Art Every Day Month: Days 3, 4 & 5...

I had a full weekend of painting, intermingled only by doing some laundry, cooking, attending an art demo, entertaining and sleeping! I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent painting, although I have to admit that my fingers and hands did not! The joys of finger painting and lots of hand washing!

In addition to painting, I also spent some time sketching, which was a lovely way to relax and end the weekend, and the end of Day 5. I will post some photos of my sketches another time. But here is my painting. The first photo shows what it looked like at the beginning of the weekend, and the second at the end after many hours of work.

The inspiration for this painting comes from what I learnt at Tracy Verdugo's Paint Mojo workshop that I attended back in June. I'm very, very pleased with how it's looking. I have a few tweaks to add and then it will be varnished and hung up in my loungeroom. I'm looking forward to doing another one soon too!

Derwent Demo...



Carol Lee Beckx and Dr. Manny

The Art Shed Brisbane hosted a Derwent product demo on Saturday with the very talented Carol Lee Beckx. While I am not a extensive pencil or crayon user, I've since been inspired to plan to purchase some of the products! I was asked to share what I learnt, so here goes, and please excuse the short and sharp sentences (I took copious amounts of notes that I'm working from here):

Derwent Watersoluble Sketching Pencils - made out of graphite and very good for adding outline to canvas. Rub over with water on a brush to remove line. Comes in three ypes. Carol did a sketch of Picasso and started using the lightest wash (HB) then moved to medium to add depth. She varied her pencil grip for rough sketching, definite lines, etc. It's best to sharpen pencils with a stanley knife for longer lead. More information on the pencils can be found here.

Tinted Charcoal Pencils - an easy to use charcoal without the mess. Colour on paper is different to what is in the pencil. Has a gritty feel. Not for precise drawing when wet but only when dry. Comes in earthy colours. Comes in a tin of 12. More information on the pencils can be found here.

Graphitint Pencils - tinted graphite pencils. More manageable than charcoal and comes in more "normal" colour range. Softer than charcoal. Light water marks will retain pencil lines, but more wash will dissolve lines. Comes in tins of 12 and 24. More information on the pencils can be found here.

Inktense Pencils - I've been wanting to see a demo on Inktense pencils for a long time, so I was delighted that these were included! Inktense Pencils are intense ink based pencils that provide a vivid colour. Carol did a sketch while talking about the pencils, which was beautiful to watch. Pencils are used dry then water is added via brush or watercolour pen. Carol recommended that most of the sketch is put down before adding water. The pencils can be used on all-natural fabric, especially silk. Textile medium will help to retain vibrancy. Can put textile medium on fabric first and the add Inktense, or vice versa. Inktense can also be used on canvas. Put down a layer of gesso. Watercolour canvase is the best type of Inktense. Good for drawing blocks of colour, wetting it and then using as a watercolour on another sheet. Comes in tins on 12, 24, 36 and 72, and as you can tell from the amount of notes I took my most favourite product next to the Artbar, which is coming up! More information on the pencils can be found here.

Coloursoft Pencils - I didn't take any notes for this one, outside of the fact that they can be used for colouring in. Comes in tins of 12, 24, 36 and 72. More information on the pencils can be found here.

Inktense Blocks - the same as the pencils, but designed for larger work and no pencil lines. A lot of pigment for the money. More information on the blocks can be found here on the Derwent web-site.

Artbar - a water soluble wax, which has an additive that allows it to be soluble. I think I fell in love with these, in addition to the Inktense Pencils! The bars are triangular, which I love, and come in four colour groups of Brights, Pales, Earths and Darks. The bars are opaque and colours can be layered one on top of the other and a smudge stick, or finger, used to blend. Not good for use on textured paper as too much of the bar will be used up. A Shave & Save can be used to ensure that there is no wastage. Carol also used a water spray and a squirrel mop brush. The Artbar is available in a larger tin if using a lot. It can get sticky, especially in the heat. Carol advised that it's best to know what your composition piece will be before starting. More information on the bars can be found here on the Derwent web-site.

Carol will be holding a workshop on Sunday, 18 November from 9:30am until 2:30pm at the Art Shed where you can either try out her Derwent product range, or bring your own, and have a delightful day of art and colour. Please contact the Art Shed on 07 3846 1330 for details.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these products, and also watching Carol at work creating. One tip she did give the group was to spend 20 minutes a day sketching, whether inside or outside. I started last night, and plan to do a little each day to expand my scope and ideas for both my paintings and drawings.

Art Every Day Month: Day 2...

Time to sync with the northern hemisphere for Art Every Day Month. When posting earlier today I found out that the Creative Every Day theme for November is trees. How fascinating, I thought, given that I had just been in a meeting and was doodling trees...as you do! So, while it's not much of an effort for Day 2, this is it.

Paula xo

Art Every Day Month...

Well, it seems that October/November are the springboard months for me to get my "art" on each year. It's been a year since I picked up my pencils and paints again after a very long hiatus, and it's been three months since I last did any real art. I blame winter. Although Brisbane winters are not cold, as such, they are cooler and I did a lot of knitting, crocheting, reading and snuggling up under a blanket to keep warm.

But I'm back! And so is Art Every Day Month that is run by Leah over at Creative Every Day. And yes, I have something to share!

At the end of June I was blessed to attend a Paint Mojo weekend with the lovely and talented Tracy Verdugo. My effort after the weekend was a large canvas with some beautiful colours and shapes on it. You can see it here. I've struggled to know what to do with the painting since, but a few days ago I picked up my paints again and started adding to it. And here is the result:

I was going with an underwater theme but a friend saw a bird, so I've run with it. Plus, I love hummingbirds. I've only ever seen one in real life, and that was over five years ago in the States. I find them incredibly beautiful. I also love dragonflies, so it must be something with the hovering wings! I'm going to keep working on this painting over time and hope that I don't get too frustrated with it (I did last night) and I am patient with myself and it!

Another painting that I'm going to be working on is an ex-commission. Due to the rough middle of the year I had, I didn't do any work on this painting and thus the commission has falled through. But it's all good, as I am going to look into selling the painting, or gifting it.

So, these are my projects for Art Every Day Month. I may or may not create something new daily, but regardless I will be working on these two paintings.

Back in the Groove...

Well it seems that the colder months here in Brisbane calls for snuggling on the couch with either my knitting or crocheting. But now that the warmer weather is here I have felt a return of my painting mojo. After attending a Golden Paint demo in Buderim a few weeks ago I've been spending more time in my art room. This work in progress is a result of that time. I'm looking forward to finishing off some projects and starting some new ones in anticipation for opening an online store and also holding a stall at a market next March (giving myself a lot of time to prep for that one!).

Getting My Mojo Back...

Well, it sure has been a long while since I posted here. A lot has been happening: illness, work, being a full-time single mum and more. And yes, I did start to love my painting mojo. However, I attended a two day workshop with the wonderful Tracy Verdugo last weekend and I got my painting mojo back while I got my Paint Mojo on!

The workshop was held at the Buderim Craft Cottage, which was a delightful location. And the group of 18 ladies I attended with were so lovely. We had such a wonderful time, and some of us have hooked up as Facebook friends, so it will be nice to see how we're all travelling in our art journey.

Below is my where I'm at with the large canvas that we started at the workshop. This is a large 90cm x 90cm (36" x 36") canvas. Tracey showed us through each stage of painting the canvas by creating a masterpiece of her own. She is a true talent and I had to pinch myself a few times when I was watching her work.

I will post progress photos, and also some more from the workshop. I'm looking forward to seeing where this painting goes!

Atelier Interactive & Keith Norris...

I discovered Australian artist Keith Norris today via YouTube. I've since discovered that Mr Norris passed away in 2009, but not before leaving a grand legacy in the art world.

Below is a 3 part series Mr Norris filmed via Chroma back in 2009. I have fallen in love with the painting Mr Norris creates in these 3 videos.

Mr Norris also shares information about Chroma's Atelier Interactive Artists' Acrylic.  I have a few tubs of this paint and I do relish the opportunity to use it. It has taken me a while to get used to working with it, but it is well worth it.

Please enjoy these clips and I hope you love the painting just as much as I do!

A Painting Frenzy...

This heading best describes my life at present. I am in a painting frenzy and have just started painting number fourteen to sell at a market stall in nine days. No pressure. At. All.

These paintings will either be sold individually or as a set.

I seem to be a lover of sets, hence why painting number fourteen was started. I am also hoping to do a fifteenth painting just so I have some individuals to sell.

The market I will be at is called the Markets of Hope. I will share more details when next on a PC, or you can click on the top link on my
sidebar, of head over to my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/AppleTreeArtbyPaula).

Paula xo

Latest Work in Progress...

The arrival of a larger TV screen in our lounge room a couple of months back, and the removal of my old, old, old entertainment unit, I now have a big empty space on my wall that needs to be filled.  Enter in a 60cm x 90cm (24" x 35") blank canvas, an idea to include a Swiss Cheese Plant leaf and some palette paint, and the result is the painting below:

I still have A LOT of work to do on it yet as I have all these ideas in my head but not enough free time to get them on the canvas.  Suffice to say that the Swiss Cheese Plant leaf idea may be tossed out the window, a gray cockatiel may be added and also some black and orange butterflies.  And as I'm yet to perfect mixing aqua/turquoise paint, I have to master that before adding it.

Stay tuned for more WIP updates!



PS Due to a deleting error, I deleted the finished painting post, so here it is!

Helping Others Unleash Their Creativity and Inner Artist...

On Saturday just gone, I had the pleasure of hosting an all day art session for my friend Jo at Princess Warrior Lessons. Last Christmas I was stuck for gifts to give to a few of my friends, so I gave them a gift certificate that allowed them to spend a day with me to unlease their creativity and inner artist. Jo posted on her day with me over at her blog page. Please pop on over and read here and find out how she took a plain canvas and went home with a painting to hang on her wall that night!

Happy Valentine's Day...

Tomorrow is the one day of the year where men and women swoon over each other, declarations of love are made, and flowers cringe when cut to be sent to a recipient who may or may not want them.

Yes, Valentine's Day.

I'm not swept away by Heart Day, as I often refer to it as. Maybe this is because I'm single and the only man who really deserves my love (outside of my dad, brothers and nephews) is Jesus.

Anyway...the painting here is a little number I created a couple of weeks ago while looking after my cousin's seven year old daughter, Miss A, who was sleeping over the night with my girl, Miss J. Miss A decided that she really liked the painting and thought that there should be an orange heart in the middle, thus there is. I'm giving the painting, titled "Orange Heart" to Miss A to commemorate her first ever sleep over.

I've also entered this painting into a challenge over on Facebook where I'm a member of the Art Eye Candy Club. The winner of the challenge will receive a little painting by the groups create, Rachelle Panagarry.

Wish me luck ... and enjoy Heart Day, however you spend it!

My Mysterious Island...

Last weekend I started working on a textured canvas with runny paint and a spray bottle. I was quite happy with what showed up on my canvas...a palm tree, island, volcano and ocean.

The painting above is the end result that I worked on tonight. I wasn't too sure about what I'd do to finish it, but I knew I didn't want normal colours.

I went to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island twice this week. Once in 2D then again in 3D. That movie, with its volcano, water funnels on the ocean and uniqueness inspired me tonight.

This painting includes texture paste, scraping, drippage, some brush work, many layers and the use of a palette knife and bamboo skewer. I enjoyed the challenge of painting it and had the approval of two seven year olds, telling me "it looks good". That's good enough for me!

Paula xo

One Night Wonders...

Finally I've started painting again. With Christmas, holidays, my mum visiting and generally being all over the place, I've completed one (and started another) painting this weekend. Yay!

I've affectionately called this painting set One Night Wonders because, yes you guessed it, I completed them in one night. I have one more painting to do and then I can hang them.

The two in the photo are done on re-purposed box canvasses that I bought for a whopping $2.50 at a charity store. The third canvas will be done on a $3.99 store bought. Value for money!

My daughter starts school tomorrow - year 3...yikes! - and I can't wait to get back into our usual routine so I can paint more.

I hope your 2012 has been a little more productive so far than mine has!

Happy creating!

Paula xo

Finally!

Today (or yesterday more correctly as it's now almost 1am here) I painted! Yay! It's the first painting I've done in two weeks and the third I've done in a month.

But I'm back...finally!

This canvas is re-purposed. Under the flowers is a black and white checker painting. Yikes!

But no more. It's now number two in a series of One Night Wonders I'm embarking on. Fun stuff indeed.

I'm glad to be back painting and I can't wait to do more.

Paula xo

It's Been A While...

Wow! It's been a wee while since I posted. I've had my mum visiting from Tasmania so blogging and creating time has been scarce. But, it's time now to get back into the swing of things and for life to return to "normal", whatever that may be!

My big news for the week is the somewhat dramatic (for her) arrival of my bird Daisy into our lives. She is a 6 month old gray cockatiel and is delightful beyond belief.  Read about her arrival here.

Over the last 3 weeks I've only created two paintings. The first one - "Portals" - came from inspiration from Tracy Verdugo. It's not really like Tracy's paintings in any way, shape or form, but I like the idea of portals into another scene. I'm going to attempt more too.

"Portals"

Pre "Portals"

I really do love experimenting with new ideas and learning new skills. The other painting I completed is one of these. Mum and I visited a charity shop and I bought a pre-loved canvas (although by looking at the painting on the canvas, I couldn't feel the love) and painted over it. I layered and layered, added flowers, marks, colours and used different techniques from my palette knife to water spraying and dripping. It was so much fun and I love the result. Mum said it looks like a messy cottage garden; she really liked it, seriously!

"Beyond the Garden"

I returned to the same charity shop on Friday and bought some more pre-loved canvasses and I'm looking forward to creating another painting in the above style, and also preparing for a stall I hope to start up in February.

Happy creating everyone!

A New Thing!

Hello from 2012 here in Australia!

I've been pondering my 2012 word/theme and have kept hearing the word "new" and also the words "see, I am doing a new thing". This morning's visit to Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com) revealed the verses I needed:

"This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 NIV

So, my words/theme for 2012 is...

"A NEW THING"

Moving on from, and forgetting, the past, which is a blessing as there's some horrible stuff there!

Giving up my former self, and allowing God - letting Him in and giving Him room - to shape me into the woman He knows me to be.

Leaving to leave the past where it is, and only referring to it when I remember the valuable lessons I have learnt from it.

There's a lot more I could add here but I will stop for now.

Yesterday gave me a glimpse back into my past: to the emotional damage that was done to me by others, to the reactions that manifested in me, to the feelings I vowed and declared to never feel again.

Today I'm feeling stronger and resolute in the fact that my life as it is is exactly where God wants me, and my girl, to be. He is watching over us and protecting us from the evil in the world, and there is a lot!

Bring on Twenty Twelve! Bring on renewal and refreshment! Bring on another wonderful year with my girl, who is blossoming before my eyes! God gave her to me as a gift and I'm ever so thankful.

Happy "New Thing" Year everyone! May you all be blessed!

Paula xo