March Challenge....

at The Cupboard Trilogy Blog....... and a little story for you all.....

This months theme is "Mother"  Which if I still made cards would be nice and easy.. but I don't.. so it wasn't as simple as I first thought....

I decided to make a Journal spread in my Goddess Journal... about the Ultimate Mother of all... Mother Earth...

I based my idea on a painting I did in Moonshine last month with the Fabulous Effy.... where we all painted a Wolf Moon, with a Goddess embracing a full moon and a  wolf howling.....  I loved that lesson so much, it was an obvious Brain_jump to doing Mother Earth embracing the world....

I sketched her out holding a heart, and with her hair in the rough shape of a heart to keep the love theme going with her, and then because I am beyond useless at Geography, I googled to get rough placements of all the countries....

Well, You will never guess what I found...........

The pencil sketch to your left is the idea I had... the colour image on the right is one I found on the web and comes from a blog called Hope On Earth.

Now I am telling you all this, because I belong to a group on FB called Stamp out Stamp Theft... and there are sadly far to many cases of an image being blatantly used by someone else and passed off as their own work....  some of it is appalling in the amount of copying done.. and then sold as original.....
So I wanted to explain what happened here, as I would hate for anyone to stumble across the image as I did and assume I lifted the idea..... Which I didn't, but I could see how somebody would think I did.....

I had a chat with the girls in the group, and we decided to go ahead with my blog post and to explain the whole thing as an example of how ideas do occur to more than one person! :-)

So... my finished journal page.... I used my favourite technique of Gesso, Watercolour, Gesso and lots of pencil work... I wanted her to look fairly distressed and grungy as a mini statement from a personal soapbox of mine about the amount of abuse the earth is getting on a daily basis, yet Mother Earth is still holding on to us and loving us despite all we as society do to destroy her.....  That is true Mothers Love.....

The poem I wrote around the edge is taken from Earth Medicine by Jamie Sams and is a fabulous book full of poems, sayings and rituals for all phases of the moon in a year following the teachings of the Native Americans......  I adore this book!

Right...enough waffle..... here is my page..... and see you all soon xxxxx

“Spark of inspiration,

Light my spirit’s fire,

Let the joy of creation

Be my heart’s desire.

Let me flow with the music,

Let me dance my dreams alive,

Let me sing my deepest feelings,

Until the whole world thrives.

Exploding into expression,

My joy takes many forms,

Leaving the tears and sadness

For the warmth of tender arms.

Hold me, sweet Earth mother,

Soft against your breast,

That I may share the ecstasy

Of my creation’s best.”

Litlte update.....

Sorry I have been so quiet... been frantic busy and can't believe where the time is going.......  been so busy, yet not doing much... life eh!  Half term was manic.. so looking forward to Monday and a bit of peace!

Few arty bits for you though......

A canvas I doodle-scribbled

 Comfort Zone.. one pencil face

Page done in LifeBook.. my Guardian Artist for the year.....

 Again doing LifeBook... my "pretty" page... just to prove I can!

 And the Journal I made and doodle-scribbled on for this years Book of Days, Moonshine and any other journal beauty I decide!

Toodles xxxxx

February..... The Month of....

That Iccky lurve Stuff! :-)

Well Hello... I am still here... been frantically busy.. had a few health issues, and well.. Life just took over!  But I am Back!

And .... I am back with a New Blog DT... Now I am blogging it here, because under the DT list... I am "Something Else" as opposed to Cards, Scrapbook Layouts etc... which to my mind means I can be as wild and wonderful as I like... and it fits my arty blog nicely!

The New DT position I have is with a bunch of very very dear friends... and is over at The Cupboard Trilogy and this month the challenge is Love!

I have been painting a commission for a friend,   I had a guildline to follow, which amazingly I did pretty much stick to... although I begged to be allowed to use Purple in the colour scheme.....  I am Thrilled with it, and my friend loves it.. which is a bit of a shame cos I wanted to keep it...LOL... but.. I am thrilled... This is my second sold painting.... I think that makes me a Real Artist now!

So here it is..... from the original (freehand **smug face**) sketch through the scary "OMG I Ruined IT With The Inks" stages, to the re-drawing, the shading with Tinted Charcoal Pencils.... and the finished canvas.. which, did I mention, I love?  (excuse the slight colour variations as we go... different lighting shining on the work)

Well.. there you go... I hope you like it... leave me a note if you do!  And don't forget to pop over to the main blog and see what the others have made.......  I will see you all soon! :-) xxx

Researching Goddesess.....

Good Morning!
Been a busy few days..... as you know I am taking  Moonshine with Effy, and it has really been interesting and informative..... it has opened a need within me to know more about Goddesses, and there are soooo many of them.. I was googling myself into a hole!  ***confused***

So.. I popped to Amazon, and I picked up a Goddess Tarot Set.. it is Beautiful.... the cards are stunning, and in the book there is just enough info on each one to let me decide if I want to investigate further (mostly yes!)

So I decided to make a Goddess Journal..... had to make a new journal to start with... cos, well, just cos I did.....  then I started playing!

This is Kali, a Hindu Goddess, who has been very heavily stylized in the Tarot Deck as she is quite scary looking in the information I have found on her!

I started off sketching her out, and then I scanned my drawing and printed onto pastel printing paper..... and using Pastel Pencils, started to colour  (my Jury is still out on Pastel Pencils, but I do love the way they blend!)  I added the darkest shades first and blended in, then built up layers of colour to show highlights and shadows.....

(sorry about the change in piccies... some were flash.. some without! :-) )

I then added Twinkling H2O's for her hair......

This is my interpretation next to the Tarot Card.....

I then opened my beautiful new journal..... and made a background for her... cut her out and glued her in..... the writing I added was taken from the Card.......

And I am thrilled!!!!!

Another of the Goddesses in the pack is calling to me...... so she will be my next journal spread in the Goddesses Journal.......

Till next time.....xxxx


OK.. this is freaking me out a bit here... what is going on?   I have uploaded the piccie of her next to the card five times now... and on the original she has all white round her eyes... when it comes up on here, she has blue in her eyes....  it is not like that on the original... Hmmmmm!!!!

You know what.......

I am missing 29 Faces!

Yes I can draw whenever I want... but the deadline MADE me draw.... I miss it!

So... here is todays face! :-)

I like her.....

xxxxx

Did I show you........

My favouritest scrummy shelf on my new art storage system?

Well... here it is!  I am a little bit addicted to making sewn bound journals.... I have been making books for years.. using jump rings or the Bind-it-All, but in Book Of Days Bootcamp, the fabulous Effy did a great tutorial on sewing journals.. and she has created something of a monster in me!   I can't stop making them! (Although I have to right now cos my new rolls of canvas are in the postal system, somewhere and not on my desk... but I am eyeing up an old pair of jeans for a cover if I just can't wait!!!)

So..   One scrummy shelf......

Yayyyy Me! :-) xxxx

Arty Travel Kit!

So... on Wednesday, I went to Art Club...as usual.. I took too much!

So I got to thinking... what do I REALLY neeeeeeed in my art pack.... to take away , to be able to do most things I want to  ,... in as few items as possible for ease of travelling.....

There are loads of videos on YouTube about it... Jennibellie being one of my favourite..... but they are their art needs.. not necessarily mine....

So here is mine.. which I am sure will not be yours... I can see you sitting there saying... WHY has she packed that?  and Where is......  but here it is anyways!

I started with my Derwent Pencil Carry All...... Ok it is a huge pencil case.. but posh.. so needs a posh name!

I have put a rule next to it so you get an idea of the size.. it is large.. but not huge.. so would happily fit in a suitcase!

And here it is filled...... I might as well say now.. pretty much everything in it (apart from the front pocket contents, stumps, brushes and waterbrushes)  is Derwent... saves me typing it out all the time!

 

So.. for starters.. we need a Journal.... Made this one to go in it... it is A5, so a perfect travel size! 

 

 OK... opened.. first section.......Here we have.......Water carrier, cloth to mop up the inevitable spills and cleaning brushes etc... ruler, small pot of Gesso, tin with rubber, sharpener and cotton buds in it...........

First "leaf" of the pencil case!  Cheap paint brushes for Gesso..... paper stumps for blending snips/scissors (just in case) (MUST add a glue stick or something!).......rubber tipped tools for blending ( my new Must Haves!) fat and thin waterbrushes, semi decent paintbrushes (I don't buy "good" ones cos I kill them) couple of stick erasers, fat and thin......

Turn over.......  We have ... White Posca Pen, Black Posca Pen, Black Faber Castel pen, Black Gel Pen........HB, 4HB and 8HB Water Soluble Graphic Pencils ( I love these.. the sketched faces in 29 faces were done with these... amazing pencils!)  Coloursoft White, Blender and Burnisher......

Derwent Tinted Charcoals....... another latest Must Have... these pencils are fabulous for hints and shadows.. I adore them.....

Aquatones... WOW.... these are why the waterbrushes are there... these sticks of pure and vibrant colour are fabulous... and they spread for miles...blend beautifully and are just amazing........ backgrounds sorted! I only have a few of them.. think I need the rest of the set! :-)

The Drawing Pencil range ... now these are fairly new to me... and I love them.... they are great for faces and sultry atmospheric backgrounds...... so perfect for my journals.....  A cracking little set and fabulous to blend with!

WoooHoooo ... an empty side to the pockets.. in case I want to add something!

And finally in the back,  under the elastic strap... my journal and my watercolour set.....

And even done up, and full of lushness...... it is  about the same size as the newest and must have hardback novel!



Now.. having learned a bit over the last few months..... I think maybe my 36 colours in the watercolour set is a bit excessive..... love it to bits... but even with all the colours in there.. I still mix the ones I want... I may get the small set of 12 and really mix them.. be easier to fit in the bag.. Plus I have a dilemma...... do I keep taking things in and out of the bag... or do I buy doubles and have the travel set packed and ready to go at all times?????

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So.. there is my Travel Pack... I think I have everything I need to do my Journalling/arting/painting while I am away from home.......  what do you think?  Leave me a comment and let me know! :-)

Toodles! xxxxxx