Fiona's Heart

2010-01-04T19:48:00.003Z

Take a bunch of tulips

add some snow (note to self - borrow water proof trousers before lying down in the snow to get the right angle)

Retreat indoors, warm up, and play with a black fleece as a backdrop instead.
Place flowers in a vase and admire.

2010-01-03T20:26:00.007Z

Stone circle outing........................
Today's outing involved both the ancient and the modern. First off, we took a tiny little detour off the dual carriage way to visit a stone circle. I received a Fuji Instax camera for my birthday and I wanted to play with it. It doesn't do too well developing in the sub zero temperatures! Luckily I also had the Lumix too.
The modern bit was trip to Asda where I discovered they do pseudo-Moleskine journals. Naturally, I had to try the 2 different sizes, for scientific purposes of course. The paper quality is pretty good considering its not the real thing. But way cheaper and a good place to play!

2010-01-01T16:58:00.004Z

2010 already?I'm still trying to get the concept that another year has moved on. Each one is going around faster. Anyway, I don't bother with the New Year's Eve thing - standing outside in the cold watching a clock move just doesn't do it for me. Instead, I choose to get up this morning and play. I typed out a 2010 (way too small it turned out) and then took it and the boy's vintage typewriter into the garden. Earlier I had found a wonderful mcguffin to get photos of him (he's 9 and elusive). Having shown him the snowcils I made yesterday, he wanted to have a go. See below, with some green added.

He did a bit of spraying and then got bored with the delicacy. Instead, after a few trips into the kitchen to acquire different food colouring and only one change of clothes later, he produced a wonderful abstract piece of art which happened to include an accidental green girl in a frock. If you look, you can see it! Once again, the streak of red looks like a vampire visited but it has all faded nicely a few hours later. Is there a better way to spend your birthday morning - making art and getting photos of an elusive child?Apparently, we are doing more tomorrow............

2009-12-31T16:56:00.003Z

Happy Hogmanay (no, I have no idea what it means either!)

If you are not from Scotland, then let me translate - happy new year's eve!

There has been a great deal of snow about, which is rare for this part of the Scottish coast, atleast for it to lie for so long. It has offered a great opportunity to stock up on some snow art. Inspired by Katie's multicolured snowballs in this post, I mixed up a bottle of red food colouring and got out a doily. I'm calling it a snowcil - you heard it here first!

Maybe if I had picked a different colour, the globs might not look quite so like a vampire added to the scene! Perhaps if it is still snowy tomorrow, I'll give the blue colouring a go.

And then of course, there is my favourite loch, still frozen over and still as photogenic as ever. I may even have finally worked out how to do bokeh style photos (where you intend to blurr the background as to accidentally doing it!)

And to keep us all going through the dark depths of January, Sharon over at Allnorah'sart is setting up an online portrait class. Wathc out from registration details.

2009-12-08T17:59:00.002Z

Suzi Blu angel painting class

I just suzi's classes. Really, I could watch her paint all day. We were encouraged to use texture on the wings and to give the dresses some detail too, even to add hands. hands? Seriously? I don't do hands - never been able no matter how much I've tried. I enjoyed painting this lady and want to get to more this weekend. Shabby, shabby, pretty, pretty.

2009-08-23T16:38:00.006Z

More goddesses from Suzi Blu's fab workshop

snowflakes for the soul

The moon behind her is full of spakly microbeads. I think she comes over all christmassy?
I think need to stop watching Desperate Romantics! Atleast it makes you hit the art reference books all over again to see what was really going on!and this one is to be a present for my biggest baby - 14 years old on Tuesday and an amazon who towers over, and terrifies, her mother! Happy birthday sweetheart!

More goddess faces, courtesy of Suzi blu's great workshop

2009-08-05T19:21:00.004Z

Busy, busy, busy

I've become a bit of a drawing machine these past few weeks. It's the fault of Suzi Blu and her wonderful online class The Goddess and the Poet. It's basically a drawing class with knobs on. I needed a refresher as somewhere along the line I had forgotten how to do it properly. I mean I can, but I had forgotten. So this is a small sampler of a few of the pages in my journal, some with paint and colured pencil, and others still just plain drawings.

2009-05-26T18:26:00.004Z

Why - no.2?

Why, why? What did the poor pizza ever do to deserve this? I have no idea, but it must just have been the wrong pizza, in the wrong kitchen at the wrong time.

2009-05-26T18:19:00.005Z

Why - no.1?

Why did I lend him the camera and show him sports mode? 175 photos in an afternoon!!!! He sat in the back of the car and documented our trip to Dundee and back home. The joys of digital. And you know, I think the boy has an eye for reportage photographs.

2009-05-09T10:43:00.004Z

Recent journal pages

2009-05-09T10:30:00.008Z

While man goes sailing.........
a sensible woman enjoys home baking in the clubhouse and wanders about with her camera in one hand and a coffee mug in the other, looking for a few interesting things to snap. What a great tree.

It's slippery on the rocks, glad I didn't fall in!

Poor wee abandoned boat......and look, I made the grass purple! Why? Because I could........

I'm window shopping for a new camera. That's almost as much fun as actually buying it.

Oh the possbilities

2009-05-09T10:15:00.003Z

GPP Crusade - I finally completed one after long gap!!

I seem to have unintetnionally taken a bit of a blog break. Work was just too demanding on my poor little brain cells, and on the fading strength of my right arm. Both needed resting, so I had to cut back on the surfing and the arting. Plus, I'm still looking for the ejector seat button for the teenage girl on the big pc, which houses all my images.

I enjoyed the april GPP challenge, which was to add text, and I was trying to make it an integral part of the piece. In the first one I was inspired by an add which had a model's face as the canvas for graffitti.

This second journal page was inspired by a Suzi Blu video in which she was painting something inspired in turn by a book, which I think was In the Night Garden and had to do with a person who had an entire book written under their eyes. This technique allows you to write over lines of text and make shapes, thus obliterating the distinct text from being read. Pretty sure I didn't write anything profund or revelatory under my eyes!

2009-05-09T09:45:00.008Z

I love car boot sales!

May marks the start of the car boot sale season in my area. I love them to bits. Yes, I'm a thrifty blogger - there should be a button for that! Last year, I hardly got to go to any, so I was raring to go. The first one was fun and yielded lots of things off my list. Yes, I make a boot sale list. I find it helps to focus me, and stops me buying too much of stuff that I really don't have use for. The best bit, apart from the Yu-gi-oh cards for D S which kept him happy and quiet, was the big brown Victorian charger. It was the last purchase of the day, found while idly glancing at a stall while the others chose home baking. It had a ton of stuff on top of it, but there it was in perfect condition. Now it it one of my fruit dishes on the dresser, and looking good with the oranges. I always prefer to use stuff like this rather than put it in the cupboard. The blue plates are going to be my pudding dishes. Can you imagine eating apple crumble and custard from these on a cold winter night? I can! These came from the most amazing place a couple of miles away. It started as a sideline to the farm and has taken over. There is a huge barn piled high with furniture, and not for the faint hearted. The words health and safety have never been heard in this establishment. Tons of stuff lie on the ground, in old shopping trollies etc in the open air, getting wet and green with mould. These beautiful blue and white plates were lurking in shopping basket on the ground, an interesting shade of green. I pretty much fell in love with them at first sight. The guy said he bought them at a big country house sale, once the home of a famous Victorian prime minister. Perhaps Gladstone ate his pudding off them? Or maybe it was just a story. But they were made in Kirkcaldy and are early Victorian, so I'm happy with them. The colour makes me smile.

And so does this colour................................

2009-02-15T16:03:00.003Z

Monica at Hands and Heart is celebrating her first blogiversary and is hosting a lovely giveaway. If you like painted ladies check it out!

2009-01-19T19:09:00.004Z

Inaugural bears!

My Colourbox teddy bears are gathered together to join in the inauguration celebrations. Yes, they are inaugurating a new home in the printer's tray in the conservatory after years in a dusty box. They've even had a bath! They were happy to be reunited with their American fimo friend, sent as an ambassador many years ago by our American cousins, well mother in law actually. Much cake and ice cream, and no doubt much giggling will ensue.

Oh yeah, isn't there some kind of huge inaugural party going on somewhere else as well?!? Hope they have fun too!

2009-01-19T19:01:00.006Z

The story of the yellow dress

Oh dear, should have used the scanner for this page! I was wondering what to do for yellow. Not a colour I use much. On Sunday my little boy was asking about my rings. I have a ring from my mother, grandmother and great grandmother which gets him interested in family history. We looked at some photos of the women in question and answered his questions. Sadly he never met any of them. He also divied up the rings between him and his sister! In his dreams....

But in the same box as the photos were 2 old jotters from P4 (3rd grade in the USA) which I had written. That year we had to write a diary entry every day. My spelling was dreadful and little was usually written but I loved to draw even then and drew loads. Every now and then I got quite enthused about an event. The last page has an entry about a play that was staged in the gym hall called "The ring and the rose" in which, apparently, a lady wore a yellow dress at the end! This is what I would put her in today.

2009-01-19T18:57:00.003Z

More January journaling catch up ---orange, white, and green

Phew, getting caught up on the scanning and uploading. I've enjoyed the colour part of the challenge, even the yellow. Although orange proved to be my least favourite thing I've painted but hey, we can't all produce masterpieces (!/) each time we lift up a paintbrush.

White was fun. I used lots of yellow and gold under the white.

Green was loads of fun and I used lots of layers many of which I sandpapered away to reveal the colour underneath. Just can't resist the white dots....

But I really hate this profile and think I'll paint over it later and try again. Oh well.

2009-01-15T20:03:00.004Z

Blue.........
Colour challenge week is certainly interesting. I found blue to be more interesting than I thought while orange turned out most unsatisfactorily. Green is going well but I need some daylight to do the skin tones. Ah, the joys of layering paint and then applying sandpaper! A revelation!

The blue page above is mainly ocean blue graphitint pencil with some paint washed through and into some doily masks. The whole feel and imagery was inspired by a wonderful Glasgow Girl artist called Jessie M King, a contemporary of Charles Rennie MacIntosh. Google her and check out her wonderful detailed fairy tale romantic illustrations - much to enjoy and inspire. I used some of her elements and cunningly avoided drawing her hand. As my bloggy friend Rhomany says, life is too short to draw hands. Excellent philosophy in life, one I apply to ironing too.

Off to paint more. White is next I believe - exciting!

2009-01-11T14:06:00.006Z

January journalling catch up

During the week I have been pleased that I have managed to pretty much keep with the challenge. OK, so I have dodged the self portrait challenge as I will need to work up to that one. I am trying some new things for me such as remembering how to do bodies. When I was much younger and last drew every day, I would make detailed drawings of Elizabethan portraits and draw all the dress details. Twenty years later, I've kind of forgotten how I did that. So I've started on a new learning curve - to show more than the neck and shoulders. Well, atleast occasionally! Here they are, including the flowery page awaiting a photo.

Hands - what are they? I don't do and never have done hands. I'm going for stylistic not realistic!

Happy birthday SIL- she really is a magician. This one is for Amye.

Fun with masks! It was intended for a photo but I'm enjoying the minimimalist look at present.

She's not quite doen but I have to grab scanner time when I can get it. She needs some more detail and some words. Later this afternoon or tonight while we watch tv, I can doodle away and finish her. She's also my offering for the Embrace the Face challenge. The challenge was Grow, so this lady is GRO, the name of one of DH's Norwegian ancestors.

Take care

Fiona

2009-01-04T12:31:00.003Z

Misty's January Journalling challenge days 1-3

I think my challenge to myself within Misty's journal every day challenge will be to only use my own images or photos on the pages.

Sometimes the scanner doesn't pick up the subtle detail of the backgrounds but what can you do?
This one is a bit of a cheat as I started it on Hogmanay but the first was my birthday as I knew I wouldn't have too much time. Let's hope I can keep it up when I start work again tomorrow.

2008-12-31T10:58:00.002Z

OOps, nearly forgot.................

to add my image for the Embrace the Face challenge blog. I've only recently found it and it looks very interesting!

2008-12-31T10:40:00.004Z

Wrapping up 2008

It's nearly time for a change of calender, a time to decide to make a fresh start and leave the old behind. So for those of us who love paper and paint, that sounds like a good reason to start another art journal. I've changed over to a larger vintage atlas and am enjoying the extra space. Didn't count on no longer being able to get a full double page spread on the scanner, but that's a minor issue!

I've played alittle in the new book and this is one side of a snowy spread from earlier in the month. I kept it all very icy, in complete contrast to the next page in the book.........

which was done on the evening of the winter solstice. Oddly enough, there is a bit of old paper on the bottom left, but out of the scan, which I slapped on without much thought. I noticed later how apt it was as it is a renewal of a fire policy - exactly what our ancestors were desperate for on the winter solstice!

This lady is not fully dressed up for the New Year yet. I'll be playing with this drawing tonight evening, and adding in goals and hopes for 2009.

So what are you looking forward to next year (we'll take all the big wishes about prosperity, world peace etc as a given) Me? For now I'm going to look at the small picture such as Misty Mawn doing a month full of art journalling prompts an encouragements. Crikey, I had a list of things but my mind has gone blank. Well, I'm sure I'll remember it before this evening. Atleast by that time 3 of the 5 children currently sleeping over will be in their houses again!! I think I need more coffee.........

2008-12-09T20:20:00.001Z

Some seasonal art
I had fun using a table runner as a stencil on this background. She's not quite done but I wanted to look at her from another perspective. It must be the season making me think of icons and angels as I have definitely got a thing about halos at present.

Stay warm.

Fiona

2008-12-09T19:44:00.003Z

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..........

Tree up - check
School Christmas concert - check
Presents organised - check
Lot's of candles in the house - check
Any need to go to a big city to do any more shopping? No
Holiday reading sorted - check

Good! It really is beginning to look a lot like christmas now.

But it is still a bit scary.....

or am I just a wuss????

Hoping for lots of photo opportunities this weekend - wish me luck the dear daughter will let me take pics of her in her school dance dress................

2008-12-09T19:42:00.001Z

Let there be light......

and we certainly need it on a very dull, wet day today. Miserable is the word. Time to stay in and do some of the following:

watch a good movie
do some sketching
root for the right person to win the X Factor tonight
wrap some presents
make cookies(well, DH will)
read a book
play war games with son
persuade teenager to wear her dance dress so I can take some nice photos of her in it.
listen to music on my new toy, the Viewbox

ah, the joy of rainy days - you don't feel guilty not about not going out.