Art every Day

I set myself a challenge of trying to create a piece of art every day, be it large or small.

It could be sketching in my journal or painting, as long as it is something that takes me away from this keyboard.

I have been very good so far.

Here are a few pieces I made yesterday for the Retreat Yahoo group challenge, A Gypsy Journey.

This first piece is the background for the next image. This was created quite by accident. I was trying a Misty Mawn background technique, but didn't like waht I had made so I added more paint over the top and a bit of molding paste. I need to make 6 more pieces like this now so have to remember what I did!!

I just love these images of Romany Gypsies, this is what I imagine when I think of Gypsies. Aren't their faces so full of character?!

This last piece was done on the Fabric Paper I made from Beryl Taylors article in Cloth Paper Scissors. The image transfer is not clear enough, so on the subsequent pages I will just glue the image down as is. It is of a family of Gypsies standing in front of their wagon.

I will post pictures of the charms I made this afternoon!

Artful Blogging

Just arrived today and I am so inspired to step up my blogging, but not today.
Today I did a bit of blog surfing and found this blog through Michelle Wards. It is so funny, and down to earth, I just had to mention it here.
http://www.hatemailgreetings.com/blog.htm

Oh, I am ordering some of their stuff too, just love it!!

Thankyou Nina

It has been a hectic morning, opening shop, netball, party pickups and getting Samara to and from work.

I arrived at the shop for the afternoon shift feeling exhausted and harried. Surely not in the mood to be creative, so my pieces sit forlornly on the studio tables. I decide to get my daily dose of blogs while sipping a much appreciated cup of coffee. Fitrst stop is Ninas blog, wow, this woman must be phsycic!!(sp?)

If you haven't yet read Ninas blog, go on over and have a read. Nina reminds me to sit back and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. After reading her blog, I wandered outside, the sun is shining... so warm and welcome after days of drizzling rain. The air is cool, but the sun warms my back. The birds are out in force, flitting and twittering their melodious songs. Wonderful. A touch of early Spring!

See the sun shining outside the window? In half an hour it will be streaming through said window, warming the wood of the cabinet and releasing the delicious smell of the oiled timber floors.

So, do as Nina says, go outside or look around you. Enjoy the little things that make our lives truly unique and special!

10 Little Hearts

It is still raining outside..

Just wanted to share with you the little hearts I made today. They still need beading/decorating but I still thought they looked lovely just as they are.

And here is some pieces that I played around with placing on the fabric paper I made on Wednesday night.

Am loving this soooooo much. I have started decorating one of the accordian journals I painted the other day but will save that for another post as I have put crackle paste on it and it takes a few days to 'crackle'.

Well, I am off to start the bigger accordian journal. Did I mention how much I am loving this??!

Misty Rain

Its raining..., a misty rain that clouds the air and coats everything in a spray of moisture. The swish of the cars as they go past on the wet roads, the trickle of water running down the drain pipes...

Droplets hover on bare branches like crystalline snowdrops....

The air is fresh and crisp, like the world has been washed anew...

And here I sit, snug in my nice dry cocoon. It will be a quiet day in the shop, wet days usually are. I have the whole day ahead of me, alone but not lonely. Absorbing my solitude, rare that it is these days, and creating little hearts. I have hauled out the vintage fabrics, needle and thread. This is the life! My life...

A day with Beryl Taylor

Sometimes it is very refreshing to have a change of position, a change of roles. On Tuesday I was so very fortunate to take off my teachers hat and replace it with my student hat! I had the most extreme pleasure in attending a day long workshop with Beryl Taylor. This ladys work is so beautiful to look at and I can't express what a fantastic day I had. Below is a photo of some of the pieces I made in Beryls embellishment class.

In fact I was so inspired I spent alot of yesterday just playing around with some of the techniques I had learnt on Tuesday. Below is some watercolour paper I have painted.

And below are a couple of journals that I have painted and hope to start decorating in the next couple of days.

And these are some more 'bits' I made that are all part of the construction process. I set up an assembly line and got stuck into it last night. Now, when I want to make some embellishments, all the bits are ready to go!

The following 4 photos are the fabric papers that I made last night. This piece has a lovely printed napkin on the top but it is hard to see in the photo.

These two pieces I played around with different colours and applying the paint in different patterns. I used a very watery wash of the Golden fluids.

This last piece is my favourite. While I will use the other pieces to make the embellishments, I think Iwill use this piece as a background.

Unfortunately Blogger is playing up and I had to resize my photos to smaller images in order to load them to the blog. All these pieces are about 14 x 11" insize. It was so great to just get stuck in and slap some paints around and try new things. Beryl is a fantastic teacher, very down to earth and easy to talk to. It was disappointing that it was not better supported by Perth people, but I for one am very grateful for both Dale and Mareene for making the effort to get Beryl here. And I know that all the other girls who shared the class with me on Tuesday (a really great bunch of girls too!), they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and came awy very inspired and motivated to make more.

Thanks to Jaslyn, who really looked after us and made sure we had everything we need. To those of you who didn't attend, you missed out on an awesome teacher!

Jacky is doing Beryls class tomorrow, so I am sure she will post more photos over the weekend.

Shop remodeling

Whenever we do a craft fair we tend to have a bit of a move around in the shop. A change is as good as a holiday as they say. So here a few photos of the shop and the window displays.

This is one of the front windows, sorry about the glare! And here is another one of the opposite window/

And the same window, but taken from inside the shop.

And this gorgeous cabinet was a gift from the beautiful Sunny. How lucky are we??

And this is a close up of the cabinet.

There have been times when I begin to wonder if we made the right decision in opening the shop. It is very demanding, especially for Jacky. But when I look at these photos, I realise how truly blessed we are to be doing something we truly love and are passionate about, to come to a place that is restful, beautiful and inspiring. To meet some of the most amazing people, way too many to name, but you know who you are! To have the opportunity to run our fantastic retreats and meet the tutors and delegates, all of whom have enriched our lives in ways we could never have foreseen. The beautiful Nina, we just love you so much, Michael, who really is one the most amazing artists and gifted teachers and Judy, what a privilege it has been, to watch your art grow in leaps and bounds to the phenomenal level it is today.

So, no more questioning this decision we have made. We are here for a reason and I for one am going to enjoy every step of this awesome, and often scary journey!