May Flies ....

Hi All

I can't believe we're approaching another Bank Holiday weekend and then we'll be in June!  Last time I looked, it was March!  I've been busy for the past few months with lots of great stuff going on so I thought I should give you a brief update.  Here goes ...

March 

The first weekend in March I spent a thoroughly enjoyable 2 days at the South-Eastern Woodworking Show and demonstrated numerous paint effects to a large gathering of Woodturners and Carvers.  It was great to meet so many people and catch up with those I have met before.  I particularly love it when I get the chance to chat with individuals about how they've used the paint and answer specific questions.  And of course, it's always great to have dinner with the lovely Lynn Courteney of Jo Sonja's UK and catch up on news.

I arrived home on Saturday evening, tired and happy and enjoyed a quiet night in with the family.  Sadly, the evening was to come to a devastating end when we had to take our beloved dog, Buster, to the Royal Vet College in the early hours and say goodbye to him.  He had been unwell for some time, so whilst not completely unexpected, this came about sooner than we had hoped.  We miss him desperately and he will never be replaced, but some months on we are starting to feel like we need another fur-baby to love, so watch this space .....

A few weeks later, I was on my way to Harrogate for the fabulous Dina Wakley workshops at Art from the Heart.  I attended some of her classes when she visited last year and she is such an amazing inspirational teacher, that I couldn't wait for these to come around.  After such a traumatic few weeks, it was just the break that I needed and I wasn't disappointed.  We used so many different materials and techniques, that my mind was buzzing!  We even got to try her new range of paints, which are gorgeous.  (They've now arrived in the UK and I've just received my order so am enjoying playing with them!)

April

In April,  I had a fabulous trip to Florence with my hubby and we saw some amazing artwork and sculpture ... as well as eating and drinking far too much!!  There really are some amazing sights and so much to see.  We even came across an Italian Woodturner!  Unfortunately, my Italian isn't good enough to ask if he wanted to try some acrylic paint techniques!!!

I also attended a wonderful workshop on the Melting Pot at the Artistic Stamper with the fabulous Jennie Boxall.  I've had my Pot for a while now, so it was great to see some of the techniques in action.  I definitely feel more inspired to use it now so thanks for a fabulous day to both Jennie and Mal (for all the tea!).

May

So now we're on to May and I have been busy working on some new workshops using a range of new materials.  So hopefully I'll see you at a venue near you soon teaching some great mixed media projects.  I will keep you posted.

And finally, the last piece of news is that I have to say goodbye to my Studio :(  To cut a very long story short (!), we are selling half of our garden as a building plot and the only access is through my Studio, which used to be a garage!  After my initial panic about where I was going to put everything..... I have now calmed down a little with the realisation that we are able to put up a replacement 'shed'.  So I'm now putting off the inevitable 'clear-out' and enjoying myself with plans and ideas for my new creative home.  So very exciting and it also feels like a new beginning rather than an ending, although I shall be sad to see my studio go.

I think that pretty much covers the past few months, so I shall let you go and promise to keep you posted on news and developments as they occur rather than after the event!!!

Until next time ....happy painting

Liz x

Big Art ... Big Hearts

I don't usually produce larger canvases, there is something quite daunting about them, although I do have a number of blank ones ready and waiting in the studio!  More white space to cover I guess, which creates more questions about where to start!  Well, I was having 'one of those days' where nothing was going according to plan (know that feeling?).  I was feeling quite fed-up so decided to attack this large canvas panel.  Sometimes you just have to let yourself go and not overthink it!  What great fun I had and it definitely improved my mood ...

Getting messy and painty is definitely good therapy!

Happy painting...

Liz x

Secret Postcards ...

My son's school recently held a Secret Exhibition and people were asked to donate a piece of postcard-sized art to raise money for charity.  The artwork could be anything you wanted and each piece would be sold for £5 with all funds going to various school supported charities.  The fun bit is that you have no idea whose art you are buying!  What a fabulous idea!  

These were my contributions ... 

I had great fun putting them together and now I can see why ATC's are so addictive!  (For those not 'in the know' they're Artist Trading Cards).  What better way to feed your soul, creating art and for a good cause too :)

So, until next time ... happy painting 

Liz x

Hearts and Wings

Like me, do you ever get half-way through a project and get stuck?  Then put it to one side waiting for inspiration ....?  Well, I do this quite often and sometimes it's not because I'm stuck what to do next but that I run out of time and have to come back to it.  Then, when I do, I've lost that creative spark with it.  Well this canvas is one of those times ... unfortunately I don't have any 'before' pictures, but the beauty of working with acrylic paint is that you can paint over anything you don't like.  So, adopting some layering techniques, I did exactly that .... I hope you like it ....

Hearts & Wings

Close-up of different layers and shading

I added collage to cover up parts I really didn't like ...lol

Add some interest around the edge ...

I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  I placed it at the Shenley Tea Rooms and it sold within the week!  Amazing!  I now know what to do with all my other half-done paintings now ... :)

Until next time ... happy painting !

Liz x

Happy New Year

A belated Happy New Year to all you arty-crafty people. Hope you had a good time and have come up with lots of great plans for 2014!! I've set myself loads of goals, but I'm excited about all of them ... well except those boring diet ones ...very overrated (she says munching on a kitkat as she types...lol). Anyway, one of them is to be more sociable (or I should say 'social media-ble') and share my work and arty experiences, as well as getting in the studio more and getting more messy ...ahem, I mean 'creative'!!

So, to get you started, here is my new display of artwork just posted in the Cafe In The Orchard in Shenley Park. I hope you like them, and don't forget to let me know if there's anything specific you would like; colour scheme, wording etc. I'm always open to ideas and commissions.

That's it for now and let me know what your arty plans are for 2014.

Happy painting ...

Liz x

Road Trip

I am back from a fabulous weekend at the North of England Woodworking & Power Tools Show in Harrogate working with the lovely Lynn Courteney promoting Jo Sonjas Acrylic Paints & Mediums. With a total attendance over the weekend of over 8,500 people, we had a brilliant time showing off the paints and all the different effects you can achieve. We met some wonderful people and were looked after admirably by Margaret who catered to our every need.

I must confess that I'm enjoying a much quieter day today .... ;)

Here are some pics for you to enjoy ... Lynn and I enjoying a peaceful moment, some gorgeous carved rocking horses (right up my street!!) and Lynn doing her stuff with the lovely customers.

Thanks Harrogate, it was awesome fun :)

Off the Radar ...

Hi All

I'm afraid to say that I've been 'missing in action' for a while as unfortunately my non-arty life has been busy and distracted me from my artiness!!!  The major impact has been some long overdue painting (sadly the decorating kind...) which required me to sacrifice my studio space ... *deep sigh*. Well the job is done (almost) and the studio is getting back to normal if you can ever call it that!  The good news is that I temporarily managed to squat in the study in a small corner of my hubby's desk and have gradually been moving myself in...lol.  No more hopping from dining room to studio and back again ... all my papers in one place and near the printers, bookshelves etc.  It sounds like a minor thing but it will make things soooo much easier :)  We do have to have a line down the middle of the desk though or there will be trouble ..... haha.

So now that I'm back 'online' what have I been doing...?

I went to a fabulous 'Junk Journal' workshop with Kate Crane at The Artistic Stamper yesterday, which was great fun!  Jennie looked after us so well and spoilt us with a fabulous lunch and cake.  Kate is such a lovely teacher and is so generous with her time and skills.  I learned so much and even though I didn't finish my journal during the class, I'm feeling hugely inspired.   For some reason my mojo didn't make the journey with me to Faversham, and I was feeling a bit out of sorts :(  I've had a busy few weeks so I was probably feeling a bit tired and run-down which was really frustrating as I had been waiting for this class for ages.  I didn't let it deter me though and decided that I would just potter during the class and soak up the atmosphere and Kate's advice and bring it all home with me for another day.  Sometimes in class we can put ourselves under so much pressure to finish our project pieces that we can get stressed by it all and not enjoy the process so much.  Has anyone ever felt like that?  I know I have, which is why I try not to put myself under too much pressure on the day.  These classes, whilst hugely enjoyable, can be extremely tiring and especially when long journeys are involved too.  I'm now looking forward to setting some time aside to work through the rest of my journal ... :).  I also had a lovely chat with Kate about 21 Secrets, which I had signed up for this year.  Unfortunately, time is running out to finish all the lessons but I'm determined to work through as many as I can before the end of December!!  Look out for 21 Secrets 2014 ... I may have to sign up for that one too..... ;)

I think I'll leave my other adventures for another day ... I'm off to Harrogate this weekend to demonstrate at the North of England Woodworkers & Power Tools show so shall look forward to sharing this with you next week.

Until then .... happy painting

Liz x