Farewell 2012! Reflecting on the Year That Was...

Hi There

~~~~Happy New Year!!!!!!!~~~~

Can you believe yet another year is over? I'm in a state of shock that it is the 31st of December. How'd that happen? I consider my shock has not been helped as a result of my eight year old bouncing into my bedroom at 7.00am this morning, waking me with an over-exuberant "Yee-ha! Pinch and a ~punch~ for the first of the month - White rabbit! HAH!  I said "white rabbit"!  That means you can't get me back now. Tee-hee-hee!". (He later claimed that his confusion of dates was caused by the fact that this year was a leap year and that because of this, today really would in a normal year have been the first of the first.  Smart alec.  I'm lying in wait for 12.01am tomorrow morning... ;-))

Anyhoo, I can't believe that this is the *second* time that I've had a chance to reflect here on my wee blog about my artistic year that was.   Upon reflection (and we all know by now how much I *love* reflecting!) I can say I've really enjoyed 2012,  artistically wise anyway, even though my overall output has been a little down on last year.  Output, shmoutput, right?

I can say I truly feel like most days I paint and draw and colour and create, I'm not really making any progress or developing my technique. In fact, on a bad day, I feel like I'm going backward.

I'm so pleased however, to realise that when I compare where I am now, as of 31 December 2012, against where I was in February 2011, I can really see that I've made progress and that makes this whole journey incredibly worthwhile.

To show you what I mean, I've decided that I'll wrap up 2012 by showing you a comparison of artworks from this year, against paintings from early 2011. Brace yourself...

Picture one is a pastel of Twinkle Eyes I've created this year:

And here is my attempt at painting Twinkle Eyes in 2011:

Don't worry, I frighten myself every time I look at that picture too!  (Is it just me or should that painting be titled I'm Coming to Get You (followed by creepy music)?)

Goodness, I'm on a roll now!  Here's another one, especially for you (oh, all right, for *ME*) to further illustrate my progress.  Below is my pencil drawing of "Chucky, the (not so) Wonder Baby", drawn in 2011:

And here is a picture of my cutie-pie nephew from this year:

Awwww, bless him, isn't he cute?

Looking at these couple of paintings and the progress of my artistic journey, I can only but wonder what 2013 will bring.  Hopefully lots more improvement coupled with an ever increasing amount of joy.

I'll finish with thanking you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by and visiting me on my blog this past year.  I've loved every visit and every comment you've taken the time to write. I look forward to sharing more of my artworks throughout 2013!

Kate
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It's a Colourful World...

Hi There

Sorry you haven't seen much of me lately.  Life has been tough these past couple of weeks. I won't go into details because the purpose of this blog is not to for me to have a whinge, but to create and share my art with you. As such, I'll  just say it hasn't been a barrel of laughs for me and my little family.

As of yesterday, I'd moved past the "sniffling stage", along with the "get a hold of yourself, girl" phase of misery and decided that I was well and truly over myself.  As such, I decided I would adopt the "fake it 'till you make it" approach. To counter this, when I went to art class last night, I told Ms Kathy that I wanted to create something that was "Super bright, crazy and fun".  She pulled out the oil pastels for me (as I adore using different mediums), and I set about creating.

What I ended up with after a lot of scribbling, is this:

I can't pretend to say that I think she's fabulous.  She's not - I know that.  That said, I *do* like the fact that she is free, that she's a little wild and yet, she still kinda works. I mean, I look at her and feel like I'm looking at a face first, wild and zany green hair, orange skin and purple eyelashes second. Or is that just me and you see it the other way 'round?

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by and seeing what I've been up to! I am feeling a little better now. I guess it sometimes just takes time to feel better, along with a lot of creating to do the trick.

Kate
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Inspired by Erté

Hi There

I discovered Erté in art class last week.  My goodness, what can I say?  This man sure knew how to design, draw, paint, colour, inspire and create beautiful masterpieces.  I must confess to just a touch of awe looking at his creations and feeling a hint of jealousy upon seeing a photo man who looks better in a frock than I do.

Seriously, if you love clothes, interior design and all things art-deco-ey and fantastically over the top, you *must* check him out.  

In honour of this artist, I offer you today's 'masterpiece', inspired by one of his gorgeous designs:

This painting was extra fun to create because I'd decided that I wanted to try something new in art class and Ms Kathy suggested that I try using ink.  

Mmmmm, this medium was absolutely delicious to use.  (Hmmm, that last sentence was odd.  Maybe it is because I'm feeling a tad peckish.  No, in case you worry, I didn't actually drink any ink.  I don't tend to consume odd food-stuffs.  The weirdest thing I've ever eaten was a piece of chalk and a tub of perkins' paste when I was a kid.  I can recall it being very chalky and paste-y (in that order).  Word of warning - don't try this combo if you happen to be suffering from constipation is all I can say!)  

Sorry I digress - back to the artwork!  The ink colours are bold and I liked the way the medium doesn't run the way water colour does.  This was really exciting for a novice like me.  The only thing that I found to be a bit of a negative is that the inks are quite a permanent.  Once they go down, they're down and not going anywhere (kinda like bubble-gum). I had my heart in my mouth as I painted her and I truly felt butterflies in my stomach.  I sighed a big sigh of relief when I finished her.  She wasn't perfect, but she'd do.  Phew!  

Thanks very much for stopping by and seeing what I've been up to.   I'm off to bake dinner!

Kate

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