New paintings and regular art updates.
I’m trying to get this very complex painting finished for tomorrow. It’s going from OK to not sure. I don’t know if I like the brushstrokes. I’m trying another brush in a minute. I’m staying another hour or so. Will post more if it improves.
Book avalanche ….
I once had one book.
That wasn’t enough,
Then I had two
One too few?
So I got three
Which I read in a tree.
Soon I had four
How many more?
Five or six, a feast
No seven at least,
Enough for a shelf?
With my twelfth….
Once I had forty
I felt rather naughty.
Just a few more
Came through the door…
Once I read paperbacks
Now I’m on hardbacks,
My addiction is growing,
The books they are flowing.
Trying to count ’em
How can I stop them?
Over one Thousand?…..
No space for me and
My cats.. .
I’m a sucker for patterns. If I can’t think of any other art to do I will draw a pattern on my phone or tablet then play with it.
I do wonder where my ideas come from. I must be very visual. I never feel comfortable unless I’ve got something to look at. Minimalism is not for me.
I once had to live in a student residence while I was on placement somewhere. I had a room with a bed and a desk and chair. Blank walls. That dingey pale grey /blue /green that public buildings are painted. One kitchen between about 16 rooms and a toilet and shower block.
No home comforts and it was the start of November and I was based there for a months placement. I could only come home at weekends.
I went out and bought a couple of sheets of wrapping paper. A newspaper, a party bag made out of holographic shiny metallic paper. Also a few postcards and a sketch book.
By the end of the day I had 42 (honestly) pictures, photos, patterned paper, the beautiful wrapping paper all stuck up on the walls .. Then I felt much better… Its my visual brain you see…..
I was going to have a quiet day today. But I got up and there was a bit of a disaster in our kitchen. My hubby had decided to brew some beer. But he had added some extra sugar to the brew. Then he has put the bung in upside down. Beer had turned into volcano. Half the brew was all over the kitchen. It had hit the ceiling, there were puddles of ale on the cupboard tops, it was all over the cooker. Basically half the kitchen has been inundated with beer….
After about an hour of cleaning up I decided to go to the pastel workshop with the Orme art group. Basically to escape! The workshop was run by Sandra Orme (no relation).
It’s difficult to describe what we learnt, it was complicated. I’ve added a few photos of the two pictures I did. First you lay down colours in soft pastel on fine toothed pastel paper. Once you have enough pastel on you blend them together, then build up layers using smaller more intricate marks, gradually blending and adding. Sometimes only lightly pressing on the pastel, other times blending more. The direction of the marks can make a difference to how it looks. You can use the edge of your hands, your palms, your fingers or blending tools (like a brush but with the bristles replaced with a rubber tip).
Im pleased with the results. I’m even thinking of getting them framed….
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We both are tired out. I have a cold and I think he’s caught it off me. I decided to try and draw him in a simple drawing app. It’s more fun than sitting watching TV. I guess I must be starting to feel a bit better.
I must start going back to life drawing. I was doing it last year, then the nights got dark and cold and I stopped. I realise I’ve stopped doing a few things over the last couple of months. I don’t know if it’s the lack of sunlight or depression, but I feel a bit housebound. Trying to snuggle up and be safe. Life gets like that sometimes.
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I haven’t been able to use WordPress as I used to for the last few days because I’ve been having some work done on my social media. It seems to be working now on my tablet but not on my mobile phone?
I think I altered something and it has thrown everything out of kilter, so this is another test to see if the post and its accompanying picture go to my Facebook page.
Fingers crossed. X
Sorry about the quality of the picture. But this was a painting I did a couple of years ago at the Orme Art group.
It was a still life set up by members of the group which we all worked on. Shadows were cast in two or three directions so it was a challenge to work out how to depict them.
Also the glass vase threw a coloured blue shadow with the ripples shimmering on the wall.
I’m not sure if I got the scale of each object right. The vase must have been really big or the teapot very small?
One problem with looking closely is that you can look at each object and not always the whole. That’d why it’s important to literally and metaphorically take a step back to check.
Lots of things inspire me. The mother of pearl colours in a mussel shell interested me. Could it grow a pearl? Is it only oysters that grow them?
Mussel shell, mussel shell
Is a pearl growing there?
Does the grit you spit
Make a sand orb that shines?
Mussel shell, what muscle makes you
Grow a seed of shiny
Mother of pearl?
You are clamming up on me!
We saw some house sparrows in a hedge today “little brown jobbies” as I heard someone call them.
They were perched above us as I pulled the car into a car park. I wanted to get my phone to take a picture but its was on the back seat and the handle was caught in the rear door.
I carefully got out of the car, quietly shut my door and dragged my bag out. I got the phone, it was switched off! Help I had to switch it on and wait for it to warm up. Then a quick look. Four of the sparrows were still there…..
Camera on, click, click, click, (I took three incase of camera shake). Used the zoom option which pixelated them a bit but it was better than trying to creep towards them.
So when I got home I checked what I got. Not bad. I liked all the twigs and branches criss crossing and protecting the birds.
I decided to use the rainbow flood fill option in sketcher to make the sky more interesting. Like stained glass.
In the meantime I have a bad sore throat and feel rough.
I might not be around for a few days.
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