Time to post my art cards!

It has been so much fun taking part in  ihanna's DIY art card swap and I have thoroughly enjoyed putting these cards together - so now we have to part ways and hopefully the recipients enjoy receiving them in the mail. I can't wait to get mine - I will be checking my mailbox regularly!

Here are the pics of my cards. The names of the recipients are underneath each one.

Do you have a favourite?

Luci - USA

Urska - Slovenia

Greta - USA

Shannon - Canada

Kathyrn - USA

Carroll - USA

Samantha - WA

Stephanie - USA

Naomi - USA

Bev - USA

The results of my R&R down the Coast

Hi there!

The sea air definitely got to me on my recent jaunt down the Coast. I have been very creative and have been practicing my sketching and must admit I think my faces are getting better - although there is still lots of room for improvement! It's true what they say practice...practice...practice!

I have been mixing up my creative life a bit and have also been doing some journaling and some photography - I think I need to schedule a few more trips down the Coast - I might just improve even more!

This is what I have been up to!

And taking photos of my daughter Jacqueline - riding the waves at Narrawallee

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Thanks for stopping by!

Making progress....sort of.....

Hi there - thanks for stopping by!

I thought I should probably check in and let you know how I'm going with my promise in the previous post 'Two weeks to form a habit' and seeing I'm almost half way - time to fess up!!

Habit 1 - 'Be Creative every day' - not doing too bad with this one. I have been carting my small sketchbook with me everywhere and trying to do a little each day. Here is some of my progress - nothing really outstanding, but I did put pencil/paint to paper - almost every day.

I found this fab journal in Dymocks in the City which is half blank pages and half lined pages - so you can sketch on one side of the book and then turn it over and there are your lined pages - ready for some creative writing. It certainly is better than carrying around 2 books (which is what I usually do).

So my small kit that I take with me everywhere to help my creativity habit is pictured below. The crayons I bought in New York, they work really well, but any water soluble crayons would work equally as well.  The white pen is from Kikki K, the waterpen is a must and the pencil I found a while ago in an antique shop. It belonged to professional artist - I thought maybe some magic might rub off....still waiting!

Here is a little bit of what I created this week

Now for Habit No. 2 - 'Exercise every day' Not so good on this one! (surprise, surprise!!) I have been doing a bit of walking, and went for a run or two, but unfortunately the food I have been eating is cancelling out all my good work! - I need to get the formula going - less input/more output!

So I headed down the Coast this weekend and went for a couple of walks - here are some pics from the walk. Narrawallee on the South Coast of NSW is where I alway head for some rest, relaxation and to try and spark more creativity. It generally works - I loved taking these photos, hope you like them.

See you next time!

So far so good..............

Well I've done it - finished my art postcards ready to send out. I had so much fun creating these - they  allowed lots of freedom to try out different techniques and use different materials.

To support the sustainability theme, I used old Christmas Cards for my postcards and cut them down to size.

Here is a bit of a step by step process I used.

Applied a coat of Gesso

I drew one of these lovely ladies, then photocopied her onto water colour paper, so I had a few to use on different cards

I used watercolour pencils to add a bit of life

I did get into a bit of a mess - but that's part of the fun!

My finished cards - can't show them to you all as yet - it would spoil the surprise for those receiving them - but I will in a future post.

OK - so now I am off for a run - really, I am! 

Two weeks to form a habit.........Yes!

OK, I know they say it takes about 8 weeks........but this is the condensed version - 2 weeks is all I've got. Sometimes you just have to be strict with yourself!

Roddy has gone off on his scandinavian adventure with his swedish mate Lars, having the time of his life no doubt!

So in his absence I have set myself a goal to make these 2 things become a habit....

1.  Be creative every day........whether that means sketching more, journalling more or taking more photos - I have been a bit slack on the creative front of late and I know its is just laziness, so I am giving myself a swift kick start in this area by signing up to iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap - this should get me into gear!

2.  Exercise every day.......how I am going to achieve this as well as sitting around sketching and drawing remains to be seen, but I am definitely motivated so I can only give it a go and hopefully the outcome at the end of the 2 weeks is that I will have lost a little weight, felt better and more energised.

So today I start.........went for a run this morning.......so far, so good........I will keep you posted of my progress on both of these 'habits' - feel free to add a comment, hopefully motivational (I need all the help I can get!!!).

Thanks for stopping by!


PS - a couple of people have said they have had trouble leaving comments - if you can't sign in using your own name, just comment anonymously - I will know who you are ;)  x

Practice, practice, practice..........Picasso!

Hi there!

Well we are back home and starting to settle into normal life again. This weekend I have spent some time catching up on some sketching - mainly working on portraits, which I have not done for quite some time. Its amazing how you can forget what to do if you don't practice. My case in point is this......

This was a portrait that I did a couple of years ago, when I was sketching on a regular basis.....its a portrait of Agatha Christie. I was pretty happy with the result. This was done with graphite pencils.

I also did this portrait of my friend Angelica - this one in pastels - I was also pretty happy with the result.

BUT THEN, SOMETHING WENT WRONG!!!!!!

This was a sketch I did in my art journal..........which I guess is different from sketching a portrait - more abstract I suppose.......but I tried again and ended up with this!

Which again is OK for a journal page but I just kept going then, trying to remember how to get proportions right......all the things I learned at art classes.....

I don't seem to be getting much better...........

Again, proportions aren't right........

I have decided............I am in my 'Picasso' phase..........realism will come again one day.....I just have to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  xxx