Art Elements Fairy Challenge reveal.

September's Art Element challenge was set by Caroline of Blueberribeads and she choose 'Fairies' as the theme.

I grew up with The Flower Fairies and the delightful drawings of Cicely M Barker.  I also love the work of Brian Froud and Alan Lee.  There are so many artists out there who specialize in art works of fae, Jasmine Beckett-Griffith, Amy Brown, Linda Ravenscroft as well as less modern artists, Edmund Dulac and of course the Cottingley Fairies by Elsie Wight and her cousin Frances Griffiths, these of course caught the imagination of none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who weaved a tale so believable that the public were divided as to whether or not fairies did exist.

Once the challenge was set I started to doodle and let my imagination loose, using stories from my childhood to guide me in my fairy quest.  Of all the fairies from the stories of my youth they were mainly in human form.  The Flower Fairies, Victoria Plum  and others.  But my muse doesn't really work with people.  My illustrative doodle above came about after a lovely walk with my dogs watching as Autumn takes over from Summer and the fruits of the hedgerows and orchards swell and colour the landscape.  I may have had a glass of something cold whilst doodling, even fairies like a tipple ..right? 

I researched a bit for animal fairies and was sadly disappointed in their lack.  They are there of course but writers of stories tend to humanize their fae.  I decided to change that!  I also discovered that the words 'fairy' and 'faerie' are a little different in interpretation.  

“Fairy” is a word that has been derived from Latin word “fatum,” which can mean “fate.” “Faerie” is a word that has been derived from Gaelic “fear shidhe,” which means “’man of the shee.”

Read more: Difference Between Fairy and Faerie | Difference Between http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-fairy-and-faerie/#ixzz5SOPa9eN4

So I doodled a little more and soon a scene emerged in my sketchbook. 

I decided to have an animal fairy, after all fairy are small 'folk' and in my world (art) animals are dominant.  After doodling some more in my sketchbook, my little scene developed and then to make it 'real'.

I have been exploring (read that as looking and drooling at lots of very talented artists on the web!) paper diaormas.  I really want to experiment much more than I have been doing.  I found in my cupboard a green 'thing' that was given to me by a member of the team (Niky Sayers).  She found it last Christmas and liked it so brought a few of them and gave them to the members of the team who met up in London back in January.  Suddenly I saw this green 'thing' as a mound in my world.  A few little glass toadstools, some paper grass, a wooden plinth and some trees - which in hindsight I would have done differently - with some of my own hand made gold watercolour paint and some 'found' acorns on a beautiful Autumn day walk with my dogs completed my vision... oh and a sprinkling of fairy dust (glitter), completed the look.

I got rather attached to my little mouse and decided to create her in glass too, then she got a name and now my sketchbook is full of little mice hoola hooping, running, playing and having wings! 

Thanks to Caroline for setting the challenge.  I nearly gave up as I really wasn't feeling the 'human' fairy but I am glad I stuck with the muse because I think Esme might go on to be a staple character in my stories and illustrations.

Others who have joined in on this month's themed challenge are below, I hope you enjoy reading their magical journeys this month. 

 Vic

Divya

Alysen 

Kathy 

Tammy 

Kimberly 

Hope 

Alison 

Cat 

Sarah 

Art Elements Team

Jen 

Jenny  

Niky 

Laney 

Claire 

Cathy 

Marsha 

Caroline 

Art Elements Themed Challenge Reveal - Sunflowers hosted by Susan Kennedy

This month's challenge was set by Sue from SueBeads from the team and was for Sunflowers.  

You can see the original blog post on Art Elements blog here.  With the introduction to the challenge, on the post, Sue posted some wonderful inspirational photos but these caught my eye...

I was bemused even at myself because I can't even sew a button on straight and I hate sewing.  When my son was still at school I used to patch his school trouser knees up with special fabric glue and patches - he was one of those kids that was never clean and always lost a jumper and ripped his trousers, I am quite glad he has 'grown up' and now provides his own clothes!  My daughter is a wonderful seamstress, when she is motivated and does all her own alterations.  Being 5ft and petite nothing fits her right so she has learnt to be quite proficient, even taking one of her high school exams in Textiles and gaining A* in her exam.  She didn't get her skills from me.  

So you can see I was bemused.... and interested.

So I hit Pinterest and collected together an enormous amount of pins that I liked with sunflower themes, here is just two of them, you can link to the original owner of the photo with the caption link beneath. 

crochet sunflowers

Felted Mouse

OK so the mouse is holding a daffodil but it is yellow and I liked it! 

So I decided that seeing as some time ago I was gifted some felt for felting I would have a play.  I wanted to create a mouse that was sit in his own sunflower.  I did doodle the original idea but it was on a scrap of paper and it is obviously in a safe place... I can't find it!

I first did a mouse with the felt I had.

He really wasn't successful.  I didn't have the right pink.  He was too bright.  The only other pieces I have ever done was when I was first gifted this felt and I made a cats head, which after watching lots of Youtube videos on needle felting turned out I had done it wrong and it was over 'stabbed' and quite hard.  I don't have a photo and he is buried at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

So there was nothing for it.. I had to order supplies and whilst I was at it, a few more needles and a new stabbing surface as mine was secondhand and well loved which, according to Youtube meant I needed a new one.  Whilst I was watching videos on needle felting I stumbled across wet felting and seeing as I now had quite a bit of felting materials being delivered by my patient postman (my daughter does a lot of on line shopping!) I thought, 'I like that' ... and promptly went off to get some bubble wrap as told to by the video.

VOILA!!  my first ever wet felted piece.  The sunflower, which I 'stabbed' onto the wet felted background I did using yet another Youtube inspired technique in which I wanted to make a 'picture' so used shop brought felt as a base, I drew my shape on and 'painted' with the felt.  I rather enjoyed both processes.  The wet felted piece did make me be more abstract, which when I am illustrating I like to be a little more controlled so that was out of my comfort zone but I have to say I really did enjoy it.  It is very 'zen' like to roll soggy wool into a shape, to squeeze it to rinse when it is created and to see all the fibres all matted together to create something out of wispy threads.  

But I still wanted a mouse!

Meet Edgar,  the pink I ordered was so much more fitting for ears and tails.  I rather enjoyed making Edgar but have to admit the process of the wet felting did intrigue me more.  Maybe it is the placing of the fine threads to create a texture and movement in a piece and letting myself be a bit freer with how the method works was extremely relaxing.  I will be doing more wet felting... I probably didn't need those new needles as Edgar was fun but he didn't inspire me to create more creatures unlike the glass which I can go from creature to creature.

Although my finished piece isn't the sculptural piece I set out to do I did end up with my sunflower and my mouse in a fashion, just not together exactly....  the only problem I have now is what do you do with the finished felted pieces?  This piece isn't huge, I thought about using it to cover a sketch book, my daughter suggested hanging it.  Part of my inspiration came from the gift from Jenny of the team, hers hangs in my studio and I see it every day, which is probably why I was taken with the textile inspiration that Sue put up when she announced the challenge.

For now I will just look at it on my pile of arty stuff that sits next to the laptop.

I hope you can join me in the blog hop to visit the blogs that took part in this months challenge.

Guests

Alysen

Anita

Cat

Divya

Jill

Kathy

Linda

Linda

Mischelle

Norma

Raven

Sarajo

Tammy

AE Team

Caroline

Cathy

Claire

Jenny

Laney

Lesley

Sue

 

When the days start to shorten and the lights go on earlier and earlier,  the dew is on the hedges in the morning

 

 

and the bumble bees are not as active or busy; I captured this one on my phone just sitting in the morning mist on todays walk down at the river.

 

 

I start to get a bit down.  I am a SAD sufferer, Season Affected Disorder and when Autumn starts turning all the leaves golden and the hedges give up their sloes for gin making, berries for jams and pies and the tall whispering weeds become fluffy clouds of seeds waiting to be blown into their over winter resting places I start to get miserable.

 

Yesterday, I was walking with my lovely dog walking friends when we came across this little chap..

He gives this gorgeous grin on command, such a happy puppy and he is suffering with a skin condition at the moment which has made him itch and scratch until he is sore, his owner said that the vet has told them he is allergic to something so they are now undergoing various tests and fuss to find out what, but he can still give a grin.

 

My lovely dog walking friend said that she too is a sufferer of SAD and what she does is think lovely things that she can look forward to in the Winter.  Snuggling up with a warm drink and roasting toes near the fire after a long walk with the dogs, through the snow and late Winter sunshine, wrapped up in thick jumpers and socks with welly boots that mean you can crunch the ground whether it be snow or heavy frost.  Seeing the trees shed their leaves making huge piles on the ground that the dogs can charge through and play in.  Watching Defi roll in the muddy fields and knowing I have to go home and bath him seems to cheer her up too, although I am not sure its something I look forward too!

 

But I can look forward to toasty days with the kiln and create my beads, or sit with warm drinks and write my stories in the kitchen or even...

 



finish my crocheting with my favourite little friend, Gordy my little cat, he whose stories we write for Cat World Magazine each month.  He has taken to my unfinished poncho and sits with me whilst I try and finish it, I have plenty of yarn so will be busy this Winter in the evenings.

 

I have plenty to look forward too when the nights draw in and the wind calls at the windows.

 



A few beads from this week, just to remind myself that I have lots to keep busy with.