Less is more

Sometimes less is more.

I've been watching the Sky portrait artist of the year vids on YouTube and feeling inspired and intimidated in equal measure. 

I set out to do this portrait thinking it would require a lot of refining, that I would cover up a lot and re-do just about everything. Instead, I popped a couple of blobs down for the eyes, thinking I would use those blobs to give me a hint of placement, but when I stood back, it felt like I had somehow - miraculously! - captured enough for my brain to tell me that it was an eye. So I am calling it done. There isn't much of a likeness, but I like it as a piece as it stands.

 

Book forms

 

I thought it would be a fun project to work my way through Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden. I've made several books out of it before, but now I'm working through from the beginning, starting with the easiest forms, made from a single sheet of paper. 

So far I've worked through X-book, X-book with pockets, Ox-plow pamphlet, simple accordion, simple accordion with tunnel, snake book, storybook theatre, twist card, brush book, T-cut book, house card, guest book, and crown binding. Some I would definitely make again. Some had instructions that weren't that clear to me (plus one that seemed to have a typo in the size instructions as the size given really didn't work), but I eventually worked it out. So now my book has pencil notes in it ready for next time. 

Next I shall be tackling the slot and tab book. It's looking like an interesting week ahead as I try out new forms and work out how they could be used in Christmas and Easter projects.

What's your favourite book form? 

Speaking up

To be heard you need to speak up, maybe several times. 

It's no good hoping that people know what you're thinking. If you want to be heard, you have to speak. If it's something you really want to be heard, you may have to speak up several times. People don't always hear us the first time, especially if they don't feel that what you're saying is relevant to them. 

So if it's important to you, speak up!

Filling in the details

A suggestion can be enough for us to fill in the details - but are they correct?

Once I painted on the black lines, I couldn't help but see a bird on this page. So I filled in the detail by putting an eye on it. 

How often do we have half a story that looks a particular way to us, and then we fill in the details to make our idea more solid? This is how rumours and gossip start. We don't have the whole story, but we don't let it stop us from passing on the information. Others then put their own details on to it and before you know it, a blob has become a bird and taken flight.

In art, letting our minds fill in the details - using our imagination - is good. But in life, holding back until we know the full picture is more caring.

Shoes

Wear the right shoes.

We all know when we are wearing the wrong shoes - when they pinch, rub, and are just darned uncomfortable. This might be because the fit is bad, or you may be trying to climb a mountain in stilettos. 

There are ill-fitting shoes and there are unsuitable shoes. Both of those things are important if you want to make progress on your journey.

So are you going to worry about 'looking good' or are you going to put on that not so fashionable footwear and make sure to be comfortable and serviceable as you navigate life?

New painting

 

I've gradually been working on a new series of mixed-media pieces. They seem to be coming out with larger blocks of colour than my previous series, although they still have the melding of colours and dots and circles that always seem to arrive in my work. I'd love to work larger, but there isn't enough space in my studio to go much larger than this (40 x 50cm). Maybe I will do something outside in the summer, although the acrylic paint can dry on your brush before you get it to the canvas 😵‍💫

At first glance this seems to be a piece with large blocks of colour, but there are many layers that can be seen with a closer look. Although there were pieces of collage attached that aren't obvious now, they can be seen as suggestions as they shape the paint.

I'm still contemplating the title.

Drought to deluge

From drought to deluge. This page felt very stormy to me and that's how the weather has been recently. We've been praying for rain, and we've had rain! Although we still need more, I could do with it being a bit more regular and less intense, falling gently through the night would be great 😊

And that's how life can feel sometimes, too. There can be days where you think you'll have to wait forever for whatever it is you're waiting for. At other times life piles on and you feel like you'll buckle under the pressure. This is why it's important to appreciate those times of rest, the space to breathe, so that whether it's feast or famine, you have the reserves to cope, to wait, and to take in what you need.

Vibes

What vibes are you sending? 

We all send out signals, whether we realise it or not. Our body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice all tell people more than just our words. Some of it we cannot control - it is subconscious - but some of it we can, such as tone of voice. 

Maybe it's worth taking a breath before speaking and being aware of how we are holding our body. Smile - it changes how you feel on the inside and that will come through to the outside. Speak softly in situations where tempers are starting to flare instead of raising your voice - 'a gentle answer turns away wrath' really can work. 

I just had to share a photo of my brayer as I found the layered up colours particularly pleasing.

Expectations

Better to lower expectations and then over-deliver than to fail to live up to them. 

In the bookshop I work in we tell people that the delivery of an order will take one to two weeks. Sometimes books arrive within a few days, and customers are delighted. But there are the odd occasions where they take the full two weeks. But if they do, the customers are still happy because it was what they expected. If someone wants something for a gift, we cannot guarantee it by a particular day because deliveries by suppliers are out of our hands. Better to be realistic than to let people down. 

The same applies with our expectations of ourselves. Maybe we need to be more realistic or more caring of ourselves. Stop trying to do too much and running ourselves ragged. Most things on your to-do list can wait a day. And if they can't, do those things first!

Boxed - or not

 

This page was getting out of hand with the colour and shape. As a last resort I drew a face on it, and then realised that I had started too large to fit the whole thing on. Hence the wording. 

None of us fit neatly into a box, really, because we are all so much more than one thing. Yes, I may fit into the box marked 'artist', but I am also a science major, for example. Really we shape our own unique box, so don't let others try to cram you into one of their own making.

New paintings in a new series

 

Here are a couple of paintings from my new 'Menopause' series. It wasn't what I planned, but it seems to be what is coming out on to the canvas :) The one above is called 'no focus' and the one below 'is it hot in here, or is it just me?' Whatever happens with this series, I'm having fun making it, and that's just fine.

Lino-cut cards

 

So I've had a little break after Easter, but that doesn't mean I wasn't arting. I've been painting a new series, and doing some Lino-cuts to put through the little press that my husband bought for me. These cards are printed in black and then hand-coloured with Arrtx acrylic markers. I'm learning quickly. These plates - and therefore the prints - aren't perfect, but I think that's part of the charm of anything that is hand-cut. 

What little side projects out of your 'usual' arting practice have you been working on lately?

New painting

I finished a new piece this week. I'm particularly pleased with it because I was inspired by a smaller piece that I did in one of my journals. Usually if I try to do a larger piece from something sketchier, I lose all the life out of it because it is no longer so spontaneous, but here I feel like I kept the energy. Maybe because I asked myself what I liked about the small piece, and put that on the canvas, rather than trying to make a direct copy. We can all learn new things, no matter our age :)

The original small piece is below, along with some close-ups. That little white patch on the right is one of my favourites. 

A giant improv sketch

Life is a giant improv sketch - you're responsible for your own lines and how you respond to others.

I read a blog post this week that talked about our lines in life. It made me think about how life is an improv sketch - none of us are given specific lines, we just wing it. Every. Single. Day. Our lines are said in response to what goes on around us. We can choose how to react, what to say, in any given situation. So let's choose our lines carefully because this is not a rehearsal. 

Ride it out

So we're having a late little heatwave here.  Things had cooled, and now it's warm again. Not much fun for a woman of a certain age, but, as with many things in life I'll just have to ride it out. 

And in other creative pursuits, I was asked to make a kangaroo cake:

Isn't it fun to work creatively in a different medium now and again?

Roots and shoots

 

Roots and shoots - both grow, but one is more obvious than the other. 

When your roots are growing, you're getting stronger, more deeply embedded, more stable. But it may not be showing on the surface. This is an inner growing, going within yourself.

When the shoots are growing, they can be seen. It's more obvious to you and to others. But without the roots, more 'upper' growth would eventually make the whole plant topple. 

Don't neglect your roots. 

Brain fog

 

It's not the first time I've blogged about brain fog, and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's just so frustrating to reach for a word and it's just not there, even though you can give a full description of what you are thinking of ('alpaca' was the last instance - I could see it, I could tell you what animals it was related to, but I couldn't think of the word itself). 

I encourage myself by looking at all the older-than-me ladies around me who are flourishing. There is hope!

Jaded?

Don't become so jaded that you can no longer be surprised. 

I recently went through a situation where I was expecting some pushback, but it didn't come. It was pleasantly surprising. As a vicar's wife, there isn't a lot that will shock me, but it is nice to be surprised on occasion.