Mapping friendship

Doubly inspired - by both Orly Avineri's class and my beautiful friends on our round robin journal swap, I created this piece that maps our friendships. Layers of maps, letters, postage remnants and scraps from here and there* while the watchful eyes offer up the gateway to the soul.

Our round robin has wrapped eight friends together through art. Next stop on the journal's journey is the original owner, so I'm incredibly excited as I anticipate the arrival of mine back in the post any day now.

We have resolved to share all through a little blog party, so watch this space to share in the globe-trotting wonders.

While we're on the subject of parties - I'm sharing this with the Paint Party Friday revellers.



(*including one from Orly - or it might have been Teesha - it's the transparent piece over the right eye with the 4 on).

Sweet treasures

I am slowly getting round to posting about some delightful treasures that came my way via the incredible artists I meet in Bloglandia. Their talents and passion fuel and ignite my own. Their accomplishments help fire me to set and achieve my goals too.

Right now art is my burning passion. It feeds my soul with delicious, energy-giving morsels. I love to look, touch and create. I also know that it doesn't matter what becomes of each painting. It has been the journey through the creative process that has worked its magic deep inside of me.

Sometimes I feel the pain and angst when the paintings don't speak to me. They just lie there on the paper with dull features and won't help weave the magic. But then I live for the others, when I make something that laughs, dances and sings across the page. Which prompts wonderful sharing people to comment that they like it, that it speaks to them too. I think that's why I like to paint my girls. To watch their features slowly form and their eyes gaze out at me trying to reflect their story.

I know with every ounce of certainty that without this online community of artists I stumbled upon two years ago that this would never have happened. The supportive comments and emails, the online courses and creative challenges, the friendship and encouragement were just the spurs I needed. I may not be selling hundreds of paintings, have a licensing agreement or written a book about Mixed Media (YET!); but I think I can finally say that I AM AN ARTIST.

So thank you one and all.

And now, after going off at a tangent, I will finally get back to the point of this post. To thank Natasha May, Sheree Wagner and Heather Stillufsen for the treasures they shared with me - the little goodies that dropped through the letterbox with a Bloglandia postmark.

And the 'Sweet' part of this post header - well it is Sweet Saturday and what a perfect opportunity to share my sweet treasured gifts and friendships.

Water creature from the Aegean

Some holiday art - not that I did much. I don't think I've ever done so little on holiday. One day it was all I could do to move from sunbed by the pool to its sister by the beach. Even an annoying bug tickling my knee was too much trouble to flick off.

Luckily for the indolent creature I had become, my son had found himself a friend in the form of a pretty Danish girl. They spent almost the whole week together, playing in the pool, fishing in the sea, running, laughing, drawing, chasing.... and all done without a common language. Just goes to show the power of unspoken communication.

So, back to the sea creature. She came from a splodge of paint that my sketchbook acquired from an overladen palette. Some inspiration from the surrounding seas, pencil sketching and a few bubbles from Photoshop and she is perfect for Inspiration Avenue's 'purple & green' challenge.

Words and pictures

"I'm learning to live close to the lives of my friends without ever seeing them. No miles of any measurement can separate your souls from mine."

John Muir

(Best viewed enlarged)

I'll not deny that I've not exactly been friends with this piece all week. It was one of those paintings that started off so well with plenty of promise. But promises were broken, words were had and even little tantrums showed their faces.

It is my entry to Inspiration Avenue's words challenge and I so wanted it to be special. This was opportunity to celebrate in words and picture the friendships I've made both within this group and in the wider world of Blog, for while we never get the chance to sip a coffee or a glass of wine or nibble on a biscuit together, you're still my friends. You're my creative joists holding me up and keeping me going. I can't tell you how much your support means to me.

The idea behind the piece was to illustrate the quote above that really brought to life the nature of these online friendships. We may be scattered across the globe, but oftentimes I think you're standing in the arty mess next to me or reading over my shoulder as the words pour forth.

What you can't see, because they are now hidden beneath so many layers of paint, are photocopies of letters, notes and paper gifts sent to me in the mail by my fellow bloggers. It's a shame that they disappeared but I know they're there, making up the foundation of the painting - a most important role to play.

So, I finally finished it today after hours of work. I think that perhaps it was a little over-ambitious. I mean three faces, two of them 3/4 profile. What was I thinking of? I've struggled with most creative things this week and this was no exception. Each face ended up with so many layers of paint that they are practically 3D and they had more hair colour changes than Lady GaGa!

Still, this will have to do. I wasn't entirely happy with the end result, but as they say... It's the thought that counts!

Mixed media on acrylic paper. Acrylics, inks, pen, prismacolour pencils, collage, stamps, distress ink, sweat and tears....