Etchings And Other Lovelies

I have really noticed recently the huge number of artists who now have blogs. Not just amateurs like myself but professional artists and craftspeople too. Often when I put in a link to an artists website or Flickr page or Etsy there is often a blog to be linked to as well. Personally, I think it is a wonderful thing because you are able to see how artists go about the business of creating their art or craftwork, the inspiration behind it, the processes involved and the reactions of people viewing the work. What did we do before blogging..?

Fox In A Magical Land

Mischievous Bird - I think I may do a digital coloured version of this when I have a bit more time.

A bit of fibre tipped illustration

These beautiful mosaic pieces are by Russian self-taught mosaicist Irina Charny. Irina incorporates found objects such as bits of seashore glass, beads, wire and buttons etc into her work as well as traditional tesserae. She has a website here and some wonderful examples of her beautifully intricate and finely detailed artwork. Her butterflies in particular are wonderful.

Mariposa

Fortuna

I have been walking out and about in the countryside recently and taking some early autumn photos. The weather has been warm and dry and very nice to walk in, but I am eagerly awaiting the autumnal mists when photography becomes very special and mundane places appear magical. We have been promised that for early October, but can we rely on the weather forecast...hmmm.

Even weeds can appear pretty in close up.

This is a very friendly local horse who I often stop to have a chat with. I don't think he is very interested in conversation but he did oblige me with a nice pose.

Early Autumn Farmland

A couple of weeks ago I made my yearly craft pilgrimage to Stonor Craft Fair in Oxfordshire. Stonor is a tiny village with some beautiful buildings and gorgeous old barns, and is surrounded by undulating hills and woods. It is an idyllic spot and has a wonderful atmosphere. I have visited Stonor House in the past and it is a fascinating home with an intriguing history. The manor house has been owned by the same family for 850 years and the chapel dates from the 1200s and is situated on what was once a stone circle. One of the stones is incorporated into the chapel wall and the others have been rearranged on the lawn.

The craft fair is one of the best in the south-east of England and is very well attended. I spent a really enjoyable few hours there.

Stonor House

Marquees at Stonor
One of the exhibitors at Stonor was Leon Evans who is an illustrator and graphic artist who works in pencil and watercolour primarily. He was displaying his wildlife art at Stonor and the two scratchboard images below really caught my attention. Having cats myself I could see that he had rendered these animals beautifully. I hadn't really come across scratchboard work before and he explained the technique to me in detail. I might get some scratchboard myself and have a go. Looks like fun. You can see Leon's website here.

These delightful cards are produced by using scratchboard by Leon. They are so cute I couldn't resist them.

I really like the almost naive simplicity of Esther Brimage's work. Esther is a UK printmaker who trained in both illustration and printmaking. You can find more of her work on her website here.

Girl With A Dog

Morning Star

I love visiting John Lewis Department Stores. All those lovely items under one roof - a browsers paradise. I particularly like their carpet and rug department. There are so many lovely contemporary designs around now, as well as the traditional rugs of years ago. So lovely to handle them too; the thick warm tactile textures. You could imagine just lying on them in front of a roaring fire - in winter of course. The three below particularly caught my eye for their graphic designs and muted palatte.

Cheese Plant Rug

Harlequin Arcadia Rug

Silhouette Leaf Rug

These gorgeous etchings below are all the work of award winning Latvian artist/printmaker Marina Terauds. I love etchings anyway but Marina's are particularly beautiful. She has a wonderful detailed style and use of subtle colour. Her subject matter includes mythology, nature, the seasons, birds, trees, fairies and lots more lovely things. If you love her work you will be delighted by her website here with lots more images to look at.

Marina also has a blog where you can see more of her inspirations, work and life here.

Summer II

Dream II

Nuthatch II

Sounds Of The Sea

Sun Moon Fairies

Bird In Hand

Fairy's Music

Lady In Hat

Colour Wheel, Balance and One White Horse

White Horse - Digital Artwork

Thought I would try a spot of architectural pen and ink drawing for a change

Balance - Digital Art

Sketch for "Balance" drawing

Dulux Paint Colour Cards in a very messy wheel

Peace Rose

Late again with the blog. I really don't know where the time disappears to. I swear time has speeded up in the last few years.

I have been adding to my extensive collection of Dulux Colour Cards lately. Our local DIY stores do the full colour range and I absolutely love them. I just sneak a few out at a time though. I love to go through all the colours when I am stuck for combinations of colours in a picture. They are very useful to just place together to see how the colours look like side by side. I am not sure I would want walls painted some of the darker shades but as an adjunct to art they are priceless. The ones in the photo are not in the correct spectrum order but I didn't have time to sort them out. I will do so one of these days because I think they have more impact that way. I often use colours in the order of the spectrum in my pictures. Nature knows best which colours go with which colours.

I have been busy computer painting this week. My white horse took absolutely ages to colour but I am pleased with the final result. The only thing wrong is two of the turquoises look very similar in shade when printed whereas on the computer one is much darker. It is my fault for using colours without printing them out on paper first. I must remember that in future.

I want to thank Mellanie "Genxsters" this week for awarding me an "arte y pico" award for posting a blog she enjoys reading. It was very kind of her. She is a very talented artist with a great ability to produce lifelike portraits among other things. Pop over to her blog here for a visit when you have a spare moment.

I am also quite pleased with my "balance" drawing. This was originally a bit of a sketchbook doodle but she gradually developed ballet shoes and I thought she needed to go "en pointe". I didn't even do too badly with the hands this time either. I have posted a picture of the sketch so that you can see how she started out. At some point her hair turned into side buns and she lost her "heart". Still that is the beauty of art - you can do what you like with it....lol.