I had a really good painting day yesterday.

As soon as I woke up I had that 'painter's itch' (it's okay, I'll get some cream from the chemist's!) and I just had to get cracking!

My first flurry produced this rather odd little painting called 'The girl with the bird's nest hair.'

Am I losing the plot?

It's not my usual style but I really enjoyed just painting really loosely and then drawing with an Inktense pencil.

I drew using the cheat's continuous line drawing technique (okay, okay, I did take my pencil off a couple of times!)

My newest colour crush is Potter's pink, it has a lovely translucent quality, which is great for s'grafitto techniques.

Talking of s'grafitto, (which isn't everyday, I must admit,) I made a discovery which made me very happy indeed.

It's one of those little discoveries that gladdens my heart but will probably sound very obvious to you.

You see, I am rather partial to a bit of s'grafitto every now and then, but sometimes I just couldn't scratch a fine enough line. So instead of using the end of a brush or my trusty finger nail I used a pin.

(I knew you'd be disappointed at this rather underwhelming discovery but it was a bit of a 'Oooo, ey up' moment for me!)

Here's a piece I'm still working on, but you can see the pin action so far!

I find that a chihuahua with a PHD in Fine Art is also a great help when you need an expert critique:

 

 

Sorry chucks, but I haven't chihuahua-ed for a while!

 

This year we are surrounded by rape seed fields as far as the eye can see.

Now I know that many people hate them, but I think that they're rather beautiful (and luckily none of us suffer from hay fever!)

As the sun sets the fields are illuminous.

So I thought that I'd better take advantage of this eye-popping backdrop and photograph some bits and bobs for the Etsy shop.

Hope you like:

Thanks Sam!

Look at this amazing piece of kit (made even more amazing-er because it has a Welsh lady on it!)

1: Looks like a nice trinket, lovely tassle...

But no, 'tis much more than a frippery.

Look on, my friends, in wonder...

2: Oooo, a handy thimble, I often need one of those on the move.

There's more...

3: Look, threads!

But there's even more...

4: The needles! (This is where my heart exploded with happiness!)

(I must admit,now looking at this photo retrospectively, it does look a little sinister, like a haberdashery junkie's hyperdermic. But fear not, this is a good, clean, wholesome piece of sewing ephemera).

Please accept my humble apologies for all of the recent techi-hiccups!

After copious amounts of tea, Nurofen and the Blogsy app, I think I've actually got my head around all this technology!

Please bear with me, because I couldn't live with the photos all crammed up in yesterday's post, so I've had another go...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right chucks, I'm well out of my depth here.

If I've sent my first Hipstamatic efforts I'll have a little dance!

X

There I am, all pretending to be computer literate and now I'm well and truly stuck! I was going to show off about me new I Pad and my '70's style Hipstamatic photos (which I'm sure everyone else discovered years ago!) Help! I can't add photos to this! Blooming' eck, it was all going so swimmingly! Does anyone out there know what to do please? Sob!

It feels good to be painting again.

I started a huge, scary-looking blank canvas t'other day, and all of a sudden a bird appeared.

I think I'm just longing for a bit of sunshine.

It's still definitely a work in progress, but it's starting to look a bit Spring-like:

 

PS: I bought an I Pad yesterday.

Yes.

Me.

As I was waiting for help setting up my new shiny piece of the 21st Century, I realised that Noah and his Whales must be on a break from their world tour, and working at the weekends in the Apple Store.

Hey, that rhymes. (Could be the start of a multi-platinum-post-modern-Indie-ironic-ballad.)

Actually, all of the bearded young chaps working there deserved medals for their saintly patience!

I am sounding very old, so I shall retreat and have a cup of Earl Grey now that 'Heart Beat's' on.

PPS: Did you know that when you speak into this said I Pad, it actually types it for you!

(Now I don't call that technology, I call it the devil's work.)

Sometimes you find pixies in the most peculiar places.

When I took this photo it said 'blink detected' on the camera screen!

(Oooo 'eck, maybe he does come to life at night!)