I wanted to participate in one last Illustration Friday topic before the year ended, and well, I’ve left it a little late. Luckily their topic this week is “Winter”, and I have the perfect painting for that topic. I know I’m supposed to create something new, but I’m a little too late for that.
Here’s my painting:
This painting is available to purchase via My Etsy Store.
Happy New Year everyone!
I 2011 is all you could wish it to be.
It’s been a little crazy around here lately! I’ve been busy working on a couple of commissioned paintings, creating jewellery for the Handmade Expo, and still somehow managing to keep up with my busy day job. This website’s been a little neglected as a result. But with one week left of school, I’m hoping to get lots of painting done, get a chance to participate in Illustration Friday again and maybe even post once in a while.
Today the set of three paintings I’ve been working on was picked up by the lovely lady who ordered them, who I met at Soulful Spring Sounds earlier this year. It feels great to be finished and to have a happy customer. Here’s how they turned out:
I’m also still working on a piece for a friend, which is the biggest painting I’ve done so far. I’m enjoying the challenge – here’s how it’s looking:
With Christmas fast approaching, I doubt I’m the only one who’s busy at the moment! If you’re on the lookout for unique Christmas presents, don’t forget to check out The Handmade Expo on Saturday 18th December – with 120 stalls you’re sure to find something perfect! And of course, original art makes a wonderful gift 🙂
I just love participating in DUST swaps! I was very slack with my partner this month though, just like I have been with this blog and with lots of other things – I’ve been so busy lately! I didn’t forget her though, and I hope the set of wearable art jewellery I sent her made up for the slight lateness.
My swap partner was Carol from Neca’s Nic Nacs, and she definitely looked after me! She sent a lovely set of note cards, some Christmas ornaments, and my favourite, a gorgeous knitted hat. I’m going to have to wait a while before I can wear it though – we’re moving into the warm, humid, summery weather here in Queensland.
Many thanks to Carol for being so patient with me! Please check out her shop, as she has some lovely goodies there!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to be one of five artists participating in an exhibition at the Richard Randall Studio Gallery at Mt Coot-tha Botanic gardens. While I wasn’t able to sell any paintings, I met lots of lovely people and sold some of my wearable art pendants.
On the second day of our exhibition, we did some artist demonstrations. It was great to be able to spend a whole day painting without distractions. I painted outside for a while watched over by a curious bearded dragon who seemed to be posting for a painting.
As always, I was very inspired by the work of the other exhibiting artists, which I think is the best thing about exhibiting as a group.
Many thanks to those who stopped by to have a look at our paintings!
This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “acrobat” – here’s my little acrobat:
I used little drops of diamond glaze on the web to make it look like dew.
I recently ordered from Etsy a set of vintage book pages:
According to the seller they are from 1889 and 1899, so I was very excited to receive them in beautiful condition!
I finished my first artwork featuring one of these vintage pictures today. The title “And Spring Arose” was inspired by the following poem:
And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant”
I really enjoyed working on this piece, and I look forward to seeing what I can come up with for the other pictures.
I was very grateful yesterday when the overcast sky managed to hold back the rain for The Handmade Expo.
It was a quiet market for me this month, but I really enjoyed meeting the new people who came along to have a look at my little stall, and of course enjoyed seeing my regular visitors. Many thanks to all of you who stopped by and said hello!
I won’t be at the next Handmade Expo in October, but I’ll be there in November and December – perfect timing for those wanting to grab some Christmas presents!
I’m now enjoying a break from my day job (school holidays!) so I intend to get lots of painting done! I’m working on a couple of commissioned paintings, so I’ll keep you up to date with the progress of them.
P.S. I’m wearing my brand new Kellie Christie necklace in this pic – I can never resist going and spending my profits at other people’s stalls when I’m at The Handmade Expo (even on days like yesterday when the profits are non-existent)!
This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “Proverb”.
I slacked off last week and didn’t post anything for the “dessert” topic, but I’ve definitely made up for it this week! (Actually I did create something for the dessert theme but wasn’t happy with it so didn’t post it.)
I went a little nuts with this theme, and created not one but 5 paintings! I’m thinking of doing a few more and making a calendar of proverb paintings. What do you think?
I hand-wrote the proverbs onto the paintings after the paint had dried, using black ink and a calligraphy pen – one of the old fashioned ones that you dip in the ink. I was very relieved not to have any major ink-blot mishaps on the paintings (although I got lots of ink on my fingers)!
Looks like I’ve missed a few of the Two Happy Stampers colour challenges. I’m determined to create a painting based on September’s colours though.
In the meantime, here are some beautiful items from around Etsy which fit into the colour scheme:
1. I’m happy to say that we’re moving out of scarf weather here in Queensland, and into beautiful spring! But for those of you in places which are still a bit frosty (or moving into the colder weather), this gorgeous scarf would be perfect! I’m tempted to get one for myself and stash it away for next winter. Very feminine and pretty, it was hand crocheted by Ayca in gorgeous pear-coloured mohair blend yarn.
2. I made the mistake of searching for “vintage” in my quest to find a really great chocolate brown item for this post. I don’t know why I do it to myself! I invariably find gorgeous shoes that DON’T FIT ME. I swear I found about 6 pairs of shoes I absolutely loved but none of them were in my size! My favourites of all were these vintage chocolate brown suede heels from Folie A DeuxVintage. Trust me I would be buying them intead of posting about them if they were in my size! Incidentally, Folie a Deax means “a madness shared by two” – although I think more than two of us share a madness for vintage!
3. I love butterflies, so I couldn’t go past these beautiful Burgandy Victorian Butterfly earrings by Tigerfli. They’re quite large earrings but would still be very light to wear. Big and bold yet still dainty and feminine. They look fantastic on, check out the pictures in the listing.
4. These South Sea Shell Pearl earrings by Realisation Creations are most definitely pretty in pink! Elegant and pretty, they would make a beautiful accent to any outfit. I love the little extra touches in these handmade earrings like the pretty gold swirls on the earwires.
Many thanks to Heidi and Adriel from Two Happy Stampers for providing the inspiration for this post! Stay tuned for a painting using this colour combination… I’m thinking about combining it with this week’s Illustration Friday topic, “Dessert”. Hmmm…
I’m excited to be involved in a few special events over the next few months.
Next weekend on Saturday 11th September, I’ll have a market stall at Soulful Spring Sounds. I’ll be selling my handmade jewellery and original artwork – although I must admit it will be a challenge staying with my stall instead of wandering around listening to the great music and drinking wine! I’d love to see you there – I’m sure it will be a great day.
I’m also really excited about participating in the Summer Salon art exhibition at the Richard Randall Gallery, Mt Coot-tha Botanic gardens on the 6th and 7th of November. It’s a wonderful historic gallery with great character and charm, and I’m exhibiting with 4 talented artists whose work I really admire.
I’ll be at the gallery in person on Sunday the 7th of November, where I’ll be working on my latest painting (whatever that is at the time). Come on down and say hello, I’d love to meet you! As the gallery is situated in the beautiful Botanic Gardens it’s easy to make a day of it.
In the meantime, you can see me at The Handmade Expo on Saturday 18th September, Saturday 20th November and Saturday 18th December. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make the October market, so if you can’t wait for the November market, send me an email and I can post your goodies to you!