I see the Bridge!

Here are few paintings I've been working on.

I have been working I promise! I seem to have been flitting around from project to project and not achieving much and have just agreed to add some canvases for the wonderful girls from The Handmade Expo to take to the Ipswich show which is on the 7th, 8th and 9th May.

Of course I couldn't just send what I had and I wanted to have a little supply for them as they are going to sell so well ( she says positively). Now these are way brighter than what you are probably used to from this shabby girl but I think they are fun and should at least appeal to those with children...or hopefully some big kids as well!

Now beware you may need your sunglasses!! These are a few partially finished, some finished, some needing noses canvases I have started since yesterday....

 

Chocolate cupcakes....

 

Partially finished Babuska, she needs her nose and other bits...I will finish her tonight.

 

One hooty owl.

 

Two hooty owls

 

Three hooty owls, I am thinking there will be many more of these sweeties, I love them!

 

One partially finished pussycat....goes well with the owls don't you think?

 

One tiny Babuska, this was Mary Monday's request..

 

 

 

Aren't those colours just amazing! I am so loving the Winsor and Newton acrylics, the colour and the shine is amazing.  Now I need to get myself some new brushes to do the paint justice...my old ones are really not much chop and there is only so much I can paint with my fingers.

In other exciting news I have joined ( and been accepted) BrisStyle...this is their blurb...

BrisStyle is a cooperative group of artists, crafters and artisians all living in the Brisbane area (Australia), who sell their wares on Etsy.com, the biggest online marketplace for all things handmade.

AND today I sold my first wall hanging on Etsy...oh the planets must be aligning. BrisStyle has a blog too...go and find out all about their giveaways and upcoming events.  Their blog is here...BrisStyle Blog really worth a look see. 

The BrisStyle girls are also heavily involved with the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show which is on right now and hopefully I will get to in the next couple of days. That is if I am not in the middle of a painting frenzy!

Speaking of which I must go and paint some backgrounds if it isn't too cold outside..cold yeah I love the cold...sorry Kris but I do!

Of course with the change of weather comes lots of colds and flus ( yes including the swine flu).  I have been encouraging the children yet again to cover their mouths when they sneeze, cough or yawn and wash their hands with soap and water whenever they get the chance but especially before eating etc.  I know they normally do it but I have also told them to stay away from someone who is sick and guess what happens? Darling Husband comes down with a Viral Vertigo where the whole world spins so much he can't even roll over in bed...so now their Dad is sick and they don't know what to do, they don't want to stay away from him...aargh 'just wash your hands' I keep saying!

So on that note, stay safe and healthy, blogging is germ free! 

Kiss Noises Linda ( p.s. you can also follow me on Twitter now, do you Twitter? here I am here...Linda on Twitter  come and join me, it is easy and keeping to 140 characters is fun..really)

KN again. 

I wonder what this will become?

Have you ever painted a background and then had no idea what you were going to paint onto it?? That is what happened to me, so I have been doodling while I wait for inspiration....what do you think it looks like? Of course it will have many re-incarnations I suspect but I wonder what you can see in this picture?

 

 

A bit like Mr Squiggle..

ttfn Kn Linda

How about a Fountain and a Tu-Tu?

To borrow the user name of my lovely friend Rosey from Agapanthus and Goldsworthy  at the moment icantsew!! To be more specific I can't cut out fabric my hands refuse to do what I want them to do and I end up with a chewed up piece of fabric. My helpful Mother has cut fabric into strips for me to use but I just can't get into it as it is soooo upsetting that I can't do things the way I want. I don't think it is an MS 'episode' I just think being so busy has sent me on a gently downward slide. If it gets better I will be estatic but if it doesn't I will just live with it and PAINT!

Never being one to give up, if I can't do big sewing and cutting I will paint! Being that my hands are being a tad uncoperative sometimes the paintbrush won't do what is supposed to either ( what is that line about a bad workman always blames his tools?) I have solved that and have found a wonderful new brush called my fingers!  I have painted like this before as I will do anything to get the colour blend and textures I need and I don't think I am the first to do it, I am pretty sure cave people and Aboriginies use this method ( I am not about to spit paint out of my mouth over my outstretched hand on a cave wall anywhere though..just in case you were wondering)

I usually hate having anything on my hands, I must wash them straight away and when I was a child  apparentlyI used to lick my hands like a cat ( eeewwww yuck) but painting is different, it feels nice and smooth and the colour is always so much clearer when I paint this way as my finger doesn't hold in oodles of paint.

Having sold two paintings on the weekend WOOHOO i was inspired to paint again anyway so I did my usual sit up all night thing and then some this morning.

So what do you think of my new creations.?..They haven't been glossed or glittered yet but I think I am happy with them at the moment .

 

 

 

A little bit of fluff and fun!

 

Off to paint some more canvas backgrounds and to work on an idea for a painting with lime green in it and a touch of Lavender.  Beautiful sunny day today I might need to go and sit in the sun for a while.  I am trying to be very healthy by making sure I eat regularly and cutting out a whole heap of things and adding in more fish ( bleah yuck phooey) to see if it has any effect on the nerve signals to me hands.  I do know that it has an effect on the nerve signals to my stomach...I am sooo hungry, best go and drink a truck load of water.

Speak to you soon, ttfn

Kiss Noises Linda

My favourite photos from today.

I will post more about this is the Lilly Cottage blog in the next couple of days but here is a few of my favourite photos from The Great Easter Egg Hunt we had today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later....what a great day, kiss noises Linda

Pretty as a peacock painting finished?

Yes well I think it is finished but there is always the distinct possiblity that I will add something else to it or fix something up ther but I have to say I am liking it quite a lot which is a good thing! I have done a few peacock paintings before as I love their feathers and the hints of colour flecked through them, so many possibilities.  One of the first peacock paintings I did is on a huge canvas at the medical centre I used to work at.  I took the painting ( plus others) into the centre so that the patients had something else to look at and talk about besides each other and what was ailing them and it worked!  Most people loved the peacock and there were a very small handful that didn't because of the superstition of peacock feathers inside the house being bad luck.....yes well I won't think about that, I think they are wonderful creatures.

This painting I worked on a round canvas which again is quite big...I like to work on big projects you know..hehe just takes me a while to finish them. It is a mixed media, my favourite type as I use anything I can to get the colours and textures I want....sometimes you get happy accidents that work and sometimes you get a piece of paper towel and wipe it all off again.

I did use oil pastels as one of the mediums in this picture and discovered the best way to fix them so they were workable but didn't rub off all over your hands.....hairspray!  I had gone into an art shop which was probably more of a craft shop than an art shop and I was looking for a workable fixative and the staff there were no help at all...frankly I don't think an answer of ' well buy it and see if it works and let me know' is a good one....anyhooo as I was standing there trying to work it out for myself I had a light bulb moment and remembered back to the dark ages at High School art classes and how we used hairspray to fix our pencil drawings.  I put the $18 can of fixitive back and went home and tried it and was so excited when it worked.....so there you go use hairspray as a workable fixative.  Of course I will apply a proper varnish finish.

This was what the picture looked like after the first layers of acrylic and oil pastel looked like.

 

Now this is looking OK and a little bit more whould have been fine, but that is not my style...I need more, more more layers...till you get this ( I really should have taken these photos in the day time but I was excited).

 

 

Now to show you how the colour is a little different than in these pictures look at the one I took without the flash ( the next one) and the photo straight after it was with the flash, they both look so different....all that glitter and colour actually blends in together in real life.

 

 

I have the best cushions to go with this painting when it makes it's way out to Lilly Cottage, happy happy joy joy!! Hope you had a wonderful day and are heading into  a safe and happy Easter.

Kiss Noises Linda

Don't blame me if the Easter Bilby is running late.

Mary Monday is one of those children who likes to get engrossed in the character...loves to dress up, loves to talk in funny voices and pretend...I hope she always does and I can see her future in the arts. With this in mind it is not my fault if the Easter Bibly is late.  Just because I had more re-arranging to do at Lilly Cottage when she was in Bibly mode and the bottom of the cupboard was empty and it is hard work being a bilby...doesn't make it my fault the Easter Bilby fell asleep!

 

 

That would be her blue ribbon tail wrapped around her and a pair of once white socks upon her paws.....the back paws are black apparently.  I just love the fact the face is held in just the right position whilst she had a little doze. 

Thank goodness for mobile phones with cameras!

Kiss Noises Linda

Peacock and Sunflower stew.

As a stew is technically bits thrown in together, I think peacock and sunflower stew is apt for this week. Oh as you can see I have kept two blogs going, thank you for all your sweet words of encouragement.  Does anyone lese think up great blog posts in their head when they are doing something else and then when you do get a few minutes to write them down, they are all gone....happens to me frequently.

OK so this week has been a tough one, Darling Husband ( DH for future reference I wasn't being rude), was summoned to attend school camp with our eldest daughter for the week.  He had gone with her class last year as chief cook and bottlewasher and they enticed him back with the fact he didn't have to cook and he would be expected to be involved in all the activities.  That is so right up his alley he didn't need a great deal of prodding.  So the two off them set off at the start of the week with  many warm  clothes packed in their suitcases as last year it was freezing and they had to wear multiple layers....of course this year was hot, hot and muggy...oh dear never mind.

The two youngest children got to stay home with me and I think they thought that was a good deal seeing as I found it easier to do all the jobs like washing the dishes, folding the clothes and feeding and changing the animals beds by myself that listen to them whinge....that and the fact I let them have spaghetti bolognaise two nights in a row.....they like it Ok.

Needless to say, not a lot of art work was completed this week....I do have lots of started pieces though, here is a little look.

 

Now I have a half finished fabric peacock as well as a half finished painted peacock....this one is going to take me a while but it will be great to work on whilst I organise other things in my mind and to take with me in the car, to the shop etc as it won't get dirty and it is easy to stop and start.

 

A very partly finished sunflower type thingy cushion.  I usually dislike orange with a passion but I can see this teamed with some hot pink somewhere so I splashed out in the colour department.

 

One of many, many half finished or maybe half started canvases...can you tell what this is going to be??

Speak to you soon, must finish something ( anything, anything at all)

Kiss Noises Linda

Wordless Wednesday

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