SweetMyrtle

hello blog!

hello blog, it's been a while...

i lost my voice there for a moment too.

it still has not returned fully but i thought i would pop by and just say hello.

and also share a few images of my painting explorations.

I am taking a wonderful e-course with the beautiful and inspiring Flora Bowley.

I am learning to be brave with paint.

it is fun and takes a lot of trust. we are building up many layers and learning lots of different techniques. my paintings will change again i am sure... these are all works in progress.

now i have made a little space in my sewing room for painting i am finding it so very theraputic. i am detaching myself from expectations and am fully immersing myself in the process. it will be interesting to see what evolves...

Sewing will have to wait a while longer, though i have recently made a blouse which  i shall tell you about next time as grandmother Myrtle wants to know what i have been up to!

Happy February everyone!

G x

aiming high

today i was lucky enough to be involved in running 3 arty sessions facilitating the creation of art canvases as part of hamphire county council's Aiming High Programme for young disabled people and their families. it was a great day and a chance for families to come, take part & enjoy activities together.  as well as art there was pottery and drumming workshops today.

here are some of the pieces created at the art workshop.

layers and patterns were built up by printing using bubble wrap and paint. stampers and feathers all featured strongly too.

arn't they wonderful? the glitter proved to be very popular too and i am still finding glitter on me this evening!

this was the first Aiming High day that i have been involved in and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

for further info on Hampshire's Aiming High programme click on the link here. and watch the inspiring inclusion in action dvd.

drawing

my girls really enjoy drawing. my youngest in particular has an instinctive talent for 'looking' and for seeing 'details' in everything. she has produced a wonderful piece of homework about Roald Dahl for a school project and i just love her illustrations and wanted to share them here with you.

at school they have been celebrating Dahl's work and a few weeks ago they had a Roald Dahl day. i was lucky enough to go and help make 'Nish Nobblers'. ( click on link for recipe )

the children also looked at Quentin Blakes wonderful illustrations and practiced drawing some of the characters in Quentin style.

Grand Witch - The Witches

The BFG

Matilda

she created these illustrations for her project and positioned them around a giant peach which contains all the facts that she wanted to include.

i then dug out this little book by Quentin Blake & John Cassidy that i had brought some time ago.

i was waiting to get another one or even two so we could all have one but us older girls decided that smallest would actually enjoy working through the pages so we gave it to her for working so hard on her project.

the book contains many differrent drawing exercises and has partially drawn pages which you can have lots of fun filling in.

it engaged the girls for hours, so much so that they almost missed the start of X factor! now that should tell you how great this book is!

week 5 and having fun!

oh i have been having so much fun playing and experimenting with taking photos ~ still have mixed media assignments to do but oh i have been having fun and i know so have the others in the group!

wishing you a fun weekend with lots of PLAY!x

art course

my online art course is now in it's 5th week. i missed week 4 so i am playing catch up. i also missed some of week 3 as life has been very busy. the good thing though about amelias course is that this does not matter as there are no rules ~ you can do as much or as little as you like. you can also share images for feedback or not, the choice is ours. it is a great course and with 3 comprehensive assignments each week  there  really is lots to play with and be inspired by. we are also encouraged to explore the ones we like further and feedback gives suggestions on where to go next with it all.

as a beginner i am working through all the set projects religiously. on sunday i reviewed all my experiments to date and correlated them in my large sketchbook. i also wrote notes about each piece and other ideas that have developed from the process. i feel i am really concentrating on process now and less worried about having a perfect end piece. this has also meant that i am less nervous about sharing my experiments as i am doing them for me and for my developement which results in feeling less pressure about it all being 'judged'.

finding time to explore fully though has been difficult  but yesterdayi was determined to set aside some time to revisit one of week 3's projects again. i spent an enjoyable morning experimenting with textures and really getting messy with applying paint without a brush. i wasn't sure about the results until i photographed them. i find photographing a piece helps me view it with a little more distance. i also love finding and cropping interesting details like the one below. i have printed out a few of these texture and  may well add them to other experiments.

 

so now we are onto week 5 and the theme is experimental photography which as you can guess is one i have been waiting for. i am so eager to start but i do want to play with a few of last weeks mixed media collage exercises first.

i am so pleased that i started this course as it it stretching me in new ways. i do love learning, playing and creating.

for further info about amelia and her e ~course see her blog and website