Tag: Art experiments

Using vintage Emerald Green Swarovski Crystals

Behind the Scenes

This week, my post will speak for itself. It is a movie. You can hear me thinking and stumbling on not being able to say Swarovski Crystals. In this video, you will see that I used emerald green Swarovski Crystals for this emerald green and copper checkerboard painting. I like to create paintings like this, so they are ready to prop on a bookshelf without buying a frame. The dried lavender makes the painting smell wonderful.

The link to the story video is here

Below is the after with a view of the painted potion on the shelf of my home office.


We all need something uplifting and sweet-smelling and natural on our bookshelves, don’t we?

Introducing Painted Potions

Art & Illustration

I’m creating painted potions. They look good, feel good (because of the textures) and they’re full of ingredients that do you good.

In psychology, it is vital to integrate the self. I feel that the painted potions I create to uplift home office scenes express all of my talents and everything I am good at and love to do.

Some might say it is brut art because I didn’t go to art school (for fine art) and sometimes I use my hands. But I taught in a world-class art school for about 10 years, and I wonder whether those years count. I probably absorbed the artistic rules and principles while chatting to colleagues about student work and the issues in the industry.

Training in scientific aromatherapy over 25 years ago helps me to understand the chemical qualities of things like lavender and lemon verbena and what they are known to do to the body. 

In the pictures are painted potions in the process of making. They take several days and weeks to make as I spend hours deciding how to build up the layers, aromas and textures for the desired effect. Close up. I like to use expensive fabric in my painted potions. Some of it is a bit of deconstruction another bit of it is about what they add aesthetically.

The painted potions I have been creating use helpful herbs like lavender, lemon verbena, rose and myrrh. They smell great. The painted potions also give a nod to crystal therapy as I’ve been using citrine, turquoise and other gemstones with their wonderful energy, so far. I have collected lots over the years.

One day I shall tell you about my early years as a therapist who used more fluid an unction, lotions and potions to uplift the spirits of stressed-out clients in spas salons around the world. But for now, let’s admire the notion of painted potions.

Those are the first two ways my experience is integrated within my panted potions.

Multimedia collage of fabric, acrylic paint herbs, gems and beads.

Next time I shall tell you about the work I’ve been doing around the workplace wellbeing for 10 years and how that has meaning for these painted potions too.

Using upcycled plastic for chrstmas lights decor.

Creative Workspaces

Forgive me followers, I’ve not posted since the Autumn. Thanks for listening to my confession. 😳 For repentance I’m very pleased I’ve managed to snatch a couple days off work, to paint, make and create.

Next, what will follow is a series of mixed media items and escapades that I think make up for my lost time.

I’ve started with these hand made Christmas decorations that I made from upcycled fabric and plastic tubes from my lampshade making projects.

So all that glitters doesn’t have to be gold it can be upcycled plastic!

See how they look lit up. Tomorrow’s post shows what they look like on the tree. 🎄

Gold Spun Poppies

Art & Illustration

I didn’t mean to. It just happened that way that I created an image with poppies that look like they are Dazed and Confused .

I created this image using my usual atmospheric landscape mindset and experimented with red because I don’t really use red. Red is one of those colours that I hate immensely, so I have always avoided using red in paintings.

But I’m finding I quite like this image. I’m surprised at how beautiful it looks and almost traditional it feels in its floral nature. When I took up the activity of painting, in my mind’s eye, I couldn’t imagine myself being a life painter and that’s why I decided to go down the abstract painting route.

However looking at this rather appealing image of shall we say, spun out poppies, I think it is possible for me to pursue being a painter of floral patterns.

Gold Spun Poppies by earthshine arts