Trashed a Treasure

Confession time:  Yesterday I chucked a wobbly and trashed a perfectly good painting because it wasn't right.

Translation:  I threw a tantrum and ruined a good painting. 

I don't have photos of all the layers which is a real shame because this painting has the most layers of any painting I've ever painted.  I've decided to stop here even though I'm sick to death of painting these flowers...

Now:

On Sunday - I really loved all the stamping and the dripping:

At Monday Morning Art Group I decided to draw a banksia leaf on it as I had been working on these previously:

I was also trying to use some different colours - more pastelly, more muted but retreated back to to blue.  I didn't like how the leaf turned out so I tried to fix it but felt that I had ruined it so I trashed it and then covered it in prussian blue, white and yellow and did more stamping on it.   Then I covered it in these stripes...

Then painted on my flowers and leaves...

Then blinged it up:

And this is what it looks like now:

Everything is a learning process and the more I paint the more I find out what I love to do when I paint.

I love to stamp.

I love to add dripping lines.

I love dots.

I love to outline everything - several times - it neatens everything up for me - though sometimes my lines are a bit dodgy/wobbly.

I'm learning to let go...slowly....baby steps...

Sunday's Six Thoughts.

1.  I've just popped outside to capture this sunset photo.  In 2010 I photographed my sunset nearly every night for the whole year - take a look...   http://aussiesheilasunsets.deviantart.com/

 

2.  Last night's lunar eclipse was awesome to watch.  I took a couple of photos with my little camera and here is the best shot:

3.  I started some new paintings yesterday and here they are after the stamping layer:

4.  I was going to challenge myself to working with neutral colours - beige, black, white, gray.... but then thought that was too hard and too boring so decided on pastels - toning down the bright colours...but what about translucents????  Maybe one of each - neutrals and pastels...maybe next time...

5.  Did you see the pics of the bunnies in my garden?  So cute - I love it when the baby one comes to visit...

6. Tomorrow is the last Monday Morning Art Group (MMAG) of the year and I wasn't planning on returning next year.  I want to concentrate on getting an exhibition organised and I have an art class to go to on Wednesday with a local artist specialising in abstract and mixed media.  My friend's Sandra and Dixie are going too.  Also I'm considering whether I continue with some online courses or not...

Hope you are having a great weekend...

More Progress on Butterfly Girl

I've had a very busy week and have had little time for painting since I've been teaching myself Photoshop, which is a lot like learning Chinese - a totally foreign language.  I started very simply with a tear drop shape which I made into a pattern and into a flower.  I did ask Photoshop  to save it to for the Web but the image was too big.  *shrugs*  I'm not sure how to fix it and will ask my son for help - again.  :D

This afternoon I did some more work on the new butterfly girl - she still needs a little more blocking out I think....and a little more purple...and I can now see where I need to paint in a copper line....

Bad news regarding the group exhibition I was helping to organise - the other artist helping to organise the gallery has decided that she's not ready enough for an exhibition.  She was the other major participant and motivator to get the exhibition going.  I'm really down about all this as I was hoping to sell enough paintings to help fund a trip to the States later next year and it was a good motivator/reason to paint.  Something else or someone else will come along.  Or I'll have to find a builder to build a spare room for all these paintings that I seem to be amassing.....Anybody want to buy a painting???

I added a little Tangerine Tango colour to my blog as this is Pantone's colour for 2012 and goes great with my blue....I had to do some research on how to decipher those codes and turn them into a hex number for blogger....another challenge....so I'm hoping it's the right colour....sigh...

I'm popping these up on my website....these are my new tag lines along with Create an Artistic Life...but having trouble in Picnik.com with adding the colour....more challenges....grr...and I was thinking of changing this font to my own handwriting.....

The good thing about tackling challenges is when you have a win and it feels great.  :D

Have a great weekend, it's after five on a Friday afternoon so I'm off to have a Tia Maria and Coke....

Follow your passion...Live your Dream....

Shells....

ETA:  Photos of the bunnies who come visit us in our garden taken from the chair in the lounge room...our dog used to scare them away...but now she's gone they come to visit more often.

heART Exchange Gift Swap

Today I received these beautiful pieces of silk art from Suzanna Leigh - they are just gorgeous - thank you so much to Suzanna and to Louise Gale from Your Heart Makes a Difference for organising the swap.

Today at Monday Morning Art Group I worked on my new butterfly girl - still a long way to go though...

Today was also my 24th wedding anniversary so here's a pic of me as a bride with my handsome husband - please remember this was 1987 and big fuzzy hair was all the rage.

Many thanks to everyone for all your wonderful comments and support.

Sunday's Six Thoughts

1. Jill Lambert interviewed me for her blog 'This Moment' - you can read it here and find out more about me.


2.  It's hot here - 37C/100F.  First swim of the season for me yesterday in our pool/water resource in case of bushfire and need to pump water on to the house/trees.

Yes, I really do live in the bush, not the outback though.  :D

3.  I've been working on some mood boards this weekend - such a lot of fun.

4. 5th December is our 24th wedding anniversary - so yesterday we went to lunch - very nice - trio of dips, chips with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream and salt and pepper squid - to share.

5.  Shall work on my butterfly girl tomorrow during art class - expecting Dixie from the Flora Bowley painting workshop to pop in for coffee.  Have you heard that Flora has a new online e-course???  It's going to be awesome!!!

6.  Love this quote - want to put it into a painting.

“To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart,
and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.”
~ Arne Garborg (1851-1924)

Colour and Pattern

I received a gift from Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicholls from the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design e-course - some beautiful postcards...thank you so much....I shall be returning the favour.... 

This week in the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design we looked at colour - well, if you know anything about me you will know that I love to paint with colour and I also wear a lot of colour - blues, pinks and reds.  Here's a glimpse into my wardobe:

My blog colour and the colour in the above words is #005b99.

This is one of my favourite paintings with lots of colour - the challenge for me would to paint with more neutral tones.