For Sesga

Sesga tagged me a few days ago to show the 4th picture in the 4th file on my computer.

Well here it is......we were in Lindos on the island of Rhodes. It hadn't rained for some time and the local goats were getting hungry for some greenery. Luckily they are good climbers because this one was up a tree! As I photographed him he gave me that what???? look.

Just in case you didn't believe goats could climb trees....

I haven't had much time for art this week. We moved dad to a nursing home nearer to us on Friday (that was a major operation; took 4 of us to get him in the car and a canvas hoist to get him out). He was very distressed as you might imagine and he is now extremely confused. Hopefully he will settle in over the next couple of weeks though. Its a lovely place; a huge country house set in massive gardens with a lake - should be lovely in spring and summer.

I've been to visit him a few times over the past few days and helped to feed him. Its his birthday today, but he isn't aware. We are all hoping to get to see him tomorrow with his presents and cake.

Today is a 'stay at home' kind of day. No traffic is moving around our area and apparently the roads haven't been gritted. My daughter caught a bus to go to work and after an hour it had moved half a mile. After an other half hour she decided to get off and walk back home. I am supposed to be working at the Beetroot Tree Gallery today but the taxi I booked couldn't get to me. We've only had about 6" of snow but thats what happens in England!

Roll on Spring - my favourite time of year!

Altered Canvas, One World One Heart Event

This is my piece for our Altered Canvas Challenge at http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/

I'm going to give it away as part of the One World One Heart event.

This is a great event organised every year by the talented Lisa. Its a way of connecting bloggers from all over the world through giving away pieces of art.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (up until midnight on February 11) and I will select a winner on February 12.

(You need to be an active blogger to take part in this give away.)

The canvas is small and chunky, 4"x6". All the images are from Artchix collage sheets. I used acrylic paint, torn papers, gesso, stencils, lace, a metal charm and gold ink.

I hope you'll take part in the event...the winner will also receive a surprise package !! I recommend you go and take a look at all the other blogs taking part.

Good luck

Love Linda x

Iconic Interpretations

I attended another class run by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden on Sunday. This time we transferred images onto metal and fabric (organza and lutrador) ...... more of this in a day or two, but for now here's a little snippet of my (unfinished) piece of work

Art and Soul Journal - "My Personal Lexicon"

These pages are inspired by a prompt from Kathryn Antyr.........."for our personal lexicons we will be collecting and recording our own visual and symbolic language"...... I made a list of my favourite images and materials which I aim to use in the coming year. I collected pictures, drew examples and stamped some onto pages which had previously been gessoed and painted with acrylics. My pages ended up rather similar to Kathryns.....I must admit I got rather carried away with her instructions!! (Don't think she'll mind though.)

Another Journal Cover

I've spent the afternoon sneezing, coughing and spluttering........ but I've managed to make another journal cover! I used the Sarah Whitmire technique again of pressing gesso through a stencil. For some reason it ended up with the same colour scheme as my pomegranate one - but it wasn't intentional.

Hand Needle-Felting

Just over a week ago I attended a Living Threads workshop run by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden. We learnt how to needle felt by hand using a single needle - its like magic! This is one of the pieces I made (I think its a seed-head). You can use an assortment of fibres; I used wool top, silk, linen, angelina and bamboo fibres.

First we laid a piece of velvet on a dense sponge (you can use felt instead of velvet)

then spread fibres on top.

The needles are not smooth, they have tiny ridges cut into them - this is what matts the fibres.

Just stab the fibres repeatedly (through into the sponge) until they bond with the velvet and each other. Keep adding fibres until you're happy with the effect. Like magic - they all become as one!!

Finally I couched thin strips of angelina film and added seed beads, accent beads and a few french knots.
If you click on the link to Alysn it will take you to her gallery/workshop/art shop/coffee shop/ gift shop (where everything is handmade)...... and I have just got a job there! I'll only be doing Sundays plus occasional weekdays - which is just enough for me. Can't wait - I'll just have to try not to spend all my wages on art materials ;-)

PS If anyone wants to have a go and can't get hold of a needle...email me.

Bottletop Challenge

I thought I'd have a go at doing some bottletop ATCs (and a twinchie) today for our challenge on http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com

I also wanted to use some of my Artchix collage sheets.

The colour schemes ended up a bit wierd for me...but I was challenging myself!