Birds galore

Hi Everybody!

Hope you have enjoyed your weekend, and wish you all a good start 

in the new week.

For Art Journal Journey, 'Birds,  Beasts and Humans', I have made another journal page - what else? For the background I used half of a background painted recently, so this time it is A4 size. The flamingos were stenciled over it using black soot DI. I found the quote on the web. I outlined the birds with white gel-pen. And where are the beasts and humans? Well, there might be a crocodile lurking in the depths of the water, and the humans are sitting in front of their computers reading this article....

If you click the link on the sidebar it will take you directly to the AJJ Pinterest Gallery

The ferry was missing for several weeks, first on holiday and then because of the high water, but I am glad to see it is now back in service:

The ducks were having fun, as always:

The thrush seems to sit in this tree every day:

These photos were taken yesterday, showing the thick frost on a log by the river:

And here we have frozen toadstools:

The wild geese and the heron were walking through the fields 

looking for food:

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Saturday this and that....

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

I am a bit late with my blog today, as I had a hectic time yesterday with visits to the doctor and the hospital, and was just completely exhausted after it all.

For Art Journal Journey, 'Birds Beasts and Animals',  I have another rather chaotic collage with a bit of everything to share. The background was an A3 brushwipe page with added colour. I had visitors last weekend, and needed to clear the table, so everything I found on it landed here on this journal page. I added some stenciling using stencils from Dina Wakley, CWS and home made, as well as some doodling. This was fun to make!
If you click the link on the sidebar it will take you directly to the AJJ Pinterest Gallery

The weather is cold and clear today, and we had a great dawn and sunrise:

The early morning sun shone onto my tulips in their vase and made these wonderful shadows:

And my shadow went down to the Rhine this morning:

Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks for coming by! And please don't leave things on the floor where you might be tempted to fall over them, too!

Van Gogh's Mother

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are all doing well!

For Art Journal Journey, birds beasts and humans, and for Paint Party Friday I have another attempt at Van Gogh to share.

I tried to copy the portrait of his mother. The background is a brush-wipe sheet (A3), with added colours from pastel chalks. I drew and painted the portrait onto a separate sheet, painted it with water colours and pastels, fussy cut it, and fixed it to the background. The quote is also from Van Gogh. The black smudge under the portrait is my own invention!

Some pictures taken today, starting off before dawn:

We had a wonderful sunrise:

At the Rhine it was very cold and windy, the heron and wild geese didn't seem to mind:

I saw these beautiful cloud formations on my way home:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Bastet, cats and a bird

Hi Everybody!

We had another very cold and frosty day here, but I know some places are having even worse weather with huge amounts of snow. Stay safe, you all!

For Art Journal Journey I have my second old Egyptian piece for the 'Birds, beasts and humans challenge'. I made these journal pages a couple of weeks back, and was originally planning to start with them at the beginning of the month, but they hid under a pile of stuff and didn't show themselves on time. The journal page today (A3) is about the goddess Bastet,  She is depicted as a woman with a cat head or as a cat. Cats were revered in ancient Egypt. One of Bastet's duties was to guard the moon by night, so that it could not be stolen by thieving rodents, and she is also associated with women and dance. There are other, earlier interpretations of her role, but I love the idea of her guarding the moon.

I painted the background and pyramid with acrylics, which I sprinkled with fairy dust. When it was dry I added more details and colours with pastels. The moon was cut from gold-metal leafing. The picture of Bastet as a cat-headed woman was drawn onto paper, coloured with felt pens, fussy cut and glued on. The illustration of Bastet as a cat is from Wikipedia, and has also been coloured with felt pens and highlighted with white. The quote was written by hand. I am also linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin.

This is a canvas I made a year or 2 back  depicting Bastet:

The day started off well even though it was very frosty; it's always good to see the sun.

I managed to catch the jay on my balcony today.

Thanks to all who asked about my hand. I still have a lot of bruises, but it is healing, and my ribs are hurting, but will also be better in a few days - I hope! I need to b more careful not to fall over things at home!

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!