The Heart of Art

 I am not going to say much about the actual techniques or theory behind this free journal course, because when I mentioned it on one particular forum, with a link there were some 'negative' almost dismissive comments from some who obviously had not even read through the course notes!

Here is my effort - and the point where I am usually very critical of my work - but today all that has changed.

My Week 1 Part 1 in the style of wonderful Tam.

There are lots of techniques on this course which I have never tried and probably never would have.

This page consists of many layers, which include writing

Watercolours and paint

Stamping and printing

Week 1 Part 2

 My first portrait ever!

 After which you 'dribble' water along the top. 
Which was very scary for me as I thought it would totally ruin my work!

The water made the paint trickle all the way down the hair and nearer the bottom ran along the edge of it almost like an outline.

-and along the bottom (I did have to tip it up as it would have dripped all over my table)

Instead of panicking seeing the paint run it was very cathartic, and looked like someone shedding tears!

I found it mesmorising.

It is extremely rare for me to cry - so this was fascinating!

It is a dark day today so the light levels are really low so hard to capture the true colours

Having seen the latest course work on the site - Week 2 is going to be brilliant.

More techniques - and I will be coming back to this to improve it.

Thank you for looking.

And if you happen to see this Tam - thank you from the bottom of my heart for tempting me out of my arty crafty doldrums.

There are over 1,000 people who have joined Tam's journalling course

Actions speak louder than words!

If this has tempted you to have a go at something completely different, why not click on the link in my side bar and take a look for yourself - you will be amazed.

Flower Arranging Friday Again

It's that time of the month again

Flower arranging Friday - it's such a joy to meet up with friends and just play.

This month the theme was 'harvest'

Now I expect that the first thing that springs to mind is a harvest festival - pumpkins, veggies, fruit etc

You  know how I like to be different - so I did a sea harvest.

Blue delphiniums represent the sea.  White roses the sea spray

There is a conch shell in the top photo and I have used dried aspidistra leaves curled to represent those big seaweed leaves.

I live in a little bungalow so it is very difficult to photograph my arrangements

It does look lovely on the one and only coffee table in our lounge.

It smells lovely too

The delphiniums match the embroidery on the vintage table cloth exactly!

I finished the arrangement off with a coil of rough rope - I liked the difference in texture and you often see bits of old rope on the beaches