Sunday 30 June 2013

june 2013

Nearly forgot...monthly blog round-up pic....this was the month I went to LillaLand...

week 4 in LillaLand

All I've wanted to do all week is to make a work of art.
Not much to ask.
Just a bit of time to make a mess and splat some paint about.
But I have had a million obligations to fill instead. This week I was Mrs Obligated.
Itching to paint all week but having to do other stuff.
Anyway I won't bore you with the details....you know the ending...I stayed up till stupid o'clock every night and got that art thing done.
In fact I created 2 works of art. And a couple of started-but-not-finished-yet works of art too. I was Mrs Artist by the end of the week.

So anyway... we had to create a piece of wall art. We were given colours based on our star signs (sooo arty dahling). Mine were blue and yellow. Like Ikea. Or Tampax regular. It had to be square. It had to have at least one flower and at least one word. And preferably some paint and some collage.
So I started off with a 10 inch canvas and did all this neat stuff. Went to bed. Realised it was crap. Painted over it and got messy. 
Made this...
Then I decided that as I had so much time on my hands to be all arty I might as well go buy a 24 inch canvas. Didn't want to get bored after midnight did I?
So this one is a 24 incher....

Here are some close-ups...cos 24 inches is BIG... note the little one's spelling practice on the second one. (When I sell it for ten thousand quid will I have to pay him commission for that bit?)





Anyway enough of all the artiness. Got a christening to attend now...all day...a glass of wine or too is called for...


Sunday 23 June 2013

snail week...the end

The trouble with this course is that even when you've finished the assignment and uploaded it and closed down your computer and walked away and fed the kids who forgot you existed and everything...you're still obsessed with it. 
I drew so many snails at the start of the week that I just couldn't step away from the damned things. This was my fave. Not grumpy enough in the end though so he didn't get the starring role.
Anyways that's my final snail from snail week. A whole new week starts tomorrow....

Saturday 22 June 2013

grumpy snail

Another week in LillaLand done and dusted.
This week was children's book week. We had to illustrate the front cover for Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snail and the Rose Tree" - a rather grim tale about a grumpy snail who thinks he's something he isn't and moans a lot. Then he dies.
I was really looking forward to putting in mucho effort this week cos kids books are where I'd like to be. But I had a lot of real life proper paid work to do. 
It would've been a bonus if the people paying me good money to come up with fabulous designs had changed their briefs to accommodate snails and rose trees. But sadly they didn't. 
So I stayed up till stupid o'clock every night. 
The house is a tip. We have no food. The kids can't remember who I am. But I got the book cover done. Yay!
But remember people, not all snails are grumpy. Some of them know how to have a laugh you know.


Tuesday 18 June 2013

snail trail

So...week 3 in LillaLand.
Our task this week is to draw snails.
I've drawn a lot of snails in my time. And sewed a lot of snails. 
But I have to say they all look a-little-bit-ever-so slightly-the-same as each other! A bit different. But basically the same.
Seems like I have a repetitive streak when it comes to snails.
I drew a load last night.
Same snail!
The course is all about trying new things. Little changes. Not big changes. Just little ones.
So tonight I did a bit of collage.
And made it into this...
And then because the big one is on a school trip in France and I'm missing her loads I did this...

So....now I've done a different snail I will probably go back to the same-old-same-old snail tomorrow when we get the brief.
But at least I tried....



Saturday 15 June 2013

finished plate

Chosen. Tweaked. Finished. Uploaded...
And manufactured into real life plates.
Kind of. 
Just a bit of computer wizardry I learnt today. Cos I'm clever like that  :-)



plates

So this week's project in LillaLand is to design 4 plates. And choose one. I've designed a zillion plates and still haven't chosen. This is where I'm at at the mo.... deadline's not till tomorrow night though so still time to faff about a bit more...


Friday 14 June 2013

this week...

I drew some real life flowers. Nicked the big one's Sharpie pens this time.

Stuck them on the computer. Faffed about a bit. 


Got to this point....

That was a couple of days ago. I've moved on now. Looks totally different. Not so grown up. Different colours. A few creatures. And words. And everything...
Gonna sleep on it. And faff some more tomorrow...Hold your breath people...I'm good at ideas, crap at choosing...

Thursday 13 June 2013

fetch?

The dog is driving me mad!
When we had 10 minutes of warm weather last week I was working with the patio doors open. Minnie the dog kept bringing me her ball. I would chuck it out of the door. Into the garden. She would bring it back. I would chuck it out of the door. She would bring it back. (Repeat several hundred times till you're as bored of it as I was)
But mostly the chucking didn't just mean throwing it outside...it meant standing up, walking over to the doors and actually throwing it down the garden at the correct angle so that it didn't go over a fence or through the potting shed window. Or into the wild bit where it would never be found. (Now there's a plan!)
And mostly the bringing back bit involved Minnie the dog putting the ball somewhere then running outside and staring at me with that look on her face. Then me having to get up and work out where she'd left the damned thing. Then crawling under the table to fish it out...
So this week it's back to usual freezing British weather and I really don't want to leave the doors open so that Minnie the dog can play fetch. But she's nudging the ball at me. And giving me that look. All. The. Flipping. Time.
Does she not realise I'm busy? I have work to do. And flowers to draw. Flowers and seed pods actually. That's this week's subject matter on my fab MATS course. And I want to just get on with it ta!

Monday 10 June 2013

mushroom mad

Gonna start on Autumn/Winter 2014/15 this week....thinking mushrooms might be the way to go....?



Saturday 8 June 2013

night school

Ok...after many late nights of working-after-working I'm bored of faffing now. I can let the kids out of the cupboard. I've uploaded it... here's my finished design for week 1 of my LillaLand course...
This is where I was at yesterday. Before I tweaked it some more...
Similar. But not the same.
Next week is HOME DECOR. Should have more daylight hours to spend on it 'cos my diary isn't so rammed next week.
Yay!




Friday 7 June 2013

LillaLand

I'm loving my course.
I'd be loving it even more if I had time to flipping focus on it!
I did proper work that someone will pay me for till 12.15am last night...then thought I'd just do a spot of mushroom faffing before I went to bed. Had to force myself to stop at 1.30am. And I had to have a sneaky nap this evening when no-one was looking.
But loads of other people  taking the course have already uploaded their finished designs. While I'm still faffing. So no pressure there! It'll be fine, I'm sure. I'll lock the kids in a cupboard for the weekend and crack on!

Anyway I'm loving the Lilla Rogers' philosophy. In the normal world, where I work, clients are generally scared to do anything too new. They play it safe. Can we just have pink and blue please? And can that bunny be smiling? Please?
In LillaLand you do what you love  and "people buy your joy". Simples! And it works!
I want to move to LillaLand.

Here are some early rejects on my mushroom and casserole project.... still faffing with my finished design...looks nothing like this now...I'll put it on....tomorrow...or Sunday...when it's done...sometime...soon.


Tuesday 4 June 2013

multi tasking

As if I didn't have enough to fit in I'm now back at school...the MATS school.
I've spent the last 2 days drawing mushrooms and pyrex dishes ... in between doing all the things I'm meant to be doing....like working and feeding the kids and hanging the washing out and picking up socks and registering online for ParentPay cos I haven't got round to it yet even though I've had the form for 2 weeks...Usual stuff.
Anyway I did some real life proper drawing with some vintage art gear I found in a box that's been hiding under my desk for the last 10 years. Sharpened my charcoal pencil with a scalpel - all art student styleee and everything!
Then I did some computer drawing cos that's pretty much all I can do these days.
Tomorrow we learn what we have to do with our mushrooms and pyrex. Apart from make soup. Which I did last night.