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Friday 31 May 2013

Lots of Colour



Didn’t get much art done this week, I have developed tendonitis in my left hand through using it a lot!  Can’t win!  One good upshot is that I have somebody in to do the housework, hehehe.  Better not get used to it, as it is only for 6 weeks.  Meanwhile the right arm is healing well enough and I am able to use it for light tasks, whatever that may be!

However I did some work in my journal and finished the page I stared last week.  It turned out completely different from what I planned…..


When I was in hospital, I had a young nurse who had glorious red hair, which she called carrot!  Well yesterday while I was waiting at the bus stop after physio, she was coming off duty and came up to me and offered me a ride. On the way home I commented that I loved her pink and lilac outfit.  She laughed and told me how her mother would never let her wear pink, even though it was her favourite colour.  Her Mum said it clashed with her carrot hair.  So now she wore pink whenever she could. 

After thanking her for the lift and telling her in a stern voice never to call her hair carrot, as it was insulting to such a glorious colour.  I swear I saw tears in her eyes as she drove away.  I stewed for a bit at the damage thoughtless remarks can make, and this page was finished.

Every day this week, I have done one page of watercolour shapes for my journaling.  While I like to use magazines, I would also like to make borders and shapes out of my own art.  My journal that I am using at present soaks up paint like it is going out of fashion!  The paper is lovely and thick, so takes a lot of beating, but I can't get the watercolour effects that I love.   So this is a solution, and very therapeutic, as it gives me the feeling I am creating. Here are some samples.





Linking to Paint Party Friday
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Art Journal Every Day

Friday 24 May 2013

Princesses, Roosters and Dancing!



At last!  I can do art again, albeit mainly with my left hand.  Below are my efforts of this week.




While I was laid up I took the opportunity to search out all those blogs I had heard of but never had the time to visit.  I discovered some awesome artists. Two were so inspiring that I had to attempt some of the lessons learnt.

First of all Teesha Moore.  I sat and watched her videos yesterday morning on journaling.  Last night I sat in front of the TV and cut merrily bits out of magazines.  Sometimes things are meant to be.  In the weekend I was given sacks of glossy magazines by my friend who is selling up and with her husband they are buying a giant caravan and  are going to tour NZ for a couple of years.  I was to pass them around my friends!  Somehow I don’t think they will get a look in!


I managed to stick some bits on two journal pages that i already had painted a while back.  This morning I was going to look for a face for my Princess but gave up when I realised that I preferred to make my own face.  So after Physio, this morning I painted her face and added the houses.  I did the text as well, not happy with it.  But, not too shabby considering I was using my left hand.




I looked at the page above and it came to me I want there to be a rooster, think I will have to draw one or cut out a rooster head and put it on a human body.  The idea is to have text with the rooster crowing about all the blessings it has.  I couldn’t resist the gnomes.  They are slightly sinister and I thought they could represent the negative thoughts we have about ourselves.


I am happy with these but conscious that they scream Teesa Moore!  I think as I do more of them my style will emerge.

The other art that blew me away was Flora Bowley.  I have heard many of you mentioning her so googled her and found amazing art.

I watched her video last weekend and it really got me out of my pity party.  I thought I could do that with my left hand and first thing on Monday got out an abandoned canvas and started.  I didn’t do her dance, I would have tripped over my crutches!  But I let my hand dance with the paint.  Below is about three to four layers of paint, It is a reasonably large canvas 30in x 24in, and I got really messy doing it, some tell-tale paint on my sling too! Hehehe. 
 I was really happy with this and then fear set in.  What shall I do next I will ruin it etc., etc.  




Eventually I got my courage up and drew a dancing girl and cat and started to add paint.  It is what I call at the ugly stage and I wasn’t going to post it till it was at a better stage.  But I stopped myself and told myself, who cares! I think because I am getting to the stage where I want to add detail, I am finding my left hand is not capable of doing what I want, I have frustration.  But that will end as my right arm gets better.  As surely it is.  I can hold scissors and cut out, I can type now and hopefully next week I will be paint to do some painting!  But, I won’t push it, as being without its use has taught me how much I value it, so I won’t stuff the healing up.



Great to be back, and have a awesome Paint Party Friday weekend everyone.

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