Pretty Flamingo

Lisa Wright

There's a method to the madness... I'm experimenting. This week I was inspired by the work of Lawrence Yang who I 'stumbled upon'...

His bio reads:

Lawrence Yang wrestles with informational abstractions by day and paints by night. Influenced by graffiti art and traditional Chinese painting, he employs ink, marker, and watercolor, as the permanence of this media adds a sense of immediacy to his work. Lawrence's paintings make use of color to communicate atmosphere and emotion, and they are concerned primarily with creating order out of chaos (and vice versa).

Lawrence Yang

Lawrence Yang

He's seeing dimension in drip and dribble, substance in splatter... and little birdies and teddy bears in ... well ... maybe we shouldn't go there...

I took my own interpretation of his technique and, because I was wearing my best clothes at the time and didn't want to ruin them, printed out some splatter work I had 'prepared earlier' (just like Delia Smith). It was just some pink dribbles really with a random blog of green. It immediately spoke to me. In fact, truth be told, it sang.... 'pretty flamingo'. It sang it a lot... until I got really annoyed...

Anyway, we ended up with three pretty flamingos and one green bug. I was quite pleased that Manfred Mann hadn't recorded any songs about green bugs.

If you're interested in exploring new techniques (and getting annoying songs stuck in your head), then this is just the kind of thing we'll be doing on my Inspirational eCourse (shameless plug!). It starts on May 14th.

I'm also getting immersed in my messy book group which is proving great fun with the mess tribe getting up to all sorts of mischief and goading each other on in our Facebook group. We're learning that sometimes art must become mess before it can become art again (but sometimes it's just mess). If you want to get crayon shavings in your carpet or charcoal up your nose, then come and join us any time! Just request an invite to the Facebook group. The more the messier!

I'm sharing this for Paint Party Friday too.

It's OK to be messy

Week 2 of the messy book group (never to late to join in!!) and I'm trying to remind myself that it's OK to be messy - in fact, that is indeed the point of the exercise! So, it being Friday night and all, I decided to get smashed.

Don't tell my son, but I 'borrowed' a couple of his crayons and hit them hard with a hammer until they pulverised all over this page. But that wasn't really messy enough (unless you count the bits that flew off and embedded themselves in the carpet). Next up I headed to the kitchen and my art iron...

(As an aside, I would not recommend using your normal iron to melt wax with. I made that mistake before so have now purchased a £5 iron from Tesco which I use exclusively for this purpose!)

While I was waiting for the appliance to heat I turned my back just long enough for the boyfriend to come wandering in to the kitchen and move my messy journal scattering bits of crayon across the kitchen floor. More accidental mess.... it's getting good...

I melted neat, I melted through paper, I melted over greaseproof sheet. I burnt my hand and got bits of wax stuck down my fingernails.

Then, I turned to the glue page - nice and sticky. This one took a while as I had to wait for the glue drips to dry before I rubbed them with alcohol ink.

Then, I couldn't quite resist getting all arty... I took some macro photos but darn it the flash went off...



Hold on... if this isn't an accidental discovery, then I don't know what is... They have a certain appeal don't you think - accidental art.

I think there's a creature in this one...

Finally...

A real close up. I like this - follows the rule of thirds compositionally. A piece of art made from mess. Good work. Next week I might use food.... Eeek!

Stormy weather

There should be more creative challenges with this theme - as it seems to have prompted the opposite in reality. The past week has been a positive delight - a taste of Summer, teasing us into our t-shirts. Bliss!

So I'm back to painting. I am getting acrylic all over the furniture and up the walls. I have very dirty fingernails. It feels good!

I've had an amazing week. I've launched my eCourse through my new creative business - The Wright Brain Stuff. I've also kicked off a book group picking up where us 'wreckers' left off a couple of summers ago when we destroyed our Keri Smith journals. We're going to attack another of her books this year - I'd love it if you got messy with us too - all the joining details are here.

Back to the art... These were really free and loose. I googled a couple of images of stormy scenes as my inspiration then just got messy with paints and oil pastels. No paintbrushes allowed. Although I loved the final results (below), I couldn't reist a little enhancement with some textures and extra layers in PhotoShop (above).

I can't believe I paint like this now - so carefree. Just a few years ago, the same painting would have been trying very hard to look exactly the same as the original photograph. I just couldn't 'see' the way I do now. It is so much more fun! It's why I wanted to run my course - I feel I have so much passion to share - I want to inspire you all to create words and pictures.

Posting for the Inspiration Avenue 'Stormy weather' challenge and Paint Party Friday.

I'm also having a Giveaway - don't miss out!

The stuff of fairy tales

Once upon a time a peasant girl wandered around the fairytale Kingdom in which she lived. She was a sad figure, having given up on her dreams of one day rising from her humble beginnings and a life draped in drabbery. Suddenly she came upon a tiny window of a shop set into a tree trunk twinkling in the sunlight. She was sure she had never seen this before and her curiosity beckoned her closer. With every step she took toward the old oak, the glistening became brighter until she realised that the sun was not glinting off of just the glass from the pane, but from what was immediately inside - a necklace shimmering with the lights of a hundred diamonds. It was the most beautiful treasure she had ever seen.

An old woman came shuffling up to the girl and invited her into the shop in the tree. She tried to protest, knowing that her humble savings could never afford anything so exquisite. The woman placed the necklace around the neck of the girl and turned her gently to face an ornate mirror in the corner of the room. The girl gasped as she saw the light reflecting across her face from the necklace. Her eyes lit in wonder as tiny stars of magic rose from the jewels and floated around the room.

The moment was brief as the old woman removed the treasure and returned it to the window. The girl thanked her and began to leave, but a knarled hand grabbed her and begged her to listen.

"This will be yours," she whispered. "It is for the kind-hearted, sharing and compassionate. It was made for one such as you, but others too." The words seemed like a riddle to the girl. How could it ever be hers? It must cost more than she could earn in a lifetime. "Have faith" smiled the crone. "Believe in your dreams, never give up on them and use the intelligence God gave you. Now be off... I know I'll see you soon..."

The girl stumbled outside at first confused by the woman's words. But then she realised and she knew and understood... The necklace would be hers after all for suddenly she knew who were the others referred to in the riddle...

***

Are you fascinated by this story? Do you want to know what happened next? Shall I let you into a little secret... I know the ending... I confess that while I wrote the words above the plot itself comes from a true story. I have joined The Wish Studio book group. We are reading The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis. The story of a group of women who, inspired by one, came together to buy a $37,000 diamond necklace that none could afford on their own. They took it in turns to wear the jewels and came together every month to share their stories. The necklace became a catalyst for connection, friendship and much more.

The stuff of fairy tales? Maybe, just maybe...

It's not too late to join the Group. It kicks off this coming weekend... Details on The Wish Studio.