Why was l not in the studio this afternoon ?

No Art todasy ... sorry !

I had an afternoon off from the children and my studio today, to go up to the City. Why? My son arrived back today, from Australia for a holiday and so l am meeting him and my daughter for lunch! :)  The weather was beautiful and l am a very happy mum ! 

No ...  he is not worshiping the metal ball or drunk, he has just fallen off his skateboard. :)

These boots are made for waking ! Actually they belong to my son !

London does have a beach ! :)

My two wonderful children. X

Never seen one of these before ... a fresh flower vending machine ..epic ! It was at Blackfriers Station.

Reflections.

These are beautiful sculptures in Chelsea and Westminster 

Hospital.

A "Bubble" Art Day !

Today l started work on some Pray Flags, for a friend of mine in USA, who is selling them for charity. I started work at about 11am and when l next looked at the clock, it was 5pm! I was inside my own little Art Bubble! No lunch, no water and no talking to anyone! Phew!!!  All the flags are painted with acrylic and l used loads of stencils and masks. The flag below is " Peace " written in Arabic and Hebrew.

Hope she likes them.

To close or not to close ? Paintings and a stamp challenge !

Just lately l have been wondering if l should close my art studio. Why? Well although l am paying the rent and am able to buy all the paint etc l need, for the last 3 years l have not paid myself. Don't get me wrong, l LOVE teaching babies, tots, children and adults but l hate cleaning floors. My main problem is this ... l cannot get volunteers to help me for just 3 hours in the afternoon for 4 days a week! They want to work with the children but not share any of the "yuck" jobs, in their view. So at the age of 61, l am laying the paper all over the studio floor, washing all the floors, washing the toys and so on. 

Anyway, l have had time to think and l have decided to try and get the word out there more and see what happens. Fingers crossed please everyone.... or just the one person that reads this blog! :)

I must start finding time for myself to paint more too, especially as l have signed up to take part in Open Studio's this year again. 

So here are some of the pieces l have been working on recently. As l seem to have so little time to paint these days, l savor every painting session. The trouble is l seem to need at least 4 hours straight, to be able to think, potter and paint these days! Teaching in my studio, takes up most of my day. Don't get me wrong, l LOVE my work but sometimes l wish l could just paint all day.

A while ago, l bought a Geli plate and l have had so much fun.

This is one of my children's paintings, that l have added more details to.

I am just about to finish"The Fallen Angel "series. I am stuck on their faces and am half way through the end painting. The faces are really stumping me, at the moment. I don't want to paint actual faces but l don't want them to stay blank either. Need to think about them for a while, l think. The first image is painting number 3 and then the next one is the last one.

My style has started to change again! This is a new finished piece. It has about 12 layers to it and l had so much fun creating it. Using acylic paint, stencils, modelling paste, inks and markers.

The next piece is another dream that l have had over 3 nights. It is still a work in progress but l am having fun, finding out where it is going!

The next image shows how a lot of my canvases start out. It is the result of me wiping my brush on a canvas, instead of a rag, when l change colour !

I have also been making stamps out of sticky-backed foam. So easy and l love the results. I challenged myself to use every pice of a sheet of foam. Look ... not only did l do that but l made 26 unique stamps. :)

Sunday 20th July ...pigeons, swans and a barbecue

Just thought l would show you "the swan", created by one of my favorite barista's from Artisan Coffee Shop in Putney.

I run an Art course called, "Yes you can ". l sent one of my students home with a bunch of items, for her to create some thing with. She was having a job coming up with something and so left all the things on a table, hoping to have some ideas.. The plane below, was made by her husband, with some of those items. :) It is an amazing piece of work and there is no glue involved. He is very proud of it and so he should be. 

We have my grandson with us this weekend, so we decided to feed the ducks, at the pond in Barnes. I am afraid there were more pigeons than ducks !!! :) BUT ... he really enjoyed trying to feed anything that moved ! Ha!

 

Learning to feed the ducks.

Strange that one of the signets is white ... ?

1. Now stand in line boys.

They are so flurry.

We were not the only ones feeding the ducks ... this little boy nearly joined the swans, he was throwing the bread so vigorously! oops !

The sun shone through the leaves , making them seem as though they were glowing.

Some great Brachts on the tree opposite the bench, we were sitting on.

The river that runs through the park, is so beautifully clear.

Well done Nunkie, he got him to sleep ... cute.  :)

He is so proud of himself. :)

Scooting together.

So cute.

Then after lunch, we went home. Little one and l spent a couple of hours playing on the grass, infront of our flats. Here he is trying to drink from my cup ... using no hands !!! He is quite a character !

 The couple behind us, were having a barbecue .... he went to iinvestigate them and their "fire" ! :)

It was a great day out.