Pick of the Week

I was just starting to get on top of things again after the computer problems, then this week I've been ill with a cold :(  It's getting better now but I had a couple of days of doing nothing.  It did give me a chance to have a proper look at a stack of Artist and Illustrator magazines I was given though.  Now I can't wait to get my paints out again!  One of the magazines mentioned the Google Art Project - I've just had a look and it's amazing!  You can take a virtual walk around galleries from around the world and zoom right in to some of the art.

Go to www.googleartproject.com to see more

Cupcakes and Roses

Last week I shared a sneak peak of my latest project so I thought I'd post an update...

I have been designing backing papers and motifs for a new cardmaking kit with a cupcakes and roses theme.  Each design starts as a hand drawn image - made from a combination of pen, watercolour pencils and watercolour paint.  I scanned these and finished them digitally...

The papers are all designed now and I am finalising the other elements to the kit; card blanks and embellishments.  I'm really pleased with how this kit is going and looking forward to when it's all finished and ready to list in my shop! :)

Pick of the Week

I really like the detail in this beautiful sculpture...

Sakura Caribou by *creaturesfromel on deviantART

Firstsite

Although firstsite (Colchester's new art gallery) opened a couple of months ago, today was the first time my sister and I have visited it.  Unfortunately it's been a wet day so we didn't spend long looking at the outside of the unusual building - we'll have to come back on a sunnier day!

Some facts about firstsite...

• The building is on a Scheduled Ancient Monument site so has no foundations, instead it sits on 24, 000 tonnes of hardcore from garrison buildings demolished in the town.
• In 1923 a Roman mosaic was discovered on the site of the new gallery and has now been reinstalled in it's original position in the new building.
• The building is clad in a copper and aluminium alloy that oxydises to a matt golden yellow (the aluminium stops the copper from turning green).

The gallery's first exhibition; 'Camulodunum' is inspired by Colchester's history as Britains' first city.  There were a mixture of pieces on display - the items we most enjoyed looking at were from Colchester's history; posters and photos from the 1909 Colchester pageant, seeing the Roman mosaic and the history of Colchester's oyster feast.  Although some of the other exhibits were interesting to look at I'm afriad I'm not a big fan of a lot of modern fine art; things that look like piles of rubble on the floor.  I was a bit disappointed too that one of the rooms was closed due to technical problems - that will teach me to leave visiting so late.

I quite like the building - it's odd to walk in at first with walls leaning at different angles it makes you feel slightly dizzy but I liked the open lightness of the space.  The gallery is being promoted as one of the largest contemporary art galleries in the UK so it seemed a shame that the curving, leaning walls limited the space for hanging artwork and we felt that overall there wasn't a lot of work on display.  Also we had to hunt around for some of the labels for exhibits as they were quite far away from the actual work.

My last complaint - and this may just be me - but why are the toilet doors made of glass?  They were frosted so you couldn't see through clearly but you could still see the silhouette of people through them - is this normal for public toilets?

We left with mixed feelings about the controversial gallery.  It's been the cause of much debate locally having gone way over budget and opening later than planned due to building problems.  I'm glad it is opened now though and I'm sure we'll be back - I'll be interested to see what exhibitions they have in the future.

For more info see the website: http://www.firstsite.uk.net/

Sneak peak...

Here's a sneak peak at a new project I'm working on...

I can't wait to get some more of this one done!  I'll be posting more updates on this soon...

Pick of the Week

Better late than never, here is last week's Pick of the Week...

I love the colours and dream like quality of this illustration by Kailey Lang.  "Fishes Wishes", originally painted in watercolours, gouache and ink, is available to buy as a 7x11 inch painting from her Etsy shop: bumblebooHandmades

Technical problems...

Unfortunately my plan for regular blogging hasn't been going so well :(  Last Monday started ok and I was being quite productive working on my laptop.  Then I left the room for 10 minutes and when I came back the laptop screen was black and wouldn't come on again.  With a lot of help from my Dad we eventually managed to save the files which weren't already backed up but we couldn't fix the laptop.

I had been thinking of getting a new computer this year - just not quite yet!  All of last week was spent researching computers and learning about processors, graphics cards etc.... Finally I came to a decision and bought a shiny new computer.  It's a desktop this time (my poor old laptop hardly left my desk anyway), with a bigger screen and much more memory. 

I think it's going to be a while before I've learnt how to work everything and finished setting everything up but it will be good to get on top of things again this week!

Clown Fish

I painted this ACEO of a clown fish before Christmas but have only just listed it in my shop.  I love the brightly coloured fish in marine aquariums and the bold markings on clown fish inspired this painting.  It was drawn in pencil and pen then painted in watercolours on 140lb extra smooth watercolour paper.

Soap Making

I had a book on soap making for Christmas last year and all 2011 I had been meaning to give it a go - I finally got around to making some soap just before this Christmas!

I used melt and pour soap base which was actually trickier than I thought it would be.  Before this block was finished one of the layers went completely wrong - melting the base really slowly seems to be key!  For my first soap I tried a layered block to cut into bars.  The only things added to the base were orange scent and orange colour, the first layer also has some powdered cinnamon in.

Happy 2012!!

Happy New Year!  I haven't posted since before Christmas - one of my aims for 2012 is to be more regular with my blogging :)

I gave myself some time off over Christmas/ New Year and today is my first full day back working.  After catching up with emails, paperwork etc I'm looking forward to working on new projects this year.  One of my biggest plans is to expand my craft suppplies shop - adding to my selection of printables and developing new craft kits.  I also have more ideas for Hexley illustrations and some new products which I didn't get round to doing last year.