Delicious Art Day

A cold May morning dawns, yes, the heating is on and there is a steady drizzle from the opaque white sky above but I am not bothered, as today (after a rather long absence) I have a date with my paints and all things arty, and it feels rather marvellous, like Ive been given an extra birthday.

As soon as the little one was on her way to Nannie Mum's house, I eagerly got everything ready and soon it was a hive of activity as I basked in the luxury of an entire day reaching before me, filled with all things colourful and creative. My main goal today was to complete 'Can We Come Too?' ~ a mixed media piece which has been sat on my sideboard top for several weeks now desperately awaiting my attention, and to begin a new one which already has been entitled 'A Lovely Dream' - or at least it has for now :)

the original sketch for 'Can We Come Too?'

Some of you may recall a little snap shot of 'Can We Come Too?' several weeks back when it was only just half way done. Since then I haven't been near it, except to glance at it in passing and several different ways of continuing with it have run through my mind after coming to a stand still and not knowing where to go with it. This happens to me sometimes, and Ive discovered that time is very good at sending you just the right idea when its ready. So today, I got stuck in, acrylic paints and buttery oil pastels, blending, scraping, drawing into...oh it was bliss!

So, after a couple of very absorbing hours, it was finished - ta-daaaaaaa!! Here it is!

'Can We Come Too?'

Oh Im so very pleased with it - I love the rush of euphoria that comes with completing a painting - and right after finishing this one I was to be found hugging a big mug of tea and my sketch journal working on the next piece, 'A Lovely Dream' which I have big plans for - Im going to be entering it into an Illustration competition and it needs to be ready by the end of the month.

I will share more details as I progress with it - suffice to say its going well so far and its nice to have a goal to work to as far as painting goes as just lately I feel that Ive given the majority of my time over to my crochet and baking goodies :) Sometimes my art work is sadly neglected in favour of wool and cake.

(a little close up of Bo the dog and Little Red walking by the lavender fields)

However...I don't think I can neglect my crochet work completely in favour of my painting - its my one big chance to fully chill out and I love squeezing a bit into my day, its like a meditation and there are no expectations with it other than to eventually make something nice for the house. So, imagine my delight when the postie stopped off at my little house this morning and delivered this:

Happy squeals of delight as I flick through the pages - oh theres going to be no stopping me now, everything will be adorned with poppies and pansies just wait and see :)

This book is even more significant in a tiny way, as when I was browsing flowery crochet books and was reading up about them, I was very taken with the fact that this particular author, although American spent 7 years living in Sheffield (which is my city folks) and was heartily inspired by all the different coloured flowers she saw during her time here, which formed the basis of her inspiration for this book! Hurrah!!

Thats about all from me today, Im off to do some much needed website work now - my little one isnt due back til after tea so Im making the most of the quiet to get on with things. Its been good to reconnect with my painting today, kind of wondering why I left it so long actually...but as you know, life gets in the way and time flies!

Til next time, pink sunsets and mango frappes to you :)

Love J xxx