Craft Space Envy

This month's craft space envy.....

I seem to really love the tidy cubby holes!

Book Review - Painted Pages

My second book review! Painted Pages

I saw this book recommended on a forum but I can't remember where how bad is that! Oh well at least I am sharing the book with you now.

I have to be totally honest and up front and say that I am not a big fan of her art work. I am sorry but I am not. But then in the art world not all pieces appeal to everyone and people accept that. My stuff doesn't appeal to many too and I am totally OK with that. I am sure most artists are because they are creating stuff for a particular audience.

That said I really liked this book.

There was lots of content to read as well as techniques and inspiration and motivation.

I have a sketch book and most of the time the pages are blank because I just don't know what to put in the sketch book. I tend to just have things in my head or I sit down with a blank canvas and just paint whatever comes to me at the time. This book encourages you to use a sketch book and gives you great ideas and techniques to get you started and help you on your way. I had never thought to take it with me to a coffee shop and just write down colour combinations that appealed to me. I do now!

A definite read from my POV!!

Here is my video review...

**Please note this is my own personal opinion and I have created this review myself to share with others. I have not been paid, sponsored or endorsed by anyone to create provide this review** 

Explore You with collage

This week at college we moved on to collage to get us to look more at the shapes of things. When we draw it is easy to just get on with it but when we collage from still life we have to look more at the shapes so as to make the correct piece of collage material. I have to say I got on far better with this method and I had fun.

I started off doing  a collage of the still life in front of me and this is how it turned out:

And then I decided that I wanted to have some fun and do my own thing so I created this which is far more me as you can tell from the piece "Explore You"

Another share...

Okey dokes another share from my learnings at college...

This was created using dry soft pastels again another medium that I haven't used before. I really enjoyed using them actually and had a lot of fun.

I am not terribly great at drawing from an object in front of me. I find that I look at the object, my brain processes it and then I draw what my brain thinks it is seeing or wants to see not what is in front of me. It is so weird and I think the tutor is finding it as frustrating as I am. I think I will find it a lot easier when we move on to creating from imagination!

So here we go:

As you can see it does look like a shoe but it doesn't quite look like the shoe that was in front of me!!!

What I have done at school...

I thought I would start to share with you some of the things I am learning and what I have done at art school!

So as you know I paint with acrylics all the time but this is about learning new techniques and new materials.

This is a drawing using only black drawing ink which I have never used before and which I found to be really hard to try and get all the different shadings it's pretty rubbish huh!

Craft Space

Where do you get to create? Do you have a space that you can call your own?

We have a two bed house and no room that I can do that in at the moment but I do have a dining room table and that is my space. Well at least it is when I want it in the day time and then I have to clear it away ready for dinner. Surfice it to say that I would love a dedicated space because it is so frustrating to keep tidying away only to get it back out again. It also means that when I want to make something I have to dedicate a day to it, I can't just pop in and out as I want to. It works for now.

I have serious craft space envy though and love looking at beautiful spaces on Pinterest. Man it makes me so jealous!

I thought I would start to share some of the beautiful spaces that I have come accross and make it a regular feature so we can all drool and wish together!

So the first one:

I just love the girliness and the pinkness of it all. Plus all those ribbons. Oh boy those ribbons!!

Art Abandonment

Don't ask me what I search for on the internet sometimes lol! I come across some really interesting things, and one that I want to tell you about today is "Art Abandonment"

You really must join the Facebook group to get in on the action and find out more.

In a nutshell it is people like you and me, people who love to create things but also like to make people happy. Artists and creators of things all around the World make something wonderful and then take it to a public place and leave it somewhere for a stranger to find bringing them a little bit of joy and happiness. I think it is a wonderful idea.

Most of the abandonments take place in the USA but some happen here in the UK too. In the group people who have found the pieces come along to say they have found it as well as those who have left it. It is a great community with some wonderful pieces for inspiration.

The idea is rather similar to Book Crossing but rather than having to enjoy it and pass it on again the finder gets to keep the art all to themselves.

The pieces people create range from paintings, cards, book marks, jewellery, sculptures, the list is endless.

Go to facebook, get inspired by everyone's art and if you are feeling like spreading a little joy go for it and abandon your art. (Remember to read the group details for leaving information with your piece!)