It's cooling down here...

in British Columbia, Canada, which means more time in the studio, of course.  And it's a hodge-podge on one of the tables.  I can actually see four books-in-progress on this half of the table alone.  You'll note the toilet paper roll thingy is just above that riotous canvas piece.  It was not nearly the success it was meant to be, although there are parts of the painty blue and pink twists and turns on that canvas.

One of the books received some black ink work on the fabric cover with the next step to include addition of beads on those trailing elastics.

The floral signature in process received some more flowers and decorative pen work this week;  goodness knows what else will add to the fun.

A highlight of the week was a Saturday morning playtime with Eileen and Laura.  Eileen brought a project for us (just in case we got bored 🤣); she'd been making tassels for an upcoming market giveaway, so we got to make some too.  Eileen had cut a large amount of her wonderful hand-dyed fabric into strips, so there was ammunition aplenty.

My first attempt included an over-inked stamped word, so I kept that one for myself and made a couple more to add to the box for Eileen.  It was great fun, and has me giving the side-eye to a pile of fabric that I keep handy in the studio for goodness-knows-what. 

Laura and Eileen were so fast with the technique that they had the box near-full when I was on my third one!

The photo above, if you can believe it, is of the same canvas piece that is in the first photo.  It makes me wonder how many layers are on there, and how many more can I add?  With this week near finished, I'm thinking I can get three more layers on it before the weekend.  Maybe? 🤔

Happy week to you all - I'll pop over and check out your week when this is ready to go!  

It's been a mixed bag this week...

...but a fun one, nonetheless.

With friends in the studio for a morning, we got our playtime on.  Laura was working on inking a painting as she readies for The Square Foot Show.

Eileen was playing with a small series of abstract pieces which, of course, had me yearning to do the same.

As a consequence, I threw some paint at a journal spread

in a trio of colours that was well out of my usual range.  Lavender, warm yellow and burnt sienna were the suggestions for my September art prompt, and I had fun with them.  More to come on this spread once it truly dries, I suspect.

As I looked through this journal after our playdate, I was struck by the range of luscious colour and texture in some of the spreads, and thought you might enjoy a peek at some of them. 

Now that I've got my abstract appetite whetted once again, I think I'd better get back to the studio.  Have a happy September week, my friends!  

It's great to have...

so many fabulous artists friends online, and I really enjoy following their blogs.  So I'm letting you in on some good ones in this post, and will repeat this type of post periodically, 'cause there are just so many!!!

Make sure you pop over to The Stardust Factory.  You'll love the luscious layers in Deann's digital work, and when they're coupled with her oh-so-spot-on bits of quotes/poetry/songs, the double whammy is outstanding.  Here's one of her recent rich pieces called Gypsy Dreams:

For thought-provoking insights, you can't outdo Soujourner.  Tracy does wonder-full journal work as well as paintings, book-bindings and more.  Her introspective posts are clear, concise and pack an excellent humanistic wallop.  Check out the colour in this page, called 'Close to home'.

One blogger that is always great for a belly laugh is MadebyCHook.  Corrie's work is always beautiful, and often side-splitting; for that I am beyond grateful.  I swear she made this one up from my head:

For garden-inspired beautiful mixed media, I encourage you to check out Laura Leeder's work.  One can't help but think of garden light when viewing her birds and flowers and this one, Peace on Earth, is so serene.

Eileen Gidman is an artist accomplished in many areas - from watercolour to plein air painting to dyes on textiles.  It's the latter that really pulls me in.  The process is labour intensive, but the results are so worth it; her new series of wow-colour pups just makes me grin.  This one is called Playful.

I'll be sharing more of these wonderful artists soon;  in the meantime, do pop over and give these artists some love.  You'll be most welcome!

Well, wasn't that...

...a bookmark-making party at the library?   Those ladies were ready to go all night they were having so much fun.  With around 80 bookmarks completed, that's a lot of donation-funding from an event that was such a blast.

My inner colour pig was SO happy...

...and I was most certainly not the only one feeling that way.

In marked contrast to all that colour...

...we had an overnight snowfall this past week, and it was still falling at 6 am when I took my morning walk.  It was so beautiful - snow-puffed trees, lacy in the dark and aglow with lamplight. Just as I walked out onto the street something flashed in front of me and was gone. I walked a few steps to see, to my left on Cedar Street, a family of deer poised for further flight. There were half of dozen of them, standing in the middle of the street, frozen like a 1950's postcard, waiting to see if I meant them harm. We spoke to each other silently for a few moments and when I finally said good morning, they literally bounced once and then danced off towards 16th Avenue, flapping their tails in a cheeky goodbye. This world is pure magic. 

While these photos were taken later that day, it's easy to see how lovely it has been.

I had a studio visitor this week as well - Laura Leeder and I tested some acrylic markers by Amsterdam, Golden Hi-Flow acrylics and their markers, and some needle-tipped paint applicators.  Naturally we had a lot of fun, and made some great comparisons of the different styles.

It's obvious that we both need to add to our stash of tools!

And something that made me laugh hysterically...I was moaning to Laura that I couldn't get a good photo of some gel pen work I'd done, and she asked whether I'd tried to scan them.  Well, duh!!!  No, I hadn't, so here they are.  ☺️

Since we're coming up to Valentine's Day, I'll leave you with some love.

Happy week, my creative friends!

Bet you can't...

...guess what I've been up to this week (well, apart from purging/cleaning/downsizing, that is):

I spent a great morning with Laura Leeder 

and Eileen Gidman

and we painted!  Given the upcoming Spook Day, we opted for pumpkins (thanks, Eileen for providing them),

 and spent an inaugural morning in Eileen's new studio.

Can you tell we had a blast?  The morning went so quickly that this is about all I got done.  I'm not sure whether it was the photo-taking or the blabber-mouthing that had me slowed down, but I was IMMENSELY impressed with how much Eileen and Laura accomplished!

As I took breaks from my work at home, I added to the piece until it resembled a manic picture of my current life, with labyrinthian pathways, stops and starts, mad dashes and wild colour.  What could be more appropriate for this time of the year? I've got five more days until the big day, and I suspect this will get additions, because why stop at psychedelic when outright gaudy is a possibility?

I'm wishing you a Happy Halloween - may you enjoy the costumes and colour, with no tricks at all!  

I'm a sharing kind of person...

...and I thought I'd share some of my favourite artists with you today.  These are friends I've made over the past few years on the net, and firm friends because I LOVE their work.  Please take a look at their blogs and leave a comment if you're inspired to do so!

Alice Saltiel has been a fine artist friend for many years now, and her forays into the world of mixed media just thrill me.    Her painterly sense of colour and texture take this field to new heights.

Alice in Wonderland © Alice Saltiel Marshall

Deann at the Whimsey Asylum (Love that name, don't you?  Anything that playful has to be fun!) is a digital marvel, and I never know whether I'll be laughing hysterically or in tears at the beauty (and often both) when I visit her blog.

All You Need is Love  © Deann Williams at The Whimsey Asylum

Laura Leeder, a local artist and dear friend, is a delightful watercolourist, specialising in the rich florals she finds in her garden. Her fabulous patterning reminds me of William Morris' wonderful wallpapers.

Abigail Floral © Laura Leeder

Another great local friend Eileen Gidman, presently on a creative hiatus while building a new home with her husband, is a master with textiles and watercolour.  We've had some great play dates, and I just had to show you this apron she created at one of them.  She sewed aprons for the three of us (Laura, Eileen & Win) and this was her gorgeous finished project.

Apron patterns © Eileen Gidman

We're fortunate to live in an artist-rich area, and a recent addition to the valley is Lynne Mizera.  Believe me, she's a welcome one as I'm not the only crazy one now!  Lynne's a whiz at utilising throwaways and turning them into art pieces.

Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith is a British artist whose work just thrills me.  Her layers and colour choices always have me drooling.

Journal spread © Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith

Tracy Woodsford's Sojourner blog is always a delight to visit, and given that she lives in Australia, it's quite the trip.  I so appreciate her thoughtful and considered take on life and art and am always inspired by her posts.

Calloused Heart © Tracy Woodsford

Susi (aka Frobelsternchen) hails from Austria.  Her eclectic pieces always please me, but I'm particularly fond of her teabag art!

I could go on and on, of course, but instead, I suggest you visit the pages on my blogroll to the right. These artists inspire me, make me laugh, make me think and generally lift my life to the max.

I'd love it if you would tell me who inspires you in the comments below (and do, please, include a link - we can always copy and paste!).  And if you visit the blogs noted here, please tell them you appreciate their work; I know I do!  

Playtime is the best...

...time, don't you think?

Good friend and fellow artist Laura Leeder stopped by this past week for some playtime in the studio.  We'd been wanting to experiment with different uses for gesso, and we tore right into it.

Laura washing over a stenciled gesso floral...look at those wonderful colours!

The top leaves on the journal spread have been pounced through a stencil with gesso,
and then washed over with a pale acrylic.

This sienna-toned magazine page was stenciled with gesso,
and then washed over with quinacridone orange acrylic.

These images were stamped on to watercolour paper with gesso,
dried and then washed over with acrylics.

A credit card was used to push gesso through the stencil
before applying a wash or two.

Gesso was thickly applied and then distressed with a heat gun.
Washes of alcohol ink and ultramarine acrylic inks were applied.
White gesso was patted on with a paper towel over the black
gesso...nice pattern, right?

A house wrap stencil was used to apply the design,
and then it was spritzed with  Dylusions spray.

Laura's piece at the end of the session...I
suspect there will be more layers!

It was a most entertaining morning, and I hope we can do it again - soon!!