Progress report

Hi everyone,

So nice to touch base with you again. It has been a while but I know you'll understand when you see what I have been up to. 

I want to say thankyou to everyone that comes and visits me, I am grateful for this lovely community where we share ideas, encouragement and dreams. 

I hope you are dreaming big today...

Here is a sneak peak at my studio so far. I have been busy sorting, buying containers and storing my things just where I want them. I didn't realise how much "stuff" I had until I went to put it all in one place, suffice to say that the local op shop will be getting a nice big donation from me soon after I have purged what I no longer need.  For now, it is all coming together. This weekend we put down the carpet and put my desk in and a few other bits and pieces.

Last weekend I was busy teaching my first batik watercolour on rice paper class. It was a long but enjoyable day with everyone finishing their paintings.

 We used Atelier Interactive paints because you can reactivate them much like watercolour paints so we had time to lift off colour or blend edges.

I have been playing around with this technique for a while but this is the first time I had taught it, so it was a bit of an experiment and I think it worked really well. We only had a small class which was good to start with and we all had fun waxing and painting and probably the only time I will say that I enjoyed ironing.

 here is what it looks like before we iron the wax off for the big reveal. A few people had heart attacks when i scrunched this up into a ball before laying it out.

Here is the finished piece.

 So no journal pages have been done but I have started a couple so it's not a total barren art wasteland. I tell you though I am over the sorting and moving things around, I just want to get into my studio space and start creating. More to do today so I had better crack the whip and get into it.

I hope you all are having a creative week. I have been trying to get around to visit everyone , there is so much creative inspiration out there at the moment I think I need 6 months off work just to try all the things I've seen.

My quote today is from the book by Deepak Chopra called "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" in the chapter - The law of Dharma or Purpose in Life. It goes like this

"Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift of talent to give to others.

And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals."

How can you help or give to someone today with the unique talents that you have been given?

Have a great weekend

Namaste 

Lee

Another step closer...

Hi everyone from a cold, wet Melbourne. We have just had the coldest day for 12 months and tomorrow we are not expected to go above 11C so I will be rugging up for work tomorrow. Winter is well and truly with us.

I wanted to show you a couple of photos on the progress of my studio so you can see I haven't been curled up inside all the time :)

 First the empty garage at last. A clean slate for my storage cupboards.

And today the cupboard shells went in.
Just waiting on the shelving brackets to arrive on Thursday and shelving to be built in between the two cupboards, and this weekend I should be loading the shelves up with all my things.

A friend is building this all for me after he finishes at this day job so it will be done in bits at a time. I am so excited and happy at this stage alone so I think I will be jumping for joy by the time it is all finished.

Meanwhile I have completed another journal page and begun a birthday present for my eldest niece.

So I started with a background of leftover paint which was a mix of Atelier Interactives Mars Violet and Carbon Black.










I then chose my stencil, another Crafters Workshop stencil,  but decided that I wanted the opposite pattern to show so I picked out a blank page on another journal and with Jo Sonja Lilac and a sponge roller,















I rolled the paint over the top of the stencil,











 Flipped it over on my original journal page and used my brayer to transfer the paint to the page

Here is the page on the left where I sponged over the top and the negative image on the right where i brayered over the top.

 Why waste paint I say and such a good way to get two uses out of the same stencil.

I really like the look of the one on the right; how the paint is not solid, giving a real textured look.

It needed a bit of shimmer so I put some Jo Sonja Rich Gold in a Mini Mister with water and sprayed over sections of the same stencil but with a different placement.












To give this lovely shimmery effect in places on the pages.















Next it was on to choosing a paper to collage and i picked a circle pattern out of this stack of papers I bought ages ago.

 I cut out the parts of the pattern I wanted and adhered it to the pages with Atelier Binder Medium. This is a great fast-drying medium that you can use for collage or to prepare the surface of your canvases so the gesso sticks better.

 

So here we are at this stage. I am liking where this is going but still have no idea of the title of the page. 

I found an adorable little owl stamp from Kaisercraft and used a sponge with Jo Sonja Yellow Green to add him to the pages.

This photo is a bit blurry but I then stamped using the same colour with this border of circles.

I picked the words for the page from a sheet of text from Kaisercraft, cut them out and decided where they would go on the page. I thought they would fade into the background so decided that I needed a bit of colour behind the letters

I used the small sponge brush with Jo Sonja Titanium White and then YellowGreen over the top. I just swiped them on the page without to much concern and then adhered the text with the Binder Medium.

So here is my finished page. I also added a bit of shimmer but drawing around the text with gold pen and adding dots on the circle paper in gold.

Well it is hailing outside now so it is time for a nice hot cuppa. I hope to show you soon,  the finished canvas for my niece; for now here is what I am up to.

I hope you are all having a great week. 

I leave you today with the quote from my pages

"Live today fully and you create a lifetime of meaningful memories"

Sophia Bedford-Pierce

Namaste 

Lee

Just dropping in...

Hi everyone

Just thought I would show you what I have been up to this week. 

First is the commissioned piece i was telling you about in my last post. It is painted on a 90cm x 90cm stretched canvas and the lady wanted a bright pink hibiscus on a black background. I thought straight black would be too heavy so i mixed it with Mars Violet. I used Atelier Interactive Paints so I could go back and reblend or re-activate the paint if I needed to touch something up. I also textured the background layer a bit so it wasn't so flat. I am varnishing today and delivering it on the weekend so here's hoping they like it.

The second one is a card I made for a friend's 50th birthday party we went to last weekend. 

I used my Big Shot machine to emboss some black cardstock, then rubbed over the embossed image with Jo Sonja Silver paint, painted some chipboard flourishes with black and silver and then covered in Clear Opals, stamped some flourishes and text onto vellum and some cardstock, stamped script onto some flowers, rubbed the edges with Jo Sonja Silver and layered them and then put it all together. I also rubbed some silver onto the main black cardstock to give a brushed look and all around the edges of the vellum, white cardstock and the black cardstock. 

I really like making cards so hope to do some more just for the fun of it during the year so I have some in stock not just making them in a rush when I need them.  

Ahh now that would be called getting organised wouldn't it.... not something I am famous for!!

I also wanted to pass on a competition I have found where you can win a basket full of goodies valued at $900. You can go here to learn some more

I hope to get some art journaling this week using all the new Crafters Workshop stencils I bought recently so I will catch up with you later.

My quote today is from Ghandi

 "We must be the change we wish to see"

What is something you want changed and how can you go about contributing to that change? It might be something small, within your own environment (like me getting myself and my art space organised) or it could be something in your greater environment. The choice is up to you. All I know is that each moment is precious so why waste it on hoping things were different when you can take that step to making them different?

Have a fantastic creative weekend everyone.

Namaste

Lee

Back from the flower and garden show.

Hi everyone, I am finally back in blogland after my sidetrip to the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. First I would like to show you my entries into the exhibition. I hope you like them. I still like painting different styles rather than sticking to one. I can't decide which is "my style" so I do a few, I like choice you see :)

This is a watercolour batik on rice paper

This was done in Atelier Interactive acrylics then Archival oils

Also done in Atelier Interactive acrylics then Archival oils

Another watercolour batik on rice paper. Still would like to play with this one.

Another done in Atelier Interactive acrylics then Archival oils

And this one, I am happy to say sold. It was done in Jo Sonja acrylics

It was a great show with our art society, True Blue Decorative Artists, selling more than we have previously so we were really happy. I was really happy with my sale. 

 While photos were not allowed of the art exhibition during the show, I did take some photos of set up day. There are around 10 art societies from around Melbourne exhibiting at the show so it is a big event on our calendar.

Here we are setting up the display.

part of one side of our display

part of the other side.

 Thousands of people walk through the show every day and there is so much to see, all the lovely garden setups and of course the lovely flowers. The inside exhibitions are held in the old heritage listed buildings of the Carlton Exhibition buildings while the garden displays are out in the Carlton Gardens in front of this beautiful old building.

Here are a couple of photos of the rest of the show to give you an idea of what a big event this is.

Of course I gravitated to the exhibition of the new release roses. Plenty of ideas for next years paintings. This rose is called Firestar, the official rose of the CFA, honouring the contribution that the CFA makes to our community. Here is a bit about this beautiful rose.      "The Firestar Rose was created as a consequence of the events of 7 February 2009, Black Saturday. The rose honours the lives lost, the many dedicated CFA members who were involved and celebrates the regeneration of new life.

The Firestar Rose is the first rose in the Firestar series.  Funds raised from the sale of each rose in the series will be donated towards CFA and their brigades."

Inside the building. This was looking to the opposite balcony from the Art exhibition. Of course no photos of the art were allowed.

Another inside shot looking in the other direction

Looking up the main hall. The art is on the right

This was an unusual idea for hanging plants but very effective

Standing on the steps of the building looking out the the gardens. See the city buildings in the background. This is right on the edge of Melbourne city.

The front of the Exhibition buildings

One of many full garden displays who were all competing for best and most original garden design awards.

Another full garden set up. The exhibitors set up these full gardens on the grass in Carlton Gardens. They usually have a couple of weeks to set up and then within two days it is all gone. Amazing!

Met this guy while I was walking around. Yes that is a person as the snail.

One of the beautiful floral displays inside.

There were so many people it was hard for me to get a wide shot without people walking in front of me or the shot being full of heads. I guess if you want to see more you will have to take a trip to Melbourne and visit with me next year :)

Everyone who exhibits in the art section has to volunteer for a time while the show is on. My day was the Saturday. My break this year was only a short half hour  between 9am and 5pm so next year I hope I get more time to get some better shots.  

I think I heard that around 20 to 30,000 people walk through the show each day so it can get pretty crowded but it is a great day out if you love flowers and gardens.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my little tour. Maybe I will see you there one year.

For now, I have a commissioned painting to finish today so it's back to my easel. 

My quote today is from Jane Heap

"To express the emotions of life is to live.

To express the life of emotions is to make art"

Enjoy your day everyone, the sun is shining here and it is a great day to be alive and creating.

Namaste

Lee