Challenging myself

After the struggle I've had to concentrate over the last couple of weeks, this morning while having breakfast I challenged myself to go back to an old design and re-work/change/update it and add something new to it. I scrolled through my files and picked a design at random.

The design file that I opened was Over The Hills and Far Away, this was created for Visual Communications class when I was at college away back in 2012/13. I remember the tutor had 2 bags with words in and we were to choose a word from each bag, my words were Rural and Texture. The texture was created with corrugated card which I already had a scanned file of on my pendrive, it reminded me of ploughed fields. This was, as far as I can remember a quick in class design that I created in Photoshop.

This morning the psd file was opened in Photoshop, there was no pressure on me to create anything in particular or for anyone apart from myself. I was just playing and getting those creative juices flowing again. I used all the elements that were already in the design, I changed colours and layout. then added an extra background layer, rotated it, changed colour and blending mode to give more interest to the top of the design. This done it reminded me of a sunset, so I added some sunrays. This is now the 2016 version of Over The Hills and Far Away.  I love this new version.

Which version do you prefer?

I might go back to a few of my other designs and re-do them, I feel the creative juices starting to flow again.

Over at Illustration Friday this weeks challenge is STRIPES......there's stripes in this design so I think I'll submit it :)

Struggling to concentrate...

Over the last few weeks I just haven't been able to concentrate on anything creative. I have a sketchbook full of ideas and several projects started but have just not been able to focus on completing anything!!! It's so annoying!

I also need to update my website and make it responsive as most folk are accessing the internet on their mobiles now. I read somewhere that Google is not going to list websites unless they are responsive.
What is a responsive website? I hear you ask. Well I need to create my website so that it "responds to" or resizes itself depending on the type of device it is being viewed through, ie. pc, tablet or mobile phone. I still also want to add a shopping cart to my website too, but one thing at a time as I need to have a clear totally focused head to do this lol

One thing I have managed to create over the last few weeks was a hand drawn watercolour name doodle for my great niece. Even this took weeks to do though as I kept leaving it and going back to it, but I finally finished it and gave it to my nephew and his wife. I was so pleased they loved all the wee images that I had incorporated within it that have meaning to them.

Winter is creeping up on us now and every day more and more geese are arriving at the Loch of Skene. No chance of a long lie here as Mother Natures alarm call gets me up every morning as the geese leave the Loch for the day and then return in the evening when it's time to cook dinner. I love watching them.



I had a few days away visiting family, which I totally enjoyed but now I'm home I miss everyone so much. Looking forward to my next visit though because grandchild no. 9 is due on 23rd December.

Now I better try and get some work done, hopefully stay focused on one thing and complete something :)

If I Had Wings....

.....is the title of the digital project I was working on for NEOS 2016. I created the wings in Adobe Illustrator and manipulated a photo for the background in Adobe Photoshop. I wanted this printed on an A1 floating acrylic and when it arrived from the printers I wasn't disappointed. Acrylic is not the easiest material to photograph and this photo really does not do it justice. The acrylic keeps the vibrancy of the colours and gives the whole image a depth.

If I had Wings greeting cards are available from my online shop along with quite a few other new creations. Pop over to my shop for a wee peek.

 I also created some big pencils that are in my garden

NEOS 2016 is over now and I had some lovely people visit my studio and met a few local artists too. Will I do it again next year? I'm not sure at the moment, but I did enjoy it.

Here's a short video of the cabin all tidy and organised for #NEOS2016



If you would like to pop into the cabin to see what I do, just get in touch so we can arrange a suitable time. It's always nice having visitors and a warm welcome awaits you.

its been a while......

..... since my last post but as always I've been busy busy busy.
This is a picture rich post!

The wee garden makeover is just about complete now, so we can enjoy it when the sun shines.

From an overgrown part of garden that we never used, the pampas grass (which I hate) was all removed

The large leylandi trees were thinned, to let the light in for other plants and the birch tree.

We built a log cabin

It's handy having the use of a tractor and trailer to collect 5 tonnes of gravel from the quarry

We laid gravel in front of the cabin

and around the greenhouse and herb border

 and also on the path to the bottom of the garden. What a difference this has made and it is a joy to sit here, when the weather allows. We even managed a bbq one day :) all our hard work has paid off!

I had my first bloom on my Passion Flower, this is planted in a large pot at the moment as I was unsure where to plant it. I think when the temperature drops I will put it in the greenhouse and hopefully it will survive till next spring, when I should have decided where it wil be planted in the garden.

 I collected my Neos 2016 directories which I have to distribute to help promote the event. The days are passing far too quickly now and the event will be upon me soon. I still have quite a bit to do to be ready to open my studio, which will be in the log cabin, but everything is coming together nicely so far. If you're in the North East of Scotland, Aberdeenshire between 10th - 18th September and you see the yellow NEOS signs outside studios and galleries etc. pop in and see all the lovely artwork and creations that local artists and makers will have on show. the directories are FREE and can be picked up from Tourist Info offices, libraries, shops, galleries, Dr's, vets, just keep your eyes peeled for them :) Fin me on page 33 of the directory, I'm number 60.

 I listed my OOAK Handmade Purple Rain Book in my Etsy shop this week as it is time for me to part with it. It's strange how something I create I just want to hold on to them for a while and other things I can let go straight away. Pop over to my Etsy shop to see more pics.

and finally...... A while ago I started to create a digital collage of my grandad and thanks to my mum for posting me a photo I was needing, it is now complete. Grandad Bertie will be hanging in the cabin throughout NEOS 2016 along with a lot of my other work.

I also created this graphic as my OH keeps saying "build a cabin and they will come" whenever he is talking about NEOS 2016. I will be using this graphic on my promotional material for the event.

I'm off to sit in the cabin to work on a project for NEOS 2016, hopefully get it completed this weekend and sent off to the printers.....................but I'll tell you more about this another time.

and still it rains.....

Where is our summer? We seem to be getting rain every day! Today is quite warm but we are still getting the odd rain shower, in fact it's absolutely bucketing down the noo. So today like many before, I am working in the garden when it's dry then running into the house to work when it rains. The weeds are loving this warm weather and rain though!

Work on the log cabin continues and we are slowly getting near to total completion. Last week I was half down painting one of the sides when the heavens opened and as I sheltered in the greenhouse I could of cried as I watched my hard work run down the side of the cabin wall. I eventually got the whole of the outside painted but it needs another coat, I just need a day of no rain to do it.

We now have insulation down on the floor and the last of the floorboards are going down tonight, so I will soon be varnishing a floor.

I received a couple of car stickers and postcards to start advertising NEOS 2016, so my car now sports a sticker in the back window. I'm getting excited and nervous about being part of this event and really need to find time to get creating some new artwork. 

Last week while nipping in and out of the house between rain showers I decided to give my wee egg safe a makeover. I've had it for a few years now and was getting bored of the cream colour. I had a tester pot of green emulsion, but it was not the green I wanted. I just mixed some acrylic paints into it until I got a colour I was happy with and it goes well with my light green kitchen wall (hard to see in pic). I couldn't find sand paper so used a nail file to rub off some of the paint on the edges and then gave it a wax. the wooden bead that is the wee door knob was then painted a deep dark red. I love it, it looks so much better sitting in my kitchen now.

...... and finally here is some summer colour, covered in rain drops. Beautiful red lilies that grow in the garden at the back of the log cabin. At the end of the season I'm going to have to split these so I can have some planted in the garden so I can see them so I can see them while I work in the cabin.

How has your weather been, are you having a summer?

A Log Cabin is born

We had been planning on building a wee summer house in the garden this year, so we have somewhere sheltered that we could enjoy the garden and the amazing view we have on those not so sunny summer days. It could also be a creative space for myself and my OH, who plays traditional flute and 4 string banjo. After looking online at summer houses our plans and budget grew a little and we thought we would get more use out of a log cabin, so a log cabin was ordered.

OH has been busy clearing a space in the garden and laying a concrete base. We took our time deciding on the best position for the cabin as we wanted to  capture as much sunlight during the day as possible, be able to see our beautiful view, see the sunset and hopefully in the winter see the northern lights.

On Saturday we unwrapped the very large package and started to work our way through this massive jigsaw puzzle pieces that would be our log cabin. We laid all the pieces out so we could work better, ie back wall pieces at back of base, side wall pieces at the side of base etc. and what happened?...... it rained! not just a shower but torrential rain with thunder and lightening! So there we were running about like loonies trying to find anything we could to cover all the timber pieces to help keep them dry.

I filmed a couple of wee time lapse videos of us working hard. 

The rain really held us back and the only thing we managed to do on Saturday was build the base frame.

We were up bright and early on Sunday and the sun was shining so building started, we worked hard as we needed to get as much done as possible. Near the end of the video I knocked the tripod over with a roof beam and didn't get it in exact same position and then because we were so busy I never noticed the battery in the camera had died.

We managed to get the front half of the roof on the cabin and the guess what?.....We live in Scotland and yes it's summer..... so it rained! Luckily we have a big tarpaulin to cover the back of the roofless cabin but this was not easy to put up in the wind and rain, but between us we managed.

Monday evening when OH came home from work the rest of the roof was put on

There's still some work to be done for it all to be finished, but I'll fill you in on that as it happens.

Yesterday morning it was raining AGAIN! So I grabbed my camera and went into the garden in search of some summer colour, a lot of the flowers are still in bud so I'm looking forward to them opening soon, but here's a few that are blooming at the moment.

A big daisy like flower, not sure what it's correct name is, but if you know please tell me.

delicate Love in the Mist

and finally my beautiful bright Lupins surrounded with buttercups.

What's in flower in your garden?

CRAFTfest & Swallows

CRAFTfest is now officially open and will be open from 10th - 12th June pop over and view all the virtual stalls, you can find me in the Artwork section.

There's so many clever creative people selling their lovely creations this weekend so it is well worth popping over for a wee browse, you never know you might discover that little something that you just really need to have in your life :) or that special gift for someone close to you. There's far too many virtual stalls to list here, but there is everything from jewellery, wood crafts, artwork, greeting cards, crochet & knitting, bathroom & soaps, weddings, bags, craft supplies and so much more. Get yourself settled down with a cuppa or glass of wine (depending on time of day lol) and take a look.

I hope all my fellow CRAFTfesters have a fun and rewarding weekend :)

My digital art has taken a bit of a back seat for a while due to some technical issues but everything is sorted now so watch this space for a new digital creation coming soon. While the sun has been shining I, with much help from my OH, have been working on the big garden makeover and my new creative space. I will post more about that with pics when it is all finished though.

I found an old piece of wood in the barn and was totally inspired to get my paints out and create a wee mixed media artwork (aprox 23" x 5 3/4"). This was a painting that appeared intuitively and naturally, there was no plan apart from I wanted a swallow in it, as there are so many flying around the croft and nesting in the outbuildings

Well I ended up with 3 and then I had to think of a title. 

This is when I discovered that the swallow is a very symbolic wee bird.......It is said that if a sailor drowns the swallows will carry their soul to heaven. the swallow also represents love, care and affection towards family and friends, showing the loyalty of the person always returning to them. The bird also represents freedom and hope.

So I've called it Arise My Soul

Here's a wee video of one of the many pairs of swallows nesting in our outbuildings, it won't be long now till we have lots of young flying around too

Hope to see you all at CRAFTfest and enjoy your weekend :)

NEOS, Hares & #artvartist

As I said in an earlier post I've signed up to do NEOS (North East Open Studios) in September and I'm already thinking why oh why did I let my OH talk me into this! OH is being very encouraging and supportive and has started to prepare the garden where we are going to build a summerhouse/cabin that will be my studio for the event. He has made a start on thinning the trees a little and removing all the pampas grass (which I hate) from the garden at the front of the croft. We have decided to put it in this part of the garden because we will be able to see the beautiful view of the hills and the Loch. We've also made a start on making a few changes to the garden and we will be getting some plants and shrubs. I'm getting quite excited about the garden makeover as we never really use this garden, but hopefully once the summerhouse/cabin is built we will use the garden more when we have time to relax, we might even manage a few BBQ's on summer evenings.

 

As I've been busy with the garden and the house  not much creativity has been happening. I have found time however to paint a few dreamcatchers this week and have been experimenting with a few digital ideas. Hoping to get more creative work done this week and have some new prints in my shop in time for CRAFTfest on 10th-12th June.

I have always loved hares and have admired Carole Ann Halls paintings for a while now and at last got around to buying one. My colourful Fighting Hares is now framed and hung near my computer desk so I can see it while I work. You can find Carole on Facebook at Carol Loves Art and she also has a shop on Etsy Carole Loves Art

My Fighting Hares are hung underneath another hare painting which my OH bought a few years ago. This is a totally different style of painting but I've always loved this one too. This one was painted by Elinor Grieve, whose wildlife paintings are quite amazing. You can find Elinor on Facebook at Elis Art and she also has a website  Art by Elinor. Both artists Facebook pages/Etsy shop/website are well worth a visit.

 

Over on Instagram there was this thing going on called #artvartist so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon :) I discovered some amazing art and design creations and I'm now following a few more artists and designer. It was also great to receive lots of  'Likes' on my work and have some more new followers. 

Did you post a pic for #artvartist?

Mum's Garden, Dreamcatcher & Anti-Fracking

I've had a week off as my mum came to stay for a few days and then I drove her home and stayed with her so I could catch up with my kids and grandkids. My mum chose the best week to come for a visit as we had blue skies and beautiful sunshine and we even managed to have 2 BBQ's. I enjoyed relaxing for a few days as I am always busy doing one thing or another. I also loved catching up with my kids and grandkids and we had lots of laughs and hugs. My mums garden is looking good so I got my camera out and took a few photos.

 The old oak tree in my mums garden is starting to open its leaves. I used to love climbing this tree when I was a kid, but don't think I could manage now.

I love the rough texture of the bark on the oak tree and I think I will be using this texture somewhere in one of my digital designs.

It was my daughters birthday last month and she had asked me to paint her a Dreamcatcher as a present. She told me colours that she would like and that she wanted it to be subtle, light and faded, definitely not bright colours. So I got to work and then I framed her painting and gave it to her while I was down visiting. She loved it and was surprised at how big it was, but it still fits in the spot where she is going to hang it. It is A3 but by the time it is mounted and framed it is bigger.

Those that know me know I am dead against Fracking. Since having to do research for a college project on Anti-Fracking a few years ago the more I found out the more I knew that Fracking is not a good idea. So many disasters, pollution, health risks to humans and animals, far too many chemicals used and left in the ground, so much fresh water mixed with chemicals and sand in the process of fracking that then has to be stored and transported to "safe places" to be cleaned, but they can't remove everything! mans greed is destroying our planet!
OK RANT OVER :)
This morning I went back to one of my concept ideas for my project, which wasn't used and developed it more. Here is my final poster design. If any Anti-Fracking Groups would like to use this poster, they are more than welcome to, just contact me and I will send you a hi res jpeg file. I will even change the hashtag at the bottom of the poster or add your website or Facebook page URL for you Free of Charge :)

That's all for now folks!

NEOS, Zippi & Prince

Where has the last 11 days gone? They have just flown by!

I failed in my challenge to create a vector image every day for 30 days.....life and technical issues just got in the way :( ...............but I'll give this another try sometime in the future.

Well the big news for this week is I've stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up to do NEOS (North East Open Studios) for 9 days in September. Along with other creatives in the North East of Scotland I will open the doors of my studio to the public and exhibit my work, and hopefully sell and take orders and commissions. I have never done anything like this before so I'm excited yet very apprehensive about it. In the weeks leading up to this event my OH knows his life is going to be hell with me stressing about having everything ready, but he's the one who kept encouraging me to do it so it's his own fault! Oh well you only live once and if I didn't do it this year I would never do it. More about NEOS in the weeks leading up to the event.

I have also been busy researching print on demand companies and now have a portfolio on zippi.co.uk, where my designs can be printed on a variety of items. I like zippi as it is located in the UK.

I ordered myself a mug, a cushion and a bag to see for myself the quality of the prints and products. I am impressed with the results and the speed of delivery. Pop over to my portfolio and see what you could purchase, more designs will be getting added over the coming weeks.

I also have a shop on Redbubble but have still to add my designs, which I will be doing this week so will tell you more about that later.

I was stunned by the sad news that Prince had died this week, another creative genius taken from us too soon. My favourite song was Purple Rain and when I was at college one of my projects was to create an art book about one thing, my one thing was Purple Rain. You can see the book and it's box and read more about it in my portfolio on Behance. 

Here's images of two of the pages, but displayed as posters.

RIP Prince :'(

On a brighter note, the swallows have started to return, just 3 at the moment but more will be arriving soon. Summer is on its way! 

Set myself a challenge

I'm having a FAB time the noo.......lol.... (image rich post further down)

It's been a wee while since my last post, but I'm still here working away. I went through a week of not being able to concentrate and work on anything creative, so stepped away from my computer and had a wee break.  It's still quite cold and wet here but when the weather allowed I was out in the garden trying to tidy up and making the most of the fresh country air. I also enjoyed watching the wild rabbits that seem to have recently appeared, I think my garden might suffer a little this year. The vegetable garden has already been fenced of with rabbit netting, in the hope it protects our veggies,  once I can get them planted from munching rabbits

Another wee visitor to the croft is a feral cat. This little cat and what I think was it's mother had been sheltering in our barn over winter. We hardly ever saw them and they were very timid, but over winter I was putting a little food in the barn for them. We haven't seen the larger of the cats for a long time but the little one is making more appearances and seems to be getting braver. It's still very timid but will sit at a distance and watch me and my dogs. The dogs don't bother about it, just like they don't bother about the rabbits hopping around, they are far too busy playing with their ball and watching the horses in the field around the croft.

Anyway this is turning into a longer post than I had planned..... so let me speed this up lol......

I needed that creative break from my computer as I ended up doodling, sketching and making notes of ideas that started to pop into my head....one idea can lead to another and then another..... not all these ideas will get developed into design or art.

To start with I have set myself a challenge to use Adobe Illustrator to create a little vector image every day for 30 days.....I love a challenge lol ........... 6 days in and I am totally benefiting and enjoying  this little creative challenge...............but will I be able to keep it up for 30 days? 

Heres the images I have created so far, which I have posted to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook everyday and have been getting some very good responses.

My favourites at the moment are the teacup and the cheeky monkey. Some of these little vector images might never been seen again, others may appear as part of a larger design and others may be developed more.

Which one is your favourite?
Do you have any suggestions of other little vectors I could create?

Till next time bye :)