Tag: Paintings

Paintings

Moss Art

Art & Illustration

I started painting and using Moss. There seems to be a trend with moss and using it in those IKEA box frames.

But I wanted to do something different. I integrated paintings with moss art. It is a bit of a continuance of the work I do with herbs dried flowers and things like lavender in art.

I know I’m not the first person to do it because I’ve seen recently how some of the top website artists and creative people have been integrating dried flowers to make their hair look big. And this picture shows me using moss simply by adding some texture to enhance the grass.

The other thing in this picture that stands out is the texture on the top of the frame. I found a new way of integrating my love of decorative nail trim.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.

Bee Beautiful

Art & Illustration
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Bee Beautiful

Love bees. They always pay me to a visit during the summer months and I have to work hard to escort them safely off my premises.

The bee is also an emblem for productivity, industriousness and Manchester.

That is why I’ve made it in one of the first pieces of shelf art I created. So people can look great in their online meetings surrounded by admirable and meaningful art that portrays their personality, is an uplifting, or works as a talking point ice breaker.

Result of my Recent Creative Pilgrimage

Exhibitions & Events

The Journey

I took a short break to St Ives in Cornwall last week. The journey was full of adventures for many reasons. It was my first big trip after two years of lockdown. I had to practice being less anxious about social spaces.

My longest train journey yet: It takes 5 hours to travel from London to St Ives

Purpose

It was meant to be a creative pilgrimage as I was visiting Tate St Ives and Barbara Hepworth museum

Colourful seats for visitors at Tate St Ives. When I left it was full of school children and beach walkers sheltering from the rain.
Babara Helpworh Sculpture with her signature string/ wires
The chest of drawers that this sculpture sits is in the pictures
I took this image then realised I’ve seen it several times before. Plenty of Barbara Hepworth Musium shots of her garden sculptures.
The SOL LEWITT is in gallery 9 or 10. I was able to gaze at it and find new patterns to add to it. Wall Drawing #1136 

Finding affinity

I was surprised to feel less alone with my design style because the hotel room decor was expressive of the cosey smart effect you get when combining pinstripe fabric with nailhead trim as I do in my lampshade collections.

Finding Inspiration

A picture of Barbara Hepworth in her studio. The museum is her studio, interestingly. I was impressed that she might have had lots of parties there. Downstairs is the kitchen and upstairs is the workroom. Similar to my set-up. I felt encouraged.

A chance to practice

The whole experience was affirming for me. I feel that I might be on the right track, after all.

Ist sketch of the holiday.
Trying to capture the detail of the shutters but the stylish radiator is imposing a presence
My sketches of view from the window.

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.