No beauty shines brighter than that of a good heart.” (Source)
week forty-one – spray paint
Oh dear… so I’ve been so excited about our first family holiday next week that I almost forgot to post about this weeks creative project (as well as actually finish it…whoops).
watering can
Mr T bought me this lovely watering can a few months back in the hope that I would decorate it. I’ve decided I’d like to make it into a pot plant and that my first step was to spray paint it. I choose this very pretty turquoise colour and off I went.
And well then… I’ll just have to finish it next week.
watering can – bare
watering can – spray painted
Until then… happy painting!
Should I paint spots, butterflies or…. what do you think?
20/08/2016 – Correction: The wedding photograph featured in this post was taken by Lauren Michelle (not Suzanne Black as originally posted) at Lake Como, Italy. Suzanne Black was our Scotland photographer.
week forty – fabric roses
When I was planning the details for our surprise wedding several years ago, I decided that I wanted to make my own fabric flower bouquet. I knew I would be sentimental about my bouquet and wanted something I could keep without having to preserve fresh flowers.
I spent many many hours sewing fabric roses using beautiful satin, linen and lace fabrics. In the end I had some remaining fabric roses that I didn’t use in my bouquet and have been sitting in a box since then. So for this weeks project I decided to finally do something with them.
my handmade wedding bouquet
I used a linen canvas, the fabric roses, decorative pins and lace. The lace you see I also used to make my earrings.
I watched several online tutorials to learn to how to sew the roses. This is one of them by Ksripriya Kanigolla I pinned to my textile board on pinterest.
Until next week…happy painting?
Have you created art work using textiles? I’d love to see them.
I recently met an artist who shared with me all the ways they procrastinate before starting a piece of work. And how ultimately fear drives that process before beginning. I could relate. I had started this weeks project a few weeks ago. It was going to be a messy one; an experiment and I just kept making excuses as to why I couldn’t get it finished. My biggest excuse at the moment (which I’ve mentioned before) is space. Today I decided to let it go. Who cares if my working table is my dining table. Mess can be cleaned up and lack of time (I’ve discovered) can be good for me to stop the overthinking.
materials and work space
So Baby C was taking her morning nap and I got messy and had fun. This week I was playing with Matisse pouring medium. I started with coating four miniature canvas boards with patterned gold leaf. I wasn’t delicate about this process as I knew I’d be layering paint over the surface. I used acrylic paint, metallic acrylic inks and the pouring medium spontaneously to make small abstract paintings. I also added an old leaf and leaf skeleton to a couple of the canvases for depth. It was SO much fun and without thinking too much… fast!
first process – gold leaf
week thirty-nine – pouring medium (second process before drying)
Because I worked on my canvases this morning it hasn’t allowed enough drying time, so the pouring medium is still cloudy but will eventually dry clear. I promise to share better photos when they have dried.
9 hrs after final paint application – still not completely dry
Until next week… happy painting!
Have you experimented with pouring medium before? What did you create?
I’ve learned to stop rushing things that need time to grow.” (Source)
week thirty-eight – origami crane
It has been another one of those weeks when I really didn’t feel like creating anything for my project. And while trying to evoke any motivation I began reminiscing about my art college days. Many wonderful things have happened since then but I couldn’t help to think about those two years where I got to live and breath art. Not to sound too corny but it really was a dream come true. It took me 14 years from when I finished school to be brave enough to admit that all I really wanted to do was study art.
week thirty-eight – origami crane
When I began my course I would often think to myself ‘why hadn’t I chosen to do this earlier’. What I know now is that I wouldn’t have been ready. I needed to experience life and the time to grow before I could truly appreciate what I was passionate about.
So for my project this week I thought it was fitting to make an origami crane. This is the symbol I would use to associate my time at art college as I made over 1000 of them for a final exhibition piece.
I had always been in awe of artists who created installation art so decided during college that this is what I wanted to try for one of my works. It was an amazing experience from start to finish. I have included photos for you below.
If any of you are interested in knowing more about it let me know as I’d be happy to share.
Until next week… happy painting!
What symbol would you choose to represent a particularly happy time in your life?
This week I sat quietly with my pens and watercolours and got lost in my sketchbook. I was playing with an idea for a future painting and found inspiration in decorative feather illustrations.
I hope you’ve all had a good week. Until next week…happy painting!
Yes, you read that correctly… ‘wand stand’. What the? I’ll get back to that shortly.
So I’m sure you have noticed that my blog post is a day late this week. I’m really sorry if anyone was hanging out to read it but family commitments had to come first. As this new day seemed to work out better for me I’ve decided to make Wednesday my new permanent post day. Just in case it was on your to do list… now back to the ‘wand’.
Before you all think I’ve lost my marbles let me explain. I’m a big Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) fan and really big kid at heart. I’ve read all the books (I missed my train stop once as I was so engrossed in one of the books), seen the movies and the best fun of all, I was lucky enough to visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London. It was a few years ago now but I still get buzzed when I think about it.
Me at the front entrance
Mr T and I were on our ridiculously fabulous honeymoon and on this day hubby went to visit a golf factory and I went to see Harry. It might sound lonely to have gone on my own but seriously, it meant I could soak up every detail. And there were many many details. I only had the morning and I could have stayed there for several days. So MUCH fun! I even drank a butterbeer!
week thirty-six – wand stand
I don’t think that you would have to be a Harry fan though to appreciate the creativity, vision and artistry that went into making these movies. I was in awe of the props, costumes, models, make up and well, everything. So what then could I possibly bring home with me to remember this incredible day. A ‘wand’ of course and no other than Hermione Granger’s (just to clarify… it’s a replica of the one used in the movies).
So what does one do with a wand? You display it on a wand stand and if you don’t believe me, just google ‘wand stand’. One day I’d like a really intricate wooden one but for now I’ve decided to make myself something simple out of oven bake Sculpey clay. I was inspired by timber chopstick stands on pinterest. I choose leaves because of the intricate vine details on the wand.
Step One
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
They were super easy and as you can tell from the above pictures I used a small turbo oven to bake them. I used the oven bake Sculpey glue to attach the bases to the leaves. The tools you see are actually old cake decorating tools I had.
week thirty-six – wand standweek thirty-six – wand stand
I’m feeling inspired to read the books again. Until next week…happy painting!
A line is a dot that went for a walk”. – Paul Klee
week thirty-five – decorative bowl
I was asked a question this week, for which I didn’t know how to respond. “Are you an artist?” I paused for a moment and then answered “sort of, I studied visual arts a few years ago at College.” Of course since then I’ve been thinking a lot about this question. When can you call yourself an artist?
I read an article recently in the March 2016 edition of the Country Style Magazine, where the author Annabelle Hickson wrote, “I am tired of the notion that you have to sell X amounts of paintings for X amounts of dollars to call yourself an artist.” This peaked my interest as she went on to say, “In order to create art, all that matters is that you believe creating is a worthwhile thing to be doing – not for the end result, but for the doing itself.”
Throughout this article I was nodding my head in agreement. But then I thought, does this discredit all those artists out there working their butts off trying to make a name and living for themselves. Particularly if any of us creative sorts can call ourselves artists. It takes years for some artists to have their work hung in galleries and even master their work.
It was only after thinking about this for far too long that a little light bulb sparked. Perhaps we are all too concerned with how we label ourselves. Does it really matter? Yes, it can give us a sense of importance and even pride (especially after years of study) and for some, meaning; but does it REALLY matter? What matters to me is that my soul feels enriched when I’m practicing or am surrounded by art and other creative souls. So what will I say the next time I’m asked? I think a simple ‘yes’ will do.
For this weeks project I decided to decorate a ceramic bowl. I’ve found myself drawn to blue and white patterns of late. I bought this bowl for a few dollars and later discovered it was chipped. The perfect excuse to experiment. I’ve used porcelain paint and will be able to bake it so it will set hard. Now to find a use for it.
I had to remind myself again this week why I’m doing this project when all the odds feel stacked against me. By odds I don’t mean anything dramatic, simply the fact that time and creative space aren’t always on my side. Time because I’m a full time Mum to our fourteen month old toddler and space because quite frankly I don’t have much. As I’ve mentioned before I don’t have an art studio or spare room. I have the dining room table (when it’s not in use) and a lovely open outdoor area. The outdoor area is great but unfortunately the time I get to work is mainly in the evenings and I don’t want to sit outside in bad lighting, with the mozzies.
I’m sure these all sound like excuses and perhaps when I’m tired and have no creative energy it feels that way. Honestly though, it really does make being creative challenging at times. When I do get that creative urge and find myself with a spare ten minutes I generally need that time to set up my materials and because I have a little one with minimal space, I then have to pack them up too. My creative energy dissipates before I even get started…poof! So as much as I want to get out my paints and make a beautiful creative mess, it just doesn’t work . Therefore I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that right now I’m going to have to compromise to reach my artistic goal each week.
I will simply need to choose artistic projects that are uncomplicated, less messy and that I can work on in small spaces of time (unless I miraculously have extra time on my hands that is). And that is exactly what I’ve done this week. I’d started out with a big plan but time and circumstances didn’t allow it… it was going to be a fun, messy one. So while berating myself in the shower this evening; having had no completed art project, I suddenly had a moment of motivation. Each week I seek out motivational quotes to start my post and inspire others. So I decided to share my own words of motivation with you all too. I was inspired by the amazing quotes and designs on my pinterest wall. I didn’t have time to create the design myself so found a free vector artwork on Freepik along with the Typography on dafont.com by Yusril Muhtadi. The words are my own and I just put it all together in Adobe Illustrator.
I hope they inspire you. Until next week…happy painting!
Do you relate to not having a creative space? I’d love to hear about any methods you have when working with minimal space.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”. – Pablo Picasso
week thirty-three – inspiration board
After work this week I was grateful to have had a little time all to myself. So I decided to visit one of my favourite places, the Queensland Art Gallery. I was craving the familiarity and peace and quiet, as well as a much needed art fix. I find a quick visit to an inspiring art gallery has a cathartic affect on me. And this time was no different. I came away feeling energized with big dreams and ideas.
As much as I would have liked to express all of this creative energy with paints and a canvas when arriving home, instead I chose to express it with the love and care of our precious Baby C. My time with paint will come. So in the meantime I’ve chosen to start an inspiration board and share it as this weeks project.
week thirty-three – inspiration board detail
My pinterest page is my digital inspiration board but I wanted something I could look at without opening my computer screen. It’s full of images, art works and quotes that make me happy and motivate my dreams and aspirations.
Catherine's Creative Nest 