How Now Highland Cow

It appears that I’ve been on a unplanned break from blogging… who knew?
Well I certainly didn’t.
I’ve been enjoying the summer and keeping myself extremely busy, but the autumnal weather seems to have arrived, so I’m thinking it’s time to come indoors and indulge in my indoor pursuits… blogging being one of them.
The other pursuit that I can’t imagine ever giving up is producing and creating artwork.
This is my latest piece… the Highland Cow.

Yes, I know another Highland Cow... I virtually have my own herd now.
I really enjoyed playing with this one and in an effort to keep it loose, I even left my glasses off at times. I know... rather risky, but I feel that it did the trick. I've thought that this particular piece was finished at least three or four times, but kept returning to it to add a little here and there.
Finally, I've decided that's it!
He's done and I'm rather pleased with him.

I suppose he just needs a name now… I’m saying ‘He’ but I suppose it could be a ‘she’?

Great to chat once again... I've missed you.

Have a great day and don't forget... I’d love to hear if you have a suggestion for a name for the Highland Cow.

Paint Party Friday... How Now Brown Cow

Hellooo...

I haven't been partying with the PPF gang lately, but I thought it was time to get my act together and link up. 

I've been very busy, but I have managed to produce some art.

This highland cow has been evolving for quite some time now.

He/she has highlights, so I thought he/she should join in the Paint Party Friday too.

It's a practice piece before I start a serious commission.

I've bought new paints and been having a great time getting to know them.

I've had music blasting out and dancing whilst splashing about with a paintbrush. 

It's been very liberating! 

I've also been working away on my @Makeartthatsells assignment.

We are currently completing the final month of Bootcamp.

I will really be sorry to finish this class.

I think I'll be signing up for more, as there are lots to chose from throughout the year.

The sketch below was a personal one.

It's 'Ernest' my Great Granddad who was born in 1867.

As I sketched, I was lost in my thoughts about my family and it's history... 

a little like 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

For those who might not be familiar with that tv programme... it's where a celebrity traces their family roots back through the years.

I find it fascinating.

I also thought I'd use this sketch to practice my very weak lettering.

I fear now that I've plastered poor 'Ernest' on a 'WANTED' poster!

One fact that I did come across from my research notes, was that he was a 'Tole Dealer'

I had no idea what this might be... so after more delving, I found that it involves ornately decorated trays or chandeliers etc!

Who knew?

How strange especially after painting precisely that in last months assignment. 

Who knows, Ernest might have been a painter too!

I had many thoughts on how his life might had been back then. 

He actually married Mary, the daughter of a Scottish farmer, when they were both 31 years old.

I'm thinking that this was rather old for marriage back then.
Maybe that's why he is wearing a tartan tie... to impress Mary?

I also wonder why this photo was taken... was it for some special occasion?

I haven't done much lettering, but now I know that I've obviously got a lot more practising to do!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll join my over at the Paint Party Friday.

Eva and Kristin do an amazing job of sharing everyone's great artwork.

Have a great weekend.

Sew Happy... PPF

I haven't picked up a needle or even sewn a button on anything for years, so I had an additional struggle trying to relate to the Make Art That Sells April assignment.

For inspiration I thought I'd take a peak into my old sewing box, which was like opening a treasure chest. 

Since then I've been sketching ever since.

These assignments have certainly taken me on a journey of discovery in more ways than one!

Thanks Lilla Rogers

I even had a play in Photoshop (although the word play maybe stretching things a little) but I've still got so much to learn.

I'm entering this sewing tray for the Make Art That Sells April assignment.

I'll also link up with the Paint Party Friday

Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting an inspiration link.

The sun is shining here, so I'm off out to play! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

Chief Chook and a Sprout Loving Bambi... PPF

Happy New Year Everyone.

I hope all your wishes come true in 2018.

I didn't realise that I was going to have a blog break, but that appears to have happened.

So my apologies for not making any announcement before my disappearance.

I hope you'll forgive me.

As I type here this morning, I can't help but feel grateful that I can touch type. 

It is so dark, as the heavy clouds burst and send copious amounts of rain down upon us, but that doesn't stop my happy mood. 

Yes it's January and some say the most depressing time of year, but 

I thought I'd tell you about my enrolment into an online art course. 

It starts on Monday and is a Bootcamp with Lilla Rogers from Make Art That Sells

I thought as I'm nipping into the Paint Party Friday link today, fellow PPF's might be interested in hearing or reading all about it. Lilla is fantastic and such an inspiration... so friendly and encouraging too. There are live video links and discussions every week and assignments every Monday, plus access to a special Facebook meeting place for all fellow classmates.

I seriously lost my mojo last year and just couldn't find it... but Lilla has a way of making you think anything is possible.

So with that in mind here's my first piece of artwork for 2018.

I hope to improve and fly with my art as the year progresses.

Obviously, this first one had to include a chook (chicken).

Just a fun piece to hopefully give me a kick start!

Now that I'm back to blogging, I'd also like to share my sprout loving visitors.

I personally don't mind having them eat all the sprouts from our veg plot, as I've never eaten them nor do I intend to. But I do fear that our new seedlings and plants this coming spring might be on their menu!

But seriously how cute are these Roe Deer?

 The numbers have expanded this year from the odd one or two to five.

 Is that a guilty face or what???

So there's plenty for my first post of the year.

I hope to keep the momentum going.

Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon.

Paint Party Friday... Elf

Hello everyone...here we are... Friday once again!

 With only a few weeks until the holidays begin, I thought I'd do a Christmassy sketch this week. 

Hopefully something to inspire me into all the preparations.

The only trouble is that this is kind of mixed up... a Santa look-a-like if you will. 

I did have an elf in mind but then Santa intruded.

 I wouldn't say that I'm a negative person, but as I come to write this post I begin to wonder?

I'm normally a half glass full kind of person, but yet again I'm posting something that I don't particularly like. I'm hoping that the Paint Party Friday gang will be able to help me. 

It seems the trouble is that I've lost my passion for painting. 

I think a lot of it is that I don't have a theme, or subject matter that I can progress with. 

My subjects just seem so random and individual. 

I think if I kept to a theme it might help.

I'm trying out new paints and with each painting I'm learning, but the end design isn't quite what I'd like. 

But it's a journey...right?

I'm going to be with family over the next week, so they'll be no time for painting.

But hopefully I'll find inspiration from somewhere.

I'm determined that in the New Year I'm going to devote more time and energy into my art.

(Where have I heard that before?)

I started sketching the design below a few months ago and I feel maybe it's time to revisit.

I apologise for the photographs.

Unfortunately it's difficult to get enough light at this time of year.

I hope you can see it.

Now don't laugh but we are making plans for the girls (hens/chooks) to stay in a 'Hen Hote'l whilst we are away. I know it sounds ridiculous and I would be laughing along with you... but I feel this is the best option.

It would be a lot to ask someone to come a few times a day to see to them and the Hotel sounds brilliant.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to do a blog post...if all goes well once I get back.

Yet again we've found a mass of feathers and a wiped clean breast bone on our garden this morning, so the fox has ventured here once again. 

Poor wood pigeon by the look of it!

The hotel option is far safer.

Thanks for visiting my place and if you'd like to see more artwork, then why not join in the party over at PPF by clicking HERE.

Have a great Friday everyone.

Enjoy

Woohoo New Paints... PPF

I'm having to be super quick posting today, as I have visitors and as they've just nipped out I thought I'd nip in!

I'm so excited to have new paints and can't wait to use them. 

I've not painted using gouache paints before, so any tips and advice will be gratefully accepted. 

I thought I'd colour in my own design that I posted last week, but as you can see below...I didn't get very far before my visitors arrived. 

I'll have to wait (with baited breath) to get to use these new paints...but I'm hoping that we can become great lifelong friends.

I've also joined an online course, so hopefully I'll be able to share details and results from class with you soon.

Must dash...the hostess with the mostess duty calls.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for your visit.

I'm linking up with the Paint Party Friday gang.

Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting once again.

My Menagerie... PPF

No surprises today in guessing what I might have drawn for this weeks Paint Party Friday link up.

Of course it had to be chook related at some stage.

We have two breeds of chicken living here with us... Maran and Bluebell.

My painting is a little mix of both of them.

Definitely free range with my painting...haha! 

(Sorry I couldn't resist that)

This painting could be 'Flo' the soft sister of 'Big Bertha' (Maran) and 'Canny Annie' (Bluebell) 

(nee Anxious Annie... I've changed her name, because I think she's actually really switched on. 

She works the system and gets just what she wants/needs!)

The bowl of eggs show our morning collection of fresh eggs. 

All four girls are firing on all cylinders and we have four beautiful eggs daily.

Happy Chooks indeed.

I couldn't resist popping them into this bowl with the rooster on it.

It's a really old cereal bowl, that we got when my children were very small and we lived in Brunei.

As you can probably guess...it came with a famous cereal.

So this portrait is called AnnieFlo' 

Now who remembers 'Hetty'?

NO! Before you mention it...we haven't got a Highland Cow now!

I draw the line there...although with my hubby and his hobbies...ie hot tub he may well decide to try and persuade me to have one!

I met up with an old friend last week and she mentioned how much she liked my Highland Cow painting, so I thought I'd revisit it and have a go at painting another. 

I find it fascinating how my painting is progressing and it's not until I look back that I see and realise that I'm evolving as an artist. 

Do you find the same with your art?

Hopefully, I'm moving in the right direction! 

I have also had the pleasure of receiving photographs of my Giraffe painting in their new homes.

I have two in Australia, two in USA and a few in the UK.

That seriously makes me smile :D

So on that happy note I shall love and leave you this week.

Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting PPF once more.

Have a brilliant weekend everyone 

The Eye of the Tiger...PPF

There hasn't been much time or motivation to return to my art over the last few weeks, but yesterday I decided that I have been missing it and that I should get back to it. 

My house guests have left and everything is reasonably tidy, plus the weather has been horrendous this week, so there's no way I want to spend any time outside.

In other words it's perfect for zoning out with my art supplies.

My screensaver type art...the artwork that I never think to seriously about is drawing with ink.

I'm still playing with the tiger drawing that I started weeks ago.

I'm in no hurry to finish it as it's my therapy.

He looks a little fierce for my liking, but that's sometimes the fun side of art...a creation evolves into it's own personality.

It could be the gold highlights that I added to his eyes that gives him that scary stare.

Maybe I'm a little angry and that's what's coming out through my artwork.

Who knows?

I have a commission on the back burner, but thought I'd try out a few designs to try and get my act together. This leaf was one of the trials and now I realise that I'm just not firing on all cylinders yet.

This is a long way from where I want or need to be.

Once again because the gold ink pen was to hand, I couldn't resist adding little touches, but I think they are hard to see on this photo.

I have to admit I have no idea why it's come out like an autumn leaf, as we're supposed to be in the middle of our summer now. Maybe it's due to the terrible weather we've experienced this past week.

Our Tardis (the plastic greenhouse) took off and was heading to Kansas (Oh Toto) 

It lifted and threw all of the plants enclosed within.

Tomatoes went toppling, lettuce were launched, avocado ascended, fuchsia's flew...in fact I don't think anything remained intact.

I was awake for most of the night, listening to the wind howling around the house with such force...it was a little scary. I was imaging the whole of the veg plot devastated...all that hard work gone in one night. The storm was far worse than we experienced during winter.

I also wondered quite how the baby birds and fledgling managed.

Here's a photo that I took this morning of Mummy Blue-tit getting some well needed sustenance for her babies in our kitchen window feeder.

Her babies are in a nest box in that large tree on our driveway to the left of this photo, so she doesn't have far to go.

By the sound coming from the nest box...there's quite a few squished up inside there. 

They sound nearly ready to fledge and hopefully we might actually witness it.

Our very own Springwatch!

Thanks for visiting my place...I hope to have time over the weekend to create a few of the things that are cramming my creative brain at the moment.

It's a good sign...now I just have to execute them.

Have a great weekend and thanks Paint Party Friday link for continuing to inspire.

PPF Peony and the Eclipse

I can't believe that I missed the Paint Party Friday celebrations last week with Eva and Kristin.

So I'm making sure I don't miss it today... here's the link if you'd like to visit the party too.

But there's always a silver lining if you look hard enough because as part of the PPF 4th Birthday/Anniversary/Blogoversary celebrations there was a optional challenge and not one that I'd find easy. 

The challenge was to paint a self-portrait. 

(Gulp... thank goodness I missed that)

Now that would be have been a challenge for me...

So what have I been up to instead... let's take a look

It appears that I'm all in the pink this week. 

I'm even wearing a pink pashmina today!

My pink Mother's Day bouquet and card set me thinking about the summer blooms that hopefully will be appearing in my garden soon. 

The peony is one of my favourites...

As you can see I'm working on the kitchen table once more.

I decided to start this particular painting whilst the football was on the television.

I plugged in my earphones and had a brilliant time listening to classical music. 

Thankfully it blocked out the footy commentators, guru's, chants and my hubby's tactitional expertise!

But I don't have to use the kitchen table anymore because my daughter has relocated.

I now have my studio back... although there's some thinking and planning needed it's great to get back in here. She had lots of success whilst using the studio, so I'm hoping that the good positive vibes will inspire me too.  

That is if studio pooch will move over to let me have some space. 

It's amazing how popular this particular room is. 

If you'd like to see my daughter's new studio space here it is below... 

Cool isn't it? 

Here's a link if you'd like to see more of her work... click here and here

Before I head off to work on my peony, I thought you might like to see the eclipse that everyone is talking about here in the UK this morning. 

I didn't think we'd get to see anything here in Aberdeenshire, but we had a lucky break in the clouds and caught glimpses of it.
I think it worked out better having some cloud cover... it wasn't too bright or too much glare.
I probably will have poo-monia later as I stood outside for quite a time with soaking wet hair from my shower. I've hardly been about to warm up since, but I suppose these amazing specticals don't happen often and you have to sieze the moment. 

There was talk that the dogs would howl and the birds would stop singing, but that didn't happen. Muffty was still in her bed all snuggled up for the drop in temperature and the birds kept singing... maybe distracted by the fact that I'd just replenished the feeders and it was game on!

However there was a dog howling in the nearby woods but I suspect that he was just over excited with the rabbits running hither and thither.

These are not the best shots but considering I thought I wouldn't even see it, I suppose I should be grateful. 

Well that's it for today peeps... spring equinox, solar eclipse and a super moon tonight...
Phew...it's been quite a day but now it's time to paint.

Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend

Hope to see you soon

Yay...it's Friday and I'm ready to party with PPF and APR

I can't believe that today I've actually managed to complete a piece of artwork. YAY!

After a great week weather wise with lots of fantastic sunshine, today turned out to be rather grey and that freezing north wind blew. 

So much so that it really wasn't a good day to be outside voluntarily...so I stayed indoors. 

After flinging myself around for most of the morning, ticking chores and messages off my never ending list, I decided to get tough with myself and finally sat down at the kitchen table to finish the kingfisher picture I started a few weeks back. 

Here's a reminder...

I tried desperately to be loose with it and not stress too much and for most parts it worked but old habits die hard. 

There's a few things that I'm not happy about...but I'll not mention them because maybe... just maybe you won't notice them. 

My main aim was to just get something into my journal. 

And guess what? 

I've now got an idea for what I'd like to do for tomorrow...whoohoo...so it looks like I may have kick started my mojo into action at last. 

I'm so happy that I feel like partying...so I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday and the Artist's Play Room.

Why don't you take a look and have fun too - just click on the blue writing above to be transported to the party.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone 

 

What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday...WOYWW #241

Well hello there...long time no see!

In fact, I think the last time I entered the WOYWW (What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday for anyone who hasn't come across this before) was way back last October.

You might not even let me in...or have changed the locks by now :(

So where have I been you may wonder? 

Well, I flatter myself a wee bitee here maybe thinking you've missed me. 

But in reality you've probably been flat out creating, having a wonderful festive holiday and now you're already working on your Easter designs!

So what have I been busy doing other than resisting the temptation to hibernate? 

I mean it's hardly been a severe winter up until now and hopefully it'll continue this way,
Basically no I've been dusting.
Is there anything more futile to waste take up every waking hour?
I've been shifting what I believe to be the same dust about for weeks...only to see it laugh and land as I turn away!
I thought when I lived in the Middle East I knew dust, but that was nothing to two bathroom renovations! 

Here's a peek at the second one...

And that's been tidied up! 

Anyway, so basically that's what I've been working on for the last few months and sadly neglected artwork. 

But I'm now determined that with this new year my priorities are to change. It's not exactly a resolution because in that case I'd be doomed to fail.

(Do I sound convincing?)

So here's my desk...still working on the kitchen table I'm afraid but that's okay. 

The music is playing, the wood stove is roaring away and McMuffy's curled up under the desk. All is well especially with a view like that to gaze upon.

Still no sheep yet other than in my journal...click here to see the gang. 

But I'm hopeful of their arrival any day now. 

I couldn't decide what to draw yesterday, but knew I wanted to spend a few hours getting back to trying out my paints. 
(I still don't feel comfortable with painting yet...in fact I'm contemplating taking an painting class to overcome this) 

So I decided to draw what was right in front of my eyes!

The vase...or jug to be more precise

Nothing new here as it's not finished (why is it that my work is never finished?) as the light faded at 4pm! I know this is getting later so spring must be on it's way...right?

So there you have it...my desk this week. 

If you want to see lots of other desks from around the globe just nip over to Julia over at Stamping Ground.

Thanks for stopping by...it's always great see you and even better if you stop to comment. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone

Toodleloo for now

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday ~ WOYWW#175

Wow...it's Wednesday...

So why am I showing you this mess?

Because basically Wednesday means WOYWW (what's on your workdesk Wednesday)!  

It's the creation of Julia from Stamping Ground who thought up this fun passing of creativity between like minded people, but unfortunately there's little creativity going on around this place just now.

I'm half way through my OH's six week leave (don't ask!!!) 

so you can imagine there's not much time to self-indulge in my art work!

Therefore I'm using the time to collate immense amounts of inspiration in the hope that once I get my time back I'll be raring to go....

I know these WOYWW posts to supposed to be short but I couldn't help think you may like to link in to see some more artists from Melbourne and what they are up to....so if you have time just carry on reading...

if not thanks for popping by...I'll try to do likewise soon....

Every Sunday morning in a place called St Kilda there is The Esplanade Market....

 The market is open every Sunday of the year from 10am - 5pm

where you can meet over 150 artists offering an exciting range of their contemporary artworks...

 

The market has been running since 1970 and remains a favourite destination with locals and tourists alike who appreciate the diverse and unique range of quality handmade artworks made from wood, glass, paper, resin, recycled materials and so much more. The various styles and types of art are collectable, functional, beautiful, original, and make great gifts. 

 True to form we were the early birds and some of the stall holders hadn't finished setting up...

St Kilda is a remarkable place. 

It is situated on the Bay a short distance from the city.

Here's some of the local residents....hehe...

St Kilda has a very arty feel to it...even the shops indulge

Before we left St Kilda it was a must to stop off for a cuppa and a cake...

 Well it would be rude not to....

The trouble was deciding which cake didn't have calories??? 

Another St Kilda landmark....

 

I hope to visit more desks this week but having to share nice here reduces my time for playing and also we are heading off again at the weekend...this time it will involve the airport...whoohoo!

Have your bags and passport at the ready.... 

and I'll come to collect you soon!

Have a great WOYWW and I promise to try and visit you soon.