A challange

I forgot I was in the middle of this post! 

I thought I would upload this as it was a challange set by my very talented friend Donna.  The challange was to create a piece of work which had to be 4" x 4" or less!  Contain at least 2 textures and a quote.  I am always up for a challange!  Here it is!  I used a 4 x 4 canvas.  Watercolours with a little salt added to remove the colour.  Drift wood, fishing line, snad and sa shell found on Sandaig beach whilst on holiday.  The brown tie at the top is packaging from art from the heart! (I keep everything!).  The heart is a uses tumble drier sheet gesso'ed and painted with acrylic paint.  I am not sure where the heart charm ccame from.  I love the quote so thats the one I used.  I lovingly cut the words out of a book I am altering very badly.  They were attached with gel medium.  The challenge is complete!  I really enjoyed creating the canvas!  I particularly like the way I have managed to use the flat piece of drift wood as it was a very interesting shape.  It had pride of place above my desk.  It is not often I like my creations! 

I am back!

After a couple of years trying to balance work, family life, college and studying with very little time to create I have decided that new creations are long over due!  With looming redundancy and jobs at a premium, I am going to need something to keep my sanity intact!  So Art Journalling and mixed media creations it is then. Though at the moment I Am in the middle of making Grizelda!  She is going to be a halloween decoration!  Her head, hands and feet are made out of air drying clay and painted with Acrylic paints. (It is amazing what you can do over a wet bank holiday weekend to keep a seven year old amused!)  I am going to varnish her face as not I think she needs some shine!  I was on my way out to get some florists wire to attempt her body but the heavens have opened!  So I am going to work on her spell books!  watch this space! 

Is it art?

After a too relaxed Christmas and New Year...     Building work and various school commitments  have meant not a lot of creativity.  It also doesn't help that my craft things are all packed in various nooks and crannies all over the house due to the above mentioned building work.  I finally managed to do something arty!!!!!  Yeah...  It was a complete accident.  The windows that have been removed to make way for Bi fold patio doors  have been burned on the woodburner to keep the room warm.  Whilst cleaning out the grate on Wednesday I pulled various screws, nails and bits of burned metal work.  Putting them on the fire place one looked like a 'r' another like an uncrossed 't'.  Two Bolts an 'a'.  I managed to make the word art. So I looked further.  two 'i's a sort of S shape....  Could I spell 'Is it art?'  ?   Yes I could. 

Excitement. Where are the blank canvases?  Ah yest.  Upstairs I go.  I find them first look.   The first canvas I tried wouldn't hold all the words.  The second perfect.  But white..  too stark...  Where were the Tim Holtz masks and the cosmic shimmer?  Plastic drawers.  Got them.  Off we go! 

I decide on the barbed wire mask the rail and a swirl.  The Golden Mint Cosmic Shimmer is the only bottle which still sprays.  So I start spraying that first.  The Lava Red is in another spray bottle and comes out a bit quicker than I want it too.But I am liking.    Silver is jammed up completely.  The the blue I apply by dropping it in splodges and sponging.  I let that dry...  Now the best bit.  Heat up the glue gun.  I start to apply the metal work.  The glue is just not sticking very well.  What do I do?  Hi Tack PVA?  That has worked.  It isn't the most secure at the moment.  I have some Invisible thread and some wire....  I need to secure it.  I am going to try burn the wire in the grate for a while to distress it.  I Don't want it shiny as It will detract from the distressed look  on the metal work which I love. 

I am pleased with the finished result so far.  I have one or two bits still to add. 

The block is lifted...  Roll on next project....

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Collisions..

Well after a collision with a cyclist today it looks like no running for a week minimum.  So the time I would have spent running I will create something...  what??  Have several idea's going through my head.  One being Sun, Moon and stars!  I can see what I want to do but putting it onto a canvas is going to be a different matter..  That's what I was thinking about when the collision happened.  Although I was in my own head, the guy shouldn't have been going so fast on the pavement, especially not on a bend...    Maybe it was fate...  watch this space...  hopefully by Friday evening it will have taken shape....