AEDM

November 13, 2012 by Tara 4 Comments

Almost half way through the month and I’m finally getting into my stride with AEDM12. Because the studio is STILL full of boxes, ready for the move that is already two months behind schedule, I’m mostly camped out on the coffee table.

I do sometimes marvel at how after all this time I still am either over or under zealous with the photo editing.

Anyway, pish posh. Things I am loving here are: using matte craft paint for the circles {must get more of this matte gorgeousness}, the circles with the lines inside, lettering, leaving lots of white space. I’m revisiting old sketchbook pages lately; this one was a ‘paint blot’ I did months ago.

The words just came from somewhere in my head. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to go within and to really know that everything we need is inside us. I’ve started to find a space inside where it’s quiet with a certain timbre that I can’t really put into words; it’s quite elusive but presumably practice will make enlightened!

Filed Under: AEDM, art journalling, sketchbook Tagged With: aedm12, art journal pages, hand lettering, sketchbook

November 30, 2011 by Tara 14 Comments

I started a painting ages ago which was supposed to be, well actually, I’ve got no flipping idea what it was supposed to be. It was one of those testing times when the genius idea in your head is not what appears on the canvas. In the end I gave up and it languished for many moons on the floor of my studio.

Then recently, as is my wont, I decided to gesso over the whole thing and start again. Here it is, pre-gesso {not pretty}:

Gesso plus new colours at random:

The more time passes the more I’m learning about my own process. It will always be evolving of course but certain threads remain constant.

I notice that when doing certain things I am smiling or dancing while I’m painting ~ these must be ‘my’ things I guess! When I’ve tapped into creative source and it’s just flowing through me. I love this photo – so scrummy:

Shapes repeat themselves, as do colour choices. Often there is collage, although not on this one. I also get a really strong urge to draw and write on them.

I went into one of my painting trances after first consciously deciding to just dive in and pick colours, brushes and other tools as the feeling arose, not to question anything but just to keep moving and adding and wiping and smooshing.

There was already lots of great texture from the painting beneath it. I wrote ‘rise’ because I was thinking about the lotus flower and how it grows from the mud but looks so beautiful and clean. It represents purity in Buddhism.

Tara’s Genius Tip Of The Day: use chalk to draw in ideas before committing to them with paint. It shows you what something will look like and is really easy to rub off with a cloth. I painted over my chalk lines {more or less} and then rubbed away the chalk when I felt happy with it. I’m sure I didn’t invent this but I did make it up for myself, and it’s the best way I’ve found to try out composition and subject ideas that I need to see ‘down’ before I know if they work.

I’ve been wanting to paint a lotus for ages, but all my efforts looked like artichokes. There is a hint of artichoke here but I’m happy with it all the same.

So I was pleased with the composition and the areas of dark and light, but it didn’t feel quite pulled together enough. I asked the painting what it needed {yes, really} and it said ‘more white’, so I went back in with some white lines and circles, which I then went over again with pencil.

This painting took several weeks and also just a few hours, paradoxically. I’m really pleased with it! It’s in the shop now, and will live in my healing room until it finds a new home.

Filed Under: AEDM, art development, intuitive painting, mixed media art, mixed media painting, painting, paintings Tagged With: aedm11, aqua, blues, greens, lotus, mixed media painting, recycling paintings, rise

November 28, 2011 by Tara 14 Comments

I’ve been lent a new box set. It’s called ‘Bones’, about a forensic anthropologist and FBI agent who solve cases involving decomposing bodies. Just your average evening viewing. While I was enjoying the witty banter, excessive use of long technical vocabulary and eye candy in the form of David Boreanaz, I was also doodling on my latest inkblots. I’m being forced to work from the sofa because that’s where the blankets are.

I’d been making my inkblots with water and acrylic paint, and then I suddenly remembered I have a whole range of actual ink in different colours, which I could have used for my inkblot paintings in the first place.

Armed with pencil, black ink and my trusty white pen, I came up with this.

This one’s actually a mix of acrylics and inks. As you can see I haven’t strayed far from the whole ‘woman, trees, moon, stars’ theme.

I’m planning to get back in the studio and work on canvas as soon as I’ve worked out how to strap my hot water bottle to my body so I can keep my body temperature high enough to manipulate a paintbrush.

Filed Under: AEDM, sketchbook Tagged With: inkblot paintings, sketchbook

November 26, 2011 by Tara 7 Comments

I saw this idea on Lianne’s blog the other day {she found it here}, and immediately thought, ahaaaaa. What with all the cooking shenanigans that’s been going on round here, and the fact that I had two out of the three ingredients required, it seemed very silly indeed not to try it.

I had an empty frame and wallpaper {wrapping paper would also work of course, or even fabric}, and after about two minutes on Ebay I also had dry wipe markers. Shame they don’t come in prettier colours.

It was too easy ~ cut out paper to right size, put in frame, write on glass. Done. We’ll overlook the fact that I don’t plan anything ahead of time unless I really have to. I’m kind of hoping this might help me prevent the ‘I just did a shop where the heck has all the food gone’ dilemma.

That’s my kind of project.

I like the way Lianne took the idea further and added space for lists and things too.

Filed Under: AEDM, before and after, interior decorating Tagged With: before and after, frame, kitchen, menu board, wallpaper

November 25, 2011 by Tara 16 Comments

I confess I have taken Leah’s inkblot painting idea and not run very far with it. In that I made some inkblots, and then let myself be entirely inspired by her own style of women in big dresses.

Plus I really like to use my white pen lately, and then use the black as contrast.

Still loving dots also.

I could do so much more here, but am not feeling too inspired the last couple of days. I just did these while watching Robin Hood (the UK series) on dvd. Not my instinctive first choice but it was lent to me by a friend and it’s good light hearted viewing.

I just noticed both these girls are looking wistfully towards the sky. I feel a bit like that myself lately; there’s a definite feeling of a cycle drawing to a close for me, on all sorts of levels, and a wondering about what comes next.

I’ve also been painting over an old piece on canvas, but so far that’s ground to a halt too. It’ll all come good. Most of my time at the moment is spent doing Reiki sessions and sends (distant healing); this time of year can take its toll on all of us. Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the list. You can find out more about how it works here.

*********************

PS. Don’t forget that until December 5th it’s 20% off anything in my Etsy shop with the code LOVEYOU. {Cause I do, innit.}

Filed Under: AEDM, intuitive painting, reiki, sketchbook Tagged With: aedm11, etsy, inkblot paintings, leah piken kolidas, reiki, sends

November 23, 2011 by Tara 4 Comments

Well. I have been doing a bit of something artish every day {bar two}, but it isn’t really show and tellable yet. But I did manage to put my procrastinating to good creative use by making this fabulous treasury in honour of the gorgeous Angel who loves dragonflies:

‘Dragonfly Blue’ by AquamarineArt

Mother of Pearl mosaic … VintageRoseSho… $135.00	white and blue throw pi… anitanirma $22.50	Thin dragonfly stackabl… DvoraSchleffer $26.00	10 Teal Dragonfly Organ… JennifersCooki… $10.00
Dragonfly Vinyl Wall De… tweetheartwall… $12.00	Blue Dragonfly Print rochelle31 $15.00	Beautiful Japanese Fabr… KawaiiMeow $7.50	Dragonfly Bowl Handmade… DeBaunFineCera… $14.50
Vintage style big drago… patternaddicts $2.99	Dragonfly Gift Set – Al… thisisit $30.00	Discover Happiness Bowl elmstudiosonli… $18.00	Chandelier Dragonfly M… DragonOnTheFly $52.00
Dragonflies and butterf… WEFTBespokeDes… $60.00	Dragonfly 11 Graphic pr… edenbella $15.00	Silver Dragonfly Earrin… Ear2There $16.00	Dragonfly Bag and Pouch… retrofied $72.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

If you’re wondering how I got my treasury into my blog post with clickable links, I found the instructions here.

Here is a photo of the West Pier I took yesterday when it was all murky and strange on the beach.

And a rather more scenic one taken later in the day while I was sketching on the beach:

I’ve also been rather excitingly asked to write a guest post for Leah’s blog for December! The theme is ‘wintering’, and I’m putting something together with that in mind. More on that later. I have to go and feel pleased with myself now. Also it’s lunch time.

Filed Under: AEDM, angel, brighton, etsy, photography, the beach Tagged With: dragonflies, etsy treasury, photos, the beach

November 19, 2011 by Tara 8 Comments

A fiend I tell you.

I’ve never been much of a cook. Every now and then I’ll get a random urge to make something like shepherd’s pie {historically pretty much all I can do without a recipe}, and I’ve always liked to bake cakes and biscuits, for obvious reasons. But none of that maternal/womanly/let’s cook a roast instinctive stuff most of my friends seem to have been born with. Perhaps it’s a {lack of} self care thing.

But lately I’ve been possessed; I started by making some soup for the freezer {it gets hungry you know}, and then I hoiked out my massive cook book which is basically a big notebook bursting with hundreds of recipes I’ve collected over the last 14 years or so, most of which I’ve never made, and a spark of interest kicked in.

I must have minimum ingredients and no fiddly or time consuming instructions to be tempted to try a recipe. So yesterday I tried a new soup ~ courgette and asparagus. The freezer had that.

And yesterday there was my cousin’s mustard and honey chicken with lamb’s lettuce and avocado ~ good lord that was tasty. Here’s the recipe:

1 tbsp grainy mustard, 1tbsp runny honey, heat in a pan, add a bit of hot water and mix up, pour over chicken, cover with foil, stick in the oven for twenty mins, take foil off and leave in oven for another twenty. {The recipe’s for two chicken breasts but I had one and used the same quantities for extra juiciness.}

That’s it. A recipe in a sentence canNOT be bad.

Then there was the quiche! I’ve never made quiche but I found some wheat free pastry in the freezer and ‘treated’ myself to a rolling pin and a flan tin with removable base {who AM I, and WHERE has the real Tara gone}, cobbled together about four different Googled quiche recipes, and lo: asparagus, goat cheese, lamb’s lettuce and mushroom quiche:

It tastes pretty good! I know that none of this is rocket science, but this is completely new territory for me, and I’m really enjoying it, which is a big surprise. I’ll never be a real foodie {except when it comes to eating}, and art will always be my first love, but mixing up my creativity by taking it into the kitchen is kind of fun!

Today ~ banana bread and more soup. Maybe even some painting.

Filed Under: AEDM, cooking Tagged With: chicken, cooking, food, quiche, recipe

November 18, 2011 by Tara 8 Comments

Just a quickie I did in front of Grey’s Anatomy last night, on a sketchbook page I’d used up extra paint on. I don’t really like it but I wanted to try the whole ‘rough white around the drawing to make it stand out’ thing; Cori Dantini does it and so does my friend Caroline and it looks really cool when they do it.

Let’s just say my favourite part is the gesso.

Filed Under: AEDM, sketchbook Tagged With: fairy, gesso, green, sketch, sketchbook

November 15, 2011 by Tara 23 Comments

I gotta tell ya, I’m not a fan of the whole holiday season. I think it’s overextended, overhyped and these days almost entirely nothing to do with why it started in the first place. I think there’s a lot of pressure to be happy and family oriented {when many people don’t have access to either and the pressure makes it worse}, to spend a lot of money, overeat, overdrink {yes that’s a word}, and do a bunch of things you quite frankly, if you were really honest about it, don’t care about a whole lot. {Office party, anyone?} Not to mention that round these parts it tends to be very cold and well, wintry, which just isn’t ‘my’ season, you know? I’m a summer girl through and through.

So I’m bypassing the OTT decorations, shops full of deals and offers and bright lights, nerve-jangling adverts about the ‘must have’ things to buy, and sending a hundred cards that are just going to end up in the bin. I’m not going to buy a tree or spend more than probably one day at home with my family.

BUT, before you slap me down as a bah humbug Scrooge type person, I also believe that beauty can be found everywhere if you look discerningly enough and make choices that feed you. I did feel myself going down the cynical misery-and-despair route for a while there, but then I thought, I can just pick out and make the most of the bits I do like, and leave the rest. {Little life lesson there.} After all, this is really about just one day.

So I’m making a few cards for family and very close friends, I’m making or buying a few very specific gifts for them {without going anywhere near a high street ~ internet I love you so}, and the time I do spend with my family I intend to keep short and enjoy every minute. This year I’m not bowing to obligation or ‘shoulds’ and it’s not because I don’t care, it’s because I do.

Rant over.

Here are the cards I’ve been making. I used the same process as before {well, if you have a good idea you may as well run with it}.

First I painted a piece of watercolour paper with blues and teals.

Then I stamped over it using a snowflake stamp I made last year and gesso.The brayer was covered in paint from a previous project and made this interesting pattern. It does not always behove us to clean up, evidently. {Amen to that.}

Then I cut up the snowflakes and stuck them onto blank cards. That’s pretty much it.

This is such a ridiculously quick and satisfying thing to do. I recommend.

Et voila.

An entire post about a certain day without mentioning said day. {We don’t use the C word round here. Well, not til it’s actually here, anyway.}

Filed Under: AEDM, cards, crafts, painting on paper Tagged With: cards, holidays, snowflakes