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.  

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.

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"

Beatrix Potter - Favourite Stories

The other day I watched a movie called "Miss Potter".  

The credits said:- MISS POTTER is the enchanting, inspiring tale of one woman's quest for happiness, love and artistic acceptance.

Beatrix Potter was played by Renee Zellweger and I thought it was a great portrayal.    Briefly the story went like this.  Beatrix was mind set on getting her book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" published.  It eventually happened with some reluctance by the publishing company and they sort only to humour Beatrix.  They never believed it would be taken seriously by the general public.  As it happens, the man assigned to be her publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor in the movie)  believed in the book.  

As with all love stories Beatrix fell in love with Norman and they became unofficially engaged due to the fact that her parents disapproved of Norman because he was only a 'tradesman'.  By this time Beatrix was 32 years old and regarded a spinster, yet very much under the control of her parents.  Since Beatrix had rejected all the appropriate suitors her mother had chosen and approved, her parents had determined she would not marry. 

After much arguing about Norman and her intended marriage, Beatrix agreed to go away for the summer months to Scotland with her parents with the understanding that on her return she would marry Norman.  Her mother was hoping the time away would cool Beatrix yearnings, but it was quite the opposite.  

During this period away, Beatrix received a letter saying her darling Norman was quite ill.  She raced back to London only to find she was too late.  Norman had died and the funeral had been the day before she arrived.   Naturally Beatrix was grief stricken for a long time and only found solace in her illustrations and writing.

The upside of all this was that "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" was a huge success.  As she was now independently rich , Beatrix bought a house in the country where she lived happily ever after and some eight years later married an old friend and lawyer, William Heelis.  Read more about Miss Potter here.

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

Beatrix Potter
Born	28 July 1866 Kensington, London, England
Died	22 December 1943 (aged 77) Near Sawrey, Cumbria, England
Occupation	Children's author and illustrator
Genres	Children's literature
Notable work(s)	The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Spouse(s)	William Heelis

I remember reading "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" to my children when they were one month old.  I don't know if it really did them any good, but it was heaven for me to sit quietly and read to them while they slept. To hear their quiet breathing and smell their beautiful baby smells is a lasting memory.  Neither my boys are voracious readers, but they're doing quite well in the world, making it successfully through University.  So at some point their reading prowess paid off.  Well I just love to read and this movie about Beatrix Potter and her gorgeous Peter Rabbit just made my day.  I'm off to re-read all her stories.

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”

- A C Grayling, Financial Times (in a review of A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel)

This post is also part of Friday on My Mind link back to Rhonda at Down To Earth to find out what's on other people's minds to day.
This post is also part of Katherine's Corner blog hop.

Art Class for Beginners

I love to paint but the talent is not really there.  Anyway my teacher was very complimentary with this effort.  It was my first lesson in using watercolours.  

She is a magnificent artist who loves bright colours just like I do.  This is the end result of two fantastic hours of sheer pleasure, fun  and relaxation.