It's been 3 days since the snow came to Devon, the first snow in 5 whole years and our first ever 'Red' weather warning. Everything really came to a standstill, the UK isn't equipped to deal with these weather conditions. All the local schools closed, much to the children's delight and we now have igloos and snowmen scattered around the garden. In the meantime, I have taken the opportunity to stay warm and concentrate on learning about seamless repeat patterns in photoshop. I've taken some of the icons from my vase of flowers to make this repeat pattern to be used as wrapping paper with my Mothers Day card for Folio Focus. It's taken forever to learn, but I have finally achieved what a year ago, seemed like the impossible!
Flowers for Mothers Day
It's week 3 of Folio Focus and our brief is all about Mothers Day! I've been desperately wanting to illustrate some vases of flowers for ages but haven't found the time. I'm thinking that I might make this one into a print when I open my Etsy shop later in the year.
What You Seek Is Seeking You
This months Bootcamp was to design a journal cover based around tea and particularly tasseomancy, the old art of reading tea leaves. I've been really into painting portraits lately so decided I wanted to focus my work around a fortune teller. Many moons ago I used to quite enjoy reading tarot cards and so my gypsy fortune teller, is based on the 2nd card in the Major Arcana, The High Priestess. She's intuitive, empathetic, independent and has a wonderfully balanced equilibrium. The quote I've used: 'What you seek is seeking you' was written over 800 years ago by the well known mystical Persian poet Rumi. In todays world of violence and uncertainty, it seems more important than ever to keep hope alive and remember the incredible importance of our spiritual journey, a healthy soul and our connection to everything and everyone! Quiet moments of contemplation seem so hard to come by in our fast paced lives. It's important to give ourselves some sacred space, whether that be a walk in nature or curling up with a cup of tea in a candle lit room. Quiet reflection recharges us and that in turn my friends, allows us to focus on kindness to others. Here's a link for you to check out the Mats Bootcamp February gallery.
Happy Valentines Day!
I made this design over at SketchbookSkool last November while studying 'Let's Make Greetings Cards' with Salli Swindell of They Draw and Cook. Salli was inspirational and I came away feeling so creatively nourished. Last September, my eldest son started at his new school and I was completely absorbed with helping him to settle in. So, this was the first painting I'd done for a while, having had a break for a good couple of months. It can be hard to get back into your creative groove if you stop for too long, however much you might love it. This class gave me permission to just create for fun, which was the perfect tonic and I've found it hard to put my brushes down again ever since!
The Origins of British Tea
So for Bootcamp this month our mini assignment is all about tea. Yup, anything and everything and if you love tea like me then that equals quite a lot of fun. Since I love history too I have been digging around and discovered that tea was actually bought to England in about 1662 by Queen Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Kind Charles II. It was initially extremely expensive and so only the elite classes could afford it but as time went by it became more affordable and therefore accessible to ordinary people. The little poem around the top of the painting that I've written reads: 'Queen Catherine of Braganza was rather partial to her tea. She said it kept her calm and restored her sanity. The King did, the Queen did and then the Court did too. Until the whole of England enjoyed a daily brew'.
Ode to Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf the great lover of words and considered a prominent author in modernist writing during the 20th Century. She's attributed to being one of the pioneers in the narrative mode of writing known as 'Stream of Consciousness', a style we're quite used to reading in today but utterly groundbreaking at the turn of the 20th Century.
There is a nod in the background of my portrait to Bloomsbury, a group of intellectuals and artists of which Virginia was a key member. I am just embarking upon reading the beautiful Penguin Clothbound edition of 'Orlando', written in 1928 and one of her lighter novels intended as a portrait of her enigmatic lover Vita Sackville West.
Sadly, Woolf suffered with mental illness throughout her life and committed suicide in 1941 at the age of just 59. But she lives on inspiring others through her brilliant works which have been translated into over 50 languages.
