Lifebook week 6 - Dreamboard

Here's my week 6 piece for Lifebook. It's supposed to be a self portrait, and is painted over a photocopy of a photo of me, but it has so many layers it's not me anymore.

The collage elements are to represent dreams or wishes. I included gardening/ growing veggies, the bunting is like the flags I make for craft fairs and represents creativity. The girl with the bike is about exercise and spending time outdoors, also freedom and maybe I will get my bike fixed and go for a ride! The pink cushion is about having a comfy home, and is a bit of a long shot as my house is always in chaos, I'm always saying I'll declutter, but it's easier said than done!

The composition is a bit of a muddle with all those collage elements, so I didn't worry about pushing it to a 'finished' state. This one was more about ideas for me.

I love the Mark Twain quote I recently came across and included - Worrying is like paying a debt you don't owe.

I'm trying to keep that in mind through the job hunting process... I've decided that sending off applications and getting knock backs is like chipping away at a sculpture, getting rid of the things that aren't right, to uncover the perfect role (hopefully!)

Here's a sneak peek at a painting for the group show I'm part of in April..... a vagabond!!

Lifebook 2017 - week 5 - abstract

This weeks lesson was a many layered abstract with Wendy Brightbill. Mine has watercolours, acrylics and coloured pencils. I missed out the layers of inks and gel pens because I don't have them.

I don't often work in abstract - the figure and moments from my life are really at the heart of what makes me paint... so it was hard not to turn these shapes into leaves, flowers, etc! I'm not sure if it works as a whole composition, but there are details that I love, and it was a lot of fun to do. I'd love to get this kind of  richness of layering into my normal painting.

I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying working on paper (instead of canvas). I'm using a heavyweight cartridge paper 220gsm, it's surprisingly sturdy - it buckles a bit with very wet watercolour but seems to flatten out once it's dry. Once you start adding layers of gesso, collage, acrylics, etc, it becomes leather tough.

I have just added these 3 little still life paintings to my etsy shop. They are tiny 4x4 inch canvases I did last year. Have a great Sunday.