Holiday postcards

My postcards for the ANUK postcards on a holiday theme. Maria had given me lots of ephemera from her Majorcan holiday and it was fun to select items. I love coffee so there was a lot of references, mainly sugar bags.

Laura's quote 3

Picasso's quote about money, a fun doodle and a 1966 penny and ha'penny. This reflects Laura's 40th birthday and her return to accountancy. It's also an allusion to my first day of doing Treasurer business for the Parents' Association. I wrote a cheque for over £5000 amongst other things.

Laura's quote 2

Laura once gave me a poem by Robert Graves in a deco so there's a transfer of it on the LH page and his quote that there's no money in poetry on the RH page. But there's real money behind it!

Laura's quote 1

My first spread in Laura's quotes book. Oscar Wilde finishes "now that I am old I know that it is." This is not necessarily the view of the artist.

WIP2

Here's another bit of process enjoyment. I wanted a background for a Picasso quote so I doodled in pencil. I wanted to outline in a waterproof pen so used a Faber Castell PITT pen. The desired thickness came from a brush tip - which I enjoyed so much I started colouring in some shapes. This meant I used pens instead of pencils and I wet the red shapes as well. Very pleasurable.

WIP

There's been a shortage of art here for the last week, due to holiday and family, but last night I got out this page, a pill bottle, a black ink pad (waterproof) and my WHS watercolour crayons. I gessoed the page and then my mother phoned, for a while. That meant I had to phone my sister, for a longer while, and then it was bedtime. When I went to the book today I wondered what I was supposed to do. The crayons must have meant I was to colour in the rings when I had made them with the pill bottle, and the waterproof ink meant I intended to wash the colouring, but then what? I love the zing of the colours as they change from crayon to paint, it's like the excitement of a magic painting book on a wet day when I was little. Now I want the "ping" of an answer to What Next.

Failure/success at something else

I'm failing in the challenge to do a daily page in my art journal, though I have done a few backgrounds and thought out what to put on them. However, this is because of being busy with Parents' Association business. I was honoured, a month ago, to be asked to be Chairperson. I graciously said no thank you as I know I'm too immature (at 48!) but I volunteered to be Treasurer instead and suggested a superb person for Chair. Last night was the AGM and we were unopposed. I think we will make a nice team.

While not producing any art I have done a lot of thinking about it, and where and how I do it, and I expect to make changes after half term, hopefully with good results.

Daily art journal

It's all very well doing some art every day, but where's the time for photographing it and then waiting ages for Blogger to upload?

Feel balanced

This is definitely tongue in cheek.

Feel inky

I finally was able to buy isopropyl alcohol locally so I made up some ink sprays and played with them. The idea of the alcohol is fast evaporation but everything got rather wet here. It was nice to play but not highly successful. The back of the page actually looks better! If a journal is a document of life then this shows what I was at on Tuesday.

Feel blue

Having gessoed a page white, it was natural to paint a black page. Once again, something in the newspaper caught my eye: monkeys at the zoo who were afraid of blue face paint. (That could be a problem in Edinburgh Zoo as the Scottish flag is commonly used in face painting.) It was looking stark until I thought Teesha and got out my Aquarelles

Feel sharp

I love black and white. I knew what I was going to do here, then the newspaper I had laid down for protection had THE FACTS in black and white! So I changed my mind, sharpened up the act and got stamping.

Aspire

Ideas for improvement.

Feel glad

I'm about to pop in to a MacMillan coffee morning before going to work. It's being run by the daughter of a friend so I may only buy some tablet (made by my friend) and leave, therefore I've had a nice cup of coffee in my favourite mug. My mother was so glad of the support of MacMillan nurses a few years ago. (I think it's stopped raining.)

feel good

Feeling so much better with tidiness all around me (and I didn't feel guilty getting things out to use). Alice and I went to a show tonight to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. It was very professional, with songs from various shows, and ended the first half on the high of Bat out of Hell. Lovely memories, so feeling really good!! (I had wondered about calling this page feel square, but I don't think I do!)

Feel untidy

I'd got disorganised: no space on the dining table again, art materials all over the place again. Spent some of the day tidying and cleaning, before chauffeuring again.

Two missing days

I made no art on Monday but posted my two RR books. We went to the 6th form production of King Lear at night, which was excellent: I am amazed at how word perfect they were. They all spoke with meaning, in the round. I'd never seen it or studied it so I was interested as well as moved.

Today I've been out with a friend: my creative side was thrilled with coffee in The Dome, originally bank headquarters, with lots of marble, a huge high domed roof, wonderful light and palms (and good coffee and a refill), watched dd rowing, and caught up with various things. So I'm failing the art journal challenge, though I did prepare a page before going out.

Everyday book

The task this time was sun-bleached colours and the seaside. The blue sprayed paper by Maz was just wonderful, weaved with a distressed copy of e e cummings poem and two mini origami boats.

Quote book

Quote from Robert Frost about shooting stars in Linda's book. I used watercolour pencils and the blue changed with water from what I had intended.

Feel fair - gosh the 6th daily page already

Harvest festival with our "new" mnister. Lorna and I were asked to do an activity on Fair Trade and food miles so the group stuck food labels from all over the world onto a map. Thought provoking. Some interesting web sites for calculating food miles and finding food in season. We were surprised how quickly it was all over.

Then a combination of art, Dr Who and Jane Eyre.

Feel warm

A garden near Edinburgh, a September afternoon.

Feel safe

Inspired by two news items today. Enough said.

Feel organised

So organised: the spread is begun but is a work in progress, I'll finish it later! It doesn't photograph well in electric light.

Feel unique

Feel unique: the lone pink boot. First I thought it was lonely, then my daughter said it was alone and confident, and today I realised it was unique, as we all are.

First page in feel art journal

I decided to join Maz in her challenge to do a page in my art journal every day. I'm using a catalogue, called feel. I'd like to think this could be an altered journal about feelings. The first page was already attractive so I added a few more welcoming bits, or hints of an entrance hall. (And I'd be entranced by that suitcase and floor.) Despite the signs, I am not a pink person, but I can appreciate it.

Some more Everyday Book pages

These are pages I have done in the past. A given word often suggests a poem to me, (Someone else's, I hasten to add.)

Distress inks

I tried out my distress inks for the first time at the weekend and I'll use part of this A4 sheet to make my page in an Everyday book, using the colours of spice.

Sunny day

It's a lovely sunny day, Easter holiday, and I'm giving Blogger another chance to upload a photo. It looks like my problem has been using Opera, my chosen browser, all the time. Internet Explorer worked first time.

Here's an envelope I made for a swap which is rather appropriate.

Photos or not

I have several times tried to upload a photo but never manage it. The server for my blog was being replaced and apparently one of the problems had been with photos, but since I can get in again I assume that has been fixed. So, can anyone help?

Fun

A sad day. Yesterday was our performance of Carmina Burana. The evening rehearsals have been such fun and the music was so good. For so many amateurs, many who had not sung since schooldays, we made a very good sound. It was nice to meet mothers from the Junior School, and the conductor, the director of music at the school, was a great thrill, so positive and encouraging. "That was fantastic." "If you could just look at me I'll try and help you." "When the men were singing I was watching a soprano who was singing away. If she had just looked at me she would have noticed!" He explained to the junior choir at the dress rehearsal that he would make eye contact with everyone so they must keep looking at him, and if he wasn't looking at them then he would be soon and it would be such a pity if they missed him. Wednesdays won't be the same again.

Snow on Sunday

Instead of taking the first part of the service with Lorna and Fiona we have stayed at home. There is quite a blizzard here and I don't know whether we would have negotiated several hills successfully. J and A are enjoying the snow, while I am indulging in mailart and listening to Terence Stamp on Desert Island Discs.

Hobbycrafts

Had a lovely day at Hobbycrafts show in Glasgow with Christine.  We set off at 8 and got there just after it opened at 9.30.  There were some interesting demonstrations and we made judicious purchases.  I like my new envelope template best, but some stamps for less than a £1 were nice too.  It was fun to play tonight, though I have totally lost my voice (so no choir).

Carmina Burana

A gorgeous evening at the children’s school.  At the Spring Concert there will be a performance of Carmina Burana and parents can join the chorus.  We’ve got three rehearsals and they are such fun.  It’s interesting to have a different conductor and different music from the church choir.

Daddy-Long-Legs

One of my favourite books is Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.  I’ve reread it often.  There’s a poem in it which I wanted to use in a Buttons deco.  Judy says she doesn’t know who wrote.  Thirty odd years after buying my copy of the book I Googled the poem.  Lo and behold it’s by Emily Dickinson.  I only know her from a poetry reading when I was a student on retreat in Iona Abbey and an American lady read a poem, including every dash, and then, of course, Paul Simon’s Dangling Conversation.  Now I’ll have to study her.  Tonight I looked up Jean Webster (real first name Alice) and discovered she died aged 40, of childbirth complications.  Her mother was a niece of Mark Twain.