Even more free online classes!

I've been on school holidays and was excited to have the opportunity to create some abstract landscapes in a free class with Laly Mille (sorry now closed).

I love how they turned out and very happy that I managed to leave some white space. I still need to frame them, but here they are individually

Check out student work from that class HERE.

Another free class just started is Flowers Magic hosted by Francesca Nunes : July 22-August 10. 

You can still sign up HERE. Includes eco printing with flowers, nature ink powders, and mixed media techniques. I gathered some papers

and I've made my raw journal

You can see what other people are doing HERE on Insta.

May : Prayer flags banner finished

Creating my book for May turned into a banner of prayer flags and I'm loving it. These 'pages' definitely fulfil the brief of being a monthly creation on book pages that is small and gorgeous, mixed media and stitched. I chose my words early on and stamped them on fabric with permanent ink

Next was to create my bases of book pages topped with organza and I took the opportunity to stitch some little elements too

Then it was over to intuitive layering 

First I made piles of papers, fabric and trims that could be included

It all came together very easily after that gathering.  Enjoyed the play again of making tyvek beads

and including old lace pieces and lovely sari ribbons

 It was a joyful and heart-led project. This is the entire banner followed by close-up shots of each word flag. 

Looking forward to a new project creating my book for June.

Bringing history alive artfully

I was very excited that I was asked to teach an art class at our public library's Local History Week! The project was called Bringing History Alive Artfully and this was my sample and the intro information 

Create an A4 piece of collaged art honouring an ancestor or special place or event in local history. Your finished piece will be able to be hung by ribbon, mounted on canvas or a book cover, or perhaps framed. We will spend 2 hours exploring new ways to celebrate local history artfully by using paper collage techniques and sharing a variety of ideas for mixed media embellishments and composition.

It was on Tuesday night and I am happy to say that we all had a wonderful time. I started the evening feeling 95% excited and 5% nervous, but that soon passed - and I was introduced as "a talented mixed media artist" which was so lovely. I said I'd take a maximum of 12 in the class, and we reached that number. 

I gave them all a base pack of papers and class notes 

I talked to them for a while about different papers, layering, embellishments, gel mediums, and composition tips. Then it was their turn. It was great to see everyone dive in and have a go, and walk around looking at each others' work and share experiences. Click on any photo to see it larger

And here's all of their work together at the end of the session 

They were all very happy with how much they achieved and it's wonderful to see the variety in what they created. It was very rewarding for my first formal experience of taking a class and I hope I get a chance to do it again sometime.

JOY birthday gift

In March, a friend had a birthday and I took a wooden word and made it into collaged wall art

More details about that HERE.
I enjoyed the process so much that I thought I'd have a go at something similar for another friend this month. Her word is JOY - again I started with a layer of gesso, and then 2 layers of acrylic paint :

I then printed some images and words onto tissue paper. To do this, attach a piece of tissue to a page of printer paper with a strip of glue stick along the top. Make sure it is trimmed to the correct page size, and feed through printer glued end first. 

I love how tissue/serviette images blend into the background. I used mod podge for this project - applied first to the painted letter and then again over the top of the serviette to seal. 
Click on any photo to see it larger.

There's a mix of serviettes (top layer only) glued alongside some of my printed tissue

and stamping with staz-on ink and brilliance gold

Washi tape can be a nice addition (although sometimes it needs some extra gluing) and you can create a different look by stamping on tissue and then tearing and gluing that down

Because she is a poet and lover of words, there's at least one word on each letter

and I love letting elements spill over the edges

Was going to theme each letter differently, but in the end they're a bit of a mix of things she loves

Happy birthday and Bon Voyage to my lovely friend

- hope you have lots of joy over the next month.

Click on the photo to see it larger or go HERE to see it in my Flickr album of wall art.