Ink and glitter

Thinking about making backgrounds, I tried using some green sparkly ink. It’s meant to spray out, but the spray nozzle won’t work, so I unscrewed the top and dragged the ink in lines with the plastic tube that dips into the ink. Then I added some black ink lines. Finally I used a gold, round glitter stamp. Of course I had forgotten to clean it from last time I used it, so it didn’t work as well as I wanted.

I don’t know what I could use this for. It looks a bit like trellis work in a garden so I might try adding images of flowers? Maybe in an analogue way or digitally. It could also be used for a screen print for perhaps a silk scarf?

Hanging baskets hanging on….

Yes they are still surviving. Plants and flowers that would normally have shrivelled away by now, a series of frosts due this week might do that, but the plucky baskets (OK they are not thinking or animated) have hung on together with the plants around the yard. I guess there must be a microclimate. I will let them stay where they are until its time to get them refilled again in spring next year…

There are various plants in the photos, including nasturtium, fushua, begonia, aster, pelargonium and many more.

Online lecture

Just watched a lecture by one of our fellow students. It was fascinating to watch. About watercolour and ink and how to use it. She showed us how to use salt and also cling film to add texture, masking fluid to preserve white areas and glue mixed with paint and ink to created textured backgrounds. I will certainly have a go at using some of them.

She also showed us her sketchbooks, she mainly does abstract work, but also does realistic work, (she showed us a lovely painting of a friends dog). It’s great that students are adding to the teaching experience at college….

Windowsill

Todays #bandofsketchers picture, watercolour sketch of my windowsill…

The cat has her own cat tree because the window sill is covered in glass, geodes, metal sculptural objects and more. I can’t show them all as the cat tree is in the way…. The cat loves sitting there as it’s right over the radiator. I think the diagonals sort of have a flattening, almost japanese woodblock effect? Anyway it was nice to do something in watercolours for a change. I just used a bit of metallic gold and silver marker pen to highlight some of the objects.

Ginger

For a couple of years now I’ve sponsored a guide dog for the blind. I get regular ‘pupdates’ to tell me how the trainee puppy is doing. Ginger is my latest puppy and when I saw this photo I just had to share. The thought that this cute dog can turn into a kind helper to a person in need is so wonderful. I hope Ginger learns well and qualifies with flying colours.

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Watches

A collection of watches, new and old. Broken straps, flat batteries. I’m thinking of using some of them in my college course. We have to create an artefact that will show our artistic practice. I can’t show you my ideas as it’s for the course only but I will discuss what I’m thinking about.

My idea is to re use old watches and clocks and repurpose them. A lot of the time (no pun intended), watches don’t have their batteries replaced or their wrist straps break, or they just go out of fashion. There must be old watches in drawers or cupboards all over the country.

My idea is to incorporate them into something else, so that they are useful again. It would mean trying to find watches that could be fixed or reconditioned and then fix them into the body of an object that can then be used a a decorative time piece.