Selkie and the sea - Art Elements monthly challenge reveal

Jenny from the Art Elements team launched the new theme challenge at the beginning of this month, Selkies and the sea.

Not an easy challenge!  It wasn't hard to find references to the selkie lore, those mystical  creatures that live off the coast of Orkney and come ashore removing their seal skins and walking amongst the people as one of their own.  There are many stories surrounding the selkies and I have read widely on them, both in wonderful romantic fiction novels where you lose yourself in the words and are transported to the wild shores of the Shetland isles and also the more traditional fairy tale or folk lore that surrounds them.

I have loved the works of Brian Froud in whose art that depicts the fairies and more magical creatures of our richly woven history of Celtic tales he has given form to those which may.. or not.. have ever existed.  As well as many other artists works of selkie genre.  That didn't make it any easier for me to come up with some thing unique to this challenge.  I dabbled a bit with the glass (above) and my little selkie girl was born in the flame.

I doodled 'endlessly' during the evenings in my sketchbook....

using my imagination to create a seal like creature that was uniquely 'my' selkie...

...the many pages I filled in my sketchbooks but still the idea just wouldn't flow....

So I wrote a small .. and unfinished.. story and had the idea to create a small story book dummy for this project but I never got round to finishing it but maybe you can tell the story with your own words using these thumbnail sketches that are the preliminary doodles for my story.

I hope you will join in and follow the blogs below that belong to those that took part in this theme challenge, I am intrigued to see the ideas that this theme generated as it wasn't the easiest challenge but then they are the ones that push you out of your comfort zone and whether you finish them or not you might push yourself to travel a different path......

Guests: 

Paisleylizard.com/blog

Anordinarymiracleday.wordpress.com 

 Ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com

Bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

AE team: 

Lesley

Jen

Caroline

Claire

Laney

Cathy

Niky

Lindsay

Jenny

 

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.

Cute blown seal pup bead



Cute seal pup on Etsy

 

I used a blow pipe mandrel for this gorgeous seal pup, he is just so sweet!  Available on Etsy.

Laney x