Different Strokes

Man, this past few weeks have really been a big thing for me in the way of changes.

First, I closed down the biggest part of my life regarding my Crafty Pegs hobby business, going to my very last market I'll ever do. But I still have the props and table cloths in case there is a need for a pop-up store to make some quick cash.

Then, I bought some great shelving for my house to store anything I need from around the house. This is still a work in progress and I'm still working out the cleaning up of the art area with it all. 

Now... well, I'm changing my art lessons from a Monday morning to a Tuesday Social Day at the Logan Artists Association. This is mainly because I can't afford Aaron's classes anymore - but there is a second reason: I think I have learned so much from him, that I can wing on my own for a while without a teacher hanging out and telling me what to do. 

Besides, I scored all those great art books from Oma's estate and they are a great resource for me to study as well - which will help me if I get stuck - and there's also youtube and other art groups on Facebook I'm a member of too.

So much going on in my arty world isn't there? Well, tell me, what's been going on in your arty world? A lot, not a lot? I loved to know what you've been up to. Until my next post, keep creating!

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!

The New Year

Welcome to the new year! 

And what a great one it's going to be!

I'm already back at art school - two weeks early - and halfway through my first painting for my newest exhibition; and in a few days, I'll be getting out there and buying another canvas (hopefully) and making sure I get in and start my next painting.
I'll need around 20 paintings done this year; and I'll have to learn to paint fast and well, to get them done. With my art teacher, Aaron, working with me, I'm sure I'll be able to work well with them.

Crafty Pegs will be working a little slower than I expected it to be. I'll be doing only the markets I can get into this year as my calendar may be a bit more full than I expect - but then I'll have to wait and see what happens yet.

I'm still making pin cushions - which will be sold at my exhibition next year with my paintings and I'm hoping I'll get in and work through my own barriers of how everything works out there. 

Well, that's the news of how things are going so far. Yes, this year is looking great, isn't it? How's your year looking in the grand scheme of things? All good? I hope so. 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!

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!   

Rainy Art Class Monday

Today, it was the day for my art class. And this time I took along my canvas I wanted to work on - unlike last week where I forgot it.

We had a great time working on our own things with Aaron walking around - or running around - helping us all out. Yep, it was a full class this week. 

And there was a man who came in asking if he could join up. I'm not sure if he decided to or not; we'll have to see next week.

My self-portrait went from blah to wow in just 3 1/2 hours. I didn't really want to leave, but I just didn't have the brushes to do the right kind of detailing work I needed to do on the hair... so I left to head off to Eckersleys at Underwood and found what I needed there. 
Once home, I set up the portrait to dry by the back door and will be packing the car for tomorrow to head off to Geoff and Vivienne's place to visit Will (a friend of mine) and drop off some paint Geoff gave me... I just haven't used it; and he can have it back.

Anyway, I arrived home well past 1pm and had a bottle of brush cleaner and detailing brushes from the art store on me... I'm really getting my art gear refined now. I don't want to be taking too much stuff with me if I don't really need it; yet I do want to make sure I have everything I need. Yep, it's a catch-22 in art classes. If you don't have enough gear, you're caught short... and yet if you have too much, you feel as though you've packed the kitchen sink. Oh well, can't win 'em all! Until my next post, keep creating!

Logan Artists Association

I've joined this wonderful local association of artists in my area. It's a great place to go and has done wonders for my self-esteem!

Thus far, I've been a part of the 'Black and White' Exhibition for International Womens' Day this month; and this week, when I pick up my work from there, I'll be dropping off my work for 'Filling the Gaps' Exhibition for next month! 

Now, this is more wall-time than I ever got with the Logan Art Gallery! And seeing I'm a financial member, my work is going to be up on those walls for free! Isn't that brilliant?

I'm also taking part in an art class and enjoying every single minute of it! Aaron Pocock started his art class this past Monday and instead of being a conventional art teacher - with a set lesson plan - he's opted for us to do our own thing and drop in on each of us and advise us on how to make our work better. 
So, some of us were doing water colours, while other sketched with charcoal, and then other worked with acrylic paints and then there were others still who were just getting into water-based oils... and we all learned something big on Monday about everything! 

How very cool was that???

So, this is why I haven't been in here. But if you look at Inside Artistic Dialogue (and if you're not currently a member of that group, do join up), you'll see more about the art classes and the Logan Artists Association. It's a brilliant place to be, as it's in such a quiet place to work at. I haven't felt so welcomed, and wanted to learn so much from so many people. Until my next post, keep creating!