moore Arts School.  Rod's an Australian artist who is a wonderful teacher, very patient and fun to work with.  I'm having a great time watching him paint and learning some of the basic beginners painting techniques ~ this past month is the first time I've ever used oil paints [except for two face-to-face classes I've taken with Rod this year].

I love the ocean so what better way to celebrate my new found freedom and yearning for art, than learning to paint seascapes.  I'm totally over the moon with some of my work yet and others will not see the light of day.  Here's one of four efforts that I'm comfortable to put on show.  Who would have thought 'waves' could be so challenging?  Not me, until now that is.

As for 'people in the distant' dare I show my efforts there?

Well, yes I must because I'm learning and I have to be brave and show the good and the bad.  The figure in the front of this painting below looks like she's going to the Melbourne Cup races not frolicking on the beach, but that's how it turned out.  Oh well, I've still got a ways to go with 'figures in the distant'.  There's a couple more painting completed but only my teacher is going to see them.

So; four paintings completed and I'm guessing maybe ninety-six to go before I have something to hang on the wall.  That's a lot of canvas.  Thank goodness I discovered Gesso the great cover-up.

Thanks for visiting my humble blog.

Scavenger Hunt ~ On My Shelf

Well, I've lost my dinky camera so I've had to resort to my iphone for the photo challenge today.  Maybe my camera is somewhere on one of these shelves.  Hopefully it will show up when it's good and ready, I know it's in the house somewhere.

My Bear and Book collection 

The shelf in the Loo

The only orderly shelf in my Craft Room

My softies resting on a shelf guarding one of my very amateur paintings

A messy corner shelf displaying creations by me, the 'Wanna Bee Artist'

Linking up to Deb's weekly photographic challenge at Ramblings of a Square Peg in a Round Hole

Sukeshi Doll and other fun stuff

Sukeshi Doll - She's as light as a feather and she's my little treasure

Last month I attended a workshop in Tasmania as part of a trip to visit my in-laws.  It was hosted by Susie McMahon and this little treasure below is what I made.  If you go here and here you will see more of Susie's Sukeshi dolls and just how clever she truly is.

I had a lovely creative day at Susie's place snuggled in her warm and cosy studio on a very cold, wet and wintry day.  I went with my special friend Di who creates and makes the most wonderful art dolls. Quite a few ladies attended the workshop with everyone working on different projects and generally having a nice time away from the hustle and bustle of every day life.  I courageously showed Susie a couple of drawings I was working on and she helped me with the shading of the face which I have no clue how to do.  Basically it was a show and tell day and Susie was there to lend a helping hand and share her expertise in all things arty.

                         
She's a cloth doll, firmly stuffed with wadding then painted with a coat of Gesso.  Then she got a coat of favourite acrylic paint and then when the inspiration took hold I painted her with a whimsy design.

Percy Pig is other fun stuff

The evening before Susie's workshop, I stayed with Di and her husband Gerald who live in Westbury and we had a wonderful evening by the wood fire eating chocolate biscuits and watching videos.  It was here that Di introduced me to dry felting using the wool from her beautiful and precious sheep which she rescued as abandoned babes.  They've grown into miniature horses now and their home in Westbury, Tasmania should be called 'Sheep Heaven', really those sheep are so spoilt and Duke the cat, well let's just say he's the Boss, you know what I mean.........

Percy Pig

Dry felting is as close as I will ever get to sculpting and what I like about it is that you make it up as you go so every project will be a 'one of a kind' that's for sure. My first attempt was a very bad rabbit [too embarrassed to show rabbit here], but then later I  successfully made a pig called Percy [not too embarrassed to put Percy on display] and now I'm having a go at making a bear which will be another post for another day when said bear is finished.

Dry felting can be painful if you're not watching what you're doing.  The needle is super sharp and you can imagine the wake up call you get when one is dreamingly felting by a wood fire, drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits.  It's always going to be tricky to keep chocolate off fingers whilst felting and making sure sticky fingers avoid the terrible pain from a sharp needle, but it's worth the pain because I can get my crafty self into a very nice reclining position on the couch with wool, needle, chocolate and video all happening at once.

Thanks Di and Susie for a wonderful weekend 

Photo taken at Evandale Tasmania - Sculpture of an artist

Bloomin' Marvelous

If I planted a flower 

Every time I thought of you, 

My garden would bloom forever

All It Takes Is Practice

I'm doing the Fabulous Faces course with  Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts and after many hours of practice I think the work is paying off.  If I never get any better than this I don't care.  It's been so long since I've been able to post something that is me ~ all mine ~ yes siree she's fabulous.

And ......................... I've finally learnt how to put a watermark on my photos.  Double bonus.

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Just Loving Learning

Happiness can be painted in any colour, shape or form

If you can live your imagination, your life will be a dream come true

I'm having a great time learning to draw, paint, collage, art journal and create artful letters.  All online courses with a bunch of wonderful people. 

"With love in my heart I bid thee farewell"

Asleep On The Job

My Guardian Angel decided to have some time out from me this past week so I made the most of the opportunity by trying to capture her on canvas.  Look, I know from an artistic perspective it's not a great work of art, but she's mine and that makes me happy.  Read on to find out why she is sleeping.

Well, against all her protestations I purchased an e-copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and my Guardian Angel has been in a state of angst ever since.  Seeing I chose to ignore her words of caution, she slept whilst I read.  I was intrigued by all the hype about this book and I also thought a little bit of exotic sex might be good for my soul or good for something.

Simply put I found the book to be annoying, tedious and apart from rocking my boat for about 2 minutes when a raunchy sex scene appeared I thought it would never end plus it was peppered with grammatical errors ~ that was the annoying part.

BTW, there's "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" but you probably already know this, I just found out.  I hope they employed a new proof reader for the follow-up editions.  I would be curious to read them just to see if the proof reading skills had improved.  Maybe that was just the kindle version with all the errors.

I've promised Ange [first name basis with Guardian Angel] that I will do my best not to get 'sucked in' to buying the next two volumes.  I need her because I get myself into too much trouble when she's not looking out for me and for some reason I had a really unhappy week when I was reading this book, the good things I wished for didn't happen.  Oh, well life would be real dull if every day was perfect.

P.S.  I'm reading 'The Hunger Games' now 'cause I just need a change of pace, so I sure hope this doesn't get me into any trouble with her Ladyship when she wakes up.

"With love in my heart I bid thee farewell"

Letter Art ~ My First Lesson

I'm loving Letter Art.  It's fun, relaxing, creative ~ just a wonderful play time.  The best part is I don't need a desk, nor do I need expensive paper, pens or paints.  In fact, I coloured this delicious piece with chalk and then later gave it a luscious and generous spray of hairspray.  My masterpiece is now adorably perfumed.

Naturally I didn't think of this myself, the mastermind behind my learning experience is Joanne Sharpe from Letter Love 101 and this is the coolest of classes.  What's so good about it for me is that I can chill out on the couch, pillow behind my back, wrapped up in a snuggly doona, dogs by my side and just get creative.

There's nothing special about these doodles but it makes me feel good, time wasted is not time wasted if you're having heaps of fun.  This is lesson number one only twenty-eight to go.  Just having too much fun.