A goldfish, water and flowers

Hi Everybody!

The weekend is here, enjoy it!

Last week I watched a programme on TV about antique mosaics found under the sea, and one series showed fish and waves. This inspired me to make my fish using gilding flakes and paper scraps to make the mosaic waves. I drew the fish first, filled it in with the flakes (how to get stuck up without really trying....) and drew the outline with a black pentel pen. Then I added the waves. The background was painted with greens and blues over a brush-wipe page. I am linking to Art Journal Journey, the sea. The quote is from Albert Einstein:

'Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid'

The weather was quite pleasant today, so I enjoyed my walk, first along the stream:

I passed the meadow where the horses were grazing:

I enjoyed the sight and smell of the blossoms:

I watched the ships on the Rhine:

The water is still very high:

My way home led me through the little park, where I enjoyed the wild flowers, which have shot up with all the sun and rain:

Have a great weekend you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

A day out with Mary Poppins

Hi Everybody!

Another week is coming to a close and it's Friday already - time flies!

Friday means it's time for Paint Party Friday, hosted, as always by Eva and Kristin. And it's nearly always time for Art Journal Journey, of course. 

For our theme, the sea, I have made another mixed media sea/beach scene. I painted an A3 page with gesso, and then drew my scene and painted it with water colours, gelatos and felt pens. Mary Poppins has taken a poor old sandwich man from London to have a day out at the seaside.  The naked man on the cliffs seems to be doing his morning gymnastics, and the wind is trying to blow him away. The flying gulls and dragonflies are probably wondering what he is up to. The other gulls are probably talking to Mary Poppins, and the fish seem to be listening in, too.The fish, deck-chair  and flying gulls were collaged, the other figures, flowers, ferns and the house were all stamped with Archival black and embossed. Sometimes I wish M.P. would collect me for a day at the seaside, that would be great!

I am also linking to Mix it Monthly, happy couples, as there are lots of couples here - the birds, fish, MP and the Mustard Man, the shells and the dragonflies. And as I have made a scene, I am linking to Country View Challenges, Simply scenic

Today was another changeable day with clouds, sun and wind battling against each other:

Here are some of the photos from last week put together as a collage.

Flowers and dark clouds

Hi Everybody!

We had another very changeable and stormy day here with the weather doing whatever it wanted. Some places were much worse hit, one little town near Rostock got hit by a tornado

Anyway, bad weather for being outside is good weather for crafting, reading and even doing some of the dreaded House***k. .I decided I wanted to get messy and alter something, and found an IKEA mirror in my cupboard. I pasted it with vintage papers, printed and written, and then gave it a coat of gesso. I added some stenciling using structure past on the right side. When it was dry, I used some Frantage EP over the stenciled pattern. I gave the rest of the background a coating of crackle glaze, and distressed it with forest moss DI. The roses I have used are some real ones I got at Christmas, and then dried. I painted some white paint around the edges and dipped them into fairy dust. The other flowers and grass were in my stash. The butterflies were also crackle glazed and distressed, and the chipboard key was given a coating of Frantage EP. I am linking to Moo Mania and More, flowers; Mixed Media Mojo, tic-tac-toe (gesso-stencil-chipboard) and to Mixed Media Monthly, May flowers.
I am also linking to anything but cute, vintage garden, as Pamellia asked me to!

Today I can only show you pictures of clouds and water:

The Rhine is still rising:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

A new challenge at Moo Mania and More

Hi Everybody!

Hope you had a good day. Here we had very stormy and changeable weather, with gales, rain, sunshine and hailstones, but this evening it seems to have quietened down.

Today a new challenge is beginning at Moo Mania and More, and our theme is flowers.  You have 2 weeks to join in, and projects of all formats are allowed. 

At Art Journal Journey the theme is 'the sea', so I tried to combine them both by making a garden full of flowers under the sea. In my mixed media piece there are strange things going on under the water. A lady is dancing with a butterfly, a winged creature is holding on to a starfish, the gull is flying through the water and the fish are swimming around through the flowers. There is also a chorus of musical frogs sitting in a pond in the garden at the bottom of the sea. I used a painted background and a paper serviette transfer. The other elements were collaged. The quote reads 'I no longer know if I want to drown myself in love, vodka, the sea or flowers' - the lady is having a hard time choosing.

The sunrise this morning was mostly covered by clouds

I was lucky to get a dry, if windy slot for my morning walk. 

This huge tree is growing by the stream

The water in the Rhine is rising again

I love the candles on the chestnut trees

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!