Blue girl beginnings

The very beginning of a blue little girl...
Using acrylics on canvas with a limited palette

Flowers in a Vase Art and Craft for kids!

Flowers in a Vase Art and Craft for kids

Materials

Canvas

Paper

Paint and brushes

Oil Pastels

Scissors

Glue

pencils

Method

First we discussed what warm and cool colours were and then I asked them each to choose 1 cool colour and 1 warm colour and we painted the canvas roughly half and half. 

While that was drying, we used pencils to draw a vase and some flowers (making sure it would fit on the canvas later on). We then coloured the vase with oil pastels trying to use toning values - you can see there was a mixed result. We also coloured in the flowers and then cut everything out.

I had already cut some green strips for flower stems, but some choose to make their own.

Cutting out the flowers can be tricky so help was needed.

Then we stuck everything on, starting with stems, then vase and finally flowers.

*note it is important to make sure the flower stems are at the right height to poke above the vase and that they are close enough to look like they are in the vase.

The kids had lots of fun and the result was bright and cheerful!

Intuitive Painting

I was given a canvas that someone didn't want anymore as they didn't like the picture. I couldn't have them throw a good canvas away so I decided to give it a new life. But what to do, what to do...

I have been loving some of the abstract work that my adults from my art class have been producing and I have been really inspired by some of Flora Bowley, check out her site at http://braveintuitiveyou.com/
So I decided to do some of my own intuitive art...

I really love how it has turned out. Here are some process shots and the final outcome.

Inspiring Patterns

I had a few canvases that I used to demonstrate different techniques of bleeding colours and letting them mix on the canvas.
I really loved some of the effects but wasn't going to display them and I hate a wasted canvas!
Colouring in pages are very 'in' at that moment and there are some beautiful patterns so I thought I'd use that as inspiration to make my own - but in reverse!
I already had a coloured in canvas, it was the pattern that was missing, so this is what I can up with...

I will still add a few details, I don't feel it's finished quite yet, but I'm happy with the direction it's taking.
I added the girl in later as I wasn't sure where the pattern was taking me.
I feel this was a good decision.
Would love your feedback

Sketching away the day

Been just trying out some new pens and pencils and these little sketches came out

Supernatural Portrait

I have been working on a commission which had been super fun - actor Jensen Ackles who plays Dean in the tv show, supernatural.
I started out by using some new really smooth paper I bought, but the pencils were not blending at all! Very frustrating! So I started again using trusty Prisma Favini paper and it is coming along really well, check it out

EXHIBITION OPENING THIS SUNDAY!!

EXHIBITION OPENING THIS SUNDAY!!
Fairfield Farewell - A Retrospective of 10 years of Exhibitions
opens on SUNDAY 14 JUNE 4-6pm 2015

Photonet Gallery is closing in Fairfield, but it is not the end of the gallery. They are changing from a commercial to a not-for-profit model and will reopen as MAGNET GALLERIES - a centre for photography, education and conservation.

As a final exhibition farewell, they have invited past exhibitors to display 2 of their previously shown work.
I was a part of the FOUR ELEMENTS - WATER show of 2011

Fairfield Farewell opens on SUNDAY 14 JUNE 4-6pm and is going to be SPECTACULAR!
For more information click the link below.
Hope to see you there!
http://www.photonetgallery.com.au/

Sneak Peek at the two prints I am exhibiting!

Animal Inspiration

So I have been wanting to explore some animal themed artwork and I had 3 circle canvases waiting for me to decide what to paint. A student in one of my adult art classes has started a painting copying the lovely style of Leonid Afremov - I have included some examples of his work below -

This got me thinking about colour and backgrounds and how I could approach my paintings of animals in a very different way. I painted a colourful background with no distinguishing features on two of the canvases and once dry, have started to paint a lions head. This is the result so far

I am happy with how it's going so far but it is early days yet.

The third canvas however went in another direction. I found a beautiful photo of a panda in water and wanted to reproduce it as a painting, let me know what you think.

Mosaic Cupcakes and Owls for kids!

Thought I'd show you what my class and I have been working on.
How cute are these mosaic owls and cupcakes!

Autumn art and craft for kids

This was so much fun!
First we collected Autumn leaves and then traced around them.
With clean water we painted the leaves and then dropped in watercolours and watched the colours all bleed together to make beautiful autumn leaves.
Give it a go!

The Three Bears

Here's the next installment of my fairytale illustrations