A wonderful book!

Also on Amazon!

This book by Shona Cole, "The Artistic Mother" would be a wonderful edition to any artist's library. Particularly if you have a family and/or lead a busy life.

I have not read the book itself yet but found Shona's blog by accident, surfing the net one rainy day, stumbled upon it and was attracted at first by the art work I saw and as I read further I became so interested in this artist and truly wondered how a mum with 4 children and homeschooled them could possibly find the time to also make art.
Then I realised she also wrote a book recently and was doing a give away of it.

So I jumped at the chance!
(If you would like to participate in this wonderful give away all you need to do is go to Shona's blog and leave a comment, link is above in her name.)

What a wonderful opportunity to spread the word and help a fellow artist, and you could win! ;)

Happy creating, Angie ox.

Mixed Media - "Flow"

Finished this painting finally, I don't know if you remember her drawing a few posts back.

This is the process:
Firstly I drew her face on a piece of paper.
Then painted the circles and swirls in acrylic on the canvas, had a slight problem as my paints dried too quickly and didn't give the effects of layering well. I can't seem to find 'Fluid Acrylics in Golden' brand here so had to make do with what I had.
Next I wet the paper with a spray bottle and layed it face down onto the canvas, then covered the paper with gel medium, Waited for it to dry.
Once it was dried I wet the paper again with the spray bottle and with my hands rubbed the paper off to leave the transfer of the drawing on it. I left some paper on it as I could see some of the transfer wasn't staying, it was coming off, but I still liked the effect.
The final stage was to doodle in the white circles with a permanent marker, I also used water-soluble pastels over the image of the girl and the swirls of colour, to try and give it more layers to the colours.
That's it!

I loved this process of using all these different mediums, I felt quite free to use what ever materials and it really felt like playing and discovering at the same time.
I feel like this process has taught me a lot about playing and trying things out without fear of making mistakes, also I can see how this mixed media painting style can lend itself to other paintings and images. LOVE IT!

I got this mixed media idea from Melliande's U-Tube. Please go and have a look she has so many ideas for mixed media painting, art journaling and other creative stuff, a real inspiration.

I wasn't sure what to name the painting, but "FLOW" came to mind so for now that is what it is called.
I find naming your work hard, even though every art piece has its own energy and feeling about it I sometimes get stumped as what to call them, to give them an identity.
What would you name the painting above, I would be interested in your thoughts about it and why you chose that name.

Happy creating, Angieox.

A Birthday Gift

I wanted to show you a piece of jewelry I made a few months back for my friend's 40th birthday.
She is an old friend I have known since we arrived in Queensland, our kids grew up together and we were pregnant at the same time with our second one's.
I wanted to give her something special that I had hand made especially for her.
I saw this U-tube video on how to make 'The Tree of life' and loved it straight away, it didn't take long to make and I thought that the name was appropiate for a birthday present.
On her card I wrote something about being 40 and just starting life as it were.

All wrapped up in tissue paper and silver sparkly thread!

"The Tree of Life"

She LOVED it! :)

This has been one of the first presents I have ever made for friends, and it felt so good to give something made by hand. Don't get me wrong I have made things for family all the time, especially mum, we're always swaping stuff we have made, sometimes I need to steal stuff back as she always takes my earings! Giggle - giggle!!!

Do you make things to give as gifts?
I love receiving hand made things people have made, there is something so loving and warm about the gift, it comes from their heart. I have kept every drawing and hand made thing the kids have made, which is a lot! :0

Which brings me to another question, Valentine's Day, is coming soon. I have been thinking about making cards for friends to send in the mail! Is anyone else making things for Valentine's Day?

Happy creating for the weekend, Angie ox.

P.S. I just want to thank you all for making me feel so very welcome and part of this wonderful family we have created. (((((Hugs!))))