Hello Everyone and Happy Friday to you all.
I've been missing in action lately on the blog front, as I just haven't seemed to find the time for blogging, favouring a quick line or two with a photo into my Instagram account instead.
I've often thought...ooh that would be good for a blog post, but then moved on quickly to other things.
One of the things that has been keeping me busy over the last few months, has been my Bootcamp assignments from the makeartthatsells online course.
February's assignment was 'Tea'
Anyone that knows me knows I'm a huge teapot!
I drink copious amounts of tea per day, so this assignment was just my cup of tea (Aghh...sorry)
Anyway, for the main assignment it was to paint 'Tea Leaf Reading'.
Fond memories of my favourite Aunt came flooding back to me.
My Aunt was quite a fun loving character and always up for a laugh.
Now I'm not saying that tea leaf reading isn't serious for some, but the vision of my Aunt bent over a china teacup with her face so serious, relaying someones future tickled me, but her readings were very popular.
I personally believed every single word she said.
I was probably under 10 at the time.
Here's my design... although for some reason the colours don't seem to be true.
The original is much brighter and vibrant, but I'm not sure why this is happening or what I can do to correct it.
Did you know that the art of tea leaf reading is called 'Tasseography' because I certainly didn't.
I'm linking up with the lovely artists over at the Paint Party Friday link.
Thank you ladies for hosting once again.
(This is my mock up practice ... with the help of my son)
Thank you ladies for hosting once again.
Right... I'm off to make a cuppa with loose tea leaves.
Who knows, I may have the gift of fortune telling?
I'll have to see if I can see anything in my future.
Have a great weekend and thanks for popping in.
Gorgeous and magical! I love the colors you used and design of the tea pot and the symbols pouring from the spout, brilliant! Super beautiful tribute to the art of tasseography! Wonderful about your Aunt and her passion, such sweet memories. I love reading both tea leaves and coffee grounds, it is such fun. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteHappy PPF
Victoria #19
Thanks so much for your lovely comment Victoria. I thought tasseography was a dying art, but now I've done a little research I see that it's alive and well.
DeleteI'm going to have to start using loose tea and seeing what I can see in my own cup! Happy PPF to you and thanks for stopping by my place :D
Hi Neesie You have a gift for many things, painting, blogging, gardening and the like, no reason why you can't add Tasseography to the list! Great painting.
ReplyDeleteWren x
Aww thank you Wren... you are too kind. I don't think I'll have time to add in tasseography along with all my other hobby's!
DeleteIt means a great deal to me to have such positive feedback :D
Ihave never heard that term before and my Grandfather read tea leaves lol,,such an exact science lol,, beautiful painting!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been amazed by how many people read tea leaves Laurie... I thought it had disappeared like many other old ways. Glad you like the painting. I was pleased with my lettering as I sometimes struggle with that. Lots of challenges with this course, but hopefully it'll stretch me to become a better artist.
DeleteHave a wonderful weekend :D
Love your painting and perhaps you will read some for me. I need to know about my hand writs.lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laila, I'm not sure I would be the best tea leaf reader as I've never actually done it... although I'm going to give it a try, but I'm sure if I did I would see that your hand is going to fully recover and you are going to produce more amazing art!
DeleteGood luck with it too :D
Interesting, indeed! Lovely magical tea painting.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend 💖
Thank you Sirkkis, I had great fun with this assignment. Our next assignment is portraits... (gulp) not sure how I will get on as I don't find them easy.
DeleteI hope you are having a great weekend too :D
Love the design of your teapot and all those images pouring out of the spout make it very symbolic. Reading tea leaves used to be quite a big thing here. Not so much now though. My grandmother was an expert, apparently. I wouldn't have a clue where to begin.
ReplyDeleteMe neither John, but it's fascinating that so many of the last generation had the ability to read the leaves... or appeared to. I'm definitely going to give it a try now after doing research into all the symbols and what they're supposed to mean. You never know I may well have the ability too. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
DeleteHave a great weekend :D
You've certainly taught me a new word today! I love your painting -- it evokes tea leaf reading perfectly! When I was a little girl 50 years ago, my grandma's landlady would read tea leaves for us. The ritual was very similar to the one you describe! Thanks for bringing that memory back to me today.
ReplyDeleteHehe... well it was a new word for me too. I never even thought that there would be a particular name for it. But there you go... learning something new every day!
DeleteIt's amazing how many people have had someone in their past be able to read the leaves. I'm going to give it a go!
I'm glad it was a happy memory because mine certainly was.
Have a great weekend :D
This is really lovely and there is a lot of detail! I just love all of those symbols pouring into the tea cups. What a cool design idea! Looks fabulous!
ReplyDeleteDo you have access to Photoshop or similar program? If so, you can adjust your levels - usually under Image > Adjustments < Levels. Playing with those levels can often restore some of the desaturated colours from the scan.
Thanks so much for your kind comments... I had fun with the design but it took me far longer trying to get to grips with Photoshop and the mock up!
DeleteI'll definitely have a look at the Adjustments and levels to see if I can improve my images. Thanks once again! :D
this is a fantastic illustration Neesie! I really love all the symbols pouring from the teapot and the colors are lush and vibrant. Happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda, they are not colours I usually use, but I'm trying to push and challenge myself on this course. It's great fun... Happy PPF to you too :D
DeleteIt’s lovely
ReplyDeleteThanks Clare, I enjoyed the assignment :D
DeleteThis is so lovely and magical. Beautiful design and colors. I love the thought of reading tea leaves and predicting someone's future...as long as it is good news for all :)
ReplyDeleteHappy PPF!!!
I think generally a tea leaf reader would only give good news, but I'm not sure how it works. Maybe they would just omit the mention any bad news.
DeleteI really enjoyed this assignment, but the next is portraits and that's asking a lot from me... not my strongest point!
Wish me luck. Happy PPF to you too :D
Lovely piece, I didn't know that word Tasseography.
ReplyDeleteNeither did I Christine. Thanks for your lovely comment.
DeleteHave a great week :D
Learn something new every day! That would make a great business card if you ever decide to go professional as a psychic.
ReplyDeleteHaha... I'd need to research and practice a fair bit before I could possibly take it up as a career!
DeleteThanks for your lovely comment :D
Denise, while I'm not into that sort of thing, I think your painting is so fabulous! You have captured the essence of tasseography (a new word for me). Your colors look pretty vibrant on my screen, and so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing about this course Faye is that you never know what the assignment is going to be until each Monday when you receive notification. It was fun and I enjoyed challenging myself.
DeleteTasseography is a new word for me too.
Thanks for your visit and I wish you a wonderful creative week :D
Beautiful creation ~ colorful and dynamic!
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thanks so much Carol. It was fun but now we're on to portraits so that may be more of a challenge!
DeleteWell i certainly did not know that. Your tea reading art is awesome
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog Happy PPF
much love...
Pleasure Gillena, and I'm happy to hear that you now have a new word and enjoyed seeing my artwork.
DeleteHave a great week :D
that's a great piece of work! I love seeing your assignments for this online course:-) Happy PPF!
ReplyDeleteThanks Denthe, but you might not feel quite the same with my next assignment as it's faces! I think that's my worst nightmare but Lilly at @makeartthatsells is incredible at getting you to another level that you've not reached before. So we'll see.
DeleteHappy PPF to you :D
Hi Denise. This is delightful. It feels like such a happy piece of art. I really like everything about it. Glad you blogged.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole, thanks so much for your lovely comment. We are supposed to enjoy the assignments which I did in this case, but the next one might be a difficult challenge for me... it's faces! I know you're an expert so any tips or advice will be appreciated.
DeleteHave a great week :D
Hi Nessie...I love you’re image....I just happened to have uploaded a tutorial that is less than ten minutes, on how to edit an image t make it pop and look more like the original...
ReplyDeleteHere is the link if you are interested...
https://youtu.be/W3Ig3pU6My8
May need to copy and paste it....
Hope it helps...happy ppf(#35)...x
Wow Mandy, thank you so much. I'll definitely have to give it a go.
DeleteThat's very kind of you and I appreciate it.
Have a great week... Happy PPF to you too :D
looks good :) great design on the tea pot, very mystical :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer, I enjoyed this assignment. Deciding on the design, colour palette and lettering stretched me. This weeks assignment is drawing faces... that one of my worst nightmares... but I shall see where it leads. Wish me luck!
DeleteHave a great week :D
good luck with the assignment :)
Deletewhat a super great idea you came up with. I love it!
ReplyDeleteAs for the colors...so you save your photos as .jpg? That might be the problem. Nowadays I save mine as .png as the systems don´t be able to alter them.
Aww thank you so much. I did enjoy this assignment so maybe that comes across. We are encouraged to have fun and people will buy into our joy so maybe that true?
DeleteAhh... that's interesting on the jpg and png details. I'll have to remember that when I save my next piece of artwork. Thanks for the tip. Have a great week :D
Learned a new word too. Love the all seeing eye on the teapot and Lil the symbols pouring out. I haven't been able to blog as I have no way to import pics to my new Fire tablet. (iPad battery died:( Signed up for Instagram but I don't understand all the hash tags people use. Loved the pic I saw of the back ends of the four chooks! ;))
ReplyDeleteWell I had no idea tea leaf reading was called Tasseography either until I did a little research. I didn't realise how serious it was either.
DeleteSo great to hear that you've taken on Instagram. I'll look you up and come to visit. The hashtags just mean that your picture will appear on a feed somewhere where all the pictures have the same hashtag... ie if you post one of your girls you might use the hashtag #happycatterday on a Saturday and your photo will join all the other happycatterday photos in a gallery. You can write any hashtag that's relative to your photo. It's really easy once your get to know it. Good luck and have fun!
The #fluffybuttfriday is very popular. My girls are always wanting to enter every Friday (haha) I used to do #floralfriday but the butts have it at the moment with very little growing at the moment in my garden :D
I love this Nessie, especially all the little items spilling into the cup. The elephant teapot is so cute.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you-my blog pictures used to enlarge when you clicked on them so you could see all the details. That doesn't happen anymore on mine. Do you happen to know if I might need to change a setting? Thanks so much. Have a great week.
Thanks Gloria, the symbols seem to be a favourite and the design seems to work. I had lots of fun and even used a different colour palette than usual. Trying to stretch myself creatively.
DeleteHmm... I'm not sure about the enlarging images. I've just checked mine and it works. Maybe you could check your settings with Blogspot helpline. Hopefully someone might have the answer. Sorry I couldn't help. Good luck finding the answer!
Have a great week :D
I find the thought of tea reading fascinating! I bet is was so fun...your art is lovely. Try the pixlr app.... to change the saturation in your colour... Make it more true to form!! You can use it on a pc too...just have to use the older version!! Good luck!
ReplyDeletePeace Giggles
Well Giggles there's lots of information about reading the leaves online, so maybe you could give it a go. I'm tempted myself now that I've done a little research, but I'll have to buy some loose tea leaves first!
DeleteThanks for the tip on the saturation problem.
Have a great week :D
My online dictionary doesn't know Tasseography nor synonyms...interesting, like your tea, interesting! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know it either until I researched it. I just thought reading tea leaves was a fun thing. Nothing serious, but I believe it's very serious for some.
DeleteHave a great week :D