Adventures and Art

On Sunday, we pootled over to the Yorkshire Dales, to a beautiful little corner of the world known as Bolton Abbey.  Despite the appalling weather we've had so far this summer, we were pretty lucky in that the sun managed to shine a bit between the darkish clouds that blustered across the blue (yes, blue) sky, and we had a lovely relaxing time of it down by the river.

We took a delicious picnic crammed with fresh egg sandwiches made with thick country style bread, home made chocolate crispy crunch slice, cheeses, fruit and elderflower cordial that my Mum had made for us.  Armed with blankets, books, crochet, bats and balls and Crocs for paddling, we made our way down to the little sandy shore across from the Abbey and set up camp.



It was one of those lazy days that didn't really have much of a structure.  Small went off with her Dad to look at the tiny fish that were found swimming in the shallows, and I managed to sneak a half hour to indulge in some crochet and reading.



I wonder if you've spied that peacock blue yarn that I've got in my lap there?  Way back in November last year, I went up to the Knit and Stitch show in Harrogate, and I treated myself to a very luxurious skein of silk wool from Nimu Yarns.  Up until now, this yarn has sat cosily in a drawer whilst I decided what to make with it and after much searching on Ravelry, I discovered a lovely, simple pattern for a scarf.  I'm sorry to say that even though I'd bookmarked this pattern, I cannot find it for the life of me!  If I do manage to discover it again, i'll post a link for you.



After lounging around by the river, ice-creams were called for so we duly purchased some and went for a walk.  This really is a gorgeous little part of our country, the rolling hills have a very lovely sense of space about them, and it's a landscape that is very gentle on the eye.



The river water is reddish brown and clear, it plays a soothing tune as it tumbles over smooth round river stones...and we had fun making these...



Back home though, and back to work.  I'm currently in the middle of a couple of paint projects.  This is the first one, a country meets coast painting with a summery twist, I wonder if you can guess what I'm going to paint in the foreground?  Clue:  It's a very British, summery thing to do!



At the moment though, this work has taken a back seat as I've discovered mini canvas and easel sets!  An artist friend of mine on Facebook, Louise Rawlings (well worth checking out) has been creating some beautiful work with these for some time now, and I was very inspired by her creations and decided I'd like to have a go with these myself!

Here is my first offering:





This particular mini canvas is available to buy here for just £24.95 (includes P&P; in the UK).  It's an original acrylic painting, embellished with  vintage typewriter stamped text.

I've got some more ideas for these mini canvases, but would be happy to hear your ideas of what you might like to see me paint next!

Have a lovely week, see you soon.