Tuesday Art Play

A few weeks ago I got this book and though I have looked through it many times, I haven't tried anything from it... until today! My kids had a pupil free day from school, so I thought I would make the most of the day at home and have some art play!

I started by trying some of the step-by-step techniques from the book. This looks pretty yuck with the brown, but I had a colour scheme in mind, so I stuck with it. It was only experimenting anyway, so it didn't really matter if the colours were wrong.
I then added a coat of medium magenta, hmm... still not sure about the colours?
With a few white paint spatters...
Then a few orange spatters (cause I reached for the wrong paint! Should have been brown). It's grown on me since I made it and I am quite happy with it. It has a time worn look.

The next technique was layering papers....
Then painting over the top. Was happy with the colours in this one.
The last technique I tried was using modern photography. I decided to use an image from a magazine...
Painted over the collaged papers, using titan buff, a little burnt umber and a wash of titanium white.
This is the finished piece. I have added some more paint (jenkins green mixed with white) and a few extra elements and a charcoal outline. Quite happy with this one too. It was good just to try the techniques without worrying about the finished piece too much. Now I am feeling happier to try out a journal!
Thats all for now, time to start cooking dinner.
Hope you had a great day everyone and also a wonderful Easter! (Sorry, forgot to mention that before!)

Just some things I love

Thought, that since I was feeling so good I would share a few things that I am loving right now!

This little number is something we(Mum and I) used to make many moons ago. This is the last one I have and she hangs on my pin up board above this here computer, like my little guardian angel. he is surrounded by some of my favourite bits and pieces.
This here is the sign that is on my studio door, courtesy of my sweet 8 year old, Kaitlin. Its just a shame that they do not heed these words, but I guess the thought was there??!

Another pretty on my pin up board and once again courtesy of Kaitlin, rather life like representation I think!
My 2 youngest, playing nicely together and what makes this even better, is that they have cleaned it all up... without being asked... not once!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!!!!
MY STUDIO! I could stay here forever if there was a fridge and television. Surrounded by all my yummy favourite things, I am one lucky girl!
Some pretties in my studio.
My gorgeous man made this picture frame, and yes, it is real pressed tin or ceiling tin some call it.
Love this window frame, that previously mentioned gorgeous man picked up for me. I have a larger one in the shop with 9 openings that I have filled with art work. Will get around to this one day too!
My Michael De Meng apron, don't you just love that image on the front???
Another unfinished project, but I still love looking at it. Next to that is a St Nick that Mum made. She makes these for sale, I must tell her to put them in her etsy store!
Some happy reading with lots of eye candy and inspiration!
This photo of my Madison who is now nearly 7 years old. My friend Jo recently did a pencil portrait of this photo, it is in getting framed at the moment, but as soon as I get it back I will post it on here!
A canvas that Mum made for Jessica, love it!
A party hat, that even though it isn't finished, I still love looking at it. I just found my pale blue feather boa the other day and thought the feathers would look great in the top.
This cute little bird cage that I have had for years, this makes me happy just to look at it!

I have decided to take the plunge and start another blog for my scrapbooking and personal stuff. Come by and have a look if you are interested 'Just Because...'. I will keep this blog for my art and retreat stuff. Next post.... todays art play!

A Retreat to remember

BOOK OF TREES MAY 5 - 11 2008 PERTH WEST AUSTRALIA

In just a few weeks time (May 5 - 11) we are very, very fortunate to be spending a week in Dwellingup with the gorgeous NINA BAGLEY. Nina has very kindly agreed to teach us this amazing book, 'The Book Of Trees' which has never been taught before! How lucky are we?????
Above is a sample of the book and we do have a couple of places still available. If you are considering doing this, I urge you to take the leap. Nina is an enigmatic, kind and generous teacher and her work is so uniquely Nina, full of nature and wire twisting and vintage yummy bits! The cost includes accomadation at the lovely Banksia Springs, all meals and of course Ninas workshop. Evenings will be spent relaxing, playing with products, chatting, laughing and enjoying company of kindred spirits. One day will be spent exploring the wonders of the region which is so beautiful in May.

All these photos were taken by Jacky on a recent stay at Banksia Springs, as you can see it is such a tranquil and beautiful place. In my humble opinion, this is the perfect setting for Nina to teach her wonderful book, surrounded by trees and natures bounty.

A little native visitor perched in the bare branches of his tree. What a stunning example of the beautiful Australian wildlife.



If you would like any further details about this retreat please contact us. More details can be found on our website or you can phone or email us! What an amazing adventure it would be for you American girls, a class with Nina and an adventure in Australia all rolled in to one incredible vacation!

WEBSITE - http://www.artisticjourney.com.au/
EMAIL - jstables@bigpond.net.au
PHONE - (08)9471 8658

Warning... long post ahead

Firstly I would like to say a big heartfelt Thanks to all you wonderful readers who left comments, sent emails and even phoned to offer wonderful words of support and encouragement. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we are trudging our way towards that light. Each step is taking us forwards. I am so grateful to all of you and to my wonderful Mum, who puts up with my snippy moods, my sadness and my anger. Thankyou Mum, I love you so much!

Okay, now on to the week that has just passed, and it truly has been a busy one. We have been ordering all the supplies needed for the retreat, plus some fantastic goodies for the shop! Mum and I have also started setting up our Etsy stores where we will sell some of our artwork, some of our collections and lots more. I will let you know as soon as this is up and running! Very exciting, just wish there was more time to get stuck in to it. But, we have a retreat to plan! More on that next post!Jen Wordens Challenge.
I had planned to complete a journal that is a UFO for this weeks challenge. But I kept forgetting to take it in to the shop with me! Instead I decided to finish this Pez Totem that I had started in Michael De Mengs class at our Art Retreat in March last year. The one above is the Pez and below is another UFO that I started over a month ago. This is also inspired by Michaels work and is an Anatomy Man. Mum is doing the paint treatment on the box that he will reside in.

Below is our little Puppy Paige, this is the before shot! Before we took her in to get clipped on Thursday...


Its hard to believe that the picture below is of the same dog, 12 hours after the above photo was taken! I must say I prefer her with the long coat, but the heat here is too much for her and her undercoat is very soft and silky. I'm just looking forward to it growing back!


My friend Nic, owner of Twiddlybitz has just bought out her new acrylic range and I am very lucky to have some to do up as samples. Below is the acrylic shrine and I am going to start working on this today.


Then there is an acrylic journal and the price is just awesome! The journal is under $20 and has 5 pages with rounded corners and drilled holes for binding. The last acrylic album I saw was about $60 which was what has put me off buying one. Think I might try to get this done tomorrow or Monday.



Below are some Scrapbook pages I have been doing over the last week or so. This one is for Dis Shop, Scrapbooks to Di For in Malaga.


A detail shop from the above layout. This was using rub-ons on to flowers which was alot easier than I thought it would be.


This was is almost finished, just need title and journaling. I enjoyed the freestyle form on this one.

Heres my little Maddie again, this photo was taken a few years ago, but I just love it. She looks so cute, but very cheeky and that is my Madison to a 'T'.

My favourite photo from our recent beach excursion. Wanted to keep this relatively simple as I thought the photo should be the focus.

Courtney from the same day.

This one came together really quickly, the paper is so lovely it really didn't need any more added to it. I just cut around some of the paper, mounted the corner of the photo under it and then journaled directly on the photo. Quick and easy, just the way I like it!


Another one of Courtney at the beach. Also very simple, with the focus on the photo and the journaling. Minimal embellishments on this one.

This is a series of photos I took to showcase a day in our lives. Was good fun doing this and nice to do a layout with more than one photo, which I tend to do more often than not.

Well, if you have reached this part of my post, thankyou for your resilience!! I am off to have a coffe and relax before my sister returns with my two youngest and my niece!

Enough is a enough!

Well, I guess this really has been building for over two years now, but I am at that point where 'enough really is enough'!
I am exhausted, emotionally and physically. I try to immerse myself in my art play as a distraction, but events over the past few weeks have tipped me over the edge.
I do try to keep my blog positive and upbeat, but I guess I have decided that those who read this may be able to offer words of advice or at least be a little understanding that I do have pressures in my personal life. I suppose I am asking for a little patience as I attempt to sort through this all.
I have a 15 year old daughter.
I try to understand that she is going through emotional turmoil too, but sometimes it is hard.
I am literally at breaking point and have to try and consider the needs of ALL my children, my marriage, my relationship with others, my business, the retreat...
I am almost in tears I as I write this.
I feel a heaviness in my chest, the emotional drain a physical thing.
I am tired.
I do understand that I have an obligation to all of you. I am trying my very best to meet the demands of all my delegates at the retreat. If I have not answered your emails of late, I most sincerely apologise and I am working hard on getting this done.
If I have made a demand from anyone, consciously or unconsciously, I am sorry.
If I have depressed you with this post, I truly, truly apologise. I do not mean to offend or upset anyone.
I think it is time to sign off and go outside and within with my thoughts.
Later, I will post on a happier note.
Promise.

Paper casting - work in progress

Have been playing around with different paint techniques with my paper castings (see previous post). This one below, I am making into a journal cover. I have applied a coat of Golden crackle paste all around the outside of the paper casting, which was glued to the journal cover with Gel Medium. Just waiting for the paste to dry and I will extend the paint from the casting.

This one has a coat of Irrid. Bronze. It was watered down quite heavily and I found that watering it down didn't distort the image and was actually easier to work with. It seeped into the creases and grooves and I didn't need to work it in with the brush so much.


This again is the watered down Irrid. Bronze. Left this one patchy, not sure if I want to leave it like that or add another colour??


This has a coat of Quin NA Gold with a brushing of Irrid. Bronze over the top.



This one I started out by dry brushing the HB Burnt Umber. I found it was a little too sticky for the TP casting and started to lift the layers. I then applied a watered down mix of NA Gold and Black to fill in the white patches. Once dry I applied a little Treasure gold to pick up the detailing. I then tore around the image to roughen up the look.

I actually quite like the subtlety of this piece, even more so now that I see it on here! I think I will give all the finished pieces a couple of coats of Gel Medium or GAC to add a little strength, especially the one on the book cover.

Okay, my back is aching from sitting at this computer and I have retreat kits to load on to the online shop