Reflections on 2013

Well, 2013 is all but over so let's have a look back at the year.

My One Little Word for the year was Believe:

- The highlight of my art year was having five paintings exhibited at a gallery and selling one of them!

- I hosted BlogtoberFest 2013 and managed to blog every day along with a hundred or so others!!!

 - The lowlight of the year when it came to my art was when I lost belief in myself in May when I had a booth/stall at a vineyard and a young lady said "this art (she was referring to my layered paintings) is so easy to make"......I know I shouldn't be so sensitive but there's a lot more to this than I'm saying...

 - the highlight of my year was travelling through Europe on a motorbike with my husband for three months!!!

- my favourite art tool in 2013 was hands down no contest and if you can't guess then this must be your first time reading my blog.....my gelli plate - I love it so much I made a facebook group so I had a community with which to share with - The Gelatin Printing Enthusiasts Facebook Group.

- Whilst travelling I doodled and coloured in and zentangled and mandalaed too:

Well, I had a great year and I hope yours was great too!

BlogtoberFest 2013 Day 31 Thank You

Woot! Woot! Woot!

Yay, today is the last day of BlogtoberFest 2013!!  We made it!

Many thanks to everyone who participated over the past 31 days, it has been great fun and I really enjoyed hosting it.  Thank you all so much for taking time to read my posts and your comments, it's always a challenge  - trying to find something to blog about, getting photos organised - and it always takes much longer than what I think and what it should take. So give yourself a pat on the back.

I hope to catch up with you again sometime during the next 11 months and I'll see you back here then with info about BlogtoberFest 2014 - I may do it again or I may pass it on to someone else but I will put up some info here for those who are interested.

Many thanks again.

Take care and stay safe and stay tuned.

Love and hugs and cuddlybugs,


Shells.

BF 2013 Wordless Wednesday

BF 2013 The Big Cover Up

Over the weekend I decided to cover up some old paintings which I had not varnished - the Mean Girl and The Nice Girl - The reason I created them and that part of my life is over and done with and I'm glad they are gone. I glued on pages from old books - a French dictionary and some of the works of Shakespeare.  Unfortunately there are air bubbles under some of the pages as I rushed the process, which is very naughty of me.

On Monday I used a large palette knife to apply a warm layer and the cool layer on the right hand painting, and a brush for the left hand one as a contrast.  I think the palette knife was bought at a hardware store, so it's not technically an art tool but if you know me then you know I like to use all sorts of household tools for my art such as the rubber squares you use to open jars and kitchen sponge for stamping.

Top - the Nice Girl and the Mean Girl paintings.








Middle and bottom - the collage cover up process.

Top - the warm layer








Bottom - the cool layer

Left - with a brush

Right - with a palette knife.








Have you ever covered up an old painting?  Tomorrow I'll show you another old painting I've been covering up....

BF 2013 Chocolate Fudge Squares

Today I made Chocolate Fudge Squares and I thought I would share the recipe which I got from a magazine about 15 years ago!

Ingredients:

185g/6.5oz butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups plain/all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup desicated coconut

Icing:

1 tablespoon (or less) of butter/margarine
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
water
coconut to top

1.  Preheat the oven to moderate/180C/350F, grease slice tin 27cm x 17cm/ 10in x 7in.

2.  In a saucepan melt butter, sugar, golden syrup and cocoa.

3. Add this mixture to the flour, baking powder and coconut.

4. Mix together and place in tin.

5. Cook for 15 mins and leave in tin to cool.

6. Icing: blend softened butter/margarine with icing sugar and cocoa, adding enough water to spread.

7. Spread icing over slice and sprinkle coconut on, cut into squares and eat!

 

Enjoy!!

BF 2013 Six Thoughts on Saturday

1.  Completed another embroidery patch this afternoon.

2. This morning I visited my old art teacher, Neil Elliott, open studio day to see what he's been up to....here's one of my favourites:

                                                           Artwork by Neil Elliott.


3.  Last night I put the bread oven on, first time in ages and this is what happened!

I tried a new bread mix and may have put too much yeast in there as well, so next time I may even half the packet and see what size loaf I get that way.  It was a lot of work to get it out and clean it up.  Check out tomorrow's blogpost to see what the loaf actually looked like!


4.  I've been zentangling in the evenings too...

5.  I'm having trouble with pixlr.com again....very annoying as you know I like to put my name on everything....in case it goes off into the www and gets lost it can find it's way home again....sigh...

6.  Only a few more days of Blogtoberfest 2013 to go and I'm really pleased to hear back from a few of you that you are really enjoying it, that's great news.  Shall we do it all again next year???

BF 2013 These Walls I Built Up

These Walls I Built Up, Mixed Media on Watercolour Paper, 38cm x 56cm

Sometimes you hear a new song and you connect to it and it changes things for you. I recently bought the new album by Australian artist Tina Arena called Reset and I love the second track called Still Running.  This song has got me out walking this week, made me happier and helped me create this new girlie painting. The lyrics are not available on the internet but I will post them below and to hear the song you will have to visit iTunes as there is no YouTube video clip for it yet.

One reason I connected to this song was in relation to the Brave Girls Club Soul Comfort e-course I'm doing - we've been discussing how we use our time and how we need to set boundaries with people esp those who take our emotional energy and use our time. With some people I need to build up a wall and only let them in when I have time and emotional energy for them. Be more assertive with some people and not so much of a people pleaser.

My BFF told me to put up an invisible wall when people speak hurtful words to me - let the words hit the wall and drop to the ground, if I pick them up and let them hurt me then that's my choice.

The song quote reminds me of this quote by Socrates, which is probably the opposite in meaning to the above song - Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.

I haven't created any girlie paintings for about a year now so I was a little rusty.  And when I do created them they are usually just for me, to let some emotions out and they are always a challenge.

Here are the evolution pics:

After using the brayer to roll on some paint (fig 3), I glued on some paper napkins (fig 4). Then I stencilled on the wall (fig 5) and added more hair and wall (fig 6). Then I glued on some poppy paper napkins for the clothes (fig 7) then touched her hair and the background colour (fig 8).  I used pixlr.com to write the words on!!!

Still Running - Tina Arena

Looking back at the life I've been given

Has got me puzzled how I lost control

When your hearts screaming words like just leave it

But I was broken with nowhere to go

Setting fire to the hurt and the reasons

I played a part and my role was a fool

Didn't know I was trapped in believing 

to know this game was just all about you

You took my freedom but I'm still running

You tore my heart out but it's still beating

You stole my beauty but I'm still glowing

These walls I built up you can climb no more

As I reflect on the things that have happened

Here are the scars that I'm left to erase

If it's your story then run with the millions

And never give up on this mindless pace

Setting fire to the hurt and the reason

I played a part and my role was a fool

Didn't know I was trapped in believing 

to know this game was just all about you

You took my freedom but I'm still running

You tore my heart out but it's still beating

You stole my beauty but I'm still glowing

These walls I built up you can climb no more

This is the first song released from the album - You Set Fire to My Life - which I love and makes me think of my husband...

 Have you connected to any songs lately?

BF 2013 Day 24

This stained-glass window at the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel in Carmarthen, Wales creates beautiful colour when the morning sun hits it. This stained-glass window created by John Petts was installed at the Ivy Bush hotel to celebrate the significant Gorsedd meeting of 1819 and the Carmarthen National Eisteddfod of 1974.

 

One week to go for BlogtoberFest 2013 so keep up the good work everybody, I know it hasn't been easy.

BF 2013 Wordless Wednesday

BF 2013 Faces

I've started drawing faces again....I created quite a few in 2012 when I did LifeBook 2012

This one is based on Tamara Laporte's (aka Willowing) Fabulous Faces class.

These I did quite quickly and are based on Kat McBride's tutorials from her blog....

I don't like them though the nose is better...I need more practice....Looking at a few videos and tutorials I see that everyone has a different idea about proportion and whether to place the eyes on the half way line or above it....so I'll keep playing around until I get a face I like.

BF 2013 Giveaway Winner is...

The winner of the BlogtoberFest 2013 Giveaway is.....

Number 3!!!

"What a beautiful remembrance of BlogtoberFest 2013!

Michelle
CraftingInCalifornia.blogspot.com"


Congrats!!! I'll send you a message on your blog.


Thank you to everyone who entered!

BF2013 Shells' Sunday Snippets

Shells' Sunday Snippets - (started by {tinniegirl}) - My week in photos... No need for words. Let the pictures tell your story.

Pixlr.com isn't working for me....grrr...

Giveaway

BF2013 Seven Thoughts on Saturday

1.  Today is back to winter weather but we can always do with the rain.

2. We stayed inside watching the MotoGP and I did some embroidery.

3. It's based on this photo taken in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.

4.  I did this drawing whilst on holidays after seeing this plaque.

5.  But I can hear you say that you know I don't like when people copy/steal other people's artwork...these are not for sale, I created them for my own use and for my own fun and I've even credited where the idea came from even though I don't know who the original artist is.  And you will find birds like these by other artists too.

6.  Some art inspiration via a Jonas Gerard video:

 7. Here's your chance to win one of my heart pendants in my BlogtoberFest 2013 Giveaway.