Illuminate...

It is Monday and feels like a good time to reflect on the last few weeks of work and general goings on...

We seemed to slip back into cooler weather here in Cornwall, with the odd day here and there of beautiful sunshine.
I spent one wonderful day last week in the garden painting with my new easel. I have been meaning to buy one for ages, and I kept thinking I wouldn't use it enough to justify the space and cost...but I found one locally for such a bargain that I thought, why not, and it's already had such great use.

Since completing the 'doodle-a-day' project in April, and re-discovering the fun of painting on canvas I have sort-of run with that and started a series, sparked off by my first initial experiment which I felt captured something which my traditional use of delicate watercolour and quotations didn't...I suppose by being more spontaneous and expressive with colour and paint I was able to suggest a feeling more open to interpretation, rather than defining it with words.

The whole idea behind these paintings is that of illumination and that spark of creativity you have at the beginning of a project, that energy that you desperately want to hold onto before it slips away :)

 
I have added the first two paintings I completed to my display at the Lane Gallery in Truro, Cornwall..hope this silly picture illustrates the general size of the work...hehe :)

As well as painting, I have spent some time out and about exploring Cornwall, including my old favourite St. Ives, and a chilly day at Lanhydrock, a beautiful stately home near Bodmin. The bluebells were out and looking lovely!...

 Alex also kindly offered to drive us to Porthleven, to see a new Gallery/giftshop just opened which have taken stock of some of my prints and cards. Porthleven is very quaint, and despite it being a cold day we had a lovely time walking around the harbour and nosing in all the galleries and gift shops...heres a peak of my work in newly opened Slipway Studio...

Finally we had a big celebration for our friends Wedding at the weekend, over at Woodland Valley Farm near Ladock. It was wonderfully sunny and such a lovely day. I got involved the day before in helping to decorate the big barn, I love helping out with Wedding preparations, its such an exciting time!!

Looks like we are in for another Bank holiday weekend here in the UK, which for us doesn't mean days off as such, but I love when people are all out and about enjoying Cornwall :)

Shine!

Hello! I am sitting here beneath a beautiful sunset after a day of cloudless sky in Cornwall! My skin has that wonderful taught feeling of being in the sun all day...and it is so overdue for everyone down here..we all needed that today after all the rain we seem to have had this July.

This painting is a little taster of a new project I have started...just for me.
Since graduating from art college what seems like years and years ago, I have mainly juggled day jobs with commercial illustration jobs in the hope that I could one day illustrate full time. It has felt a very slow process and I am finally beginning to work out why I haven't quite 'made it'

Most of the work I complete I don't connect with on any level...it is just like painting by numbers...drawing whatever is required and filling in the gaps. I don't often find myself getting lost in my work anymore...when the hours and hours pass and you suddenly 'wake up' and realise the light has faded and you haven't had a cup of tea for over four hours...eeek!

I am trying to once again recapture that. I have conditioned myself into thinking if I work hard on commercial work for years and years perhaps one day, I can reward myself with sitting back and only painting what I feel like. But, looking back on the past few years...that obviously isn't happening quick enough and neglecting that part of myself has made me so unhappy.

Little by little I hope to devote more time to more personal work...and this is the start so I am excited!

On another note. My faithful and hardworking printer has finally had enough...therefore my Etsy shop has once again been put on the back burner before I even got time to properly start it! I usually print everything myself but I need to either find a local printer or buy another which isn't a priority as such at the moment.

Twit-twoo!

I didn't think I would get around to finishing this before I left for the New Forest tomorrow...but luckily I have and I've just posted this new item on my shop  >>>the little owl pocket mirror<<<
Horray!

Heart Thoughts

Hello there on this beautiful spring Sunday!
Today I wanted to share a lovely book I found yesterday called 'Heart Thoughts' by Louise L Hay. This was one of those times that you stumble across exactly what you need without really looking for it. I was simply drawn to the colourful typography at first and opened the book to find it full of wonderful, uplifting words! I am a firm believer in at least trying to think positive and making the best of what you have, and thought flicking through and reading a page of this each day would help me do just that. You can find it >>>here<<<

I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a little lift now and then, or would make a lovely gift for someone who is having difficulty looking on the bright side! It's also just a pretty book for anyone who likes illustration and typography! :)

 

Oh and here are a few things I have been working on lately...(yes they are Christmas cards...for my agency!)

Falling stars...

I am currently sat in bed, with a hot water bottle, laptop perched on my knees, sipping a herbal tea. I feel I have managed to escape my usual, annual hibernation mode until this week...I was so close to getting through the whole winter without falling into the habit of just getting home from work, eating something as quickly as possible and collapsing into bed!
So, although this evening I may be in bed at 9pm, I have still managed to fit in listing one of the few items I have been wanting to add to my Etsy store this week; a >>foxy little card!<<

Hope everyone else is coping with the cold snap better than me!! x

My new shop..

I have just opened my own little Etsy shop....>>>>>here!<<<<<
It features some older prints that people seemed to like when I had my Bigcartel shop online. I felt Etsy may be a little better in terms of exposure, as I had to do a lot of reminding people that the other one was there :) I will be adding newer work if it's up to scratch too!
I have made the big decision today to give up one of my two day jobs which I felt was holding me back a little bit, but I am still staying with my job at Crystals because its lovely..more on that later...almost the end of January, which means we must be a little closer to spring now yes!?

Wishing for Spring...

Yesterday was a typically blustery grey day in Cornwall..one which made me wish for Spring to come sooner! It is my absolute favorite time of year, I find it so inspiring and exciting.....I still have a little while to wait, so in the mean time I painted this whilst sat in a big woolly scarf in front of my heater!