Roses...

Taking a very short break before starting back on commissions next week.  I painted these roses from a vase full that we had in the living room.  It took me 3 days because of having to do other things.  It was very nice to paint something different after what feels like a year of bears!

Watercolour on paper - it sold within a few hours!
 

Lacy Lights

I knitted these little jam-jar covers from a pattern in this month's Simply Knitting Magazine - very cute and quite simple to make.  The idea is to put a tealight in the jar and have that lacy prettiness shine through. I've used delicate 3 ply baby yarn for these which meant adapting the pattern a little to make it fit my jars, but it worked OK.  I miss knitting lace - maybe soon I will get to knit a shawl using some of the great yarn I have accumulated in my stash this year!

Putting a spray of roses in a bottle that used to hold rose syrup makes me smile every year - I think I'm a fairly simple thing too....

Still Raining...

I am having fun with this curious duck - I am trying to get the irridescence on his chest right at the moment.  Luckily, using Inktense seems to work very well as it is possible to layer bright colours without them going muddy on the paper.  I have an idea to make this little painting a bit different and hopefully one that will raise a smile.

Happy Valentine's Day - having been an awkward teenager who never once received a card let alone a bunch of flowers, I am a little cynical about a celebration that is guaranteed to make a lot of people feel worse about their relationship status than they already do!  However, I cannot deny it is nice to be given a bouquet and some sweeties....Enjoy your day wherever you are and I guarantee that someone somewhere loves you!

Roses, Puppies & Babies......

The title sounds a bit like a verse of 'My Favourite Things.....'

It's not often I get given a lovely bunch of roses on a Sunday morning (more like never!) so I was really happy to be given this little symphony in pink by my son's girlfriend today. They are homegrown and smell heavenly...and I am really tempted to get the paints out before the end of the day to try and capture them before they fall apart.


There has been a bit of a production line going on this week - three felt puppy sets. I have a commission for one but as there is that summer fair coming up, I thought it was a good idea to replenish my stocks as I had none left. The puppy on the left is a bit of an experiment - you may recognise the giraffe print felt which I hope makes him look like a bi-coloured puppy not a deformed giraffe! I've also used back fastening plastic eyes which are larger than the beads I usually use - I can't decide if I like them or not. What do you think?


Finally, I have completed the above double portrait which is now awaiting posting to it's new owners. This was completed using various coloured pencils, mainly Derwent Drawing - I wish I was not allergic to pastels as this sort of picture could be done so much quicker! Instead, it is a very painstaking process with lots of colour overlays and blending. I'm very pleased with how this came out though - a bit of relief from the potatoes!

Bits & Pieces

It feels like a long time since I posted any artwork on here - I've not been idle, but there are no paintings on the go at the moment. What with the end of term being manic and struggling along on my broken foot, I've not felt very creative. The above are a couple of watercolour sketches I did in the garden at the weekend - turned out well considering!

I am, however, painting the toucan treasure chest - I guess that can be considered art. It is taking a very long time as I have chosen to incorporate ferns in my rainforest....tedious and time consuming, good job they are pretty!

These are some little flower brooches I gave to colleagues at work as 'thank you' presents - I'm moving up a year together with the class, so will have a different teacher & assistant to work with. These flowers were basically experiments which I decided to use in this way rather than have them kicking around doing nothing. I'm currently knitting rather a lot of the red roses - I have an idea germinating in my head but not quite formulated yet, involving roses, grey mohair & a shrug. It may just deteriorate into a giant woolly bouquet!

Blue Butterflies & Red Roses

I've had these two hand-made glass butterflies for years - we bought them in Devon at Marble World (I think that's what it was called). I've never known what to do with them until now - I spent the afternoon fashioning them into a pair of earrings. They are on gold wire with matching blue glass hearts and beads. They are £8 + P&P

This is my Dark Rose bag - remember the yarn I got on Sunday? Well, the two balls of varigated red just cried out to be made into this completely OTT little bag. It is knitted, with knitted roses and leaves together with black beads, sequins and flowers sewn on, as well as a long red satin cord handle and just to top it off, a pair of sexy tassels. Too much? Who cares! It is also lined with some rather lovely Liberty rose print cotton. It will be on my stall Sunday, but if you'd like to grab it first, it's £20 + P&P

I shall be manning a stall at Calthorpe Park School Companion Dog Show in Fleet, Sunday 11th May 12- 3p.m. There will be a selection of the knitted and felt dogs and cats, jewellery and examples of pet portraits. Let's hope the weather keeps up!