Through the mists

 

I'm going to Glastonbury soon. Just as the music revellers pack up their tents and muddy boots and the marquees get packed away for another year, there will be a new pilgrimage to the sacred sites as artists let the ancient muses guide their paintbrushes.

 

Once more I will heed the Call of the Wild Soul and allow the English countryside to weave a little Goddess magic and recharge my creative fire. They say that the intersecting ley lines give a power to the site that is associated with King Arthur, druids, the fairies, Joseph of Arimethea and Jesus. Many believe that the site of the Chalice Well marks the spot where Joseph hid the Holy Grail.

 

I shall have to open myself to the magic and see...

 

Sharing today some more artwork from the Magical Journal Journeys project. I'm a bit behind in posting - these were May's pages in Priti Lisa's blue journal.

 

PS: I'm reading The Mists of Avalon to get me in the mood!

What do you do...

When orange ink blobs bleed through from the page in a journal you were working on to the other side of the page?

Why, you sketch Koi carp of course!

 

These are my pages for Maggie's orange, yellow and grey (with a splash of something else if you feel like it) journal. As the months roll by each time the postman brings me my next delivery the excitement bubbles up in a fizz of anticipation. What treasures will be unveiled this month? How will my fellow artists have immersed themselves in the colour fest of each journal. Are they as paint-splattered as me?

There is one more page, but I'm leaving that to Maggie to discover (plus... it scanned really badly and I only noticed after I'd put it in the post!!).

Sharing my orange, yellow and grey with Sunday Sketches.

Your two colours...

shining through... that's why I love you.... Tra la la.... [a little bit of artistic licence taken there...]

I'm working on a very limited palette this week. As well as this piece for the Summer of Colour challenge (lime green & purple) I'm knocking out some wall art for my assignment on Lilla Rogers' Make Art that Sells course. I'm working with red and yellow - very lucky the Chinese would say - in fact, that will appear as a theme within the work!

It's a moot point discussing that here mind as I'm not actually showing that piece of work!

I feel my poor blog is suffering of late. Not only am I neglecting it, but the standard of writing I'm delivering is beyond shabby. I seem to be saving the good words for when I'm working - which is probably just as well.

I'm going to shut up now and just post this!

Slugs & Snails

Well, only a few slugs. We're mainly talking a week of snails...

First up, I never knew they were such interesting creatures. You should nip out in your garden or over the nearest field and catch yourself a few to observe. They really are most curious - probably comes from having their eyes on the ends of stalks! They also move surprisingly fast - especially when you're trying to sketch them!

I've been sketching the 'slippery little suckers' for Lilla Rogers' Make Art that Sells course. This week was all about children's book illustration - something way out of my comfort zone but oh so much fun!

I ended up with two versions of my book cover for a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale - a rather dark story about a miserable snail incapable of seeing all the good that was right in front of his face. Which do you prefer?

Sharing the snails with Sunday Sketches :)

Phoenix from the flame

I've been spending the week drawing snails - in particular grumpy snails, so yesterday when the 'slippery little suckers' all became a bit too much I reached for the bling.

This bird seriously dazzles - the scan doesn't quite do justice to the glimmer and glamour. I'm afraid I can't stake much claim to the originality of the look of this particular Phoenix though. I copied the drawing from a book (I'm also learning how to draw fantastical creatures as well as molluscs!). However, the colour and pattern is all me - what a burst of sunshine on (another) cloudy day!

I'm once again joining in with Summer of Colour - this week it's hot pink and orange. Very sherbet dib dab!

And Summer's lease...

 

If you read my previous post you would know that the colour of this British summer is grey. I tried blaming the Aussies for stealing the sun, but apparently they are not guilty of said crime. Thank goodness for Kristin and her Summer of Colour. She's got us squeezing our tubes and spraying more than sun-tan lotion.

This week it's citron and turquoise - I threw in a bit of Shakespeare too...

Been quite a few weeks what with holidays then the chaos of being back at work, immersing my evenings in a new course (Making Art that Sells) and.... and this is a big AND....

I SAID THIS IS A BIG AND

I have been having a bit of a clear out. Yes Mum, you'll be back just in time to read this and no doubt weep with joy. I am slowly working my way through the clutter and realising that the recording of the Top 40 I taped off the radio back in 1985 (that I haven't listened to since, well, 1985) can probably go in the bin... It feels like a total sacrilege (I loved that Strawberry Switchblade song ... in 1985...), but needs must.

I require more space around me. My cats are getting nervous that I'll be using them to test theories, but fear not little fur balls I would never swing you!). Likewise, I will never use the Holly Hobby notepaper I have been hanging onto for 30 years and nor do I need quite so many photographs of rainy scenes from the Lake District. That mystery tool that lives in the shed can go to scrap metal recycling bin and it is time for William's baby clothes to find a new owner.

It already feels pretty liberating. Well, it did until today when I had to move most of the contents of the lounge into the kitchen in order to have the carpet cleaned. There is now an assault course between me and the fridge, although that's probably not such a bad thing!

Oi Southern Hemisphere...

Now look here you lot; every year we graciously lend you Summer so we can have a bit of snow and frost, allow the vegetation to rot away and rest, that sort of thing. However, come April/May we want it back. We know it takes a while to arrive, so don't really expect much before June, but COME ON...

Just what do you think you are you playing at? It's bad enough that you lot regularly beat us at cricket and rugby, but now you're stealing our Summer. It's bad form.

Wimbledon starts in a couple of weeks - the strawberries aren't even ripe yet. Today I even saw a whole flock of starlings flying south (not entirely sure how far south, but it was in your direction...).

Enough is enough. You'll have to man up and pay the courier charges now - get it back here pronto ... OR ELSE...

This time last week...

This time last week... Ahhhh, to feel the sun-warmed sand between your toes and the tickle of the waves.

I am returned from a week in Corfu with a sack-full of memories and creative inspiration (and a fair bit of sand in my suitcase).

Can you hear the waves?