Paint Party Friday

Making some art with my Thames foreshore findings, gathered on 23.Oct.16. If you would like to see more about that fabulous treasure hunt click here and  here

I spent ages playing around with bits and pieces before I arrived at this arrangement. I’d love to know what you think.

The pieces down lefthand side are the broken stems of clay pipes, the rest is pottery found on that day.

I am going to experiment with a new found toy – Sugru. (Introduced to me by Mrs Snail – she teaches us all so much!) I’m hoping to fix the pieces on to the canvas with this substance that turns to rubber, but no time left today as I’m off to pick up Big Bro and Little Bro from school in a minute. A Granny’s work is never done!

Joining in with Paint Party Friday

All pieces of art made on the Beach Clean theme are going towards and exhibition I will be doing with Miss E in Dorset Arts Weeks 2018. However we are beginning to talk about a smaller event next year – I’ll be sure to let you know  all about it.

Arranging things

I could happily spend days arranging things.

All collected on Sunday on the Thames foreshore. We were told that the green glazed pottery was likely to be Medieval.

Rust, teeth, pottery, bones

Mudlarking by the Thames

On Sunday I went mudlarking by the Thames in London – oh happy me!

It was a glorious sunny day spent with 30 other lovely larkers – I can highly recommend it.

See more photos and a link to Thames Explorer Walks on my Beach Clean Art blog – here.

This is what I managed to collect and bring home on the train in a full backpack that weighed 16lbs.

What is it about beach-combing –  I am supremely happy and relaxed whilst collecting, and the next best bit is washing and arranging all the pieces. I’d happily spend all day arranging, sorting and rearranging all these little artefacts all connected to human activity  over hundreds of years.

Seahorses to Give Away!

I’m in the grip of another mini craze – it is such a great feeling when the tide of creativity sweeps me off on a wave of delicious delight – it’s a teeny bit like falling in love – do you know what I mean?

So this is how it happened – I created a crochet pattern, the Woodland Hoodie,  for Master R, then aged 4. He loves the hoodie and wears it all the time, still! He’s 7 now. Master R has grown and the neck, which has always been a bit tight became impossible to get over his head, I cut it and bound the edges with bias binding, which works but I need to adapt the pattern to make a larger opening for the head.

To work out and improve the pattern with a neck opening, I made the larger size for Miss E, now aged 9. Her favourite colour is blue. We are in the middle of a Beach Clean Art project, so I call this new pattern the Beach Clean Hoodie.

I ask Miss E if she would like me to crochet a fish or something to go on the hoodie and she requests a seahorse.

I look up Seahorse and lots of wonderful images appear.

I find a link to the Seahorse Trust and become a member. Miss E and I ‘adopt’ a seahorse called Usti, found on the Dorset Coast. We get a whole pack of goodies.

I have created my own pattern.

In order to work out a pattern I need to have several trial runs. I make lots of seahorses in different colours so that Miss E can choose which she likes the best. Then I just keep making them, each one slightly different with its own little personality.

The creative mind wakes up and wonders about putting them into the Beach Clean paintings – hmmm – they look better in cotton – more trial runs – now the tail needs to be longer, now the snout thinner. Now I need to buy more colours in cotton!

Result lots of seahorses. What am I going to do with them?

I will give each of my Grandchildren (age range 5 – 9) a seahorse for Xmas – but how should they be presented? – appliquéd onto something, mounted on canvas, as a single hanging decoration?

This is where you, my lovely readers can help, with all your wonderfully creative ideas.

What can I do to make them Special? Unique? Individual?

Your reward is a chance to win a Seahorse in a GIVEAWAY!

Leave me a comment with a suggestion of what I could do with the seahorses –  go wild, go whacky, go sophisticated, go classic, go where your imagination takes you, have fun!

Let me know which colour you would like and why.

Would you prefer cotton, wool or acrylic yarn?

And if you were to have one of these little cuties what would you do with it.

I will give away 3 seahorses on my birthday, the 11th November.

Please feel free to reblog or share this post and 3 new followers between now and 11th November will also get a seahorse.

Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along, where you can find all sorts of wonderful yarnsters and  the books they recommend.

Now I MUST go and crochet a few more seahorses, because I love them!

UPDATE: The pattern for this seahorse is now available in my Etsy and Ravelry shops.

Our painting!

I have entered our painting in a ‘Any Media’ painting class in our local County Show. Thank you so much to all of you who helped me get to the final design.

Judging happens tomorrow morning at 8am – exciting – I’ll let you know how we did!

Joining in with Paint Party Friday.

 

Paint Party Friday

The second completed painting in the Beach Clean Art series – yes, I’m now confident there will be a series!

‘Beach Clean 2’

Acrylic paint, rust and fishing line.  8″x 8″

I love the rust pieces and some deserve a place of their own – the found fishing line, which comes in all sorts of colours, is perfect for attaching bits and pieces.

The painting started out like this – the one top right

one of this group of backgrounds I did back in July

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I was blown away by the wonderful response last week to my cry for help. I can’t express how immensely grateful I am to all of you who joined in the discussion. It really did help so MUCH!!!!!

Are you wondering how the painting looks now?

Well it has been sitting on a table in my sitting room for me to look at several times a day and I have tinkered with it many times. Taking everyone’s comments into consideration really helped to concentrate my mind and consider all the elements that were brought to my attention – what a gift you all gave me – really!!! Here is last week’s post – Help!

And here it is now – nothing has been fixed yet.

Already as I look at it I know I will rearrange the turquoise rope at the bottom when I fix it, but I think it is nearly there. It just needs to sit a few more days for me to be sure.

The title will be ‘Beach Clean 3‘

Joining in with Paint Party Friday…..

…. and completing the second of 7 paintings for my 16 for 2016 Challenge

 

Help!

Decisions decisions!

Remember this painting which i had just placed together but not yet fixed, when I wrote this Beach Clean Art post ?

Today I set about fixing it all together. I really like the piece of wood on the right too much to let it go yet, so I replaced that element with some of the rust I found on Ringstead beach.

This is how it looks so far with the small canvas screwed on and the rust attached with a bit of netting and red fishing line

1.

Now I’m driving myself crazy trying to work out where to go next – does it look right as it is – less is more – or is this better …..

2.

but is the balance right? does this look better?

3.

or this

4.

Aaargh! My head is aching!

Can you lovely people help me!?! Which one.

The pressure is on a bit as for the first time ever I am entering three paintings into the Dorset County Show and this might be one of them.

Joining in with Paint Party Friday where you can see masses of wonderful artworks.

 

Paint Party

Joining in with Paint Party Friday.

I’m still playing with this one, so nothing is fixed yet.

Acrylic on triangular canvas with pieces picked up on the beach whilst dong a Beach Clean.

See the picture’s development so far here.

Beach Clean Vase on Monday

Still a little obsessed with my latest project – Beach Clean Art, I have set this oh-so-cute square vase filled with monbretia in front of one of my in-progress paintings and surrounded it with bits and pieces I have collected from the beach whilst doing my bit for the 2 Minute Beach Clean.

and

using these beach clean pieces for a backdrop again, this time complete with beach clean ‘Cleopatra’

and Tate Modern brooch

Tate Modern is selling these as a fund raiser to celebrate the new extension – exciting times, I hope to visit soon.

I have been developing the background canvases I showed you in this post, with a bit of stamping

A very roughly drawn ammonite (with a pencil) on the back of a polystryrene pizza packing disc has created some pretty good stamps I think.

I’ve been playing with bits of beach-clean to see which will make the finished piece.

These pieces are just laid on with no fixings whilst I decide – fixing everything securely is what takes the time – that is the work – all else is play.

 

I like the idea of fixing the smaller canvas to the larger, creating a little shelf – ooo i am having fun!

What do you think – does it work?

Joining in with Cathy’s inspired international garden flowers meme

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Monbretia with morning dew.

Round

Photo Challenge prompt: ROUND in our 52 Week Photo Challenge

The hydrangeas in my garden are at their most beautiful stage at the moment.

In a Vase on Monday: Cathy has challenged us to create a minimalist or ikebana style arrangement of flowers from  our garden this week – my very favourite style – and because my current creative obsession is using trash from the beach to create art  – here is my take on it

I couldn’t decide which placement I preferred, which do you like best?

hydrangea’s soft blues

growing bigger and brighter with time

like childhood dreams

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Joining in with Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge, this week’s prompts: TIME and GROW

hydrangea’s soft blues growing bigger and brighter with time

growing bigger and brighter with time like childhood dreams

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And for Cee’s Flower of the Day ………….

 

This hydrangea grows just next to my ‘field’ of lychnis

with a few self seeded mallows and purple toadflax thrown in

My front garden is alive with bugs, buzzing and beasties – a complete joy to behold.

Next week’s Photo Challenge Prompt is

ZEST

 

 

Assemblage

I am becoming more and more intrigued by the whole subject of Beach Cleaning and what to do with all the stuff collected. Now I have started to do the 2 minute Beach Clean, I am shocked at just how much rubbish there is on my local beaches. Being creative with what I find is essential for me to quell the pain of it all. What are we doing to our environment! AAAaaarghhhh! Gripped by this new creative and environmental obsession I need a way to record the journey, so I have created another Blog dedicated to Beach Clean Art.

Beach Clean Art

First some rubbings taken from a piece of what I think is fibre-glass.

Then playing with arranging this with other pieces

So much information on this small piece

I am so tempted to phone the number to see if it is still operational.

Colour, shape, texture, human story behind each piece and how they ended up on Charmouth beach. The years involved, the many humans involved in the creation of each piece………

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Assemblage Art

Quentin Crisp

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Joining in with Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge