Both worked in the last 24 hours or so. Same media for both – Sakura Glaze pens, watercolours and Cosmic Shimmer iridescent/metallic watercolour paints.
Each ‘dot’ on the mandala has a metallic centre or ring around it.
Fun to do! Engaging to create and colour … very meditative.
Non-dotty flowers – a reworking of the dotty flowers below. 3″ x 5″ approx.
I’ve been kind of busy, but not busy-busy, since my last entry, busy with art. Being engrossed in arty pursuits has kept me up until the wee-small hours as the dark outside has given me no idea about the passage of time. Good thing I’m still on the long summer break from teaching.
I must admit that I’m not looking forward to going back to work. I think I’ve said before I need a different environment to flourish in. My only problems in changing career are that I need a certain income and I have no particular idea what I’d like to do instead of. I’d love to do more things that are creative – arty/crafty would be good. I’d also like to work in an environment where people actually get along, without the constant rumble of poor attitudes, disrespect for self and others and an unwillingness by the majority to want to learn or to see the point of having a good education and doing their best.
Anyway, before I drag myself down into a gloom, I still have two and a half weeks or so away (apart from a need to go in for a few days towards the end of the break to mark work, prepare work, and sort out displays for the walls) and so will be making the most of the time to be creative and explore my artsy-craftsy nature.
I managed to complete this torc. It took over 30 hours of work. It is available for purchase at Etsy at the time of this blog entry.
As always, spirals, circles and curves feathre in my work, along with some of my ‘custom made’ sequins. I enjoyed the work in this, and realised how many of the ‘tricks’ I had forgotten from previous endeavours like this. My earlier torcs can still be seen on Artwyrd at deviantART.
I’ve also managed to complete another experimental landscape – this one from a photograph of a ‘real’ landscape in North Wales.
A dear friend of mine has made some interesting suggestions about how I can approach the ‘patterns’ for different land-uses. When I’m ready to do another landscape I will take his suggestions to heart.
There are glimmering, metallic, glittery highlights on the drawing/painting that don’t come out well when photographed/scanned. I do think I’m beginning to find my ‘style’ when it comes to landscapes – and that style involves simplifying the shapes/lines of the land, trees and so on, and then working out how to fill those shapes in. Spirals are, as always, a favourite motif of mine, along with circles and curves, influenced as I am by prehistoric rock art, early Celtic art, and anything with curves and curls in! If I try to work with perfectly straight lines and sharp corners in my work, well it just doesn’t seem to work or scream out ‘Angela’ at me.
This was an experiment in something a little different for me – pastel colours on a grey paper, with an open kind of design. The usual spirals and swirls are there, but there’s a lot of ’empty space’ which also works. The pastel colours are a definite change from me!
This started as a good idea and ended up a right ‘mare of an experience. A dear friend of mine reckons it is lovely and very William Morris…
I realised the rising flowers were on the wrong side if I wanted to add words to it as I was inking it all in.
Then, as I blended the coloured pencils, the ink rubbed off to mix with the coloured pencils, so it all had to be inked in again, which is often the case with my kind of work, but the ink subdued the colours somewhat.
I then started to fill in the blank space to the left with tendrils, without putting pencil lines down first as a guide, and ended up making a right hash of it. So, the shading under the leaves and so on was meant to disguise some of that, and cutting it all out and sticking it on blue paper … well it was a good idea, but not the blue! I also rediscovered how useless I am with a pair of scissors or craft knife too.
However, some of the most important lessons we learn are when things go wrong…
So, after the pastel colours and the disaster, a return to bright colours, and flashes of metallic gold.
A small piece of work – 7cm x 10.5cm, but jewel-bright watercolours used to fill in the pattern. I’m pleased with the work (though not with the scanned image – photographing/scanning my work is a major problem with the shiny Sakura Glaze pens that I use and the highlights of metallic/iridescent/glitter paints/inks that I so love. However, you get the idea.
I think that I’m going to play with geometric patterns and colour for a while, on a small scale, to see where it leads me. Of course, I may just change my mind as time goes along!
I completed this one with Geometricity1, and there are too many ‘dots’ on the flowers – another lesson to learn! I’ll be reworking this one in a little while. It will keep me occupied during the torrential rain that is falling here in waves. I love the sound of the rain…
Dream is the message on a three 6″ x 4″ greetings cards I’ve made over the past couple of days.
Each card measures approx 4″ x 6″. The card blank is made from brown kraft paper card. The little artwork on each has been created with the use of Sakura Glaze pens, watercolour paints and metallic pens/paints.
The lovely purples, blues and greens relate to Neptune, the planet associated with dreams and visions. The flowing forms in two of the cards related to the flowing energy of this planet, astrologically speaking that is. The saying ‘Shoot for the Moon; even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars’ has inspired the use of Moons and stars.
I’ve also made some with Thank You, Joy, Peace and Love on them, as well as quite a few with abstract trees on them. They, along with the dream cards, are available from my shop at Etsy.
I’m trying to find my ‘style’ with this kind of thing. It’s an interesting kind of thing to do, exploring something new and finding my way along with them. I’ll eventually work out exactly how I want this to work, in fact I’ve just had an idea now as I am tip-tapping away at the keyboard.
I want to create artworks with inspirational words within them, and this seems to be a good way to do that…or a good way to start to do this…
I’ve been making a home for my art and craft works on Etsy over the past few months, and it’s an interesting kind of place for lots of reasons.
There are an incredible number of gifted arts and crafts people there whose works are a great source of inspiration. I can spent way too much time just browsing through the listings …
What is a cause of concern for me is pricing my wares there. It’s a very difficult idea for me to grasp – that my artwork has value. What value it has is still beyond me, and trying to price things sensibly is … difficult.
I have had two pieces of work purchased through Etsy – one a custom ordered auragraph/mandala, the other a piece of my textile jewellery, so it has, from that point of view, been a successful venture. It also means that I am not out of pocket in the great Etsy Escapade. I’m hoping it will be a way for me to share my art with others, for others to own a little bit of my creativity, to share in the pleasure that creating art gives me.
Having said that, I have had a request from someone on deviantART for a listing for a torc to be placed on Etsy, so that is something I will need to get along with. First find the photos of the torcs I have created in the past!
I’ve been doing teeny-tiny bits of art to turn into greetings cards. Each card is 4″ x 3″ and the artwork is created using a variety of different media, including metallic pencils, coloured pencils, metallic and iridescent paints, metallic and glitter gel pens, Sakura glaze pens and fine-point technical drawing pens with black ink.
I’ve really enjoyed creating these; they’re relatively quick for me to create, though each one takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes to create, believe it or not! It’s also nice to create little bits of art that are more affordable. Perfect for framing after receipt of them as a keepsake.
My swirly, curvy, spiralling style of abstract art is very much featured in these little creations, as is my love of colour. The inner raven has been kept happy by the use of metallic, iridescent, shimmering colours and highlights.
All the cards are for sale on Etsy.
I’m going to be creating more this afternoon I think.
Approx 19 x 12 cm. Technical drawing pens and black ink, Derwent Inktense pencils with water wash, Uni-Ball Gold pen.
Approx. 12cm x 9.5cm. Sakura Micron pens, Zig Art & Graphic Twin pens with water wash, Cosmic Shimmer gold watercolour paint.
Approx. 2 hours of work/pleasure. It’s been a while since I’ve lost myself in a little bit of art … being at work does get in the way of creative time, but today I’ve taken the time to create!
Losing myself in the joy of creativity, finding something that inspires me, is important. I’ve had a horrible time with a couple of pupils in work. Stressful, frustrating, frightening too.
One week of the half term left and a week away from the madhouse. There’s also a possibility of a different job … still teaching, but very different…more if it happens!
13cm x 13cm. Rotring pen, Inktense pencils with water wash, gold metallic watercolour paint.
A small section of the previous Abstract Rock 1 reworked.
12cm x 12cm. Derwent Metallic pencils, Sakura glaze pen and Cosmic Shimmer metallic/iridescent watercolour paints.
Just finished … kept me busy for a couple of hours…again, I’m not good at photography, this time the colours are washed out … sigh…one day I may crack it!
16cm x 8cm. Sakura Glaze pen in black, Derwent colorsoft pencils, Derwent metallics pencils and Cosmic Shimmer iridescent/metallic watercolour paints on black card.
I started this one before my return to work a fortnight ago. I noticed as I was completing it this weekend that it’s a little disjointed in places which may symbolise how I was feeling about the return to work. The photograph really doesn’t show the colours properly, nor the shimmer and shine of the metallics. However, you do get an idea of what it looks like.
I made it back to work for the start of the Summer Term. My voice, however, is still not right. Work have referred me to occupational health and for speech therapy. Also, there’s a microphone/speaker system on order for my room so that I won’t have to raise my voice. My doctor has referred me to ENT to have my voice checked out.
The worst thing of all, is I still can’t sing. I love to sing, have always sung with one choir or another since I started secondary school. I join in the singing at any gathering where there is some. This bout of laryngitis has affected that part of my voice, and I really, really do hope it will return properly and fully.
The handbrake broke on the car a couple of days ago. As I’m writing this, I’m waiting for my nephew, who’s a whizz with cars, to come and see what needs to be done.
This is on top of a water leak from the toilet cistern a couple of weeks ago that came through the downstairs ceiling.
The ‘earphone’ on my mobile has stopped working too.
I hope that’s the triad of breaking done with!
Art is the Adventure 