Woah! It's Been Months!

Wow! Was my last post really in January?

I can't believe I have been that lax in writing here, but really I have been very busy in my art/craft world.

Okay... here goes!

Last year, I resigned from the Queen Beez Craft Group after around 5 years of being a member there. I have totally enjoyed being a member and have learned a lot from those lovely ladies - but it is time I moved on and really did jump into the art school thing on a more permanent basis.

And speaking of the art school thing, I'm going to the Logan Artists Association every single Monday to get in and do some serious painting. So far, I've completed 1 painting and I'm getting right into my second one... not too bad for somebody who took over 4 months to complete their first painting last year.

If you recall, last year, I started knitting a large throw rug for my bed? Well, it's coming along really well! I've completed the centre square - at long last - and am now working on the pieces I need to fit around it! I've worked through 3 cakes and am about to go onto my 4rth one.  Not bad if you ask me... and now I'm looking out for another 2 of the cakes at $2.00 stores if I can find them to work on the throw; it shouldn't take me long to get all the pieces done. And my knitting is becoming faster too!

Over the past few weeks, I've been given about 13 - 15 used canvas' to use in my next exhibition of Brunswick Heads - which ought to be great! Aaron Pocock has looked at my photos - which were taken on my phone and on the tablet - and he said that I took great care in photographing the little arty township; and my passion for my subject shines through the photos. He also has told me that I have more than enough photos to choose from - from now and the past - to pick from to make a great exhibition for myself. What I have to do is get myself to paint faster; and he's teaching me all the tricks to do that. 

The best thing is that next week, my first painting for Brunswick Heads will be going into the Logan Artists Association Members Exhibition - Part II. It's going to be 'The Harbour Wall - Brunswick Heads' and I'm putting a good price on it. The opening is on 21st, April and I hope to see some of you there. Until my next post, keep creating!

A Few Months

I know it's been a while between posts, but I've been busily working away on my craft and paintings.

Art school has been great! I finished my first painting of 'The Tuscan Garden' and started 'The Living Room'... and Aaron has begun getting us into doing lessons on the first Monday of each month so we can learn more than ever. This means we'll be working on this kind of thing next year as well.

And then, I've also been working hard on my pin cushions and tiny paintings as well for the markets coming up in October. I can't wait for that! It's going to be so much fun to be back into the Boutique Market arena again! I know I may not make much money from it, but I have so much fun just going there.

I'm also enjoying knitting my throw. I found the perfect colour for the centre square and I'm getting in and knitting it too! It's going to be a large square of 80 cast on, then garter stitch it from there into a square... it'll look great! This throw is taking shape so well!

I've found a book on how to draw nudes too... just the thing to help me with all kinds of things that I have problems with in drawing and painting. I can't wait to get into it. Well, until my next post, keep creating!

Woah! Two Months!

I haven't posted here in 2 months! I can't believe that time has zipped by so fast!

Well, a lot has been going on and I'm pleased to say that I've also learned a lot of things - new things - at art class too. 

In the middle of June, we were off to Karawatha Forest at Trinder Park to do a session of 'En Plein Air' - which is French for 'In Open Air'. We were there for a good part of the day, and I left at around 2pm just as the chill started to settle in. However, I woke the next morning with a dreadfully sore throat - yep, Laryngitis had struck again a year after I got it from my class reunion last year! 

Anyway, a couple of weeks of rest, and I was back at class, feeling better and painting like a champ. Aaron was impressed I had worked on the painting, but you see, when you can't go out or socialise, you just work on anything at home to keep from going stir crazy... and cabin fever had played a huge part in getting my painting to be almost finished within such a short length of time.

Well, not long after that I caught another cold from a young kid in my unit complex, which I knocked on the head with really strong antibiotics and a lot of rest and garlic-laden foods... and now, I'm getting into working on my next piece just as 'The Tuscan Garden' is about finished. There's about an hour or so left before I finish it, sign it and spray varnish it. But now it's dryer than it will be for a while, I really want to attach d-rings to it and then completely finish it... after that, it'll spend plenty of time behind the front door to dry completely on that easel. 

So, we're all caught up now... except that Dad bought me a very cool easel last month when I could afford it - but I'm not sure why he did that. Anyway, I'm hoping to get in and bake a few batches of scones and some food for them to make up for it. I am enjoying the class and learning a lot of things from Aaron too. I have found out that my older brother, Gabe, has begun art school as well. He's starting to study sculpture... very cool! Until my next post, keep creating!

Painting And Other Artwork

It's so much fun at the Logan Artists Association on Mondays - any other day or the week - the place is so quiet and the people there are all artists who do their own thing.

But Mondays are days where I'm there for art classes with Aaron Pocock with a room filled with other ladies who are painting with different mediums - be it watercolour, acrylics or oils - we are all having great fun. Then, they all found out I add books to my works and thought it was a little strange, until I told them that I have been doing that for the past 5 years or so, because I find that books are just a natural addition to artworks for me. I'm a collector of books and a writer as well, so I thought to combine the two and see how it all went in a painting - and for me, it really makes the painting look so much better. I've even got a word for what I do: Book-Art. It's yet to catch on, but it will.

Anyway, I'm working on paintings with books in them, with different mediums. But I'm currently working on a round canvas from a picture I have glued into my scrapbook I created from years ago. More recently, I've been cutting up old 'Good Reading' Magazines from over 5 years ago just for photos of books, and other magazines as well. It's all inspiration. So, while most people in the class are working from a tablet or a print-out or a photo from a calendar, I'm working from a magazine clipping from 1998 copy of 'Better Homes & Gardens'. Aaron thinks it's very cool that I'm working on new work... but then, there's my self-portrait, which looks very old-fashioned and stodgy compared to the new work. 
So, what I'm going to do is finish this new piece and then transfer what I've learned from it onto the my portrait, as I know I can change it. He's so happy that I've learned this much from the lessons I've been coming to. 

Next Monday is a public holiday, but we'll be only doing morning classes. We all love this idea. And I'll only be taking my round canvas with me. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some work on it done today. Until my next post, keep creating!

Learning So Much!

It's been a while since I last wrote here. I must apologise for not posting as much as I planned about my art classes, but I really have been learning a lot - and it's been exhausting to have other things going on at the same time.

Today, I thought to get in and take some serious photos of the class activities. Aaron Pocock has been doing some lessons for us at the beginning of the 3-hour classes on how we can use particular techniques. Last week, he showed us how to do a simple scene on canvasboard. This week, he showed us how to plan out a complex scene on paper. 

Mainly it's using the KISS method - and worry about the details later on. He also told us that a lot of people work on the details first, getting lost in them, and never finish the painting. He'd rather have the bones laid out first, then fill it all in for details at the end. Of course, he made it look so easy - but really, he's been doing this kinda thing for so long, it's second nature to him.

So, today, I got in and glazed the background of my portrait. 

The first thing I did was use the linseed oil on the area I was wanted to glaze. Laying the painting flat on the table, I opened the bottle of oil and grabbed a large square brush. Linseed oil has a slight smell to it and you don't really need much - as it's an oil and it will go a long way. But seeing it's going on an oil painting, make sure the painting is dry to touch before doing this otherwise the painting will smear.

Then, mix phthalo blue and burnt sienna together and then - using a fan brush - paint it onto the areas where the linseed oil has been used. For me, it got a little glucky, but I took my time and it worked out. 
I did find that I had to rub some of the paint off because it looked a little thick in some places. All I did then was reapply more oil and it thinned it out, then grabbed a smaller fan brush and used less paint.

Once the effect is done, put the painting off to one side and let it dry. Aaron helped me define some of the books and other things in the background with a tissue by pulling at the oil and making the spins look rounded. There's still work to do on the painting; and I'll keep you updated on what I'll be doing with it.


Once I put the painting down, I pulled out a large, round canvas and on that. I decided a nice garden scene from one of my scrapbooks of magazine cuttings would be nice to do. So, working in some of what I've learned from Aaron, I started to transfer the gate and garden scene onto the Mont Mart canvas and got stuck on the archway. This always happens with me as I can't always see the picture in the way it's taken properly. 
So, Aaron helped by photographing it, editing it by turning it black and white and then I could just work on the shading without worrying about the colours. He said people often have problems with how things are set out on pictures when transferring in the beginning and not to worry too much; that I'll get used to it. Then, he said he'll do a lesson on how to draw for us... seeing how bad I am at drawing. Well, that's my lesson for today (and yes I am seriously a horrible person when it comes to drawing; can't do it, but I can paint. I'm not putting myself down, I'm all stick figures in reality). Until my next post, keep creating!