My favourite type of playing

Something a little different from me this week, I've been playing with typography (see what I did with the title of this post?.....groan). My husband is in the process of starting up a new band, an exciting project as we go in to 2017 and he works really hard at getting everything to gel, from finding new band members to structuring practice sessions in the studio and thinking up a new name. This is of course where I try to help him out, he is so supportive of everything that I do, it means a great deal to me to be able to return the favour. The name has been a sticking point as it should be such as easy thing, but try to think of something original yourself - it's tricky. After much debate, they have thought of a new name, not to be revealed yet (watch this space) and I have been looking at creating a new logo for them, choosing fonts, colours and layouts for them and I have to say, it's been fun.
Yesterday, I found myself with a last minute, rare day off so my mum and I decided to turn it in to a shopping trip, what a complete chore. Many shops were visited and I introduced mum to the 'Tiger' chain of stores - lots of useless things you don't need but desperately want! In amongst all the chuff was an old fashioned printing set, very like the John Bull sets that my dad used to sell in his stationery shop when I was a kid. I have had a wonderful morning getting very inky fingers and playing around with type, getting frustrated when the letters which have been in the wrong order and I've had to start again, but the result has been satisfying and I have come up with this little stamp to use on my prints and cards - what do you think?

Of course, I have immediately been on line to find additional letters and layouts to play with but it has been a wonderful, absorbing exercise to get lost in on a Sunday morning. I very much hope that you too are enjoying something creative today, share your projects with me, won't you?

What do you get the artist who has everything?

I'm very lucky to have a husband who has the incredible talent of being able to make pretty much anything. If it can be thought up and the materials sourced, he can make it and believe me, I've asked him to make some unusual things since I've known him. Most of my degree was sponsored by his ability to make my vision become a reality and for many of my classmates too - if you meet him, ask him about the skateboard for a performing snail.
This Christmas though, he has surpassed himself. About a year ago he took an old cigar box and turned it in to a watercolour box to hold my Daniel Smith watercolour paints (which I squeeze out in to empty half pans) and a few weeks ago we discussed 'upgrading' this idea in to something that will hold every colour I own.
Let me point out, this is no mean task as I own MANY tubes of watercolour, but he rose to the challenge and not only hand crafted a box to fit 266 full pans (yep, you read that right) but it also holds my new ceramic palette and my folding water pot too.

It is a thing of absolute joy.
The box folds out flat on my drawing board without tipping, it houses the trays in the lid so that I can work from them while using my palette and waterpot, and it even has a small 'travel' tray so that I can decant out the colours that I am using that day and have seperate from the main box if I so choose.
Of course, I have completely lost my head over it and have now started labelling all the pans with the pigment information so that I can compare make against make...my obsessive tendancies are just loving every minute.

Just in case you wondered, I do know how lucky I am and I promise that I don't take it for granted that I have this amazing man in my life. Question 'What do you get the artist who has everything?' Answer: A bespoke watercolour box which she will always treasure.

Amazing what a holiday can do for you!

A holiday with my husband and I return to my studio full of inspiration! It's not necessarily that this cobweb painting was something I witnessed while I was away (more of those paintings to come) it's just that a week of beautiful countryside, reading and quality time with my family has freed up my head.
This painting (w.i.p. above) was created while the lovely Wyndham Art Group visited my studio this week. A small group of very enthusiastic painters, they have a huge sense of fun and vitality and wanted to come along and paint with me for the day. Oh, such a chore!
Together we created this piece, concentrating on using a ruling pen with masking fluid for precision blocking out and combined it with very loose, dark washes to show off the pale areas when the making was removed. There were many in the group who really hadn't mastered masking (try saying that quickly) and it was a pleasure to help them overcome their problems and unleash them on the possibilities that masking out can reveal.
Below you will see a close up of where the masking was used for the cobweb to give a sense of a stained glass window when combined with my favourite Daniel Smith watercolours in Cobalt Violet, Green Gold, Prussian Blue and Lamp Black.
Do you enjoy masking or is it a technique that has eluded you so far? Let me know and I'll help where I can, have a great week everyone.