Year: 2010

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Seeing Stars

Gravitation - original watercolor painting by Brisbane Artist Kirsten Bailey

I’ve always been fascinated by the stars – I love looking up at the night sky, especially when I’m away from the city and the artificial light no longer dims the stars.  One of my favourite childhood memories is that of looking through a neighbour’s telescope.  So it’s not surprising that stars feature heavily in my artwork.  Nor is it a surprise that some of my favourite Etsy items are star-themed as well.  Here are a few of them:

From top to bottom, left to right:

1.  Starry Night Cobalt Glass and Silver Charm Bracelet by Trash and Trinkets.  This charm bracelet features the prettiest shade of blue, along with star and moon charms.

2.  Stellar Stream – Indigo/Gray Freeform Crochet Necklace by Irregular expressions.  I am in LOVE with this necklace!  I love the title ‘Stellar Stream’, and it really does bring up memories of seeing the milky way clearly emblazoned across the sky.  Best of all, it’s totally unique!

3.  Starry Night Serving / Pasta Dish by Spinster Sisters Pottery.  This dish is so pretty it almost seems a shame to put food on it!  Glazed in midnight blue with white crystal stars, it would make a wonderful centerpiece to the table.

4.  The Original Velvet Purple Candileria by Blue Room Pottery.  How cool are these?  I can just imagine how pretty a room would look lit by candlelight filtered through one of these beauties, stars playing against the walls.

5.  Starry Night Necklace Lapis Lazuli, Pyrite, Sterling Silver by Red Chair.  If you were to trap the night sky in a string of pearls, I think it would look something like this.  This stunning necklace features lapis lazuli beads, blue as the night sky, offset by the shine of Pyrite.

6.  Starry Night Embroidered Cloth Napkins by Monkey Beetle.  These simple, elegant and beautiful napkins would add a little starlight to any dinner table.  You can even get a glow-in-the-dark version!

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Illustration Friday – Linked

This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “linked“.  Here’s what I came up with:

Entwined - Original watercolor painting by Brisbane Artist Kirsten Bailey

It’s titled Entwined.

I really enjoyed creating this one, and I’m happy with how it’s turned out… but painting the way I do can be quite messy:

I’m so glad watercolours wash off easily!

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Two Happy Stampers April Colour Challenge – Take Two

I recently wrote about participating in this month’s colour challenge at Two Happy Stampers, which involves creating something using the following colours:

I wanted to have another go at creating a painting using these colours, and this is what I came up with:

Early Spring - Original watercolor painting by Brisbane Artist Kirsten Bailey

It reminds me of the shrubs they have around my school which drop white flowers in a carpet all over the ground.  The branch of the tree is actually painted in navy watercolour paint although it looks pretty close to black.

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Suitcase Rummage

Today I spent my time at King George Square for the Suitcase Rummage – basically, people were allowed to bring a suitcase full of whatever they wanted to sell, and it was all free!

I was there to sell some unframed paintings, my keepsake boxes, pendants and cards.

I wish I could say it was a really successful day, and I was busy the whole time, but it was not to be.  I was surrounded by people selling pre-loved clothing for 5o cents or $1 a piece, so I guess in contrast my stuff seemed expensive to people.

I did get lots of lovely comments though, and I’m hoping I’ll have more success at the Handmade Expo next Saturday.

If you live in the area, I’d love to see you there!

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Saturday Selections – Colour Challenge

Earlier this week I wrote about the Two Happy Stampers Colour Challenge.  When stuck for ideas for a theme for my Saturday Selections this week, I thought why not take the colour challenge that little bit further, and find some lovely items from Etsy featuring Coral, Teal, White and Navy?

Here’s what I found:

Colour Challenge - Teal, Coral, White and Navy items from Etsy

Top to bottom, left to right:

1.  Mermaid Twist Earrings by Gypsy’s Closet.  Simple but elegant and beautiful, these earrings feature a coral bead and aqua chalcedony briolette connected by a gold twisted loop.

2.  Royal Blue Earrings by Designs by Tisha.  These are just stunning.  The Morrocan silver plated filligree drops are so pretty, and are set off beautifully by a blue Czech fire polished crystal.

3.  Navy Blue Pillow Cover with Cherry Blossoms by Sassy Pillows.  I love the way the navy background on this pillow sets off the pretty coral, green and white cherry blossoms.

4.  Lotus Favorite Mug by YogaGoat.  Most of us have a favourite mug or cup – the one you always reach for when you need that cup of tea or coffee.  I can easily see this mug becoming someone’s favourite –  I love the coral lotus flower design, and the little thumb rests on the top of the handles.

5.  Unique Summer Garden Necklace by You and Me and Bead.  Isn’t this necklace just so pretty?  It features a coral coloured flower with little antiqued brass branches and soft teal green freshwater pearls.

6.  Turquoise and Ivory Traditions Damask Table Runner by Darling Occasions.  I love table runners – they’re a great way to create a feature of your table, and tie in the colours of the room, without covering up the whole table like a tablecloth does.  This pretty runner would be a great centerpiece to any dining table.  I love the way it’s been paired with the white vases in this photograph, too.

I think I still have one more idea up my sleeve for this colour challenge, so stay tuned…

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Suitcase Rummage

This Sunday I will be selling some of my unframed art, wearable art pendants and keepsake boxes at the Suitcase Rummage in King George Square, Brisbane.

I’m looking forward to selling an an easy, casual atmosphere – it’s a good way to dip my toe into the water before the big Handmade Expo market next Saturday!

I hope to see you there 🙂

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Two Happy Stampers April Colour Challenge

I had so much fun participating in the colour challenge from Two Happy Stampers last month, so I jumped at the chance to have a go at another one this month.

These are the colours we needed to use:

It’s a beautiful combination, but I found it a lot harder this time for some reason.  Here’s what I came up with – I’ve called it “Coral Sky”:

Coral Sky - Original watercolor painting by Brisbane artist Kirsten Bailey

I’m still not sure about it though – I’m going to have another go with these colours and see if I can improve on it.  What do you think?

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Two new works

I love holidays!  I get so much painting done 🙂

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

"Evening Joy" - original watercolor painting by Kirsten Bailey

“Sunset Joy”

I’m hoping to donate this painting to the Cerebal Palsy League’s ‘Art for Arts Sake‘ charity auction next month (it has to be accepted first so fingers crossed!)

"Evening Song" - original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey

“Evening Song”

This one is going to be sent to someone special 🙂

I’ve also been working on some new canvas works – I’ll post details here soon.  I hope everyone had a lovely Easter long weekend!

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Saturday Selections… MMM… Chocolate

It’s Easter time again already.  Easter means three things to me – family, holidays and CHOCOLATE!

I am notorious for having pretty much no willpower when it comes to chocolate.  But it’s not just the edible kind I love!  I love warm and inviting chocolate brown as a colour, too.

Here are some of my favourite chocolate brown items from Etsy:

Chocolate brown items from Etsy

From left to right and top to bottom:

1.  The chotto tote/messenger in chocolate brown by Christy studio.  It’s practical, stylish and comfortable to carry, and the chocolate brown colour would go with so many outfits!

2. Small chocolate flower hair pin by Princess Allure.  Add a little feminine style to your outfit with this pretty hair pin!  Each petal has been handcrafted using chocolate coloured satin, and it features three Swarovski crystals in the centre.

3.  Chocolate rose necklace by Heather Berry.  Chocolate brown faux pearls have been hand linked together and decorated with a creamy rose and filigree medallion. This pretty feminine necklace would go beautifully with the cardigan I’ve featured!

4.  Chocolate Jar by TC Art.  This doesn’t quite fit in to the rest of my theme which are all wearable items, but it is so cute I couldn’t resist including it!  I’m a sucker for little jars and knick-knacks.  How cute would this be filled with a few little chocolates?

5.  Upcycled Cardigan – Chocolate Cookie by Caroline Joy.  I just love the idea of upcycled vintage – it’s great for the environment and means you will have a completely unique item for your wardrobe.  This cardigan is a great example of that – its a modern look using a rescued sweater.

6.  Walk Tall vintage chocolate brown high heeled boots by Planet Claire Vintage.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE these boots!  I would definitely have snapped them up myself already if I didn’t have the feet of a giantess (they’re a size 5).

I hope you’ve enjoyed my selection of chocolate goodness this weekend!  Please let me know what you think of the new format, too (i.e. putting all the pictures at the top together instead of spacing them out).

Have a safe and happy Easter!