I love tea, I love blue and white and I have a new found love for paisley. So I thought to myself, why not paint my new paisley design onto a tea cup... and so I did!
Time for a Bit of Hygge!
Being with the ones we love, creating happy experiences, atmosphere and a homely environment, who doesn't love a bit of Hygge! Although Christmas has come and gone, I am still working on my Christmas portfolio along with a whole host of other lovely peeps led by Victoria Johnson. Yup, I signed up for a second round of Create Christmas and week 1 was all about Christmas Hygge. Perfect while the temperatures outside are on the minus scale, the wind is howling and the rain is unrelenting. So, here's my take on a folk design with a Swedish Dala Horse.
Mats Bootcamp 2018 - Inside My Bag!
It's come back around to that time of year again and Mats Bootcamp is here at last, along with a familiar buzz, as friends old and new come together to create art from all corners of the globe. Artists on the whole tend to be a kindly bunch and the Mats community is full of inspiration and support. It attracts the real pro's, the beginners and everything in between and I always come away feeling utterly enriched and often with a new friend or two. The days leading up to the first assignment are filled with the kind of excitement you feel as a little kid waiting for Christmas! So it is with great joy that I can share with you what I've been getting up to during this first week of the mini assignment: 'What's in My Bag'. This has been a fascinating exercise, I suppose we don't often analyse exactly what we carry around with us everyday, but the process of doing just that has strangely taught me a great deal about myself and my own personal style.
Enjoying the Little Things: Patterns
My adventure in simple patterns with CreativeBug has been continuing in the background of other work. It's so therapeutic and is a great way to try some different colour combinations and become acquainted with my beautiful set of Turner Acryl Gouache. At some point I'd like to come back to the paisley and paint it in several colour ways. But for now the month ahead is very full with various other arty projects.
It's 2018 - Happy New Year!
So, another year is upon us, which means another chance to consider what's past and embrace what's to come.
I've certainly been doing my fair share of that this past week and have a lot of plans for the coming year. To help me along, I've been working through The Design Trust's planner for creatives: Dream Plan Do. It's a truly wonderful little planner that has really got me thinking and believe me, I need something to help me make sense of my journey and organise my time (not something that comes very naturally)!
First up for me this year is Mats Bootcamp starting on the 8th January. It runs for 5 months with just one assignment each month and is something I've started to participate in annually. I can hardly wait for it to begin, it's full of inspiration and I always come away feeling enriched and with new friends. But in the meantime, I'm looking at using new skills I've learnt in the past year to revisit old work, I guess we'll see what happens!
For now, my wish is for 2018 to be full of creativity, happiness and success to you all!
Merry Christmas Folks!
As 2017 begins to draw to a close, it's a good time to reflect... preferably in front of a log fire with plenty of mulled wine!
It's not been the most creatively productive year for me, as family life has been so demanding. But, I do feel like I've channelled my energy into the right places. This December though, I've found myself happily back in the flow of painting and have spent most of my studio time concentrating on Christmas designs. I signed up with Victoria Johnson at http://www.victoriajohnsondesign.com to take her course in 'Creating Christmas' which has been thoroughly enlightening and inspirational in equal measures. She's running a second course starting on 15th January which I recommend signing up for!
So I leave you below with a series of my Christmas paintings and wish you all a very merry festive season!
