Art Element monthly challenge reveal - Flowers.

 This month the challenge theme for the Art Elements team blog was flowers and it was hosted by Marsha.  To see the original blog post you can click HERE

 It has proved a very popular theme with so many entries this month but given the time of year I am not really surprised nothing says summer like an abundance of flowers and even, if you are like me, I just love the fact that the garden is green and buzzing with life, the flowers are an added bonus to the beauty that is this time of year. 

Posca paint pens and wooden tag.

 I have never thought of myself as a flower person, although I spent a good couple of years 'just' creating lampwork glass flower beads and I love looking through my huge book of Flower Fairies by Cicely M Barker, which was originally brought for my daughter many years ago and I have taken it back now she has grown up.

I have had a bit of a tough time this month and Lesley from the team sent me a wonderful gift of a set of Posca pens - I have admired her collection in several of the Art Elements blog posts.  I was moved to tears; not all of it hormone induced!  Having been in a bit of a slump creatively they kick started me into doing.  Above is a wooden tag with bright Posca paint pen folk art flowers.  I love using these paint pens and can't thank Lesley enough for dragging me out of my fog.

Before my lovely new Posca pens arrived I had experimented with using my coloured pencils on some other wooden supports.  They give a love effect, grainy and tactile looking.  The one above is a small disc for hanging. 

The flower above, again pencil on wood, hasn't worked enough for me, it just doesn't appeal.  The disc itself is quite small, magnet sized, maybe I should have gone for a different style/abstract to counterbalance the size of the disc?  

I am a little addicted to paper dolls.  They make me smile.  This one, and others, will be in my Etsy shop as soon as I pull my finger out and list the pattern, they are most relaxing to just sit and colour in, cut out the pieces and by adding the brad pins you have used an hour by indulging in a bit of art therapy!    The bunch of flowers is removeable and of course the head and tail move.  I have stuck a magnet on this one and he is now on my fridge, you just can't help but move him a bit when you pass!  

This came about because I was hanging out the washing!  Honest!  I have some wooden 'dolly' pegs.  I got them last year because they reminded me of my grandmother every time I hung out my washing, all those long school summer holidays spent with my grandparents on their allotment picking flowers for market or peas for Sunday lunch.  I have wonderful memories of those long sunny days.

Quite often, over the last year, I have looked at these pegs whilst pegging up thread bare underwear - they don't hold jeans very well you have to use boring old regular pegs - and thought they would make great wooden dolls.  One day, thinking of flowers for the challenge whilst hanging out the clothes I had an idea of a wooden cat doll in a garden of paper flowers.  I think Gordy must have been out with me that morning.

Straight after hanging out the washing I grabbed my little jewellery saw and on the garden table I sawed off the 'peg' bit and was left with a head and body which I painted with my Posca paint pens.. of course!  I spent TWO evenings doodling small flowers and leaves and cutting them out.  They are teeny tiny!  I had this snow globe which makes the perfect 'home' for my garden and with some painted polyfill for grass I spent quite a bit of time getting covered in glue attaching small flowers to wires - I am that 5 year old with a glue stick it goes EVERYWHERE! I enjoyed this so much I might have ordered some 'proper' wooden peg dolls, for my Posca pens you understand....

As I said earlier I 'used' to make a lot of glass flower beads so my son asked me to create for him a special bead to give to his wife to be on their wedding day next month.  I decided to go with 'something blue' as my daughter has seen the dress and described it to me - my son was obviously clueless!  so the bead has to be small to fit with the neck line of the dress. 

..and finally.. more glass and more flowers but  his time more my whimsical style...well it is nearly Halloween - I did say the year is flying by!  This pendant bead will be in my next show over on Facebook.  You can find out more about the show by visiting my Facebook group

Considering I was very out of sorts this month this challenge has seemed to have helped me be creative!  Hope you enjoy visiting the other blogs that have taken part.   Thank you for the theme Marsha.  

Here is a list of our Visiting Artists:

Alysen

Cat

Divya

Evie and Beth

Jill

Kathy

Linda

Martha

Melissa

Michelle

Rozantia

Sarah

Sarajo

Tammy

Hope

And our Art Elements Blog Contributors:

Claire

Jenny

Lesley

Marsha

Susan

Caroline

Cathy

Laney - you are here