Zentangle

Well it turns out the doodling that I used to do when I was a late teen actually has a name...'Zentangle'. I never knew until yesterday when a friend posted a link about it...which of course inspired me to get busy with pen on paper for the rest of the afternoon! The first time I've done one of these in over 20 years! Made me feel like I was a teenager again! Also made me go quite cross-eyed trying to focus on the designs I was doing!! lol
Anyway, here it is...my first 'Zentangle' since I was a kid..and I've already got the next one started.
They look quite effective don't they.

Messy Canvas - You Are an Artist. What Will You Create?

I clicked on the link provided by a fellow facebooker today. It mentioned something about a free eBook that had something to do with art..I wasn't busy with anything else so thought I'd have a peak to see if it was worth reading...and I am so glad I did!

The eBook is created by Mandy Steward who is an Artist and runs her own blog called 'Messy Canvas'. She's struggled with having belief in herself...having the courage to 'just do it'...and finally feeling comfortable enough to call herself 'Artist'. <~sound familiar??
It certainly does to me!
I am always finding 'excuses' to not believe in myself. Telling myself I'll never be good enough, I'll never make a name for myself, that people won't like anything I do, that I don't have anywhere near the talent one needs to be considered an Artist, and that there are so many people out there who are so talented and creative that I end up feeling like I'm just a tiny speck of dust,  that I might as well just give up 'cos I ain't gonna make it anyway'!

If you've ever felt that way you definitely should read this eBook. Its free (so generous) and very inspiring. I'm going to read it again..and again... I think I might even put some notes up around my craft room, some little quotes from her book, little sayings to help remind me that I should believe in myself and that I shouldn't give up...and that I don't need to be perfect!! Tell myself to "just relax and enjoy the ride Shirley!"

Here is the link so you can download it too...Messy Canvas eBook
Oh..and if you decide you'd actually like to own a 'real book' version of it..well now you can do that too. Just look for the link on the blog.
:oD

"  Life isn't about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself."   
- George Bernard Shaw

Art makes the Heart Sing

Thought I'd share this little painting that I did last week. It's the quickest painting I've ever done! It was done over two days in between doing all the normal boring cooking, cleaning, working stuff...
Now 2 days might sound like a long time to some people..but for me..(the person who takes forever to do a painting because I fuss too much!!)..2 days is amazing!!
Anyway here it is..just a little 7" x 9" Mixed Media piece.

'Art makes the Heart Sing'  - Mixed media on canvas board

 :oD

Fruity Goodness

Thought I'd share these adorable little fruits.
I found a tutorial on the net yesterday and thought I'd give them a go...Fruit made out of old books. I've made a couple of apples and a pear and I love them...they're so cute! One thing I realised though, if you are using old books, was that you need to make sure that the books you are using don't have brittle glue...the pages just fall out which is very annoying after spending all of that time cutting!
If you'd like to have a go at making these yourself click on this link Cheeky Magpie (<~great blog by the way, full of lots of great ideas!)
:oD

Book Apple

Book Pear

'I Spread My Wings'

I decided I wanted to do something a little bit whimsical...so here it is..
Ever since I was a kid, whenever it was a beautiful sunny day, I've always imagined myself being able to fly through the beautiful blue skies, arms outstretched, and thought how fantastic a feeling that would be. (If only we could do it hey!)
Anyway, this was why I decided to paint this painting. It's on a 30 x 30 box canvas.
:oD

'I Spread My Wings' - Acrylic on canvas

Lessons for Young Ladies

I'm currently working on creating a book called "Lessons for Young Ladies'. When it is finished it will be filled with advice for the young Victorian girl on subjects such as etiquette, fashion, housekeeping, cooking, etc, etc.

So far I have finished the covers and title pages as well as a section on 'The language of Fans'.

I can't wait to see how it turns out when it's all finished.

Lessons for Young Ladies - Front cover

Title Pages

'The Language of the Fan'

Booklet opens up to reveal 'rules' of Fan Language

The next pages I'm going to work on will be about Victorian Fashion  which will include some of the women in my family dressed up in Victorian paper doll outfits. Should be interesting.

Have a great day

Shirley  :o)

Trying a new craft....Paper Cutting

Received the latest issue of my most favourite magazine 'Inside Out' the other day and with it came a beautiful limited edition tea towel with a gorgeous design created by Papercutting Artist Rob Ryan. After reading the article about him in the magazine I decided to do a bit more research online and I have to say I am completely blown away by his work!

Being a person who is mad about using paper & blade (I create paper piecings) this style of art really appealed to me. So I thought I would give it a try.

So yesterday afternoon I had a go at making one of Rob Ryans pieces. A beautiful heart filled with flowers, butterflies, & birds.
It was very exciting to see it all coming together as I cut more and more of the paper away. Unfortunately, as it was just a practice piece, the paper I used wasn't good quality and my blades were also not up to the job (I'm buying myself some surgical blades today). But, even so, I was still impressed with how it turned out.

Anyway, here is my attempt...

Something else...

Well whilst I'm in a chatty sharing mood I thought I might as well show you this as well.



It's the alcove under the stairs in our family room. I wanted to make it look a little more inviting and homely. So I got out my rub-on words again and added the words 'Simple Pleasures are Lifes Treasures'. (I thought these were suitable words to put above a book shelf). I then got to work with my craft knife cutting out lots of paper butterflies from pretty blue papers.
My family think it looks very pretty..especially on a night when the lamp is lit and creating beautiful shadows.
Simple but effective I think.

Other stuff...

Thought I'd share something I did with my front lounge room.
We have a very big wall in there and I've often stared at it wondering what on earth to do with it.
Because of it's strange shape it had me completely stumped...but that was until I remembered I had a whole bunch of frames left over from when I used to be a Scrapbooking Consultant.

These are frames made especially for 12 x 12 scrapbooking layouts...and well...I have a lot of layouts sitting in albums that no one gets to see unless they open them up and have a look!
I also have a whole lot of 'rub-on' words and images that come from the same range.
I finally had an idea!

Nothing major ...just something simple and sweet...and I have to tell you I am very happy with it, it looks quite affective when you first walk in the front door, & I have received quite a few comments which is always nice. :o)

Another year...but not another painting

Well I have to admit being very slack as far as my learning to paint journey is concerned. It's now March 2010 and it's been a long time since I put brush to canvas which I do feel rather guilty about.

I did however complete another course from July through to September last year. It was a Water Colour & Mixed Media class and if I were to be honest I would have to tell you that it kind of put me off painting :o(
I think it was the feeling of not having control over what was happening on the paper! It all felt so messy and unorganised and I am obviously a control freak when it comes to anything creative!

So..I've decided I'm not and probably never will be a water colourist! I'll stick to acrylics and guoache...might give the oils a bit of a go one of these days too. Hopefully I'll do a bit better with them!

I'm considering going back and doing the first course that I did at Brougham School of Art again. I really enjoyed that course and felt like I accomplished something. It might also help me to get back into the full swing of things again.

In the meantime I have two paintings sitting gathering dust and no where near finished. I'll get to them one of these days I hope!