Feminine and floral

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are having a good weekend, and that the weather is being kind to you!

For Art Journal Journey, masculine-feminine, and for Mix it Monthly, face profile, I have made another mixed media journal page. The background was painted with gesso and then giving a wash of blue and green mixed. I then spritzed some darker blue onto the page and added some pieces of hand-written paper which I waxed and ironed to make it transparent. I drew the face with a black uniball gel pen. I find it very hard to draw faces, especially in profile, but I tried. I coloured the face and hair with pastel chalks.

I am also linking to Kim Dellow's Art it Friday, show your Face and to Moo Mania and More, anything goes.

Today I got very wet on my walk, and was able to get three drippy photos of the roses in the hospital gardens before I had to pack away the camera

These are the ones from yesterday, taken with my phone - and  when the weather was better:

Have a great day you all, take care.

and thanks a lot for coming by!

More masculine and feminine

Hi Everybody,

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

For Art Journal Journey, masculine-feminine, I have another piece to share. For the background I used an A3 brush-wipe page, which I stamped over with a large flourish using white gesso. When it was dry I added more layers using various stencils to give more depth. The man and woman were printed onto book paper, fussy cut, and positioned on the page. The lady is from one of my old German women's Magazines from 1899. Then I added lots of different flying bits and bobs to show the traditional roles of men and women, especially in the 'good old days' - the woman kept busy with house, kids, garden, pets, and the man more able to go out and enjoy himself with fast cars and motorbikes. Of course, this is once again stereotyped, but I think it was harder to break through the typical, defining roles of men and women in those days than it is today, at least in our culture. The animals at the bottom are also symbolic, but I think you will be able to work it out for yourselves. I am also linking to Moo Mania and More, anything goes.

Some people asked about the jays. They are growing fast, but I only feed them once a day now, as there is plenty for them to find outside, and they need to learn to fend for themselves. I still enjoy watching their antics, though!

Just a few photos from yesterday, those from today  are still in the camera.

Have a great weekend you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Birds, a face and flowers

Hi Everybody!

We had a warm and sunny day today, tomorrow we have been promised thunderstorms again, and next week it will probably be cool and rainy - at least we get plenty of variety!

For Art Journal Journey, masculine-feminine, I have another mixed media journal page. I am also linking to  Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, to Moo Mania and More, anything goes and to Kim Dellow's Friday face art, a cool place to link up art with faces.

I started out with an A3 sheet of paper onto which I had smeared a bit of crackle paste left over from another project and a few scraps of left over paper. I gave it a coat of gesso, and let it dry. I painted over it with blue and purple paints, and then spritzed it with diluted white acrylic and with gold ink. I glued on some scraps of handwritten paper which I made transparent by ironing some wax over it. I always feel so virtuous when I can say I did some ironing! I drew the face using one of my home made stencils, which I have used for other things this past week, too. I used the stencil waste to mask the surroundings and sprayed the face with some white paint to make it a little lighter than the surroundings. I added colour to the features with Gelatos and a water pen. I doodled and coloured the flowers and birds. For the stylised birds I made some stencils inspired by an image I saw in a book of medieval manuscripts. The birds are holding the little bits of string mentioned in the quote from Bryan Andreas. I used a gold pen to outline the birds and leaves. 

Close up of the texture from the crackle paste:

Some glimpses of one of the gardens in the Church close - enjoy!:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Feminine from a masculine viewpoint

Hi Everybody!

Hope your day is going well. I have been having problems with my internet today. It is back on now, but slower than usual, so hope things will  soon be back to normal. I know these things are sometimes unavoidable, but it is still annoying.

Today I tried to copy a painting from Toulouse Lautrec, who painted many pictures of women, and whose name is connected with the Moulin Rouge and the Montmartre, where he often portrayed the night life of Paris.  It is called 'Le Corset Rouge',  from 1896. The background was made with brushos and sprayed and dripped colours, and I drew the figure with charcoal and pastel chalks.
I am linking to Art Journal Journey, Masculine and feminine.

Today started off with a cloudy sunrise.

I noticed these mushrooms growing in a hollow tree-stump

Somebody has painted the masculine sign on one of the trees:

Mill Lane:

Roof tops and spires

Have a great day you all, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!