Cold and Wintery UK

 Hi all,
   Welcome to a very cold and wintry week here in the UK, with snow already falling in the north of the country and set to come south later this week. Cant remember the last time when it was like this in November but have to wonder if this will herald another bad winter like the last one we had, it never really warmed up until late May !

   As always thanks for the visits/comments always nice to get and as you can see on the left Jake is almost done. It has taken me a lot longer than I would like and in fact I can apply that to all of my recent drawings...my passion seems to be taking a leave of absence and I am struggling a tad to get these done, but I will do before the end of 2010. I have a few more to complete then I will be taking a little break form my CPs and play with my paints/stones/wood and other creative stuff. It does one good to experiment with all other media and ideas, and I can thoroughly recommend it to break the dreaded "artistic block". I have been putting down some ideas for Mandalas and designing lots of new patterns to put on things and this week will be nipping off to the shops to get some glitter paint which I cannot wait to get my hands on.I have metallic ones and they are beautiful to use, but glitter and sparkle is essential for things at this time of year.

                                                  
                                                       
                                                       

Another GSD

Hi all,
       As you can see above there is another GSD on my drawing board, and this one is quite a challenge because he is mostly black, and the photo I am using is not the greatest in the world. His name is Jake and he has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but as you can see one of his ears never came up, which to me adds all the more to his personality.There is still quite a bit to do but I am aiming to get this finished by the early part of next week and then it is back to the Cairn Terriers. Graphite size 12 x 10 inches.
     For most of you who follow this blog you will know that I love to create Mandalas and experiment  with different surfaces, and for a long time have wanted to try doing these on wooden rounds. I do have in my airing cupboard a round from a tree which has been drying out and I thought I might try something with this, but really a much smoother surface and better shape is more desirable. Surfing the net I have come across a couple of suppliers that provide these in various sizes, and whats more not just circles all kinds of cut out shapes as in butterflies,animals,angels,dog bones,ovals,square blocks etc, all ready to be customized. Having said that and getting all excited I do have a dilemma as to whether I need to size the shapes first or not and by that I mean apply a coat of Gesso before applying the paint ? As I intend to create the mandalas using Acrylic (metallic,glitter,matte,pearlescent paint,mixed media) and from what I gather on reading the info on site these are made from Birch. Some of the designs would be just fairly simple and I don't think Gesso would be needed but if I was to do something where the whole round was covered perhaps then I would need to add a layer first? For those of you who do work in Acrylic paint perhaps you could give me some advise...here is the link to one of the sites that I found
Wooden Shapes.
 As always any advice is much appreciated and thanks to a few new followers that I have picked up recently, not far off 200 now and I think I may have to find a way to celebrate that...perhaps a give away!
    

Swings and Roundabouts.

Hi all,
       This has been a week of ups and downs and with me getting myself into a little bit of two and eight and not getting a whole lot done.Without going into too much detail suffice to say that there are changes a foot in my life which has kind affected me more than I thought, hence the lack of blog updates, art and other stuff. Today has dawned very mild but wet, but least ways I have managed to give myself a good talking too and had a chat with hubby which has helped me put a few things into perspective.Don't you just hate times like these when nothing goes right and everything seems wrong!
     The picture above is a young lady called Holli who wanted a picture with an element of make believe thrown in hence the little dragon. I took the photo of her myself at a dog show with that gorgeous quirky hat she had just bought ( I nearly nicked it for myself) and created the little dragon in shades of lilac/green to complement the colours of pink. I really enjoyed doing this because it got my creative juices flowing which is always a great feeling and her mother is great to work with as she has a great imagination and loves anything these lines, so much so she wants something similar of her and partner....watch this space!
     The scan is not great and for some reasons the colours look a little bit washed out, but as always much better in the flesh, and what does not show is that I had used a little bit of glitter on the dragons wings,size 8x8 inches mounted,CPs on Stonehenge.

Fly by week

Hi all,
      Gosh another week flown by without an update....time seem to go so quickly that the days roll together, and I lose track of what day it is ! I do not seem to be the only one though as a few of my blogger art pals experience the same thing....am I going doolally or is it an artist thing I ask myself?
     As you can see I have almost finished this picture, should of been done last week but it is one of quite a few that I work on at the same time. I am adding in a little bit of blue underneath to suggest flooring/carpet and this works nicely with the over all colouring of the dog.
     The weather has been kind of late, and Blue and I have made the most of it trekking around the beach. looking for more sea washed slate for me to decorate with my weird and wonderful patterns. I have also cracked out a few precut ACEO cards that I bought from Etsy a few months ago, and will be doing a bit of Zentangling which I do so enjoy...a real stress buster I find. Hubby is better thank god....I am going to buy some bigger and more sound proof headphones methinks for future incidents of man flu !
    Katherine had left me a comment asking about how I know so many furry friends, and in answer to that it is mostly by going to lots of dog shows where I take hundreds of photos, make and meet friends, and normally see them year after year. It is so nice to see a puppy at his/her first dog show, all nervous and scared of the going ons around them and then entering the ring for the first time...most stand behind the owners legs, or just don't want to be there at all, but it is such a good way to socialise a youngster.Second year on and the pup has grown into a "teenager" full of themselves and wanting to experience everything, boisterous is a word I would use to describe them. In my years of doing this I have managed to follow a few dogs from puppy right up to the ages of six and above, and it is so nice to see how they have grown up and matured over the years,although saying that it does not apply to every dog, some just never grow up properly!
     Lastly but not least thanks for all the followers much appreciated when you drop in and comment.