New month - new art journal

Hi everyone,

It has been quiet on the blog front but I have been busy. As Spring is starting to bloom and the evenings are becoming lighter, I have started a new art journal and painted several new canvases this month.

R and I also decided to start an Instagram account called #andyandrachael where we try to post daily photographs of projects and things that inspire us. Please feel free to check it out if you are interested. We would love to see you there...

Here are a few photographs of the journal so far:

As you all know, nature is a big source of inspiration of mine and this has crept inside the journal

I was really inspired when I revisited the paintings I created on Flora Bowley's ecourse Bloom True last year and this double page spread reflects that inspiration.

                       

This source of inspiration continued further last weekend when I added to some new canvases  It felt brilliant to be working on canvas again and to watch how they are developing (as well as getting messy!). Lucky for me, my wife is very supportive when I am in the painting zone!!! 

Hope that Spring is inspiring you too.

Andy

A Ghoulishly Good Pumpkin!

A Happy Halloween to you all!

Wishing you all a ghoulishly good time. 

I am sorry not to have blogged before now but hope I am forgiven as I have been very unwell. I haven't participated on the Bloom True course; didn't get some new projects started, but I have managed to create a few things for All Hallows Eve and hope you enjoy seeing them.

First, here are a couple of Halloween cards. I created them using water- colours and coloured pencils. 

I did create quite a few cards, each one with a different personality, so all members of the family have a unique card.

Carrying on the pumpkin theme, I managed to create a pumpkin for our front door (with a bit of help from my wife). I was inspired by Alisa Burke's painted pumpkins and also an urge to watch Harry Potter. I wanted to create spooky houses, but this has been done a lot so whilst watching the Philosophers Stone this clip gave me some ideas that I could not resist.

After the Pumpkin had been massacred and gesso-ed, I got out the acrylics and some Sharpie pens and got painting. This was the final result.

Hope you like it? The shops were first drawn on paper in order to keep a record of them. I love the character of each shop and am wondering if I could use them in another project. We shall see!

I hope you are having a spooktacular time.

Andy

Final Scavenger Hunt

Hi everyone,

        2013 Summertime Photography  Scavenger Hunt

I have really enjoyed participating in this year’s hunt. It has been great to get my camera out, click away and look for new ways to display the photographs. Here's my complete list.

1.   Open air market

2.   Theatre for performing arts (not a movie theatre)

3.   City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building

4.   Airplane

5.   A sunset

6.   Someone or something taking a nap

7.   A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny

8.   A tower

9.   A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong

10.  A bench that is outside

11.  An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.

12.  A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)

13.  A fence

14.  A stained glass object or a mosaic

15.  A fire truck or police car

16.  A windmill 

17.  Candle(s)

18.  Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop

19.  A fisherman

20. A dinosaur

21.  A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply

I can't wait to see what my fellow hunters latest finds are. Looking forward to checking all your links. Thank you, Rinda. I have really enjoyed participating this year. I am already looking forward to next year's hunt.

Have a great weekend

Andy  

Scavenger Hunt C

Hi everyone

It has been a busy week with lots of toing and froing. I am glad of a few days at home and have been working on another post for Rinda's 2013 Scavenger Hunt. I have tried something new with layouts. What do you think? I found the layout on pixelscrapper.com designed by Brooke Gazarek. It's a great site to visit.

Today's theme: Out and About

As you know, if you are a regular reader of this blog, we visited family in West Sussex over the summer holiday. While we were there, we had a few outings, including one to Russell's Garden Centre, which is a favourite of ours.

And GunWharf Quays in Portsmouth where we saw a ship shaped bench that has a wonderful history. 

These candles were spotted in John Lewis, which is new homeware store in Chichester and where we love to window shop. Wish there was a store near us in Kent (John Lewis take note!). 

While travelling through Chichester, we saw something rather unexpected on the top of Beaver Tool Hire. They always do something unusual, like a Darth Vader for the Starwars 25th Anniversary, or Santa stuck in a chimney for Christmas. I tried my best to get a photograph through the car window, but what you don't see is the baby jumping up and down in the pram. You can just see it's tiny hand in the top right picture. I love the wheel-barrow display too. 

We have also spent some days exploring our local area, visiting several beaches and other wildlife attractions that are to be found around the Thanet and Dover district in Kent. 

As we don't have a pet and the wildlife around us always seems to be awake, 

I was wondering what I could photograph for my napping subject.  This father and son were captured fast asleep while we were taking a walk along Deal's coastline. 

The next set of photographs were taken at Wingham Wildlife Park, which is not far from where we live. We are lucky to have a few animal parks around us, which I love to visit, that have animals of all sizes. This love stems from childhood visits and watching and observing nature. I hope to go back again but remember my sketchbook next time!

And lastly, the photographs below are of the Fire Engines' Warehouse, which is connected to Manston Airport, which is not far from where we live. I added on the children's ride as I couldn't resist the temptation to have a go on it myself. My wife says that I am a big kid at heart, which she loves about me at times and makes her laugh!

Hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed scavenging and hunting over the last month. I can't wait to post again soon. I have some towers and castles to show you spotted at a recent wedding reception. 

Until the next time, have a good week. 

Andy