Re-working Old Pieces

I've decided to enter a few of my pieces of art into a local exhibition in February; I've never done this before so I'm not totally sure what I'm doing or whether my stuff is good enough!
I've chosen three of the paintings I did a while ago with Suzi Blu (I did two of her workshops). This one was part of the 'Piety and Passion' class (Tudor/Elizabethan influences). I spent yesterday making a few changes as I was never keen on her hair (see below).

I also changed her skin colour and dress...I'm happier with her now. I love her skinny neck and long face :-) This is a mixed media piece really, as all the embellishments are real.

Before

Then I spent some time improving Maria's nose and lips.....

 ...I always thought she looked a bit snarly.

Before

Finally I worked on Luana  - my alter-ego ;-) I tried to improve her nose as well, as it looked rather like an onion before.

Before

I couldn't do anything about her over-sized eyes....but I'm happier with her now.

I'm also going to enter my Gritty Jane doll, the Stef Francis piece and one of my fabric weavings. Fingers crossed they're accepted......

Latest Cloth....and Tales of a Bad Boy

Just thought I'd show my latest Spirit Cloth.....I can't seem to stop making these.

Maggi took me to Quiltessential in Cromford yesterday, and all I could think of whilst I was looking at all the beautiful fabrics, was ooooh, that would be lovely ripped up...... ;-)

Forgot to tell you in my last post...I went on an all-day jewellery making workshop last month in Nottingham; it was excellent (a Groupon deal). I made necklaces, earrings and bracelets

.... since then I've been researching other skills on YouTube and found out how to do knotted bracelets (if you're interested, see here). I'm particularly pleased with my sliding square knot closure! (see here)

I also made tiaras for all the girls to wear during Christmas dinner.....here's Liz wearing hers.

Now for the Bad Boy.......

Here he is looking all innocent ........ having just washed his tum (and fallen asleep on the job) after his dinner on Christmas Day .......aaaaah, you may say. (Does anyone else's cat sit in a chair like a human?)

Well, he is ......I'm sorry to have to tell you this........a mouse killer. See, you've all gone off him now, haven't you?

I have just cleaned up his 5th dead mouse off my hall floor :-(

Two weeks ago he brought a live one in and proceeded to chase it round the lounge, throw it in the air and cause mayhem, whilst Liz and I screamed and chased after them. It was like Keystone cops.

My Mum says they are presents for me because he loves me. Mmmmmm.... hasn't he heard of flowers?

Good job I love him........

Update

Hopefully the Strathmore link is correct now if you need it!

Making Resolutions.....

Happy New Year everyone!   I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you all.
Well, you might be able to guess what one of my resolutions is, now lets see if I can keep to it ;-)
Here goes.....

Maggi sent me a link for the new Strathmore Online workshop with Traci Bautista (its free!) so I decided to take part. Its all about painting, collaging and doodling. Above are some close-ups of my efforts and below you can see the 'before doodling' and 'after doodling' stages.

Great fun to do!
I've ordered some Uni Posca poster paint markers (can't seem to find the Sharpie ones over here) to help with the doodling. I've also ordered some Adirondack Color Washes in bright colours so I can copy Maggi's idea and do some of these on fabric - great for adding stitching and beads later.
Of course I could stitch on these paper ones I suppose.......maybe I'll try that too.

Maggi also told me about TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) on Sharon B's blog Pintangle. Each week there's a challenge to perfect and use a different embroidery stitch.The first week was fly stitch - which is one of my favourites. I made a piece of felt and just enjoyed stitching onto it for the past couple of evenings...... I can recommend it!

Just one more mention for Maggi ;-)......I wanted to show you the fantastic box she made me for Christmas. Its so beautiful and neat - I am in awe! Sorry the photo doesn't fully show how the threads shimmer.
(There was a beautiful set of hand-made glass coasters I'd admired at The Beetroot Tree inside....so very thoughtful :-)

Can't go without showing you the progress Peachy is making in yoga. Following his amazing spinal twist in my last post, I can now show you his versions of......

....extended Child's Pose

.......and Savasana (Corpse Pose). Bless him.......

Now lets see how that resolution goes.......