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 Roaringly Good Time

Hi everyone

As promised, here's the post about what R and I created for our nephew's fifth birthday. He asked for a 'Dinosaur' themed party and that is what the family endeavoured to create. As a surprise, we created treat boxes and party hats, a banner, food labels and fun straws to match this theme.

 

We took a basic party hat design and used the shape for the cones and added a stegosaurus tail to the back of the hat. They were a big hit.

We were asked to think about designs for party bags but we wanted to do something extra. R and I worked hard on creating a layout and then manipulating it to create our treat boxes.

Whilst we were making them, I have to admit there were a few renditions of the 'Jurassic Park' theme tune!

We created four different designs: a Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus and a T-Rex. We used the same colours as the hats, and added a support in the form of a tail on each. There were twenty five children at the party so we made thirty of these little monsters. They were filled with treats like chocolate (dinosaur) eggs ready for the children as they went home.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our creations. Will attempt to blog again soon!

Andy

Painting gifts

Hi everyone

Hope you are having a good week? It has been a while since I last posted, for which I can only apologise. Lots to do and no time in which to get everything done. You know the syndrome I am sure! Because of my time constraints connected to work, my wife R has set up an instagram account for us so we can both post what we are up to if I cannot get to the blog. I am now trying to make a conscious effort to be a regular blogger.  

As a start, here at last, are the paintings that were given to the family at Christmastime. I hope that you enjoy seeing them.

This cute Bunny I painted for one of my young nieces. She is only 1, and loves bunnies. The more astute of you will recognise the canvas that I created for the Lilla Rogers course. It needed modifying and a good home.

The pirate ship and squid painting was created for my eldest nephew, who has just turned 5. (I will show you the 'surprises' we made for his birthday next post.) I was really happy with the 'split' level effect.

Our eldest niece, who is 7, got this little beauty. She is fairy mad and a massive fan of yellow, so the logical thing to paint was a yellow fairy castle! I wanted to create something different from the classic 'Disney castle' look so I opted for a more woodland feel. 

This seascape was given to my mother-in-law. She wanted a tranquil image that looked like a seascape but still remained abstract. This was a totally different way of working for me. I had never done anything like this before. The other paintings were developed from the layering techniques that I acquired from Flora Bowley's course, but this was a new way of painting for me. I am happy to report that she loves it!

Another post is on the way. Hope that you can join me then.

Andy

Presents underneath the tree

SEASONS GREETINGS TO YOU ALL!

I hope that this post finds you all well and merry after the festive period. I have been delayed by a few things... you know how it is, Christmas just seems to take over. It's all about the fun, presents, food and of course family and because of that, it is one of my favourite times of year. We do not see our nieces and nephews as often as we would like, and Christmas has been all the more special because of the time we have spent with them.

Using my hand-crafted wrapping paper (and a bit from the shops), R went all out this year and wrapped the presents with homemade garlands too.  There is a family joke that R and I have shares in sellotape because we  wrap the parcels so tightly nobody can open them! To us it makes the experience last longer (watching them struggle that is, ha ha!).

That's not all. There was an extra addition to the table this year, yum yum!

Take care, enjoy the holiday season and I will be back soon with more photographs of this year's Christmas festivities. 

Andy

Decking the Halls

Good Morning Everybody

It is Christmas Eve and I would like to welcome you to my second Christmas posting. Yesterday, I showed you some of the smaller projects that R and I started with. Now we step up the pace.

Above is R's wreath. We used a shop bought wreath as the base and then R added a whole host of different stars made from different materials.

Whilst R wrestled with the wreath, I was busy making this year's cards. 

Our inspiration this year is the Northern lights. Using a squeegee, I created the colours I wanted then added in the detail once this was dry.

I found the best colours to use were Cyan, Magenta and a Bright Yellow (all the usual primary colours of Blue, Red and Yellow came out too dark) with a splash of white thrown in.

Once the cards were done it was time to 'dec the hall'. Above, is the landing window complete with our advent calendar and candles.

The whole house has been decorated this year. R has been the busiest making the banner, and paper trees among other things. She has used many different materials and techniques and the end results are really joyful.

Even the downstairs loo has not escaped being decorated!

But of course the epitome of and celebration in the house is the tree. Ours is full, with lots of our home-made decorations (including the bird house).

The snowman was created the same way as the Christmas Decoration Swap elf ball, and the star was shop bought to which we added chalkboard paint.

And, thank you Miriam for our bird. We love it!

I hope that you have a brilliant Christmas Eve and memorable Christmas Morning, and Santa remembers you all. Tomorrow, the post will be all about presents.

Merry, merry Christmas to you all.

Andy

Christmas Decoration Swap

Hi Everyone

I am so sorry that I have not posted since Halloween. I have only just got over my illness. It has driven me crazy not being able to get out into the man cave and paint large canvasses, but it has not stopped me painting something small.

I decided to paint a Decoration for Miriam's Christmas Decoration swap. As I write this, my bauble is now on it's way to the the States and I hope that the recipient will like it. 

The actual bauble is ceramic and I have used a selection of acrylics and pens to create my little elves.

I am off to check Miriam's blog to see what other people have created and I am thinking of painting some more baubles for Christmas. I think it will be rather a crafty Christmas this Year!

Have a good week.

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