Blimey it has been a while since I've been on here...I've been busy, busy, busy.

I assume other people have been having the same problems with Blogger that I have as well....sometimes I have a followers list..... sometimes not. Sometimes I can get to someones blog,.....sometimes not. Sometimes I can post a comment.....sometimes not. I guess they are doing some updating. Infuriating when you only have short periods of time to sit and read blogs.

Anyhow, I am still working on commissions but nothing to show as yet.

It has been slow going as I've been having some real problems with glue. I am using and doing the same as I always have but it just ain't gluing right. The only difference has been the heat...we've been pretty hot here of late...getting up to 109 F (43C) so the air conditioning has been on constantly. This is obviously drying the air out and affecting the glue :-(

I have also been doing some painting....real life size painting on canvas.

This is the inspiration photo for our bedroom. Our bedroom will be Japanese themed so I can display all the lovely things Mick bought me from Japan :-) I will make the bedding once I can find the right fabric.

I wanted some art to hang above the bed that was similar to the pattern on the duvet here.

And this is what I did. The canvas is 4 feet x 3 feet.

I have to say I really enjoyed painting. Unfortunately my shoulder was not as impressed :-(  I only did this in half hour spurts between making minis but it was really quick to do. 

I had a number of paint samples I'd bought from the DIY store to test on the walls. The sample pots here are so big that I had loads left over. I wanted an dark aged effect as my background so used them to paint the canvas. I used 4 shades.... amber, gold, ochre, and tan and just kinda rolled them around with a plastic bag. I actually love the effect I got....so much so that I'll do this on my walls :-) The flowers and branches are in artists acrylic.

At one point I made a mistake on a  flower and wiped it down with a damp washcloth.  I loved the way it removed some of the paint and gave it a worn look....so I went ahead and wiped paint off all the flowers :-)  Probably not a real artist technique but I love the effect.

I am no Michelangelo but considering this is the very first time I've painted anything I am very pleased with myself.

See the flower in the top right corner....that was the first one I did and I changed the shape of the others. I've decided to leave that mistake there to remind me this was my first try.

Now I have art exactly how I want it, all for just the cost of a canvas....using a Michael's 40% off coupon of course :-)

Progress....minis and house

I haven't really posted any photos of my current commission for a while...for no other reason that there really isn't much to see.

All I am doing is gluing on leaf after leaf after leaf. This stage is pretty time consuming as it is often a case of glue 1 on, knock 3 off.

I am limited to doing about 4 branches at a time and leaving them to dry before doing any more.. Any more than that and the chances of knocking off more than I add increases.

Here is a picture of how far I've got.

Doesn't look like there is much more to do...until you see the underneath :-)

You can see parts where it is rather shiny. This is just glue. For some reason, even thought I am using the method I always have, these leaves aren't sticking as well as normal. So I am having to paint glue over all the joins. I'll go over it all afterwords and re-texture and paint it. Not difficult, just adds more time to the making of it :-(

There will be a load more leaves in the gaps I've left. I want to see how it looks with this amount and them place it in situ and reassess the situation.

In between I am painting in real life.

Outside my kitchen window I have a little patio area.

Since we had the dead trees cut down the sun blazes through the windows on this side of the house and makes it unbearably hot in there

So we decided to build an arbor over it....which is actually cheaper than getting a custom blind made for the odd sized kitchen window.

Here is how the area looked when we moved in.

And this is what it looks like when we had the ficus trees cut back.

The plant to the right, blocking the door, is a fake castor oil plant. Luckily we have a door to get out back on the other side of the room so I can let this grow wild for the moment. At some point it will have to be cut right down but for now I can just enjoy it as it is :-)

I was out there this morning painting all the eaves...not fun in 100 degree sun.

Now I am painting the main beams for the arbor. Luckily we have this room at the end of the house that we have no idea what to do with...so for now I can at last paint the beams in here with the A/C on :-)

The ficus grows like weeds so that will be trained to grow over the arbor roof. I also plan on planting some more vines next to it and in planters on the right hand side.

If anyone knows of any heat tolerant, evergreen, fast growing vines that don't require much space for roots please let me know.

Miniature....or art ?

You might remember this photo of a commission I am working on
that I showed a while back

.

My friend Patti loved how it looked at this stage.

So much so that she wanted a copy of it to frame.

So, after a bit of jiggery pokery in photoshop, we decided that this

was how it should look for framing. 

As it was coming up to her birthday, I kind of ignored it after this and hoped she'd forget about it.

Because I wanted to get it matted and framed as a present of her.

You can't really tell in this photo of it but it is 11'' x 14''

I think it worked really well and would never have thought to do this.

Now I just have to get one for me :-)

All done....and canvas quesiton.

My Menhdi art is all finished.

I have to say that although I wasn't particularly enjoying this when I started , once I got to putting on all the detail I started to really get into it. 

All of the patterns are taken from traditional Hindu designs.

I continued in black and white as it was just so striking. 

It will be going on a wall  that will likely end up red or dark ochre and there will be a lot of brown and wood tones in the room so I thought black and white would change it up a little.

I am really pleased how it has turned out and it will definitely end up as art in my Indian room.

One thing I really loved about this was how easy it was to pick up and work on ...whether it was for 5 minutes or an hour. It required very little space or tools and made no mess....now that was a novelty :-)

I need to get back to putting on my leaves now but this was a very welcome break and I will be doing another to go with it. Not sure if I 'll do a foot or another hand.... I do love the gracefulness of the Indian dance hand positions so it might be another hand.

Now , a question for all you proper artists out there. This is done on canvas. Do I need to seal it or anything or it this good to go ?

Something very different.

I have been gluing leaves on all weekend and, for the sake of my sanity and eyesight, needed a rest.

I have been planning on doing this for quite some time now but only just got round to buying the canvases to do it.

This will (hopefully) be some wall art for my Indian themed guest room.

All I have managed to get down so far are the basics.....and it certainly taught me that drawing is not a skill I possess lol.

It is meant to be a hand showing a gesture used in Indian dance. I now need to go and fill in all the mehndi details. Not sure yet whether to do it in henna brown or keep it in black and white.

Once I have my wall color sorted I will likely paint the rest of the canvas the same color.

I did plan on doing 2 of these, 1 hand and 1 foot, but this was harder than I thought so we'll see :-) I think I maybe need to stick with doing things I can do...like making trees lol.

A Piskies & Poppets Giveaway

In honor of reaching 200 followers  .. Debie, over at Piskies and Poppets is having a giveaway.

We don't know what it is other than a box of surprises...and who doesn't love a surprise.

 If you dont know Debie and her work then go take a look. 

She is one of those people I really envy. Someone who can take a lump of clay and create something magical...or wonderfully wicked.

This is just a very small sample of her work.

Click on the photo to make it much bigger.

She is off on a well deserved vacation at the moment and is visiting the other Debbie from Tiny Treasures and will make the draw when she returns.

So scoot on over, check it out and enter to win. Good luck :-)